“To create trust with that Winnie chick?”
“That, and…” He trailed off and glanced down at his finger running circles around the rim of his glass. “The thing is, Drew, everyone in this club loves you. You know that, right?”
I scowled harder, not needing to answer him when his eyes looked up to meet mine. I knew. That didn’t mean I had to say it aloud.
“We love Ayda, too,” Jedd said quietly. “It’s weird. In the grand scheme of the club, she hasn’t been around long. You two haven’t been together for years. I don’t even think you’ve celebrated a birthday together yet, right?”
Thatwasright. April 10th was approaching, marking the celebration of the birth of the greatest woman I’d ever known, and my birthday was June 3rd—a summer child with a winter heart. It was hard to imagine Ayda never being in my life. In such a small amount of time, we’d endured, felt, and survived so much, my heart often tried to convince me that she’d alwaysbeen around.
That I’d always loved her.
“Right,” I found myself breathing to Jedd.
“So, when Eric began speaking to me on the sly just a week or so ago, and he said that he wanted to set backup plans in place that would save both youandAyda, you know I had to hear him out, too, yes?”
My jaw tensed, the muscles twitching as I glanced at Slater and Eric. “Right.” I swallowed hard.
“It wasn’t just about saving you, Drew. It was about saving Ayda. It was about saving you as individuals, and as the couple we’ve come to love having around here.”
“Tell me everything, Jedd,” I begged him quietly.
He did. Jedd told me how Eric had approached him, warning Jedd of something big on the horizon. Something he didn’t know the finer details of yet, but something that had his gut warning him that they needed insurances in place in case The Hut came under attack from anyone. Things that would keep the club, as well as Ayda and me, safe. Since the ATF arrived in town, the plan had always been for Jedd and Eric to slip away and cause a distraction when the time came.
False promises of intel.
False teases of turning rat in order to get out of it all.
More misdirection.
Eric had asked Jedd because he knew Slater was too loyal to keep secrets from me—even ones that would protect my future in the long run. He’d been right in that assessment, too. Slater was loyaler than loyal. The guy struggled to look me in the eye when a lie was resting on his tongue. I’d have figured him out straight away. But Jedd…
Jedd was a natural born VP.
There wasn’t anything he couldn’t do if it served the greater good.
He had all the makings of being president.
He was controlled, a tactician, a military soldier dressed in leather and ink.
I, more than anyone, knew Jedd would lay his life and reputation on the line to defend his president and his club.
“Harry had hinted to me before that the club had a rat, but in typical Harry fashion, he called it a mole—just a man or a whore with a big mouth and loose lips. He never said anything about it being Owen Sinclair who would betray us.”
“And that made you wary of everyone around here,” I added, purposely making it a statement rather than a question. “And that’s why you’ve been asking more questions lately, brooding more, looking disappointed at all of us and having me think that, for all this time, you’ve been disappointed in me.”
It was Jedd’s turn to frown. “How could I ever be disappointed in you?”
With a shrug, I answered honestly. “Because I went and fell in love with a girl who took up more space in my heart than this club ever could.”
The silence was tense between all of us when my eyes met Jedd’s again.
“That’s what you think?” he eventually asked, his voice hoarse.
“The thought had crossed my mind once or twice. You blamed me for disappearing after Harry died and—”
“I blamed you for closing the fucking doors on us all, Drew, not for disappearing or falling in love with Ayda. Fuck me, do you know how many people in this club wish they had what you have? Do you know how many of us lay on our beds, letting random whores suck our dicks while we look up at the ceiling and dream of a love like you’ve managed to find?”
I leaned back and straightened my shoulders, unable to hide my surprise at his admissions.
