She leaves and once we’re the only two left, I walk over and take the bottle of tequila from him.
“Give it back,” he slurs.
“You’re needed outside.”
“For what?” He snorts.
“Leo’s gonna handle the traitor situation.”
He makes a cross between a snort and a laugh. “No one’s gonna admit it, son. What's the fuckin’ point?”
“Don’t underestimate Leo, Dad.”
His laughter is cold and unrecognisable. “That’s the problem, Ioverestimatedhim and look where we are.”
Gritting my teeth, I remind him, “We’re here cause a rat fuck betrayed us. Not Leo. Don't you want to find out who?”
He graces me with a lazy, drunkenly glare. “Son, I have nothin’ left to fuckin’ give. I just wanna sit here and drink until I forget I had to bury my brothers today.”
Grabbing him by his arm, I haul him off his stool and pass him his tequila.
“You can have this back as long as you drink it outside.”
He huffs. “You’re as bossy as ya mother, you know that, yeah?”
I laugh. “I finally see what she’s had to put up with all these years, you stubborn fuck.”
For a brief moment, so brief I could have almost missed it, a lightness washes over him. Then it disappears.
“They’re dead, son,” he says quietly.
“I know, Dad, but we’re gonna get their revenge. I promise you. I promise them.”
“To what end? We fight, we win, we live in peace for a while and then it kicks off again and history repeats, just like it always does. You'll bury me or I'll bury you, Zach buried his father... it’s the way it should be, but not this soon...” he rambles on. The drink has got him and with his grief, he won’t stop until he passes out.
I help him outside and over to a chair and plonk his ass on it and make sure he doesn’t walk off before I join Leo in the middle of the circled brothers. As his VP, it’s my job to stand at his side and when it comes to a traitor in the club, there’s nowhere else I'd rather be.
Brothers awkwardly glance at one another as Leo stands staring at them all. He clears his throat, and I cross my arms across my chest.
“One of you, fuck, there might even be more, are a traitor!” he yells. Mutterings float around. “Because of one of you, three brothers are dead! Three loyal brothers!” he pauses and begins to pace calmly. “So one of you will die tonight.”
“This is ridiculous!” Tack hollers.
“Is it?” Leo snaps. “Slade was a loyal brother for over three decades, he was a father to a patched in member. He was my kid’s grandpa. He lost his daughter because of club life. Dex, he was a brother who saved my dad’s life, your president for over twenty years! And Shane, someone who would have been loyal long into old age, a brother who only just had his kid. All because someone here ratted out our plan to the enemy.” He slaps hispatch hard. “One of you betrayed us all!” he roars. “Step forward now, and I'll make it quick.”
I glance around and as expected, no one moves.
“Is everyone a suspect, or only brothers who ain’t patched into the Willow’s Peak chapter?” Ashton hollers.
Leo stops pacing and narrows his eyes. “I don’t need to look within my chapter, insult me again and I’ll bury a bullet in your head before your next breath.”
“And if nobody comes forward? How long are we meant to stay here waiting?” A brother calls out.
“Till the traitor is dead,” Leo calmly informs them all.
“What if we leave anyway?” Tack asks.
“It will be without your patches!”
