Me: I'll be there.
I hear movement from the bedroom. A moment later, Karina appears in the doorway with the sheet wrapped around her. She’s the most beautiful thing I've ever seen in my life.
“Morning.” Her voice is husky with sleep. “Is that coffee?”
“Yeah.” I pour her a cup and add oat milk from the carton I bought yesterday. Just for her. She takes it, wraps both hands around the mug, and smiles at me. Open and trusting.
“I have to go to the clubhouse later,” I say. “Business to take care of.”
“That's okay. I need to get to the community center anyway. Final setup.” She sips her coffee. “Big day tomorrow.”
Tomorrow. The Valentine’s Day event that’s all a front for a scam she knows nothing about.
Tell her now.
“Karina—”
“Hmm?”
She looks up at me, those big eyes soft in the morning light. I open my mouth and then close it again.
“Nothing.”
She stretches up and kisses my jaw. “Thanks for last night. And this morning. And the coffee.” Another kiss. “You're pretty great, you know that?”
I'm not. I'm the opposite of great. I'm lying to her face while she stands in my kitchen all cute and happy, and I hate myself for it.
“Get dressed. I'll make you breakfast before you leave.”
After she’s gone, I drive to the clubhouse with her scent still on my skin. I don’t want to wash it off. Church is already assembled when I arrive. Viper's got his laptop open, spreadsheets and bank statements spread across the table.
“Walk me through it," I say.
Viper pulls up the evidence. Wire transfers to offshore accounts and fake donor records. A paper trail that leads straight to Chet Morgan.
“We've got enough,” Viper says. “Police, feds, whoever you want. This guy is toast. If he’s put a trace on his accounts, he might start to get suspicious. I tried to cover my tracks.”
“What about Karina?”
“Her name's on the event paperwork, but the money never touched her. She's clean.” He pauses. “Wait… she doesn't know?”
“No.”
The room is quiet. My club brothers stare at me, waiting.
“You need to tell her, Prez,” Brick says. “Before this blows up.”
“I know.”
“ASAP.”
“I said I know.”
But even as I say it, I'm calculating. The event is tomorrow. If I tell her now, she'll fall apart. Everything she's worked for will be destroyed. She'll confront Ty, and he might run before we canhand the evidence to the cops. Or worse, try and hurt her to keep the secret.
“You sure she isn’t involved in some way?” Diesel runs his hand over his jaw.
I growl at him, clenching my fists. “Karina doesn't know anything. She's clean.”
