Edge’s hand tightened slightly around the handle of his knife, the blade glinting under the office lights. His voice carried alethal edge beneath the dry humor. “The fucker played us all this time. I say we gut him and dump him in the Everglades.”
Kane cut a look of silent warning in his direction, but Edge just shrugged and smirked. Kane shifted his gaze back to me, watching me with a calm intensity that made even the strongest men want to shift uneasily in their seats.
“He needs to go. Scar him and cut him loose. Make sure he never fucking shows his face around here again.”
“I get where you’re coming from.” I held Kane’s gaze. “But we need leverage first. Prospects don’t know club secrets, but they still see enough to be dangerous if they want to cause problems. We need to be sure Tripp won’t bring shit to our doorstep.”
Kane leaned back in his chair, his expression thoughtful. Edge continued flipping his knife quietly, clearly wanting more immediate justice, but he stayed silent as his brother considered the point.
“You have a plan in mind?” Kane finally asked, his probing gaze never wavering from mine.
I hesitated just for a moment. The Redline Kings were my family, and he’d played on my trust, mocking the very loyalty we lived and died by. This was personal, and it had already rooted itself too deep inside me to ignore.
I wasn’t ready to share the rough plan starting to develop in my head with them fully, though. Kane would likely shut it down immediately. And if he didn’t, Savannah would hand both of us our asses when she found out. But I needed to handle this my way.
“It’s my fuckup,” I explained. “I brought Tripp in and vouched for him. Trusted him. I need to be the one to deal with this directly. Let me handle it.”
Kane studied me carefully for another long moment. “Blitz, you can’t rake yourself over the coals forever on this. You see damn near everything, but you’re still human. You trustedsomeone. Wanting to see the best in your friend doesn’t make you weak. It makes you loyal, and it makes you human.”
I nodded, though the guilt still lingered beneath the surface. Kane was trying to pull me back from the brink, reminding me not to drown myself in blame. I appreciated it, even if I wasn’t fully ready to accept his words yet.
Finally, Kane leaned back again in his chair. “All right. You handle it your way. For now.”
I stood, grateful for his approval, and as I walked out, the plan developed more fully in my head, crystallizing into something colder than before.
I’d been turning Tripp’s betrayal over in my mind again and again, remembering every detail he’d ever revealed. He rarely spoke about family, but when he did, he mentioned his sister carefully. There was love there, an attachment strong enough to exploit.
The idea formed itself clearly now. I’d find Tripp’s sister and make her fall for me. I could be real fucking charming when I bothered to try. She would become my emotional leverage, an insurance policy against Tripp’s revenge. He wouldn’t dare betray me openly or hurt me further if it meant destroying his own sister. He’d hesitate, second-guess, and ultimately back down, leaving the club safe. Then when I was sure he was no longer a threat, I’d disappear and break her heart, leaving him to pick up the pieces.
I felt something uncomfortable twist inside me at the thought, but I pushed it away quickly. This wasn’t about morality or right and wrong. It was about justice. Revenge, pure and simple.
Tripp had brought this on himself by betraying the very loyalty I had extended him. Now he’d feel the same pain and sense of loss.
As I walked down the hallway, I silenced the voice inside me that warned how wrong this was, how it made me no better than Tripp himself. I couldn’t listen to that now.
This was strategic. Necessary. The only way to ensure that Tripp’s betrayal never touched my club again.
But deep down, beneath the cold logic and hardened resolve, I knew the truth. I was crossing a line that had always defined me—using someone innocent as collateral damage. But I was too full of hate and anger to pull back now.
After leaving Kane’s office, I sent Jax a quick text.
Me
Put together a full dossier on Tripp’s sister.
He replied right away.
Jax
Already on it.
Of course he was. Jax always handled the digital end quickly and efficiently.
I headed to my office, forcing myself to dive into club work, hoping it would help me regain control of my thoughts. But as the hours passed and I tried to focus, the anger and frustration remained stubbornly present. The harder I worked, the more clearly I realized I was barely holding on to my carefully constructed calm.
Eventually, the clubhouse came alive around me, the sounds of laughter and conversation drifting in from the lounge and the large yard behind it. Though I wasn’t exactly in the mood for festivities, I knew better than to skip the party celebrating the first birthday of Travis, Edge and Callie’s son. Family mattered more than anything, and the club was family.
Despite the tension and anger simmering beneath my skin, I joined them in the lounge, settling onto a couch with a glass of whiskey. Given my injury, nobody expected me to do more than sit back and watch, which suited me just fine. From this vantage point, I observed my brothers mingling with their old ladies and kids, and the family atmosphere soothed my restless anger enough for me to breathe easier.
