Page 96 of Golden Atonement

“You mean me.”

He nodded.

Sighing, I took a deep breath, then said, “Well then, I guess it’s a good thing you don’t think rationally. All I ask is that you let me know the plan before you decide to jump off the deep end again. I can’t take another year like the one I just had.”

“A war is coming, baby.”

“I know.”

“Bad enough we have Satan’s Angels to contend with in five to fifteen years, but this shit with the Soulless Sinners isn’t going away.”

“What about taking it to the table?”

He smirked, looking at me. “Matrix asked the same thing and because it’s biker business, they won’t get involved.”

“And you refuse to bring it to Montana,” I muttered in understanding.

“Yep.”

“What if you were in his spot?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, what if you were sitting at the table instead of him? Would the table help you then?”

“Possibly, maybe, but I’m not in the seat. The Golden Skulls are small compared to the Soulless Sinners. I would have to catch Montana in a major fucking lie to even challenge him, and even if I did that, it would still cause fighting within the Biker Federation.”

“How about failure to uphold his end of a blood pact?”

“What did you say?”

Looking at Max, I asked, “Would that be enough to challenge him?”

“It would be a start, but there is no way I can prove it.”

“Then you need a bigger club.” I frowned as I stared out into the darkness.

“Don’t want a bigger club, baby. I’m happy with the one I got.”

Shaking my head, I looked at my husband and groaned. “Did you even read the files that James hid? He laid it all out in great detail.”

“Laid out what?”

“His plan for you to sit at the table. It’s all there.”

“What are you talking about?”

“My God,” I groaned. “You have no idea what I’m talking about, do you?”

“I would really love to know, babe.”

“The files you had Sypher show me. I read them all. That’s why it took me so long to come back. I needed to understand everything, think about it all before I came back. James Dohertywasn’t like his bastard of a father. James knew William would lose. Greedy men always do. So James spent years gathering information and hiding it away from you. He knew it was William that had you kidnapped and ensured that it never happened again. From the moment you returned, he started planning. You are a lot like him in that regard.”

“How?”

“The files. They contained everything from the conception of the Golden Skulls, William’s time in Vietnam, his association with theSociety, even the pact he made with George Stone. There is a lot more in there, but what you need to know is that James knew any association with the Soulless Sinners would be one-sided. That’s why he never accepted their help. So, he devised a failsafe, a way for you to overthrow Montana.”

“How?”

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