Page 164 of Colt

My hands slid around Freya’s back, gathering her in close. “Sshh, baby. It’ll be okay. He can beat the fuck outta me. It won’t stop us bein’ together. Nothin’ will. At least this way I can get the fuck outta here with my head held high. Don’t ask me to be a coward, please.”

My girl rested her face against my chest and sobbed her heart out.

I pulled back slightly, this time taking her face in my hands, my thumb brushing away the tears trailing down her cheek. “Hey. It’ll be cool. I’ll still be pretty enough for you after.” I shot her a cocky grin, trying to reassure her, even though a sense of foreboding settled in my gut. “Let me do this and we’ll go. Just think, tonight we could be on a flight to somewhere warm and exotic, where nothing can touch us. It’ll just be me and you, with the rest of our lives stretching ahead of us.”

Slowly, Freya closed her eyes and nodded. “At least make sure one of my brothers is there, or Atlas. They can reign him in.”

“I will,” I told her with a reassuring smile. “I’m gonna be okay. I can fight with the best of ‘em. I won’t wail on your dad, but I won’t hesitate to defend myself.”

She bit her lip nervously. “Please be careful. He’ll fight dirty rather than lose to you, especially after this. He’s got a point to prove, not just to you, but to the club brothers too. In his eyes you’ve betrayed the Demons, and he needs to punish you, the bigger the audience the better.”

My gut stabbed painfully.

Freya was right. I’d seen Prez take on tougher men than me without blinking. He’d do whatever it took to win, and I needed to watch my back, because he’d come at me with everything he had.

The cold, hard truth was that if I wanted to walk away from this relatively unscathed, I’d need to keep my wits about me and hope that Freya’s brothers would keep him from going too far.

The murmurs and chatter died down the second I stepped foot into the bar. You could hear a pin drop as Prez, surrounded by about six men stared me down.

It wasn’t busy. Most of the brothers were probably still in bed recovering from the party last night. Still, Prez ensured he had his minions by his side for support, which didn’t bode well for me in the ring.

I scanned the room, hoping to God Cash was there. My heart sank when I realized he wasn’t but luckily, Bowie and Abe sat away from Prez at a table by themselves.

Bowie shook his head at me sadly, while Abe tried shooting me a reassuring smile.

I sent a chin lift their way, a silent signal that I was okay and ready to rumble.

The noise of boots hitting the floor sounded, making me turn back to Prez and his crowd. Bile rose in my throat when the men I’d helped and supported over the years, one by one, turned their backs on me, a message that they didn’t regard me as a brother anymore.

I tilted my chin, staring at their backs, feeling like trash. This was the biggest statement they could make. It said I was a traitor, and they wouldn’t even deign to even look at my face.

A chair scraped loudly across the floor as Abe got up from his seat, pointing a finger at the crowd of men. “Shotgun. Wasn’t it a month ago when you got in shit with gambling debts? Who loaned you the green to give to the bookies to stop you getting your face caved in?”

Shot turned to Abe, folding his hands across his chest. “He betrayed Prez.”

“That’s a matter of opinion,” Abe bandied back. “And regardless of who’s side you’re comin’ down on I need to ask somethin’. Did he betray you? Or are you just jumpin’ on the bandwagon to suck up to Dagger?”

Shotgun clamped his mouth shut.

“Thought so,” Abe huffed out, his eyes sliding to Prez. “What the fuck are you doin’, Dag?”

“Dealin’ with a traitor,” he retorted. “It may not be Shot’s, Tex’s or even Brew’s fight, but when someone betrays the club and breaks the cardinal rules they go against us all. Mess with a Demon, Abe, and we’ll raise hell.”

Abe’s eyes roamed Dagger’s face, full of disappointment. “That’s just it. Freya’s not a Demon.”

Prez’s lip curled, his face reddening as he shot Abe an incredulous look. “No. She’s my fuckin’ daughter. He knew not to go there. He knew the consequences of touching her, but he still did it. Am I meant to let it slide, Abe? He broke a club rule. End of fuckin’ story.”

“You’ll regret this,” Abe muttered. “One day when you’re old and grey, you’ll look back on this moment and your conscience will tighten like a noose around your neck. Are you willing to lose Freya over this? Are you willing to lose the grandbabies she’ll give ya? The pride in seein’ her succeed and know that somethin’ in that came from you? Are you willing to push your girl away for lovin’ someone you don’t approve of, even though as far as I can see, he’s a stand-up man?”

Prez’s jaw clenched. I could almost see the anger simmering beneath his stony expression. “That’s just it,” he said flatly, meeting the other man’s accusing stare unflinchingly. “He ain’t a stand-up man. He betrayed me after I gave him a home and a family.”

Abe just stared at him, shaking his head, lip curling with disgust. “Seems to me that you only did it on the condition Colt obey you. That negates all the generosity you extended, because friendship shouldn’t come with conditions, John.” He pulled his shoulders back, standing to his full height. “As an officer of this club, I vote we do this another way.”

Prez’s mouth thinned, his eyes immediately going to Bowie. “You’re an officer too. What do you think?”

Bowie’s eyes rounded so wide that, for a second, he reminded me of a rabbit caught in the headlights. “Don’t agree with what you’re doin’, but you’re my prez. I won’t go against ya.”

Dagger smiled smugly. “Seems you’re outvoted, old man. Two officers against one.”

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