Page 34 of You Belong With Me

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Lucas

When I walkinto the study, the guys are all standing around, waiting, and I don’t waste any time.

“Yo, I need a sanction,” I say, not even bothering to shut the door.

Jackson, Christian, and Ash all glance at each other with alarm. We don’t call for sanctions often. It’s pretty fucking rare, in fact. We have a rule in the society that we can’t physically harm another member unless it’s in self-defense, or to protect another member—which is what happened upstairs with Gabriel.

But if I want to take this shit with Gabriel further—and I fucking do—then I have two options; a tribunal, in which case, if he’s found guilty of an offense, he could be kicked out of the Burning Crown. But a tribunal takes time to set up and involves both the Sacred Sons and the senior members. We make a judgment collectively.

My second option is a sanction, which is way more fucking attractive right now. It’s intended for urgent situationsthat require immediate action against a fellow member. The downside is that I need the other Sacred Sons to sign off on it.

It’s Christian who speaks first. “A sanction againstwho?”

“Gabriel,” I say, the word clipped. I’m hoping they’ll just grant the sanction, and ask questions later, but I know better. They’ll be confused as fuck about why I want a sanction against my own cousin, and they’ll each have a litany of questions. This is why I don’t like involving them in decisions like this. I have to rein in too many fucking opinions. But I don’t really have a choice this time.

“Gabriel?” Christian asks, shocked. “What the fuck happened?”

“I’ll explain later,” I say, pacing.

Jackson steps forward. “Nah, man. This is insane. You’re going to explain now.”

“What the fuck is a sanction?” Ash asks arms crossed over his chest, looking lost. We all just stare at him, likeshut the fuck up.He lifts his hands. “Never mind, I guess I’ll just, uh, use fuckin’ context clues.”

I shove a hand through my hair, my long stride eating up the ancient rug. “He attacked Wyn,” I bite out.

The more I think about what Gabriel did, the more pissed I become. In my mind’s eye, I can still see Gabriel on top of her, and the fucking bruises he left on her skin…

“The fuck?” Christian says.

“Hold up,” Jackson interrupts. “Just…fuckin’ start from the beginning. What happened?”

I push out a frustrated breath and tilt my head back. “Someone saw Gabriel attack Wyn on my balcony, and when I went up to see what the fuck was going on, I walked in on him assaulting her.” I look at them, lifting my hands. “That’s it. Got it? Satisfied?”

“So, what, you handled it, or…?” Jackson shakes his head.

“Of course, I fucking handled it,” I yell.

“Okay, then what’s the problem?” Jackson asks, leaning against the desk. I can already tell he’s done with this conversation. “Aren’t Wyn and Gabriel dating? This sounds like some domestic shit. Not sure why Gabriel needs to be sanctioned?”

“The shit with Wyn is only the beginning…” I storm over to the desk and yank the drawer open, pulling Gabriel’s necklace out—I’d stashed it here earlier—and I hold it up. “I found this at Gabriel’s mom’s place. Look familiar?”

Jackson takes the necklace from my hand and inspects it more closely. “This is exactly like the one August was wearing.” He glances up at the three of us. “You think Gabriel was initiated into Shadow and Ash?”

Christian takes the necklace and pushes out a breath. “Maybe we should pull Gabriel in here and get his side.”

I step up on Jackson, something dark flaring in my chest. “Gethis side?” I repeat slowly. Christian is at my side in seconds, his hand on my chest, holding me back. “I just told you what happened with Wyn. I just showed you the evidence that he’s already betrayed us. Now, give me thefucking sanction,” I yell, split flying.

Jackson lifts his hands, and Christian pulls me away. “Dude, chill,” Christian says. “Let’s call a tribunal, and short this shit out.”

A tribunal. I shake my head. Un-fucking-believable.

“You know what, I’m done with this shit,” I say, pointing at each one of them. “You can talk amongst yourselves until you’re blue in the fucking face. I’m finding Gabriel.”

“I’m so fucking confused,” Ash says. “Are you saying Gabriel was initiated into Shadow and Ash?” He glances around the room at the other guys. “What the fuck am I missing?”

Yeah, he’s missing a fuck-ton of context. They all are. As far as anyone else is concerned, I was gutted when my cousin “died,” but it’s so much more complicated than that. It’s true that we were close. But in the last few months before he went missing, things had become difficult between us.

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