“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. Notonly 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, Iwould 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 Houndmaterial to me, despite the reputation that they were nice guys and good at a few things.
