Page 21 of Wings
"Maybe because you're playing a longer game," Tyson suggested. "Maybe because sacrifice sells sincerity."
I laughed—short, bitter, tinged with exhaustion. "You're giving me too much credit. I'm not that smart. I'm just trying to find where I fit. If that's not here, tell me now. But don't insult me by thinking I'd use the one person—"
I cut myself off, but too late. The words hung there, revealing more than I'd meant to show.
"The one person what?" Duke's question was soft, which made it worse.
"The one person I gave a damn about protecting," I finished.
Duke's expression shifted—so subtle I almost missed it. Something that might have been respect or might have been the decision to put me down clean instead of messy.
"Noted," he said finally. "Now let's discuss what happens next."
"I should withdraw from the assignment. Find someone else for the medical runs. Keep me on garage duty, grunt work, whatever you need that doesn't involve—"
"No." Duke's interruption cracked like a whip, sharp enough to draw blood. "You'll continue the runs. You'll maintain contact with Miss Santos."
"I don't understand."
Duke smiled then, but it wasn't the kind that made you feel better. It was the smile of a man who'd survived this life by seeing three moves ahead while everyone else played checkers.
"We have a duty of care to Miss Santos. She's been reliable for three years, saved more than a few of our brothers with those supplies. Now she's spooked, might rabbit, and we can't afford to lose that pipeline." Duke paused, studying me. "Your connection complicates things, but it's also an asset. She trusts you—or at least, she used to. That trust might keep her from running."
"She doesn't trust me." The memory of her backing away, hands shaking, burned fresh. "She told me to have Doc send someone else."
"Fear response," Tyson said quietly. "Not the same as distrust. There's history there, both good and bad, from the look of it. Right now, that thin thread of connection is the best thing we've got."
"There's more to it," Duke said sharply. "You know your brother better than anyone. If Alex moves against us—or against her—you'll see it first. You’ll recognize signs no one else would. That makes you our early warning system."
Thor nodded and uncrossed his arms, his gaze intense. "This pipeline keeps our brothers breathing without handcuffs. It isn't just supplies—it's leverage against the Serpents. If she goes dark, we lose ground. Fast."
"We protect the ones we love," Duke continued, voice dropping low, dangerous. "But you remember the club alwayscomes first. Your brother's choices, your feelings for this girl—none of that matters more than the patch you're trying to earn."
"I don't love her," I said, the lie automatic and transparent as glass.
Duke, Tyson, and Thor exchanged the kind of look that said I might as well have tattooed "hopelessly in love" across my forehead. Duke stood, all six-foot-four of him unfolding with the controlled power of a man who'd never needed to throw his weight around because everyone already knew what he was capable of.
"One more thing, prospect." He rounded the desk, stopping close enough that I could smell the coffee on his breath. "That girl is running from something that left marks. If that something is your brother, I need to know—are you strong enough to stand up to him?"
My twin, my blood, the kid I'd protected from bullies and bad decisions until I couldn't anymore. The brother who'd spiraled into darkness while I was overseas trying to be the hero neither of us could actually be.
"If he hurt her—" My voice came out rough, scraped raw by possibilities I'd never let myself fully consider. "If he's the reason she's running, then yes. Absolutely."
"And if he comes for her? If the Serpents decide she's unfinished business?"
"Then they go through me first."
"Good." Duke nodded slowly, decision made. "Because if your brother weakens our club—if his bullshit brings Serpent heat to our doorstep—you'll answer for it. Blood or not, prospect. You're claiming responsibility here."
The weight of it settled on my shoulders like a yoke. I was now personally accountable for whatever chaos my connection to Ki might bring. If she ran, it was on me. If Alex showed up, it was on me. If the whole thing went sideways and the medicalpipeline collapsed, leaving brothers to bleed out rather than risk hospitals—all on me.
"I understand."
"Do you?" Duke returned to his chair, the king settling back on his throne. "Because what I'm hearing is that you've got feelings for a woman who's terrified of your twin brother, who's now patched into our biggest rival. That's the kind of Greek tragedy shit that gets people killed."
"I'll handle it."
"You'd better." Duke waved a hand in dismissal. "Get out of here. And prospect? Next time you've got relevant intel about connections to the Serpents, you bring it to me before it becomes a problem. Clear?"
