Page 57 of My Knight

One by one, the guys filed out—and none of them looked good. Pirate’s face was stone. Compass looked pissed. Aero was rubbing the back of his neck. Throttle had his fists clenched. And Dice…

Dice didn’t stop.

He stormed down the hallway with his boots hitting the hardwood like thunder, then shoved the front door open and tore outside.

“Dice—” Smoke moved to follow, but Yarder stepped in front of him.

“Let him go. He needs to blow off steam.”

Smoke growled low in his throat but didn’t push past.

Poppy’s eyes narrowed. “Yarder,” she said, using that tone only an ol’ lady could use on a club president. “You better tell us right now what the hell is going on.”

Yarder ran his hand down his face and looked more tired than I’d ever seen him. “Leo and Brynn found Stretch.”

Every single person in the room reacted at once.

“That’s great news,” I said, almost smiling.

Sloane nodded. “He’s okay then?”

But Yarder didn’t smile. He didn’t relax. His next words were quiet.

“There’s a pretty good chance he flipped.”

The words slammed into the room like a punch to the gut.

“Flipped?” Fallon asked.

“Flipped as in…” Sloane started.

“Working with Boone and Gibbs,” Yarder finished.

It was like the air left the room.

“No way,” Throttle muttered. “No fucking way.”

“Yarder,” Poppy said, blinking like she hadn’t heard him right. “You’re serious?”

Yarder nodded once. “Leo’s people have had eyes on Boone and Gibbs all week. This morning, Stretch showed up in the background of one of their intel photos. Right there with them.”

“That doesn’t mean anything,” Olive argued. “He could be undercover, trying to get closer to them.”

“I said the same thing,” Smoke added. “So did Dice.”

“Then why does everyone look like they’ve been kicked in the face?” Dove asked as she stood up.

“Because Leo thinks the intel means he’s really working with them,” Compass said, his voice heavy. “Not pretending. Not infiltrating.”

“That’s not Stretch,” Sloane said as she shook her head.

“We all thought that,” Aero said. “But Leo’s source says otherwise.”

“Who’s the source?” I asked.

“Someone Leo trusts,” Yarder answered. “But Brynn doesn’t. She wants to verify it before they move.”

That gave me a tiny sliver of hope.

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