Page 61 of Jake's Angel

“Drea, if you go anywhere nearmy daughteror speak disrespectfully about her again, I will toss you out on your ass.” He’s nose-to-nose with her, the fury in his eyes unmistakable.

I guess we’re spilling the beans to the rest of the club about Avery today, too.

Fan-fucking-tastic.

Gabe’s announcement has everyone in the room stopping to pay attention. “That goes for the rest of you as well. Avery is club royalty. My fucking flesh and blood.” He pounds his fist on his chest. “Youwilltreat her with the respect she deserves, or you’ll find your ass on the curb. This is your only warning.” He glares specifically at Drea. “You all got me?”

Resounding shouts of “Yes sir” and “Got you, Pres” are heard throughout the clubhouse.

“Officers, we have unfinished shit to attend to. Grab your poison and let’s get this over with.” His glare meets mine and just like that, the moment of laughter and shit stirring jokes is gone.

We file into church, and I choose to remain standing, leaning with my back against the wall at the far end of the room. Putting some space between my temper and Pres’s. We’re both running hot and but there’s more to talk about still.

“All right. Let’s get this shit over with. You may ask me anything you want just this once about this club, Maggie’s accident, or my daughter. However, once this meeting is adjourned, we will never discuss these things in detail again. The past will stay buried with my wife where it belongs.” Gabe makes eye contact with each man in the room, one by one. Each giving a subtle tip of the chin or a head nod to his orders.

“Now, Jake, I know you’re having the hardest time with this, so why don’t you start?”

Clearing my throat, looking him dead in the eyes, I deflect to him. “Why don’t you start from the beginning, and then we’ll ask our questions from there since apparently you and the old-timers are privy to some information the rest of us aren’t.”

“Seems to be a pattern.” Ethan grumbles. Gabe shoots him a warning glare, daring him to say something else.

When Ethan’s woman disappeared and his sister died, he was in agony. Drinking, getting into fights, a complete mess.The club stepped in to help him. Got him back into fighting and building his own business. He was on track for a better life with the brotherhood behind him. Only to find out later, the club had been keeping secrets from him about Skyler. She was labeledclub business, and we were left in the dark, even after we all patched in. Hawk searched for years, and he couldn’t find her. Ghost made sure no one outside the original members knew where his niece was until the day she came home needing our protection.

I’m starting to understand why Ethan felt betrayed by the Kings.

It’s hard not to see it any other way.

Ethan’s hands come up in a placating manner. I don’t blame him for still having the burning feeling about being lied to.

Gabe scrubs his beard then, looking at Caleb, he tips his head in a silent command to tell what he knows. “Shit. You sure about this?”

“No, but they need to know.” It’s Caleb who tips his head, this time leaning back against his chair, folding his arms and stroking his long gray beard. “You all know my brother Jonah was gunned down in what appeared to be a robbery at the firearms store just a few days before Maggie’s accident.” There’s a collective nod. “We weren’t sure at first, but after Maggie’s accident it became clear both their deaths were intentional.”

Everyone sits a little taller, patiently waiting for him to continue. Jameson’s jaw clenches at the mention of his father’s murder. I have to wonder if Jameson knew any of this beforehand.

My chest gets tighter with every inquiry into who knew what about who and when. We’re supposed to be a family.A brotherhood.Loyal to the bone, yet I don’t feel the same level of fidelity among my brothers.

“When I was President, the Devil’s Order MC had been slowly making their way into Oak Ridge territory. Their primary source of business was drug running. We weren’t sure who they were running for, but we knew we didn’t want any part of it for ourselves or our town. Although it didn’t stop some of our guys from getting hooked on the shit anyway.”

“Fuck.” Declan hisses as he rubs the back of his neck, contemplating this added bit of information. Everyone knows how Hawk’s dad got hooked on drugs. He used to beat the hell out of Hawk and his mom. Eventually, Nate left both his family and the Kings to join the Devil’s Order. He was the first traitor among us.

Hawk doesn’t talk about it, but we all know the struggles he went through growing up.

“A few days before Jonah’s murder, Vicious, their president at the time, called for a meeting to discuss a partnership with the Kings. They were branching out in their business ventures, adding gun running to their portfolio. They wanted to use Fury Firearms as their storage facility. In turn, we would take twenty percent of their profit. As you can imagine, both Nate and Thomas wanted in on the deal.”

“Of course he did. Nate’s only care in the world was himself and his next hit. What better way to secure both than to work with the guys who supplied him with the shit?” Hawk grumbles, shaking his head in disgust.

“Obviously, we declined.” Caleb continues. “Thomas and Nate were furious, but they were overruled. Thomas knew he was next in line to be president, but he needed to prove himself. Work his way up the ranks. He thought making the club money and scoring a partnership with the DOMC would prove he was worthy.”

“Until Jonah’s death, Thomas moving up the ranks was never the plan. But it didn’t stop him from telling the Devils hewould soon have my seat. His mouth was writing checks his ass couldn’t cash.”

“You think he would’ve taken you out to get his shot?” Caleb chuckles, giving a subtle tip of his head. “After everything he did to this family, to his own blood, I wouldn’t put anything past him.”

“Three days later, Jonah was gunned down at the shop, left for dead with a clear message from the Devil’s Order. They weren’t taking no for an answer.” He pauses, leaning forward, placing his elbows on the table. “The very next day, Vicious reached out again, calling for another meeting. Since Jonah was gone, and we hadn’t yet held a vote to fill his seat, I took Ghost, Gus, Mack, and Gabe with me.” He nods to Ghost.

“When we arrived, we were informed the man who killed Jonah, named Viper, wasn’t operating under the orders of his President. He had gone rogue. He was the one who brought the gun deal to their club and stood to make a great deal of money from it. Once the first shipment was moved, he was going to receive a large bonus from the supplier. He took Caleb’s brush off personally. Killing Jonah was his way of getting the point across. We were fucking with the wrong people.”

“Viper disappeared in the wind after Jonah’s murder. Both the Devil’s Order and the Kings were scouring for him. We had agreed—since he had in fact gone rogue—once he was caught by either club, justice would be served appropriately. Death for a death.”

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