Keys glanced to Thorne, Grimm, and Goose, who were sitting silently with Tom by the bar. They were here because they were Rose and Oscar’s personal security. Any plan that involved Rose and Oscar would involve them. They’d blindly followed Keys, showing their loyalty time and time again.
His eyes traveled to Ghost, who’d stepped into Steel’s shoes and made them his own. Prior to that, Ghost hadn’t been much for the spotlight. He’d liked to observe, learning all the players before he acted. But when he made a decision, he jumped in feet first and without hesitation.
Poison was a force in and of herself. At times reckless, but powerful. He’d seen a more human side of her recently than he ever had before, but then again, she’d have to be entirely heartless to not feelsomethingwhen her own sister came back from the dead.
Would any of the others in this room have anticipated Kennedy going after Katy and her handler? At the time, they hadn’t known about Corrigan, but still… Would they have predicted what Keys hadn’t?
Keys did not feel like a leader. He’d wanted to give Rose closure, had offered her revenge and the opportunity to step intothe light with him. But so far, his plan had failed. Kennedy was still in hiding, Poison had learned Rose was alive and not on Rose’s terms, and his club was still hurting from an attack while Keys had been distracted. And no, he did not believe that he could have stopped Cameron’s bomb if Rose wasn’t in Mount Grove, but he also knew that he’d been slow to respond or notice certain things because he’d been looking for evidence that Kennedy had set the bomb instead of the real perpetrator.
Rose pulled on Keys’ hand, bringing his attention back down to her. Her blue eyes stared up at him, filled with worry—but also something that struck Keys to the core. Beyond her love for him and her fears for their current predicament, he both saw and felt her faith in him. Mistakes happened, and he’d certainly made his fair share, but none of it mattered.Shebelieved in him, trusted him.
Pulling her further into his side, Keys looked around the room with new eyes. He wasn’t the outlier, the odd man out. He was no longer the kid genius or the toddler with cancer. He might have been wearing a cut for seven years, but he’d been treating it like a cosplay costume. He wasn’t standing in front of a group of strangers, giving a speech about nothing they cared about. He was talking to his tribe, his people. It might have taken him an ungodly amount of time, but he understood now what Steel had been trying to teach him for years, what Ghost had repeated only the day before. They weren’t blood—but they were no less family. He’d never been able to rely on his family, and in many ways, he’d been keeping his club at arm’s length in fear of having to leave them too one day.
But that fear was unprecedented, foolish, and he was finally ready to stand with his club, instead of behind them.
“I’m sorry.”
His voice rang loudly through the room, though he did not shout. Other talk ceased as all eyes turned to him. He caught Thorne’s dark gaze, and held it a moment longer than the others’.The oldest Riley brother gave him the smallest of nods, approval in his eyes.
Keys squared his shoulders. “I should have never done this alone, should have never involved you after the fact. I started this and I sure as hell am going to finish it, but this is a conversation we should have hadbeforeI set things in motion. For that, Iamsorry.” He looked to Poison. “You will get your pound of flesh, but Rose is right. We need to be smart about this. We specifically left no trails that led to Mount Grove, and we have to step carefully to ensure it stays that way. Corrigan first,” he repeated, looking to Angel. “Reach out to your sister. I’ll give her one chance to do this through you before I do it my way. Maybe she’ll take me seriously when I take control of her computer in front of her.” He caught Ghost’s approving smile. “Once we have Corrigan out of the way, and if Kennedy still hasn’t made his move, then we’ll have to dangle another carrot. But I won’t go off half-cocked without a plan—oh, and in case it wasn’t clear, I’m claiming Rose and adopting Oscar.”
CHAPTER 17
It wasn’t often that a helicopter with government tags flew over Mount Grove, Pennsylvania, let alone landed on one of their roofs. But when Keys had designed his building, he knew he would be catering to the elite who would be interested in a security system like his. It had taken some doing, and a small fight with the FAA, but Keys finally got his building approved for a helipad pre-construction.
Angel’s sister, Deputy Director Lyra Mathews, had the honor of being the first one to use it. She arrived a little after nine in the morning two days after Keys’ secrets had been revealed and theNon Crasdescended on the small town. While Oscar and Rose now had access to the VDMC clubhouse and property, not much had changed.
Several of the ol’ ladies invited Rose over, but being the introvert that she was, Rose had declined the offers, making up excuses like wanting to spend time with Poison or she was helping Keys with various projects. While she claimed that she didn’t want Oscar to get overstimulated, Keys knew it was actuallyherwho was overwhelmed. Rose was not used to being the center of attention, and it wasn’t like it was every day that Keysbrought home a new girl. To them, Rose was an enigma they wanted to get to know.
Boots, or Viktor, who had been patched into the club last year, was taking all the club kids on an adventure that morning, including Oscar. A Californian cowboy born and bred, Boots had worked it out with the club where he could develop a patch of club land into a small paddock. After some construction and rezoning, Boots had finally gotten his horses cross country and was getting them set up in their new home today. Not only were the kids going as a distraction, but Jasmine would also be there to do a medical assessment of them and she planned on making it as educational as possible for the children. Several of the ol’ ladies had already asked Boots for riding lessons once he got his horses situated.
Oscarlovedhaving cousins, and had jumped at the opportunity to see the horses. His excitement made Keys contemplate making him a sibling all the more. But that, unfortunately, was a future consideration.
Lyra was older than Angel by six years, with the same dark hair and the same sharp jaw. Unlike Angel who had several dozen tattoos on her body and dressed mostly in jeans and t-shirts, Lyra was clean cut and wore a killer gray three-piece pants suit that looked tailored.
After several failed voicemails, Angel had come to Ghost and Keys the day before with the news that she doubted her estranged sister was going to get in contact with her. Keys wasn’t one to judge. He hadn’t spoken to his own brother in over a decade. But he did hack into Lyra’s work computer and took control of it until she called her sister back.
Ghost and Thorne met the helicopter up on the roof while Keys, Angel, Rose, and Poison waited down in the lobby. It was decided that less was better for this meeting, when normally Ghost would be accompanied by Lucky and Bulldog, and Poison by Scissors and Wendigo. Not wanting too many voices in theroom or for Lyra to feel ambushed, they kept the meeting as small as possible.
Lyra was accompanied by three agents, all of whom looked like they hadn’t seen the field in a long time.
Keys approached with his hand outstretched. “Deputy Director. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.”
While she didn’t hesitate to take his hand, her eyes were less than kind. “I am not accustomed to being summoned like a dog, Mr. Davis.”
She threw his name out like a threat, which, in a way, it was. Keys hadn’t told her his name, leaving only the instruction for Lyra to contact Angel if she wanted control of her computer back. But it wasn’t that big of a surprise that she learned who Keys was, given the connection to Angel. Unlike Scar, Keys didn’t keep his identity beyond his road name a secret that his friends only learnedafterhis supposed death.
Apparently, Keys still held some animosity about that. Oops.
“You’ll be interested in what I have to say,” Keys assured her, letting go of her hand.
“So you’ve stated, and yet I still have no idea why I am here.” It did not pass his notice that neither Angel nor Lyra had yet to acknowledge each other.
Keys ushered her towards the conference room. “Your men will need to remain in the hall. What we will be discussing is above their pay grade.”
Lyra paused, her eyes narrowing slightly. Keys could see her assessing the situation, much like Angel did, but there was a deadliness to Angel that Lyra lacked. She was cold, emotionless. Her weapon was her position and authority, and likely her connections to her father, a highly respected and influential senator. Whereas Angelwasa weapon. Even without her sniper skills, she was deadly enough that when a gang of outlaws tried to take her on, she kicked their asses with her hands bound. WithBree’s help, because she would, of course, teach her paraplegic daughter to be just as ruthless.
Finally, Lyra said, “Very well. I assume you would also like me to leave behind my briefcase and any devices I have in my possession.”
