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“You knew because you were the ringleader. The fourth member who called the shots and was hoping to take over Cast Off’s business.

You thought you had it all figured out. Even had your girl accept a new delivery from Henry.

Don’t worry about how she’s doing. I’ve got a friend dealing with her.

It turns out that while the Hounds don’t deal in skin trafficking and fucking up women, the mafia has a special division for dealing with people who need to be eradicated from the world, and they don’t care what sex they are.

And they were only too happy to offer their services once they learned their sponsor’s favorite fighter was a target. ”

I watch the sweat slowly trickle down his face, waiting till it disappears under his hospital gown before I continue.

I enjoy the fear of quietness. Others prefer to torture and talk about how they’ll string a person up and kill them in explicit detail.

But for me? The ticking of a bomb is stressful enough. Just like waiting to know your fate.

“I don’t know what you planned, and I really don’t care to ask.

I can guess that Shovel’s death was a warning for you.

You erased the tapes, and I know you did.

You think you’re good, but my guy Flint is better.

He found them, and we saw it in full. Everything you thought was gone never was.

But after Shovel’s death, you didn’t know if Henry would still play the game. ”

I lean closer, making sure he understands that I’m smarter.

That I figured it out. His plan that he thought was so clever?

It wasn’t. He got caught. I don’t give a fuck that he almost got away with it—he didn’t.

And from the pale look on his face, any gloating he might have done is now gone.

He might have bragged to his boys about it or some bitch he was fucking, but that was before he dealt with me.

The president of the fucking Michigan chapter, and the one who will destroy him for this.

“Sure, he got your girl the next delivery, but how long could you really keep him on a leash? That’s why you decided to pin it on someone else.

It was the distraction you needed to get Henry to Viv.

You made a deal with him: Viv in exchange for working with you when you asked.

You even had him stab you, so it looked like you were a victim.

But he went a little too far, didn’t he?

You expected the ‘attack’ but also planned to double-cross him yourself.

And that’s why you sent the plumber a message to turn the water on early.

You counted on us finding him. You knew he would be there.

He told you. You were to keep people out by disabling the cameras, which you did.

We found the email to the plumbing company.

Bet you thought we wouldn’t know it was you.

I mean, the warehouse was a dead zone, and then you couldn’t get your phone if you were in surgery.

But hey, that’s what delayed delivery is good for, huh? ”

The guy’s whiter than the sheets he’s lying on. I’m not smiling, nor showing anger. Just talking. Like a ticking time bomb. You know it’s coming, just not sure when the explosion will happen. You don’t know if you have enough time to get out of the blast radius.

“What are you going to do?”

I snort. The guy isn’t even trying to dispute it. How anticlimactic.

“Nothing.”

I take a step back from his bed and head for the door .

“Nothing? But why? I went after your girl. I was going to start the skin trade up again.”

He’s one of the worst bad guys ever. Doesn’t he know he’s supposed to be denying all this stuff, not admitting to it? And he definitely shouldn’t admit it and then ask why I’m not gonna kill him.

I open the door to the hallway and look back. “You’re not mine to kill.”

Bane stands tall, taking up the whole doorway, and then strolls in.

“You’re mine.” He walks closer to Link, who shrinks back into his bed.

Much like how I imagine Viv did when Henry was standing over her.

And just like Henry not giving Viv a reprieve, Bane doesn’t give Link one either.

“You came into my club and thought you could do this shit. Thought you and your friends could take it over. You were never good at being a Hound, and you sure as shit fucking suck at being a human being. Lucky for you, I plan to rid the world of both of your problems.”

Bane covers Link’s mouth and nose and clamps down. The guy tries to swat at him, but Bane has the leverage, and the muscle.

I walk out, letting the door shut as I go. Bane’s got this, and I’ve got a girl to get back to.

After I spoke to Henry and then his unfortunate death—not—I went to the hospital. I’m completely fine with how Henry died. His death, by right, should have fallen to me. Not only because of what he did against Viv but to my club, since I’m still the acting president. But I really don’t care.

I wanted to be the one who confronted Link with what we found.

But I also wanted to be there to watch Bane hear it from me.

This was his final test. And he passed. The guy asked for only one thing: He wanted to be the one to clear out the last of the trash in what was once his club. I couldn’t deny him that.

On the way back, I called Casper and filled him in on everything.

He knew most of it, but I told him how it ended.

And my thoughts about what to do with the club.

He’s on board with my plan. Not a single doubt about anything I said.

Having your president, the mother chapter’s president, have that much faith in you is the equivalent of a dad teaching you how to throw a ball for the first time.

Or it is for me. Not sure how the other guys feel about it.

I’m sure one or two might be pissed that they have to run shit through another person, but I’m good with it.

I was never the official president. It was just a hack job to fool a few people and find some rats, and it worked.

Now it’s time to move on to the next step in my life.

I took the truck to the hospital since a cold front came in and we expect some snowfall.

Wasn’t sure how long I’d have to wait for Link to wake up, but as I park the truck and get out of the cab, putting my club vest on, I look at the sky.

I’ve been here long enough to know that just because it’s dark out doesn’t mean shit.

But if you smell snow? It’s coming. I’m not native enough to predict how long, but I don’t chance it and just get inside the club.

“Sorry, man,” Swiss says as soon as I walk in.

“Sorry for what?” I shake off the cold and run my hand through my hair to push it back .

“I thought she knew. Sorry, man. I really thought she knew. We all did. Figured you told her already.” He’s rambling, and I’ve got no fucking idea what he’s going on about.

“Told who what?”

“You’re leaving?”

To her credit, Viv doesn’t yell. There’s no shouting or throwing things. She just asks the question loud enough for it to carry across the whole damn clubhouse as she stands by the clinic and I by the front door.

I swear the entire club is here except Bane, though I wouldn’t be surprised if someone calls him so he can hear this. The room is silent as they all watch us. A freaking tennis match without a ball.

“That was always the plan.”

“A plan you conveniently forgot to tell me.”

I rub the back of my neck and look at her, then nod.

It’s the truth. I didn’t tell her. I went in thinking this was temporary.

I expected it to be. I didn’t want to think about the future because I didn’t know what that meant for us.

To be with a guy like me, one whose life changes at the whim of his president.

It wasn’t fair to expect her to be okay with that.

I never thought I’d get this involved. I expected a few nights of fun. Maybe even a few months. Figured we liked each other enough to want to hook up again every so often while I was here. When I started this, I really never thought beyond it.

But I wish I had.

I wish I could have seen this coming or even thought of the possibilities.

If I had, I would never have gotten involved.

But then that would mean she could be dead.

Her life events were never tied to mine.

We might have found out about Link on our own, or we might never have.

The events that could have been are not important.

It doesn’t matter because we’ll never know.

All we know is that we’re here now, and I’m left with a choice.

Just like she is.

“So, what now?” she asks, and I shrug.

I won’t beg her to stay. She can live without me. She’s proven it time and time again. She doesn’t need me.

Not like me.

I know my place in the club. Or I thought I did.

I was the guy you called to blow shit up or to have a beer with while talking about tattoos.

Iinked people up and did the books. I was there, but not the main guy.

Just the background noise. And I was okay with that.

Never was the one with the big energy to take over the show, but I saw a lot, which is why Casper thought I could do this.

I saw things that some might overlook or just flat-out ignore because it was obvious.

Did I know Link was the missing link—pun intended—in the club up here?

Not at first, but I added up the pieces and things came together for us to get the full story.

We didn’t even need Henry to tell us all of it.

I was connecting the dots before we questioned him.

Which was why we kept him alive. I expected him to know more.

He had to. It was the only way for him to have gotten a jump on both Shovel and Link.

He had to have someone on the inside, and my gut was leaning toward one.

Both was a lucky coincidence. I was going to let both of them go either way.

They never seemed like true Hound material to me, despite the reputation that they were nice guys and good at a few things.

With Viv, well, she’s a menace. But she’s my menace.

Losing her would throw things out of balance for me.

More than what this role I took on did. Casper believed I could lead.

I never saw it. I wasn’t afraid of leadership, just didn’t know I could be the type of man that could lead a team, a club.

Now I know I can. I also never thought I could be a Hound with an old lady by his side.

I was content with vamps for the rest of my days.

But that changed too. I don’t want vamps.

I want a menace—just one. But I’m not going to beg.

She might like me. But love? I’m not sure if Viv’s the loving kind. She’s good with things how they are. She doesn’t make a fuss about anything. She’d be a helluva old lady, but I can’t promise I’m staying. And I won’t ask her to leave and give up what she has here.

Even if I did destroy her place and she has to restart anyway.

“You tell me. What do you want?”

She rolls her eyes. “A place to work and tacos. Obviously.”

See? No fuss from her at all. She’s a simple girl with a simple plan. One that doesn’t seem to involve me. And I don’t want to hold up her life any more than what my club already has.

While her life might not have crossed paths with mine if I never came here, she would have been targeted by the club either way.

That was inevitable based on Henry’s and Link’s words.

Any other woman, I would offer them protection for the future.

A body to keep them safe, myself as their shield.

But Viv doesn’t need that, nor would she want to stand behind a man.

She’s the type to stand right beside them—hell, even in front of them. And I’d be a fool to waste her talent.

“Tacos, I can get you. As for a place to work.…” I press my lips together and hold back my first instinct to offer her my place. Any place.

Just ask her to stay.

Don’t know why I need to have her say it first, or at least give me a sign that she wants more than what we had, but I do.

I need that from her. I need to feel… I don’t know…

wanted, I guess. More than just the background.

I don’t need to be her entire world. Sure, that would work, but I just want to know I matter to her beyond the norm. Just… something.

God, when did I become so fucking needy?

I shake my head at myself and open my mouth to just tell her what I want when the doors behind me slide open and Summer rushes in.

“Fuck, girl, are you okay? Mack called me. Oh my God, what a mess. I can’t believe it was Henry this whole time.

Hell, I didn’t even know his name till Mack told me.

Did you know his name? Oh my God, it doesn’t even matter.

You’re coming home with me. The kids are with my parents, and I’m going to feed you and then wash you up.

Oh shit, this is a mess. You must be freaking out.

I mean, I’m freaking out, and it didn’t even happen to me.

Can you even believe any of this? Oh my God. ”

Summer is a woman on a mission, and she grabs Viv before any of us can do much more than watch her escort her friend out of the place. My girl looks at me once more, but then she’s gone .

And I have to wonder if it’ll be the last time I see her.