The irony wasn’t lost on me. Indira was in danger because of her connection to me, but she wasn’t officially part of the club. Which meant the rules that might protect her—the rules that might let me share information—didn’t apply.
Complete honesty. No more compartmentalizing.
Her condition echoed in my head. The promise I’d made. The promise I was about to break.
“She’s going to think I’m reverting to old patterns.” I ran a hand over my face. “Keeping her in the dark for her own good. Making decisions for her instead of with her.”
“Maybe you are,” Glitch said quietly. “Reverting.”
I looked at him sharply.
“I’m not saying you’re wrong to want to protect her,” he continued. “But what’s your first instinct right now? To tell her everything and let her make an informed choice? Or to control the situation and hope she trusts you?”
The question hit hard.
Because my first instinct—the one I’d been fighting since I saw those photos—was to bring her here, lock her in my house, surround her with armed guards, and handle this threat without her ever knowing it existed.
Control. Protection. Same thing, different name.
“Fuck,” I breathed.
“Yeah.” Glitch’s expression was sympathetic. “Welcome to growth, brother. It hurts.”
I looked around the table at my brothers—men who’d trusted me to lead them, men who were now caught up in a crisis of my making.
“I need to tell her something,” I said finally. “Tomorrow. I’ll go to her, warn her about the threat. I’ll keep the details vague—tell her someone’s targeting her because of me, that she needs to accept protection for a while.” I paused. “And then I’ll figure out how to make this right with the club and with her.”
“And if she doesn’t accept protection?” Handful asked.
“Then I’ll figure out another way. But I’m not lying to her.”
Colt nodded slowly. “That’s the best we can do for now. But, if this escalates, we’re going to need a real plan. Not just damage control.”
“I know.” I looked at the photos one more time—Indira’s face, unaware of the danger circling her. “I know.”
The meeting broke up shortly after. Brothers filtered out, some clapping me on the shoulder, others avoiding my eyes.
I walked back to my house in the dark, my mind spinning through scenarios. Tell Indira everything—violate club code. Tellher nothing—break my promise. Find some middle ground—and watch her recognize the evasion in my eyes.
There was no clean way out of this.
The woman I loved was in danger because of me. The rules I lived by wouldn’t let me tell her why. And the promise I’d made her—complete honesty, no compartmentalizing—was about to shatter against the reality of who I was and what world I lived in.
Tomorrow, I would go to her with partial truths and careful words.
I had no idea which terrified me more—the Wolves, or the look I might see in Indira’s eyes when she realized I was still keeping secrets.
Chapter 24
?
— Dutch —
Ibarely slept.
Every time I closed my eyes, I saw those photos—Indira at the coffee shop, at her building, in the parking lot. The Wolves had been watching her. Taking pictures. Cataloging her routines.
And she had no idea.
