That’s when I hear a thud coming from upstairs—the door shutting.
21
DIESEL
“We shouldn’t have let her run away,” Cash says.
We’re at the clubhouse doing what we normally do when not under attack—drinking away our sorrows. There’s a lot today. Especially resentment.
I can’t even fucking look at Bishop. I always knew he was a liability, killing without intention, but I never thought he would be capable of mass murder.
We’re not talking about a couple of deaths.
We’re talking a couple hundred. I’m surprised he dodged law enforcement. There would have been so many missing people records, so many worried families. The only reason Reaper Sons wouldn’t have reported it to the cops is that they didn’t want to expose themselves as they filed the reports.
Of course, they’re out to seek revenge another way—to destroy us.
“We have to keep this between us three,” I say.
Bishop looks up from his third beer. We’ve only been sitting here twenty minutes. “Thanks, mate.”
“No. This has nothing to do with you. If we weren’t under threat, I’d say that the club deserves to know the truth. I have a feeling it’ll come out once all of this is over, anyway. But right now, we can’t afford to tear ourselves apart when we have Reaper Sons already trying to do that.”
Bishop keeps staring at his beer, quietly understanding.
“What are we gonna do about Melissa?” asks Cash.
“We hope that she has listened to me and exited the office.”
“Has anybody heard from her since the phone call?”
In unison, we all shake our heads.
Fuck, I knew there was something off with her—the gut instinct never lies. The thing is, life has now thrown a bigger dilemma my way. She kept information from us when we laid all of our cards on the table, but Istillhave feelings for her, more than I’m willing to admit. Every time I think about her snooping around in father’s office, I feel nauseous. If there’s one thing to note about Melissa, it’s that she’s determined.
I just hope it doesn’t come as a cost to us.
“I know she might be able to find something that can help us, but it’s not worth the risk.” Bishop runs his finger up the side of his glass. “I hate that we second-guessed her. Of course she wasn’t a traitor spying on us.”
“We?”Cash shakes his head. “Do you mean the two of you? I mean you, Bishop—you were so convinced that she actually had an alternative agenda that went against our own.”
“It was easier to believe that she did,” he says.
Cash and I turn our heads. “What are you talking about?”
“Mate, I was terrified. The feelings I had towards her…I’ve never felt that way before.”
I watch his face, knowing exactly what he means.
“But only one thing scares me now, and it has nothing to do with my feelings. I’m afraid of what Jax might do to his own daughter if he finds out that she knows his true identity. That she knows everything.”
The nausea surfaces again.
And then a text message pings through.
Cash and Bishop rise to attention, eyes glued to the phone screen as they wait.
I pick up my phone and feel my spirit leave my body.