Page 18 of What Lies Within

The officers all remain quiet for varying reasons. Rigs stares at the toe of his boot; Hammer, his hands spread atop his knees.Turnip tilts his head back, teeth running a path over his bottom lip as he studies my brother. Minion folds his arms and scowls, shaved fucking head shining under the lowlight.

"We agreed to pair Rae with Digger in a ruse to cover her reason for bein' with us, correct?"

A couple of the fuckers nod at their president’s statement.

“I didn’t account on feelings bein’ taken into account,” Tyke grumbles. “Diggers, hers, or mine.”

"What the fuck you gettin' at?" Hammer asks, lacing his hands behind his head to flex his arms. "You sayin' things got real between you two?" he directs at me.

I chew the corner of my bottom lip and shrug. “I guess.”

"You guess." Minion nods. "You fuckers are playin' with the already fragile emotions of a young woman here. There ain't no maybes, possiblies, or fuckin' perhapses about it." He's every inch the father of a daughter in the moment. "Find your goddamn balls and call it what it is."

“She belongs to both of us, and I want it patched as such,” Tyke barks. “Yeah, I could have come out and just said it like that—blunt—but I wanted you assholes to feel as though it weren’t a forgone conclusion. That you had a say in matters that affect the club.”

“And is it?” Turnip asks quietly, peering at me and Tyke from the corner of his eye. “A forgone conclusion?”

“Can’t speak for my brother,” I say, “but I ain’t backin’ down.”

“Fuck’s sake.” Turnip swings his head away, staring at the opposite end of the room.

“Spit it out,” Tyke says. “Speak your piece, brother.” There’s a warning in his tone echoed in the death grip I have on the back of the sofa.

“She’s your fuckin’ daughter’s age,” Turnip exclaims. “It’s fucked up.”

“I mean, if she consents to this,” Rigs says with a shrug. “What does it matter?”

“I’m more concerned with what happens after,” Minion says. “When the heat’s off her, when Maddie’s home and Terry’s under control, when the adrenaline leaves,” he stresses, pausing for effect. “What then?”

“Guess we get a shot at happiness,” Tyke states carefully.

Nobody misses the hint of sarcasm in his reply.

Minion nods tightly, lips drawn back in a firm line. “I don’t agree with it. She’s vulnerable, and you fucks are takin’ advantage of her desire for protection. Her need for a man to keep her safe.”

“She don’t need no man to keep her safe,” I snap, visions of Rae with that goddamn knife to Connor fresh in my mind. “She does need lovin’. What’s so wrong about me doin’ that? Or Tyke?”

“Her head ain’t on straight,” Minion pushes. “Maybe she needs love, but who says you two are the right fuckers to give it?”

Rigs sighs, slumping down in his seat. "We gonna throw opinions at this all night or vote on her patch? Because I don't know about you assholes, but, as Tyke said, I wanna get back to figuring out where Maddie is."

“I’m happy to vote,” Hammer says with a shrug.

It didn't escape my attention that he omitted to share his thoughts. "Let's do it, then."

“Not happening,” Minion says with a jerk of his head. “It’s a Nay for me.”

“You?” Tyke glowers at Turnip.

Our Road Captain slowly wets his lips. “Come back to me.”

“Aye,” Rigs says.

I lift my brow at Hammer.

He glances to the side, jaw hard, and gently nods as though agreeing with his thoughts. "Aye." He snaps his gaze to Minion,who jerks forward as though surprised. "What? It keeps her safe, and that's the whole fuckin' point to this bullshit, ain't it?"

“You’re both fucked.” Minion fists one hand inside the other. “Up to you, Turnip.”

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