Page 21 of Unmasked Anarchy (Fallen Sons MC #3)

N obody comes in.

Not for an entire day.

One of the sweetbutts drops off food and water, but judging by the way she looks at me, like I’m scum, she isn’t willing to help me in any way.

She’s probably hoping I will stay in here so she can move in on Kael.

Most of them have an end goal, and when the members have an old lady, it throws that off.

I pace the room all morning, trying to figure out how the hell this could have happened.

Did I somehow cause all of this?

I know I’m not a rat, but it is strange that all of it started happening since I got here.

There could only be one person behind it, and that is Gage.

He promised he would make them suffer, and I have no doubt he meant every word.

How would he know, though? It has to be him, he is the only one who wants to see the club go down, especially with Kael in it.

I wrack my brain trying to figure it out, and can only come to one conclusion.

He has bugged me somehow.

Exhaling, I sit on the edge of the bed, just as the door unlocks.

My head whips up and I see Mera, pushing her way in, carrying a bottle of water and a paper cup.

She stands just inside the doorway, her mouth pressed into a line, like she’s trying damn hard not to say something she shouldn’t.

She looks tired, like she has been up all night arguing.

Hell, she probably has. Mera isn’t one to back down without a fight.

“You’re really not supposed to have visitors,” she finally whispers, but it sounds like she’s proud of herself for breaking the rules. “Wolfe is going to have a stroke but I know you’re in pain so I wanted to bring you some painkillers.”

“Thanks,” I say as she places the items down beside the bed.

She offers a small smile, and then sits down next to me on the bed. “I just wanted to see if you were alive. No one’s telling me a damn thing. They are all storming around broody and muttering things I don’t understand. Wolfe is angry at me for fighting him on it, so that’s great.”

“They think I’m a rat, but I swear to you, Mera. I’m not. I think Gage has bugged me.”

Her eyes widen. “What?”

“It’s the only thing that makes sense. How else would anyone know what is happening in the club? I’m a lot of things, but going against a club of this size is a suicide mission and not something I would dare do.”

Mera goes silent, pondering my words.

“I need your help,” I whisper, turning to her. “I need to find what Gage has planted. It has to be in something of mine, my clothes, shoes, something.”

“I don’t know,” she hesitates. “If I go against Wolfe, it could be very bad. He is already angry enough that I expressed how unhappy I am with all of this. If he finds out I am sneaking around, or even that I am in here, it is going to be very bad.”

I get that, and I would never want her caught in anything, but she is the only one who can get access to my things. I am stuck in here, and I don’t know what they’re planning for me, but if they convince themselves I’m a rat, it will be very bad.

“I don’t want to see you get caught in the middle,” I whisper back, matching her quiet. “But I need to clear my name, and I don’t know how the hell to do that when I’m locked in here.”

Her mouth twists, fingers drumming on the bedspread. “Christ, Sable. You know what’ll happen if they catch me in your shit but damn, I believe you. I don’t know why, but I do.”

“Because I didn’t do anything,” I say. “This is the only way to prove I’m not.”

“Where is your stuff?”

“Kael’s room.”

She frowns. “God. That won’t be easy. He has himself locked in there, angry and brooding.”

My heart twists, but I don’t react.

I am trying not to think about Kael, and how much his betrayal hurts.

I get it, a big part of me understands. If he truly believes that I lied to him, I can see why he did what he did.

But the other part of me is so hurt that after the time we have spent together, that he didn’t at least try and prove my innocence.

He just gave up on me. Didn’t try and stop it.

That is a knife to the heart.

“Did you have anything on when you came here? Like what items of clothes were you wearing?” Mera asks.

“A pair of jeans, they’re the only ones in there. A black tee and a jacket. It could be in anything. My shoes are the converse, old and ratty.”

“I’ll check the seams,” she nods. “Best place to tuck a tracker is in the stitching. Or...” She pauses, looking at the closed window. “Or your phone.”

My stomach drops. Of course, my phone.

“Shit,” I whisper. “Of course. They will have my phone for sure, though.”

“Yeah,” she exhales. “They will. I can get into Wolfe’s office. I’ll do it tonight after lights, when the women are busy logging mileage in the bedrooms and everyone is ten beers deep.”

She stands, offering me a warm smile.

“Thank you,” I say. “I know you’re risking a lot, so I appreciate you helping me.”

She nods. “I don’t like to see anyone accused of something they haven’t done. I hope you’re telling me the truth.”

“I swear it,” I say, holding her eyes.

She nods again, then she’s gone, the door locking behind her.

God, I hope she finds that phone.

Better yet, I hope she finds it bugged so that I can prove to them all just how wrong they are.

~*~*~*~*~

I T’S LATE.

The room is dark and the club is quiet, for now at least.

I jerk up from the mattress at the sound of the door unlocking. Nobody has come in since the normal food delivery once a day. Mera hasn’t returned, nor has she reached out, and I can’t help but fear that means she hasn’t been able to find anything. Or, worse, they caught her and now she can’t help.

The door slams open and Kael strides in, tall and silent, Wolfe a shadow at his back. Kael’s storm-blue eyes lock onto mine, unblinking. He holds out his palm—and in it rests a tiny black device. “Found this in your phone. Either you planted it, or you were bein’ bugged. Which is it?”

My veins surge with molten fury. “I didn’t fucking plant it. I had Mera find it, that’s the only way to prove Gage was listening. If I’d hidden it myself, do you think I’d have asked her to go find it? I’m not an idiot.”

Wolfe exhales, voice low. “We believe you.”

Just like that, they believe me—after everything.

That is a fucking bitter slap to the face. They didn’t bother hearing me out before, and now suddenly, they believe me.

Kael’s gaze doesn’t waver. “We had to know who you’re loyal to. The club comes first. Wasn’t personal.”

Oh, but it was.

To me, it was.

My spine snaps straight, knees locking. My throat flames, every heartbeat pounding betrayal through me, but my face stays icy. None of them get to see me crack. “Yeah,” I whisper, voice jagged. “The club is everything.”

Wolfe rubs his jaw, eyes locking with mine. “Sorry. Had to do what we had to do.”

Empty words.

Kael was the one who pushed for this, who let them vote me into this room for days without a second thought.

The betrayal cuts deep, a sharp, unrelenting pain that echoes through every part of me.

He never asked for my side, never gave me a chance to explain, to defend myself against whatever accusations were thrown my way.

It’s as if I’m invisible, my voice silenced before it even had a chance to be heard.

He just watched, his silence a deafening roar that drowns out everything else.

Hell, he couldn’t even make fucking eye contact with me when they called me into that room and ordered me to be hauled away.

The memory of his averted gaze haunts me, a constant reminder of the trust shattered between us.

I feel abandoned, cast aside by the one person I thought might understand, might stand by me when the world turned its back.

I flick my gaze to him, staring him down, sharpening my expression so he can see the hurt in my eyes. He steps forward, knees grazing the mattress, and cups my jaw. His thumb is warm against my cheek. “It wasn’t personal.”

It was the most personal thing I’ve ever felt.

I surge up, close the distance before he can brace himself. His hands catch my elbows, steadying me, his hands so gentle. Fuck, I thought he was it. I truly believed he came into my life to change it for the better. For a second, as I look up at him, I wonder if I can forgive him.

But I just can’t.

I have mere seconds. My hands slip behind his back, and my fingers curl around his gun.

In one fluid motion, I yank it free, push back and press it into his chest. The steel is ice on my skin.

Silence crashes over us. Kael’s face goes blank.

He puts his hands up, letting me know he’s not going to make a move.

Wolfe shifts forward, and I shake my head at him, finger trembling on the trigger. “Don’t,” I hiss.

Kael straightens his shoulders, and his voice comes out low. “I know I fucked up. I’m sorry.”

I laugh, raw and ragged. “Bullshit. You could’ve just talked to me. You couldn’t even look me in the eye. You didn’t fight for me, didn’t lift a finger. Because it’s always about the fucking club.”

For a heartbeat, I see the man I thought he was, flickering behind his scarily calm demeanor. It rips me open. He swallows. “I’m sorry.”

“Not enough,” I whisper. “I trusted you. I gave up everything because I thought you were one of the good ones.”

His jaw ticks and I can see the pain behind all the ink and leather. He regrets it, I know he does, but it’s too late for that.

Wolfe steps forward, hands up. “The only thing that matters is keeping Gage from killing you. You’re not safe out there, Sable.”

My gun never falters. I laugh bitterly, voice hollow. “Who says I’m safer in here? Gage might be a cold-hearted monster, but at least he is honest about who he is. He doesn’t keep shit from me, he puts his evil right in my face which is more than I can say about either of you.”

Kael’s mouth opens, but I cut him off. “No, I don’t want to hear what you have to say. I’m going to find my husband, and find out what the fuck it is he wants.”

Kael’s face twists, and I know I’ve hit him where it hurts. Good, maybe he can understand just how much his actions hurt me.

“Do not go there,” he growls, low.

“You don’t get a say so in what I do.”

“Sable,” his voice is soft, almost desperate and it hurts, but I can’t stop now.

I need to finish this, with Gage, with the club, with everything.

“Stand over there,” I order, voice unwavering. “You know if you don’t, one shot will be the end of you.”

Kael steps back, his face twisted with an unreadable pain.

Wolfe moves too, and the two of them stand over by the wall.

I keep the gun pointed on them as I back up to the door, then I’m out of there. I turn and run, charging down the halls, pointing the gun at anyone who gets in my way. Nobody tries to stop me.

The moment I step outside, the tears burst forth and roll down my cheeks, but I don’t stop.

I run out the front gates and onto the road.

I’m going to finish this, so that maybe, just maybe, I will get my chance at freedom.

The man I thought was going to deliver it to me, turned out to be capable of breaking my heart even more than my own husband.

The hurt is a knife to the chest, but I’m going to use it to fuel my rage.

It’s the only way I’m getting out of here.