Page 65 of The Good Girl

“Then, by all means, let’s go to church and hash this out. Kruger, Mac, Toot, let’s go.” I call out their names and wait for Khan to tell me they can’t come. It’s on the tip of his tongue. He wants to get me alone. He hasn’t realized that bringing them with me is for his safety, not mine. I’m ready to destroy this man. Any respect I had for him died the moment he ordered me to serve Driller’s prison sentence.

Khan nods to Driller, who stomps toward church. My men walk beside me as I follow. I turn and give Nevaeh one last look before I head inside.

Once the door closes, I sit at the table, Mac and Toot flanking me. Kruger sits at the other end to plant a bug, while Khan takes a seat at the head of the table, and Driller sits beside him.

“Aren’t any of the other brothers joining us?” Kruger asks, and I wait to hear Khan’s answer.

“We want to keep the details as quiet as possible until we know what we’re dealing with.”

“And what are you dealing with? Why did you call this meeting, Khan?”

“It's Acid and Knuckles…”

“What about them?”

“They're missing.”

“If they’re missing, it’s not like their brothers don’t know,” Kruger points out.

“They know that Acid and Knuckles went to welcome a brother home and haven’t been seen since. I’m trying to make sure we don’t stir up any bad blood between our clubs. There’ll be some who find it real convenient that two of our brothers disappeared right around the time you got released from prison—especially when you’re the only one we can think of with a grudge against us.”

I lean back and grin. Amity said this might be a setup to make me look bad, hoping I’d be passed over for the presidency. But it’s too fucking late for that.

“And why would I have an issue with the club, Khan?”

Khan sighs and crosses his arms.

“I wish I’d done things differently, but I was out of options. Driller was the only one the Death Serpents would work with, and we needed that deal. We might have the pipeline in our territory, but it means nothing if we can’t transport it through Death Serpents’ territory.”

I wait for him to say something else, but that’s it.

“So you think, after spending five years in prison thanks to Driller and you, that I’d finally taste freedom and want to… what? Risk losing it all by taking out Acid and Knuckles? That’s what you’re getting at, right?”

“Sounds like a stretch to me, Prez. You have Nevaeh. You’re the president of the mother chapter, and your men back you one hundred percent. Your life looks pretty fucking golden fromwhere I’m sitting. I can’t imagine this club even being on your radar.” Toot chimes in

“I fucked a baby into your old lady’s cunt. Don’t tell me you’re not pissed about that,” Driller snaps.

Mac tenses beside me, but I keep myself relaxed and adopt a bored expression. “Ex-old lady. But you want my sloppy seconds, go for it. Hell, I should be thanking you. If I’d stuck with Lola, I wouldn’t have Nevaeh.”

Driller’s bitter hatred bubbles up, ready to spill over, but Khan shoots him a look and shakes his head.

“We don’t need this. Mistakes were made, but they’re in the past now,” Khan says, holding his hands up in a show of peace.

I shake my head. “You expect me to trust you, Khan? Do you trust me after all the shit you did to fuck me over?”

Khan narrows his eyes and stands up, planting his hands on the table as he leans forward. “A good leader leads by example. Come back in ten years and tell me if you still have stars in your fucking eyes. I don’t know what Blade was thinking when he picked you, but you’d do well to remember that not everyone agrees with his decision. If things had gone differently, Bear would be sitting here, not you.”

Kruger jumps up, knocking his chair over, and pulls his gun, pointing it at Khan as Driller draws his own gun. Before he can so much as twitch, both Mac and Toot have their weapons aimed at his forehead.

“Bear was a traitor and rapist. Are you tellin’ me you’re siding with that man? Oh, how the mighty have fallen,” Kruger snarls.

I stand, and Khan watches me warily. “Tell me, Khan, what were you hoping to achieve with this friendly little chat?”

“I just want to find my men. Your men, too, now that you’re president.”

“I’m already looking into it. Unfortunately, they didn’t leave a trace. And all I’ve got to go on is your story about how theywere coming to welcome me home. The thing is, they never did. Not that I expected it. After all, nobody came to visit me inside either, except Gunther. Even if my brothers had decided I was worth a visit, it sure as shit wouldn’t’ve been Acid and Knuckles. They were never my biggest fans.”

“They respected you. You did something good for the club, and they respected that. Respected your sacrifice.”

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