Page 57 of Phantom
“You,” I hissed.
Taylor was how Tess figured out the truth about me. In truth, I only had myself to blame. Taylor had been an issue from the beginning, and though I knew he was around back when Tess and I were friends, I never saw him much, and I was hoping he wouldn’t remember me. It was a possibility I didn’t see, or rather, one I didn’t want to see. A hole that large would have willed me away from Tess before I even followed after her when I first came to Hoppa. Whether consciously or subconsciously, I put that fear out of my mind and pretended like it wouldn’t be an issue.
Well, now it was, and that’s what I got for ignoring my better nature.
“You should have left Hoppa when you had the chance,” Taylor said. “Now I get to kill you, and I’m going to do it in full respect of the bylaws.” He turned his back and waved a hand through the air. “See ya later.”
Neither Tess nor I was in any position to get up and run after him, so we both just sat in stunned silence, each letting out a sigh of relief when we heard Lockjaw’s distant growls before the door opened and slammed shut, followed by the sound of Lockjaw’s claws on the floor as he came to investigate.
“We have to go now,” I said. “The motel is about an hour out of Hoppa. Take only what you need. We can replace our stuff when we get to Munich.”
I sprang up out of bed, but Tess reached out a hand and took my arm. “Colin, we can’t run.”
“We have to. Your dad is going to order him to kill me. In a straight up fight, I can defend myself, but if all the Knights are holding me down, I don’t stand a chance.”
“He wouldn’t do that,” Tess yelped. “My dad likes you. Hell, he considered giving his entire fucking club to you. He knows that Taylor is batshit. He’ll listen to reason.”
“I was an Unchained Dog, Tess.” I crouched on the bed and took her head into my hands. “I love you so much, but if I go back there, I won’t leave.”
“He’ll listen,” Tess said. “Please, just trust me.”
There was nothing about what she was saying that made any logical sense. I needed to get out of Hoppa, not go to the epicenter of where I’d committed the most transgressions. Still, Tess had given me the benefit of the doubt more than once, and so did Nick, for that matter. She deserved a little bit of faith. If we could solve this one last problem, Caid and a brand-new life awaited us in Germany.
“Okay, baby,” I said finally. “I trust you.”
She kissed me. “Thank you. Get dressed. We’ll leave in five minutes.”
My fight or flight told me to flee, so the closer I got to Hoppa’s Taphouse, the closer I felt to a meltdown. Tess clung tightly to my hand as I drove us in her car to the Taphouse and parked in one of the designated Steel Knights spots. My stomach did backflips as we walked through the front door and nearly emptied out when we walked into the bar and saw Nick standing there, waiting with all of the Steel Knights, Taylor included, behind him like a pack of wolves that were ready to pounce.
He locked eyes with me. “Is it true? You’re a Dog?”
I held my head up high. “I used to be. I stole a shit ton of money from ’em, and there’s a hit out on me.”
Nick’s jaw clenched, and in all of the tense interactions I’d seen him have with the other club members, nothing compared to the way he bore into me. “I trusted you.” He looked at Tess. “Both of you.”
“This was all me,” I said. “Tess had no idea.”
“She knew you weren’t CJ,” Nick said. “She wagered her position on you. She knew what she was doing, and she will pay with the loss of that position.”
Even though we were planning to leave, Tess deflated next to me when Nick said the words. “I understand.”
“As for you,” Nick said. “Your actions break more than one of our bylaws. Hiding your true identity is strictly forbidden, as is having served for a rival club. The latter of these is considered betrayal in the highest regard and is punishable in our bylaws by death.” He shook his head at me before turning to look at Taylor. “As Sergeant at Arms, the task will be Taylor’s.”
“Daddy!” Tess barked. “You’re not even going to hear him out?”
“There’s nothing to hear,” Nick replied, but there was desperation and sadness in his eyes when he looked at Tess. “I’ve been outvoted.”
“Our bylaws give anyone who has been punished with execution twenty-four hours to get their affairs in order,” Tess spat back. “Colin’s owed that.”
“He’s owed nothing,” Taylor said. “He lied.”
“Fine,” Nick said. “He can take his twenty-four hours.”
“Nicky, don’t be stupid,” Bernard said. “He’ll just run.”
“I won’t run,” I said. “I’ll accept my punishment as I’ve earned it.”
“These aren’t bent rules, Bucky. She’s right. Our bylaws explicitly state that.” He looked back at Taylor. “Correct?”
