Page 95 of Suspicious

Defiance don’t take kindly to anyone showing contempt.

To our club cut.

To our club members.

Even those who aren’t fully patched in yet.

What Hayes did with the club cut tonight was the ultimate betrayal, even more so than ratting us out to Bennett.

And he’s about to find out the hard way what happens when you piss off Defiance MC.

Wes, our only remaining prospect, holds Hayes in a tight gripas they walk in front of the rest of the club. Brothers, old ladies, family members, club girls, every single one of us is here to watch this piece of shit get what’s coming to him.

Hayes clears his throat as we walk closer to the helicopter field. The lights are on, seeing as it’s late night. “The fuck are you assholes planning?” Hayes grunts.

Wes shoves him—hard—causing Hayes to trip and fall face-first to the ground. And seeing as his hands are bound behind him, it’s going to be a struggle for the asshole to get back to his feet.

“I know Alpha said not to talk, you pathetic cunt,” Wes snaps.

Hayes snorts out a laugh, rolling onto his back, and tries to sit up. “He’s notmypresident. I don’t have to doshitwhen it comes to him.”

Wes smirks, then suddenly his boot flies out, kicking Hayes straight in the teeth. His entire body hurtles back, landing in the dirt again with a thud. I am pretty sure one of his incisors goes flying through the dirt cloud his body sent, swirling through the air.

“You know, even in my time at the Serpents, when I fucking hated it there, and I was only staying to protect my sister, Sadie, Ineverwould have pulled the shit you have. And I can tell you now, Hayes, you didall thisbecause you thought Loki was a slave driver. But fuck, man, you’re such a fucking pussy that you don’t know how damn good you had it here. You wouldn’t have lastedone… single… day…prospecting with the Serpents. The best thing you did was show us how weak you are because there is no way in hell I’d want you riding at my six, and now, we won’t have to.”

Hayes battles the knot caught in his throat, his eyes beginning to show signs of fear as I step up beside Wes, a small grin on my face at how far he has come since joining us. Gripping his shoulder, I nod at him to take a step back.

And he does.

Without question.

He is one fucking great prospect.

“Hayes, I don’t want to drag this out. You’ve pissed me off enough as it is today. I’d like to think of myself as a reasonable man, whether you believe that or not, from your time at the club, but you betrayed us. There’s no denying that fact. There’s also no denying you didn’t have a full patch. Technically, you’renot, and never were Defiance.”

Hayes widens his eyes, tilts his head, and increases his breathing. “Which means?”

Shrugging, I reach down, grab his shirt, and hoist him to his feet. “Which means you have two options.”

His eyes grow wider. “Well then, what the fuck are they?” he snaps in some sort of show of insolence.

Glancing over my shoulder at Alpha, he dips his head in approval. Turning back to the dipshit, I continue, “Option A, you get on that helo with Alpha, he takes you out of Los Angeles, and you never,evercome back into this city again. This isourcity, and you donotbelong in it.”

Hayes furrows his brows like he can’t believe what he’s hearing. “And option B?”

“You do the honorable thing… let us kill you. Right here. Right now. For turning on us. For disrespecting the cut. For disrespecting the club. And for selling out Bea and her app to that fucking cunt of a politician.”

Hayes stares at me blankly like I have lost my damn mind. “Are you fucking with me?”

Pursing my lips, I shake my head. “No. Those are your options. Like I said, you didn’t receive your full patch, so…” I leave that hanging in the air.

His eyes dart around to the rest of the club members. None of them say a word. They simply stare right back at him. A brightsmile lights his face as he glances at Alpha, raising his chin to him. “Take me out of this godforsaken city. I’ll be more than happy to never see your sorry asses again,” he demands.

Just like I knew he would.

Shaking my head, I inhale sharply, then glance back at Alpha. “He’s all yours, Pres.”

Alpha steps forward, side-eyeing me, then moves in front of Hayes. “Just so you know, you came intomyclub. You disrespectedme,my brothers,andour club name. You may think you’re getting off lightly on a technicality here, asshole. But wewillbe watching you. You step foot inside LA state lines, and all bets are off. I promise you, Hayes, next time… wewon’thold back.”

---