No one answers. They don’t have to. It’s written on my father’s face and the faces of almost all of my brothers.
My fists open and close in my lap, and Kadence reaches over, sliding one of her hands over mine. “That motherfucker has been spouting bullshit about her for days. And you actually believe, what? That she stole the drugs and tried to set us up?”
“Yeah, brother. That’s his story.” Hammer glances at my father, then back at me. “Sorry, Prez. B has a right to know.”
All this time, Kady hasn’t said a word. I’m a little shocked, actually. Then she sniffles and a shudder works through her body.
She releases my hand and her teary eyes meet mine. She shakes her head.
Hurt.She’s hurt that my father thinks she’d betray us. She’s scared I might believe it, too.
I take her hand back and give her a gentle squeeze to let her knowIbelieveher.
Bolt stares at us for a few minutes, then drops his head, staring at his hands folded on the table. “Fuck. I know Kady better than that.”
As president, my father’s in a rough place here. Take the word of an ol’ lady over a brother? Our entire organization, ourlivesdepend on the trust we have in each other. Santa’s twisted our brotherhood to fit his needs and used my girl to do it. Makes me want to hunt him down and put a bullet in his traitorous head.
“Santa and I patched-in together,” Dad mutters. “He’s a brother.”
“A brother who betrayed us and spread lies about another brother’s ol’ lady,” Thorn adds. “Almost got our VP killed, too.”
“We don’t know he was in on that,” Cruise interjects.
Hammer’s fist slams into the table—how he got his nickname. “Bullshit! He had to be part of it. How the fuck else would Red Storm know where to find Blaise? Why the fuck else would Santa lie to Blaise?”
Thorn’s low, deadly voice cuts through all the chatter at the table. “Face it, Prez. Santa had to be confident Blaise would be dead and never have a chance to call him out on the lie.”
Curses go around the table. Next to me, Kadence chokes down a sob.
Santa expectedbothof us to die.
My father meets my eyes. This betrayal’s hitting him hard—a brother tried to have his son killed. He’s burning with rage. “Get him in here.”
“I been calling him since we got here, Prez,” Drake says, holding up his phone.
“You find him and get his ass in here now!” Bolt roars.
Whether it’s from all the drama or the beating I took earlier, acid burns through my stomach, and my vision blurs at the edges. I can’t seem to pull any air into my lungs.
“Blaise?” Kadence’s voice seems to come from a million miles away.
“Jesus Christ. Get Doc down here,” my father says.
“I’m fine,” I mumble. Or at least I think I get the words out.
Everything vanishes after that.
“What are we waiting for? We need to get him to the hospital.” I’m not sure I’m in the clear with Bolt or the rest of the club, but Blaise needs help. There’s no way I can carry him by myself. Even if I could, I don’t have my car at the clubhouse. My eyes go to Thorn, pleading for him to step in and help his best friend.
“We need to call Doc. He’ll get Blaise admitted to the hospital without questions we can’t answer,” Thorn explains. He raises an eyebrow, asking if I understand his meaning.
Hot tears slide down my cheeks and I nod.
Bolt stands, barking out orders to everyone.
I’m still not sure how I feel about the accusations he threw on me.
It seems like an eternity before the club’s “doctor” shows up. He fires off a bunch of questions that no one but me can answer. Hammer and Thorn carry Blaise to the van, and I get in next to the doctor and continue answering his questions.
