Even if it means letting go of the one man who ever made me feel safe without asking me to earn it.
And if I can’t let go, then I’m going to learn what it costs to love a biker who belongs to the patch first.
Chapter 34
Oaks
I know it’s Pearly Gates before Royal even opens his mouth.
It’s the way he looks at me. Not angry. Not surprised. Just tired, like he’s been carrying the same ugly truth all morning and he’s sick of being the only one holding it.
We’re at church at the clubhouse, doors shut, officers only. Legend sits at the head of the table, forearms braced on scarred wood. Holler leans back in his chair, but he ain’t relaxed. Nobody is.
Royal slides a clear evidence bag across the table toward me.
Inside it is a scrap of fabric. Pink. Lace. Small.
My stomach drops before my brain catches up. It’s Brittany’s panties. The ones I tore behind the cabin. We left them out there like litterbugs.
“This was found,” Royal says evenly. “About a few yards down from where Bethany went under.”
Went under. Not fell. Not disappeared. Went under, like it’s already decided.
“Bullshit,” I say automatically, because she wasn’t wearing them.
Legend’s eyes flick to me. “You sure?”
“I’m sure,” I growl.
Royal doesn’t blink. “It was snagged on a broken dock plank. Along with disturbed mud. Along with footprints.”
“Whose?” I snap.
He holds my gaze. “Size matches Brittany.”
The room goes quiet in a way that feels dangerous.
Holler mutters a curse under his breath. Legend’s expression doesn’t change, but I see the calculation behind his eyes. Royal stays still, the way he does when he’s holding the line and daring anyone to step over it.
“That ain’t proof,” I say.
“No,” Royal agrees calmly. “But it’s a start. And if the police had this instead of us.”
Legend leans back in his chair. “There’s more.”
Of course there is.
Royal slides a second bag forward.
Inside it is a folded piece of paper.
I know the shape of that handwriting before I see it.
WATCH OUT.
The same phrase that showed up in Brittany’s car weeks ago written in blood. Only this one has something added underneath, the kind of extra that turns a warning into a promise.
Beth.
