I swallow hard. “I don’t know, Prez. I didn’t look that hard. Besides…” My chest moves on a heavy exhale, not knowing how to tell him this when he probably knows how I’ve started to feel about his sister.
“Besides?” He quirks a brow.
“She hates the club, Wolf. Refuses to come. We tried dating for maybe three weeks this time around and then… one club party, and she went off the handle. Since then, she’s just been an on-and-off… stress release.”
“She know that?” He snorts.
I know I’ve made a mess of things. Sarah knows she’s not my girlfriend, but she also knows we’re exclusive. Or at least I kept trying to convince her of that.
“She should.”
A short bitter laugh escapes him. “The thing is, Ruin… I’ve only ever said those words about Charlotte in my home, or here—in this fucking office. So I’m curious to know how she even heard me.”
I force myself to remain calm. We already know there could be more traitors in the club, and we don’t need an outsider knowing any of our business.Fuck.
“Let’s go,” he grits out, clipping my shoulder with his as he passes me.
I drag a frustrated hand over my face before following him to my office.
??????
“I’ll ask you again, Sarah,” Wolf hisses, each word carved out of thinning patience. “Where exactly did you hear me? Where were you? Where wasI?”
Even I’m exhausted listening to her circle the same nothing answers. She doesn’t look like she’s hiding something. She looks like she’s terrified of saying the wrong thing.
Doesn’t help that Wolf already lost his temper and hurled my mouse against the wall. Plastic shards still scatter the floor like evidence of how thin his restraint is.
I liked that mouse, dammit.
Now Sarah keeps glancing at those broken pieces like they’re a preview of her future.
Jesus.She’s a civilian, Wolf. Rein it in.
“I-I don’t remember,” she stammers, squeezing her eyes shut. Then she snaps them open again like she expects a punch to land if she blinks too long.
“Fuckin’—”
“Hold up, brother.” I clamp a hand down on his shoulder. His muscles are tight. Coiled. Vibrating under my palm like a live wire.
I step in front of him and crouch down to Sarah’s level. “You need to tell us where you heard him,” I say calmly. “You understand that, right?”
Her mouth trembles. Her gaze darts between me and the door like she’s mapping an escape route. My softer tone doesn’t soothe her. It makes her cry quieter.
I try one more angle.
“Okay, listen. If you can’t remember where,” I say, lowering my voice another notch, “Wolf, here, will assume you bugged his office. Did you bug his office, Sarah?”
I don’t think she did, but nothing else is working. The good-cop-bad-cop routine, or even the usual silence tactic. Which leaves me with intimidation.
Her head snaps back violently. “W-what? No! No, I didn’t! I swear, I—” Her words break into a sob, her body trembling. “Give me a s-second,” she pleads. “It’s been a long time, Ruin. P-Please.”
She squeezes her eyes shut again. This time it’s different. Not bracing but searching. “I… think it was… yes. It was that party,” she whispers. “The one you made me go to.”
Made her.My jaw ticks.
Behind me, Wolf starts pacing. Slow. Measured. Predatory.
Then—
