Page 95 of The Vows We Keep

“Good,” says King.

And then all hell breaks loose.

“Welcome to the club, Cat,” Clutch says, squeezing my shoulders.

“Thank you.”

“Doesn’t mean you all suddenly have to maul her,” Niro grumbles.

Clutch winks and raises his hands. “Says the guy who made a pass at Gwen.”

Spark chuckles. “Says the guy who ignored his president’s orders to keep his hands off Gwen.”

Niro looks at me. “It wasn’t really a pass, more of an ill-timed jest.”

Switch grins. “A fucking jest?”

“You guys better watch what you say in front of my old lady, because while she is supremely chill about us both having history, I’m pretty sure none of yours are,” Niro says.

“That’s fair,” Saint says, raising his hands in surrender. “This is me welcoming you to the club without touching you.”

I grin.

I’m picked up and then promptly put down when Niro threatens to murder anybody who lifts me off the ground or hugs me for longer than he feels appropriate.

Bates steps around the table. He looks cautious. “Remember when you got back from killing Henley, and I said to Niro that you could be the greatest thing that ever happened to him or that you could be his end?” he says.

“I do. I’m sorry for the part I played in that. Running after Henley. I was clutching at straws trying to find a place to belong.”

Bates smiles. “I get that. I’m glad you turned into the greatest thing to happen to him, Cat. I think we both want the same thing for Niro, yeah?”

I glance over at the man who is smiling at me. “Yeah, I think we do.”

He steps forward and hugs me. “Then welcome to the club, Cat. I feel like we’ll end up spending quite a bit of time together.”

I hug him back. “I look forward to it.”

“One last thing,” King says. “Because Vex has some news.”

Vex passes a brown envelope across the table. “I was able to break the encryption on the laptop you retrieved from Lobo’s house. You were right, Cat. I believe Perrito did give the order for your father’s death. He knew he couldn’t just kill Pensa outright and decided it would be better to let other men die in a clean-up operation. Your father had been quietly trying to rally support for a formal vote to lobby the mother chapter for official status. The others who rode out with your father that day made it known they were going to vote with him. I don’t have every detail down, but it seems like the nomads were meant to kill the permanent club members after taking out King and Gwen. They weren’t expecting our ambush.”

Overwhelmed, I reach for the envelope. “Thank you,” I say to Vex.

I open it and find a map of an area called the Pine Barrens with marked routes, there’s a list of the ride-out party, screenshots that appear to come from my father’s phone of him trying to rally members to vote with him. There are even payment records to the nomads and codes to wipe encrypted files.

It’s the final piece.

I also realize it’s going to draw a line between Neva and me. Maybe it already has. I can only assume she’s angry I didn’t return to Barstow with her. She’s not answered my calls or messages for days. Mamá says she’s seen her a couple of times, but not anywhere they could actually talk.

“I need the support of the club to deal with Perrito,” I say to King.

“No,” King says.

“Why not?”

“Because the Righteous Brotherhood are rebuilding their infrastructure right under our noses. And a cross-country war with Los Reyes is the kind of thing that needs more planning and resources than we have capacity for at this point. It would leave the club vulnerable here, and my priority is Jersey. I’m really sorry for your loss, Catalina. I know the pain of losing your father to Los Reyes. But focus on the life you’re building here, not the one you left behind. Show us we made the right choice voting you in as crew.”

I take a deep breath. Then another. I want vengeance for my father, but the rest of my life is forever. I don’t want to jeopardize what I just gained. “Understood.”