Page 24

24

Legacy

Wren slides a coffee across the bar and offers me a forced smile. There’s tension running through the clubhouse. And even if the patch bunnies aren’t up to speed with what happened last night, they sense when something is off from the eerie silence and the fact that we’ve gone into another lockdown.

“Thanks.” I grab the cup and burn my tongue on the first sip.

My phone chimes, and I pull it out to see another text from Reagan. She’s been updating me since Bea woke up this morning, but I’ve yet to respond with more than a few one-word answers when she asks me something directly.

Reagan : We’re at Tempe’s for lunch, and then Bea and I will head back to the house. Let me know if you need anything.

If I respond, I might accidentally tell her I need her , so I resist saying anything at all .

Neither of us is ready for the reality of Sera being thrown at us like this. And whether Reagan plans on sticking around through this mess or not, the Iron Sinners have painted a target on her back. My enemies are already taking away her choices when she doesn’t deserve it.

Ghost steps out of the hallway that leads to the offices with irritation written all over his face. Luna has been coming and going, but even that hasn’t helped his mood.

His cold gaze meets mine when I cross the room to meet him. “Have you slept?”

“Have you?”

“Fair enough.” Ghost breathes out an unamused chuckle, dragging his hair off his forehead. “How’s Sera doing?”

“Still passed out last I heard.”

“You haven’t gone to see her?” His eyebrows lift.

“Not yet. Patch was busy working on her all night, so I figured he didn’t want any distractions.”

He hums, knowing me too well and probably sensing more, but if so, he doesn’t say anything. We walk to church in silence and take our seats.

We’re the first ones here, as usual.

“How are you holding up with Sera being here?” Ghost asks after a long beat.

“No fucking clue.” I close my eyes and turn my face to the ceiling. “It’s been five fucking years without so much as a word from her, and now she’s dropped off at the gate like this. Bea deserves better.”

Better than me and her mother being a fucking mess .

Better than this compound.

Ghost silently watches me, tapping the table with his thumb. He knows the shit in my head that uses me like a punching bag, so he doesn’t ask me to elaborate.

We’ve been through it all together. Losing parents. Patching in. Enjoying the brotherhood and perks of the club. Surviving the worst of it.

He’s been there through it all.

“What about you?” I jut my chin. “How are you handling everything from last night?”

I can only imagine he has Paulina on his mind. We found his childhood best friend in a similar state five years ago.

“Better this morning. Luna helped talk me through it. But either way, it’s all fucked.” His jaw ticks. “It doesn’t help that the girls saw it. I can tell Luna’s worried about me and everyone else around here. How’s Reagan handling it?”

My gaze drifts to the picture on the wall behind him like it can help me come up with a better answer than the truth. The wall is covered in photos of the open road, each one taken to mark the first trip we ride as ranked members of the club.

Mine and Ghost’s are side by side from our run to Colorado during the first snow of the season. It was cold as fuck, and the roads nearly killed us, so we had to hunker down at a friendly club for a few days and wait it out.

They were good memories and easier times .

“I don’t know how she’s holding up,” I finally answer. “Not good if I had to guess.”

“Your avoidance tactics are on point, brother.” He shakes his head, disappointed.

“Reagan and I are having fun, that’s it. I don’t owe her any explanations. It’s not like she’s my old lady.”

Ghost chuckles. “Lie to yourself all you want, Jesse. But don’t bother trying that shit with me.”

“Why does it even matter? She’s twenty-one. She’s leaving. She’s sure as fuck not cut out for this. She’s not Luna.”

“That’s fucked up, and you know it. Why are you holding her up on some kind of pedestal, anyway? How do you know what she’s cut out for if you’re not even going to give her a chance?”

“Because this shouldn’t be her life.” I scratch my jaw. “You should have seen her face last night. I’d be surprised if she isn’t already packed by the time I get home after seeing Sera tied up like that.”

“So that’s what this is about? You’re scared she’s already got a foot out the door and figure it’ll be easier if you slam it behind her?”

“I’m not fucking scared. I’m looking out for her.”

He huffs out a breath. “Want to know what I think?”

“No.”

“Too bad.” His eyes narrow. “Yes, I’m sure what happened fucked with her head. It never gets easier to see that kind of shit, especially when you’re not used to it. But when Reagan and Luna were riding back to the neighborhood last night, do you know what she asked Luna? She asked if you were going to be okay. She might have been scared, but above it all, she was worried about how you were doing. That’s what she cared about in that moment— you .”

I think about how Reagan checked on Bea the second she walked into the house last night. How she’s always putting everyone else first.

“I’m not asking her to worry about me.”

“Because no one’s allowed to do that, right, Jesse? Not your family. Not your club. Not the girl you’re falling for.”

“Bea doesn’t need—”

“Stop using your daughter as an excuse.”

“Fuck you.” My teeth grit so hard I feel like they’re going to shatter.

Ghost is pushing me to my limit right now, and he knows it. But that doesn’t mean he’ll quit either.

He rests back in his chair, not taking his eyes off me. “I love you, brother. So be pissed at me all you want, but I’m not mincing words to make you feel better. We both know you didn’t hold back when I was falling for Luna, and it’s only right I return the favor if it means you finally face it. You need to get out of your own way right now because you deserve a hell of a lot more than you’ve been allowing yourself. You’re not King.”

“That’s your opinion.”

“Maybe.” He shrugs. “But somewhere deep down, you know I’m right.”

Voices come through the clubhouse, cutting off our conversation. Ghost tucks his phone away as Havoc and Chaos head into church .

But all I can see and hear are those words hanging in the air, dripping blood on the table and forcing me to face them.

My father’s ghost wanders these halls, and sometimes, I wonder if I’m the only one who sees him.

Steel walks into church last, with Soul at his side.

It’s never a good sign when Soul looks irritated. Things really have gone to shit if he’s sulking.

“Where are we at with the Sinners who dropped Sera off last night?” Steel asks before even taking a seat.

“I got a hit on the van they were driving,” Ghost answers. “I was able to use external security and traffic cameras to follow them back to the Strip. But they disappeared out the west side of the city after that, so I don’t know if they met back at the Iron Sinners clubhouse or somewhere else. The license plate was stolen, and the windows were too tinted to get a good look. Either way, this has Iron Sinners written all over it.”

“We already knew the Iron Sinners were behind it. The note demanding their money back told us as much,” Chaos points out. “Besides, this is their M.O.”

“Not exactly.” Havoc scans the room, and I swear the air turns ice-cold. “Usually, they finish the job first. Why keep her alive when they know they can prove the point without any loose strings?”

He’s right. Usually, the Iron Sinners wouldn’t have left someone who could lead back to them, even if the note confirmed who was behind it.

“I still think it’s them,” Steel says. “Or Zane having them act on his behalf. It was his money, and even if he gave it to them, he wouldn’t take kindly to the fact that we stole it.”

“About the money…” I lean forward, resting my elbows on the table. “I’ve been digging into the amounts coming in, and it’s definitely more than they’d bring in for lap dances. They’re back in the trafficking game. Which is why I think they’re retaliating like this. They figure if they make it personal, we won’t want to risk our families, and we’ll back off instead of trying to shut down their ring again.”

“Makes sense.” Havoc nods. “And I second the trafficking confirmation. They’ve been closing Wicked Pole on Sunday nights these past few weeks. And when they do, there’s lots of activity in the parking lot. Nice cars. High rollers. Whatever’s going on inside isn’t regular business.”

“The question is, where are they keeping the women? We all know they’re not stupid enough to house them at their own strip club.”

“That’s something we need to find out before we make a move,” Steel says, dragging a hand through his hair.

“They’re escalating,” Soul says.

Steel nods in agreement. “Ghost, I need you to determine our exposure outside the compound. I want a list of anyone tied to the club who’s not in Vegas, and they need to be accounted for. They took Sera from Oregon. Everything is within the limits now.”

My mind goes to Mom, who thinks she left this place behind when you never really can.

“Legacy, you still have the money stashed away, right? ”

“We’re not giving it back.” My fists clench.

Steel shakes his head. “No, but we’re done sitting on it. If they want to start a war, let’s use their own fucking dollars to fund it. Coordinate with Havoc where it’s needed most. Chaos and Soul are going to tap our connections with the Gaming Commission to see if they can get any information. Or at least something to temporarily shut their doors at Wicked Pole. Anything to distract them while we make a plan.”

We all nod, accepting our orders.

“Get to it.” Steel dismisses everyone, but as I reach the door, he calls my name. “Legacy, hold up a second.”

“What’s up, Prez?”

He crosses the room to meet me at the door. “Go see her.”

“I’m headed there now,” I grumble. “I tried checking in a couple of hours ago, but Patch said the drugs would have her knocked out pretty heavily for at least another hour.”

“Sera was sleeping last I checked.” Steel shakes his head. “But that’s not who I’m talking about.”

He claps me on the shoulder, offering a look that reminds me of the one Ghost has been shooting me all morning. Then he walks out of the room ahead of me, leaving me to my thoughts.

I try to ignore them as I head to the club’s infirmary. I’m not ready to face Sera, but I’m the reason she’s in this mess, so I owe it to her. Regardless of my personal feelings, she’s still the mother of my daughter.

Patch is inside when I get there. But when he spots me lingering in the doorway, he meets me in the hall .

“How is she?”

“It took a while, but I managed to get the barbed wire off, and the bleeding has stopped. She’ll be in those bandages for a few weeks while she heals. But that wasn’t the extent of it. She had a couple of cracked ribs. A missing molar. They worked her before they left her for us.”

“I figured,” I grumble.

Still, hearing it hits deeper.

“She’s in and out right now and heavily medicated. It’s gonna be like that for at least the next few days. But you can drop in anytime you want. I’m gonna grab a coffee and give you a moment.”

Patch walks away, blood still soaking his shirt. He’s been working all night, and while the ranked members get all the praise, he does more than most of us.

Stepping into the room, my gaze fixes on Sera. She’s lying on a bed in the corner with her eyes closed. Her face and arms are bruised, with bandages where the wire wrapped her limbs. There’s a blanket covering her from the chest down, and her bleached hair makes her face seem even paler.

She looks nothing like the woman I remember.

The floorboards creak as I cross them, and her eyes flutter open.

Her gaze is hazy at best, and her squint makes me wonder how many of me she’s seeing.

“Legacy.” My name chokes from her lips. “Where am I?”

“You’re at the clubhouse.” I stop beside the bed. “Patch fixed you up, but you need to rest. ”

She nods, wincing. “I wouldn’t let them.”

“You wouldn’t let them what?”

“Bea…” Her eyes flutter closed as she drifts back to sleep.