33
TEX
Peter didn’t answer JD’s question. Instead he sat there, jaw tight, eyes darting around the table like he was looking for a way out that didn’t exist.
The silence stretched, heavy and uncomfortable. I turned in my chair and looked straight at him—reallylooked at him.
A man I’d ridden beside for years.
A man I’d trusted.
A man who had gotten his brothers killed and who’d nearly gotten Rowan killed.
“I think what JD really wants to ask is, was it worth it?”
Confessor didn’t flinch. Not a muscle twitched. Instead he stared right back at me with a quietly burning anger. “What are you talking about?”
I breathed in through my nose, barely holding in my rage. “When you betrayed your club, Confessor. When you betrayed your brothers, your family, and your fuckin’ code, was it worth it?” I leaned forward slightly. “Was the money worth it?”
Peter ground his back teeth, the sound audible in the deafening silence of the room. He shook his head slowly, the weight of what he’d done finally settling across his shoulders. Iwondered if he would deny it, but his shoulders loosened, like he was glad it was finally out there.
“You wouldn’t understand,” he muttered.
I didn’t blink. “Try me.”
He looked up at me then, and something tired and bitter moved across his face. “You’re still young,” he said. “Still got too much life ahead of you. When you get to my age, when you’ve lost the woman you love for the club, and when your bones hurt just to get outta bed. When you’re half deaf and goin’ blind…” His voice cracked before he continued. “Then you get to judge me.”
Silence followed.
Not a single man in the room understood how he could do this to us.
Because that’s what we signed up for. When we joined the Kings, we knew it was for life. We knew we would live and breathe and die in this club, with these men by our sides.
We gave everything, because it meant something. And to some men it meant more than everything, because it was the only thing they had.
“I’m retiring with sixty grand in the bank,” Confessor continued, bitterness creeping in. “That ain’t enough to set me up for the rest of my life. Ain’t enough for anything. I can’t ride much longer. Can’t earn.”
His eyes moved around the room. His hands were clasped on the table in front of him, his jaw set hard against our judgment.
“This club’s been my life, but it’s taken everything from me.”
JD shook his head slowly. “It’s a shame you think that.”
Peter frowned and JD leaned forward.
“Every man in this club’s got money set aside. Club funds. Enough to set ‘em up for life.”
Peter’s face went still and he glanced around, trying to catch anyone's eye. Moose looked away, and Swampy spat on the floorbeside him. When Confessor looked my way I held his gaze, pouring everything I felt into my stare. And I hoped he felt the hate and the pity that I felt for him. This man I had once considered a brother.
“The club always has your back,” JD continued calmly. “Always. Because we’re family, and family looks after its own.”
The door opened and Ink came in. He walked around the table and handed the paperwork over to JD. He looked around the room, his eyes landing on the Confessor and he gave him a look filled with so much hate. And then he shuffled back out of the room.
JD held out a piece of paper for Confessor to see. “Got a million in the bank and a house built ready for you, for when you were ready to quit the life. Every man does.”
Peter swallowed hard. “I…I didn’t know. How could I know?”
“You should’ve asked,” I said quietly.
