Page 117 of Ethan's Sky

“I get it.” Hawk pipes up from the back wall. “Vincenzo doesn’t want to go against his word, so he’ll tell you and make you the asshole who tells all George’s secrets.”

Vincenzo smiles. “A man is only as good as his word.”

Gabe grunts. “Ghost, Ethan, Mack, Pop, follow me. Vincenzo.” We all follow Gabe down the hall to his office. He takes his place behind the desk with Mack standing beside him, leaning against the wall. Vincenzo takes a seat across from Gabe with Matteo mimicking Mack beside him. Ghost takes the other chair with me and Caleb hanging back by the door.

“We missed you at George’s funeral. I would’ve thought since you called him friend on the phone before he died, you would’ve come and paid your respects, if nothing else to console his daughter.” Gabe’s not pulling any punches. Letting Vincenzo know he’s pissed, and he knows some things himself. Him coming into the clubhouse and making requests after making it known he’s been watching us, is crossing a line.

Gabe’s leaning back in his chair, arms crossed over his chest the epitome of calm, but we all know he’s one nerve snapping away from losing his shit on Parisi. He doesn’t like that an outsider knows our business.

Vincenzo tips his chin, “My presence at his funeral would have raised questions and garnered attention none of us want. I’m sure you can understand. You wouldn’t have known of my arrangement with George except your man got to the dash cam footage before mine could.” He shrugs. “It’s since been destroyed, as have the phone records.”

“The fuck?” Mack takes out his phone shooting off a text message, probably to Declan to verify Vincenzo’s claim. “Those records are property of Garrison Security and West Enterprises; the fuck are you doing messing with our shit without talking to Pres about it first?”

“Again, I mean no disrespect. I was merely keeping my word to George. If either the phone records or the dash cam videos were to get into the wrong hands, we would all be affected by the outcome, but none more so than Skyler Sinclair.” He looks from Gabe to Ghost, to me. “The whole point of George’s sacrifice was keeping his daughter and your club safe. I’m merely doing my part to uphold my end of the agreement.”

“What was your agreement?” Ghost asks, his hands gripping the arms of his chair. As close as he’s sitting to Vincenzo, he could have him by the throat and on the floor in seconds. It wouldn’t be the smartest thing he could do with Matteo hovering close by, but the fury I see staring back in his eyes tells me he’s seconds away from not giving a shit about the repercussions.

“I can’t give you all the details, but I will tell you the parts which concern your club.” Oh, this son of bitch has a death wish. Gabe, Ghost, and Mack look ready to murder his ass for crossing so many lines with the club already. For once, I may be the only level head in the room. I’m not sure how I feel about the whole situation.

“The fuck do you mean you can’t give us all the details?” Gabe grits through his teeth.

“I’m sure you can understand, Gabriel. Sometimes we do business with multiple partners involved. You and Mr. West own businesses together, have arrangements made that others are not privy to.” Gabe’s eyes narrow. Mack snaps his head up from his phone his face stone cold. “I too have similar business arrangements. Some others may know about, but they do not haveallthe details. I trust you understand. Some details need to remain close to the vest,” He looks directly at Mack, raising his eyebrow in challenge. Mack doesn’t react. “Call it insurance. As such, I can only tell you the information George felt would affect you and your club, as well as Miss Sinclair’s safety. Would you like me to tell you, or would you prefer I handle this my way and leave your club in the dark moving forward?”

“This motherfucker.” Mack grumbles.

“I would watch how you speak to Mister Parisi,” Matteo reprimands. “We’re here as a courtesy, but that could very easily change should you choose to be disrespectful to the boss.”

“Disrespectful?” Mack laughs. “Yourbossignored messages from Pres when he knew we would find out he was connected to George’s death. Afriendwould’ve brought the information to us first thing, especially if it would’ve helped us catch the motherfucker responsible. But instead, your boss ignored the calls. Didn’t show for the funeral to pay respects. You two come up in here, uninvited, unannounced, spouting about club business he should have zero knowledge of, asking for a fucking meeting, only to tell us hecan’t tell us everything.Yourbosshas done nothing but be disrespectful!” Mack shouts.

“Mack.” Gabe chastises. “He has a point, Vincenzo. You’re walking a fine line. You know the only thing keeping me from putting a bullet in your head is we share a mutual interest. I’m willing to set aside my grievances, for Skyler’s sake.For now.”

“Understood.”

“What was your arrangement with George?” Gabe asks.

“He came to me with concerns about a shipment a man named Spider propositioned him to deliver. George recognized the man’s tattoos as being those of a rival club to the Kings, which I’m sure you’ve figured out is why he didn’t come to you for help. He feared you would go to war over a situation that was not yours to get involved in. But his real concern was for his daughter. George feared Spider would remember Skyler and come for her. He worried if you knew he had trouble with the Devils, a war between clubs would be inevitable and the outcome could leave Skyler unprotected should something happen to him. An outcome he couldn’t accept.”

“So, he came to you to do what? Steel the load and kill the bastard Devil?” Ghost asks looking slightly calmer than moments ago.

“Not exactly.” Vincenzo continues. “My only interest in the Devil was to discover who he was working for or if he was working alone. But then George told me about the night Skyler killed Spider’s brother. The night she was banished from Oak Ridge, only it wasn’t her actions that caused her to be banished, was it Ghost?”

I don’t miss the was Ghost’s shoulders slump. Gabe side eyes me. I lean back against the wall, my hands tucked behind my back, so I don’t punch every one of these fuckers for keeping this shit from me for so long. “I already know Skyler killed that fucker Chase, and I couldn’t be prouder of her. Hell, I’d hunt the fucker down if he was still breathing, but I guess his brother will be good enough, since he thought it was wise to come after my woman.”

Ghost, Mack, and Gabe all turn, studying my face. Caleb who’s still standing beside me, puts his hand on my shoulder and chuckles. “I knew you’d figure your shit out, son. Took you long enough. But I’m damn sure glad you two are working things out.”

Vincenzo searches my face, his own remains expressionless.

“But if killing Chase wasn’t the reason she was sent away, what was? What am I missing?” My tone is pushing boundaries, I can see the tick in Gabe’s jaw and his warning glare. But I don’t fucking care.

“She was sent away to protect the club. More specifically to protect me.” Ghost says, sounding dejected. “Sky pulled the trigger killing the bastard in self-defense. But it was me, Caleb, and a prospect who disposed of the body. Skyler witnessed us removing Chase’s body and heard us talking about cleaning the scene. We all thought it best if she wasn’t around for the cops to question. If they didn’t ask, she didn’t have to lie for anyone. It was already killing her to keep Emily’s secrets from you. We weren’t sure what keeping our secrets would mean for her. Figured if she wasn’t around where people would whisper or question, keeping things to herself would be easier for her.”

“We all knew Skyler’s a shit liar. Always has been. We couldn’t risk it.” Caleb adds quietly beside me.

“What secrets was she keeping for Emily? What do you all know about my sister?” I’m shouting, pissed they could keep things about Emily from me. If they knew something about how she died, they should’ve fucking told me.

“Your sister was a whore.” Vincenzo says it so plainly, the way you would tell someone the color of your car. No emotion, just facts.

“The fuck are you talking about? She was drugged and raped. I saw the police report.”

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