Page 78 of Outcast

Joel was well liked and popular in the club, so that was telling enough that it set my teeth on edge.

"He either wants Rita back, or he wants to take the club. I don't trust him." Esteban spit toward Matías.

It didn't reach him but the sentiment was still the same.

The guys closest to Matías made booing sounds like they were egging on the fight while stepping back to avoid any backlash if one did start.

"Doesn't matter what you think." Ricco was too jolly. "It matters that he's made his intentions known. That's the first step." He raised his voice so the crowd of Dirty Dogs would all hear. "Matías wants to be a Dirty Dog!"

Everyone except Joel, Esteban, about three others, and me, whooped their excitement.

"You know the drill! He has thirty days to prove his worth. Then we vote!" Ricco wound his arm up before pointing at the sky.

So fucking dramatic.

My hands shook from the revelation. Matías was pushing hard. Everything was changing and I didn't have a choice but to keep up. I headed toward the compound, leaving the men in their circle.

"The meeting starts in three minutes. You're not there,you don't get a say in the next steps!" I called over my shoulder.

Esteban and Due fell in line on either side of me. The noise behind us calmed down, and once I took my seat at the table, I realized just how close Matías had been. He was already seated in the closest chair, his gaze soaking me up.

I shifted uncomfortably.

"Do you want him gone?" Esteban whispered in my ear.

"No, it's fine." I held Matías' gaze in challenge. He wanted to fuck with me? I'd fuck right back. I only had to figure out how to do that without sacrificing who I was and what I wanted. Been there before. Done that. Didn’t want to do it again. The gang was more important.

We had three quarters of our men here. That was a pretty good amount. Usually meetings were run on half the gang. There were just too many businesses and errands the guys were involved in for everyone to be here.

"Due," I rushed out when Joel opened his mouth. "Time's up. What did you find?"

Joel raised a brow but he didn't say anything.

In the middle of the chairs, Due stood up. He was my age and his dad had been a founding member in the club until he died from a job about a decade ago. He was also Esteban's best friend.

His gaze flicked to Esteban standing behind me.

"Wait." Matías raised a hand and stood up. "Before the meeting gets too far, I have an issue to raise."

"You can't raise an issue without being an official member," Esteban fired at Matías, derision dripping from his voice.

Matías pulled his shoulders back. "You'll want to hear this issue."

"Doubt it." Esteban rested his hands on either side of me at the table, making his claim clear.

Fuck. I should tell him to back up. Just because we were involved didn't mean I wanted my laundry aired out for the club, but I didn't want to either. I enjoyed the claim as much as I didn't want to rub Matías' face in it.

It seemed I'd gotten out most of my spite the night before.

"You'll want to hear this one, and when you do, you'll feel a fool for giving into your obvious dislike of me."

"Who said I disliked you?" Esteban asked lightly. Matías started to respond but Esteban chuckled. "I fucking hate you. Years I watched you lead Rita on. Treat her like a backroom whore and roll over for your father because you were too weak to do anything else. It took you a year before you surfaced again. So you're either here to take over, or to get Rita back. From where I stand, you don't deserve either."

The room fell so silent, you could hear a mouse breathe. If we had mice. We didn't because that shit was nasty.

Matías' eyes darkened and his expression seemed to stretch taut. Not even Ricco or Joel had anything to say to that.

He didn't rise to the bait. Matías turned to the room. "Regardless of what you think of me, I'm here because I want to be here. Sure, because of Rita, but also because the Dirty Dogs is the only home I've ever really known. But I'm still going to raise this issue." His gaze flicked to me. "This morning, there was an attempt made at Rita's house by the new club."