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My eyes bugged. He would give her up? His actions since she passed didn’t fit with the words he was saying, yet the truth was there in the finality of his answer.

“You’d walk away from her?”

He nodded his affirmation. And the way his throat swallowed, I knew he couldn’t say the words out loud. While I believed him, there was something more. Something had happened and I couldn’t help but wonder if Rachel’s loyalty to Ryder had changed something in their relationship. A tear in the otherwise thick fabric of their connection we all thought was strong enough to withstand anything.

“Did Mellie ask you to leave the club?” King asked.

“No. She had no idea until I told her out at the ranch.” Her surprise and disbelief when I told her pierced something in my heart. My woman had been hurt, and if it was the last fucking thing I did, I would drench her in the love she didn’t believe she deserved.

“How long had you been considering leaving the club?”

“Honestly?”

“I would hope you wouldn’t offer anything else.”

I squirmed in my seat. King wanted the truth, but I knew he wouldn’t like what he was about to hear. The truth was, I had been considering leaving the club from the very first moment.

“The night I met her, it crossed my mind that she was less than an hour from the Diamondback Club.”

“You wanted to patch over?” King’s eyes widened comically.

“I considered it.”

“What changed?” King asked. He sat in his chair, arms crossed over his desk. His focus on me, unwavering. He didn’t try to convince me otherwise. He didn’t yell, or demand I put my cut back on, never removing it again. He didn’t rule with fear and intimidation.

He gave the same respect he demanded from us. He was fair in his assessments and his punishments. With everyone but himself.

And Grace.

“I didn’t know why she ran that night. There was no indication she wasn’t as into me as I was into her. She was lit up like a fucking Christmas tree when we left the bar. We had planned on spending the entire night fucking.”

“Jesus Christ, I don’t need to hear this shit. Mellie is like my little sister.”

I hitched an eyebrow at Cash. His eyes closed, realizing what he said. When he opened them again and found King and I staring at him, he grunted, “Fuck off.”

Maybe with the arrival of Melissa, he would get a little insight into the relationship Ryder had with his old lady. Maybe he would finally be willing to let it go. The club didn’t need to be split going into a war.

“Continue,” King pressed.

“When we got outside, she saw my bike. I asked her if she’d ever been on one, and she said yes. So, it never occurred to me that the bike was the issue. She didn’t sound any different when she said she forgot her jacket and had to tell her friends she was leaving. When she never came out, I went looking for her and realized she’d slipped out the back.”

Leaning forward, I rested my elbows on my knees.

“Had I known then what the issue was, I probably would have let it go and not thought about her again. We had a connection. Something I had never felt in my life. But not wanting to be on a bike would have been a deal breaker. But after months of thinking about her. Giving up any other woman because I wanted to feel what I felt with her and not being able to experience it. When I walked into the main room and saw her standing there.”

Shaking my head, I sat back again. I was antsy. I couldn’t sit still. Justifying my actions was something I wasn’t used to. Sure, I answered to King and to Cash, but that was club shit. And until now, that was all my life had been about. I knew they didn’t get it. Cash was willing to give up his old lady. King refused to claim his.

“I can’t make you understand. I need her in my life. I feel like I started breathing again when she was finally standing in front of me. And the fucking truth is, I hadn’t even realized I had stopped.”

“So, what now?” King asked.

With a heavy exhale, knowing the hard part was over, I said, “That depends on Sypher and Pippen. Melissa needs Dani in her life, like I need her. So, we’ll go where they go.”

King looked at Cash and I swear they both had a smirk. What it meant, I had no idea. These two assholes were close. They had conversations frequently that didn’t include the rest of us. Even if we were in the same fucking room.

“I have a suggestion. Something I want you to think about. Talk to Mellie about. See if you can come to a compromise.”

I was already shaking my head at his words. Melissa didn’t need a compromise. She needed to know she was important. That she came first.