My loyalty to Reaper, a man I respected deeply, now felt like a suffocating weight. Over the years, I’d watched as Reaper used the truth to condemn those responsible for the destruction of so many lives. Waiting patiently to reveal the truth at the right moment in time for maximum damage. Reaper was good, but I was better. I was the keeper of secrets and now it was my turn to reveal what I knew.
Every keystroke Nav made echoed the agonizing choice I faced. Should I risk everything, reveal the truth and face Reaper’s wrath, knowing it could lead to the destruction of everything I’d worked for? Or should I remain silent, betraying my own conscience?
My hands trembled. I wanted to shout, to confess, to spill my poisonous secret, but the fear of the consequences and the potential harm to Dante paralyzed me. This wasn’t just a choice between right and wrong; it was a choice between two devastating evils. And I knew, with sickening certainty, that whichever path I chose, I would fail. I would fail Dante, fail Reaper, and most importantly, fail myself.
“Where are they going?”
“Nearest airport is in Albin, Wyoming. Thirty minutes away. There’s a small runway there that’s just big enough for a Learjet to take off,” Nav said, typing fast on his computer.
“Where is he taking Dante?” Cash asked.
“New York City,” I muttered, unable to move when a memory flashed in my head.
“You love him?”
I nodded, the unspoken words a heavy weight in my throat. But that wasn’t good enough for Reaper. The next instant, I was face-to-face with him, his cold, dead eyes boring into mine as a chilling growl ripped through the air. “Answer the fucking question.”
Gulping, I clearly said, “I’d burn the fucking world to protect him.”
Decision made, I looked at King and clearly said, “I need the drive I gave you.”
King stiffened.
“I know how to get Dante back.”
“You told me that drive was a last resort.” King slowly stood, placing his hands on the table. “You said the information on that drive would cause a war.”
“We’re already at war.”
“What drive?” Ryder asked, looking from me to King. “Is that the thing Ellie gave you, King?”
Ignoring his brother, King snarled, “Are you sure about this, Sypher?”
“Yes. It’s the only way.”
King slowly sat back down in his chair, took a deep breath and groaned, almost as if he were bracing himself for what was to come. “Fuck, I knew this would bite me in the ass. Ryder, would you please go get Ellie and have her bring Tabby in here?”
The club brother stiffened, looking around the table before he sneered, “What the fuck for?”
“I need to borrow Tabby’s teddy bear.”
“YOU MOTHERFUCKING BASTARD!” Ryder’s roar shattered the strained silence, a guttural explosion that ripped through the air, thick with the scent of stale whiskey and fear. He launched himself from his chair, a coiled spring unleashed, his body a blur as he flew across the table, the polished surface splintering under his weight as Ryder slammed into King, a seismic impact that sent them both crashing to the floor in a tangle of limbs.
The air crackled with the brothers’ collective intake of breath—a silent, feral audience.
No one dared intervene. Ryder’s fists, hard as granite, connected with King’s face, the sickening thud echoing in the sudden, suffocating stillness. Blood, warm and metallic, bloomed across King’s lip. Ryder’s rage, a volcanic eruption, was a physical manifestation, palpable in the room. Each punch was a hammer blow, fueled by simmering resentment, a desperate, primal scream given form.
“MY LITTLE GIRL! She’s been WALKING AROUND with that... that fucking DRIVE all this time!” Ryder’s voice was a raw, ragged thing, choked with fury and something else, something darker, something like heartbreak. His eyes blazed with a terrifying, incandescent light, bore into King’s soul. King, his face a mask of pain and something akin to... resignation, didn’t fight back. He let Ryder unleash his fury.
Cash and Ghost were the first to move, as they tried to pull Ryder off King. “You could have gotten my daughter killed!” Ryder spewed, hitting the man again.
“Ryder, come on, man.” Blade jumped in between the two men. “He’s not worth it.”
“She’s my baby,” Ryder said, looking at Blade.
“I know, brother, and he will get his soon enough,” Blade sneered, turning to look at King as Cash and Ghost helped him to his feet. “Go get Ellie and Tabby.”
Ryder said nothing as he stormed from the room.
