Page 59 of All Our Ghosts

"I will rip that patch off your leather if you mention her name again." I seethe. My eyes flicker between Trey's wide, dark eyes. "I don't have to explain myself. You're my VP, but this is still my club."

The air between us becomes thick as Trey shoves me backward. I can’t punch two members in two days but my fists clench at my side as I stare at my friend.

"Trouble in paradise?" Stokes' voice echoes through the warehouse as he crawls out of whatever darker corner he was hiding in, Watson on his heels.

“Shit,” Trey mutters.

“Where’s your lap dog?” Watson hisses. “Better not be hiding somewhere.”

I chuckle, tugging on the ends of my vest to right myself, "Call Wolfe staying behind a peace offering."

Stokes narrows his eyes at me. "And Nash? I was hoping to be re-acquainted with him. It's been too long." He sneers. "I haven’t seen him since--" Stokes pauses, alluding to Becca's death.

“Since you shoved him in an interrogation room and accused him of murdering his sister?” Trey questions.

Sheriff laughs. “Oh, that was fun.”

“What the hell do you want, Stokes?” I snap. My hands clench at my side again when what Kadence told me earlier returns to the forefront of my mind. If Watson or Stokes had anything to do with Becca, I’ll kill them both.

Stokes leans back on his heels, turning his chin up as his hand leisurely falls over the butt of his gun. I force back a grin. The fucker is really trying his hardest to intimidate me. It's going to take a lot more than a weak gesture to scare me.

“I want Wolfe,” he states, so matter-of-factly that Trey shoots me a look. “And in exchange,” he turns and begins pacing in front of them. A slow walk that only grates on my patience. “I’ll leave your boys alone at the drop points.”

“Why the fuck would I give you a club member?” I hiss.

“Because he put two of my officers in the hospital. Richards has a fucking breathing tube down his throat because your guy has a taste for blood.” Stokes tilts his head. “I can’t look weak to our town, O’Neil. You know what happens if they think I’m weak.”

I narrow my eyes.

“The town will replace me,” Watson stands up straight as if he’s a fucking candidate, “and all of your lovely and seemingly above-board business ventures fall to pieces.”

Trey turns his back to them, taking a step in front of me. My eyes never leave Stokes’ even as Trey starts to speak.

“We can’t risk it, man,” Trey mutters, low enough only for me to hear.

My brows furrow at my VP, who so easily seems to be giving in to this asshole. “I’m not giving him a fucking club member, Falcone. Have you lost your damn mind?”

“Wolfe can handle it and we need a break. A distraction.” He shifts.

“No,” I cement. I wasn’t giving up a fucking member for the sake of a few brief moments to breathe. “It’s not happening.”Trey sighs as he turns back around and a wicked grin spreads across Watson’s face.

“So,” Stokes’ smug smile creeps across his features. “What’s it gonna be?”

KADENCE

One Week Later

“Oh come on, you can’t possibly still be mad at Cole?” Blake asks, shoving another disco ball dress into her arms. “Stokes let Dex go. Like six hours later.”

“That’s not the point, Blake.” I shake my head, hanging up the dress Blake has so graciously shoved at me. We’ve been moving from one boutique to the next trying to find something for me to wear on this ‘girl’s night’ that she insists on us having. Something about me spending way too much time with the men.

Blake shakes her head and runs her hands over the rack once more, finding a few more dresses that I’m sure she is going to hurl at me. “Dex knew what was going to happen, Cole called him Kade, you can’t be mad at him when Dex agreed to it.”

I sigh. Blake’s right. As soon as we left Holden’s, Dex had gotten a phone call from Cole asking where we were. It was only after Dex told him that the hard-set line in his jaw had reformed as he stared off into space listening to Cole’s instructions. Twenty minutes later Cole, Trey, and Watson pulled us over. Iwas fuming, not only at the fact that Holden was still missing but that Cole had freely given up Dex.

“It’s for the best, Kade. I have to keep Stokes happy.” Cole ushered me to his bike as I turned to watch Dex get shoved into the back of Watson’s patrol car. “He’ll be fine.”

As soon as we had returned to the shop I went straight to the office, pissed off, confused, and in need of something to distract me from everything happening. Paperwork was easy for that. Working through the numbers and scheduling repairs. It was something I could do in my sleep. Scottie and Wyatt checked on me throughout the rest of that day but when it came time for them to convene around the table, I went to bed. Even with how exhausted I was, I stared at the ceiling for hours. Running through every worst case scenario, Holden hating me, Jeremy finding me–hurting me or any one of the guys.

---