Page 28 of Traitor

I slam my fist against the arm of her chair. Hard. She jumps, her entire body trembling now.

"You were a club girl for the Riders," I spit. "You didn't think that was something I should fucking know?"

Her breath hitches, and I see it in her eyes. A flicker of something deeper.

Pain.

"I wasn't a club girl like that," she whispers. "Not like Tisha. Not like the others. I—"

"I don't give a fuck how you justify it." My voice is cold, sharp like a blade. "You didn't tell me. And that makes you a fucking liar."

Her face crumples. "I ran from them. I never wanted them—"

But the rage inside me is louder than her words.

"You ran, huh?" My lips curl. "Ran straight into my bed?"

A small, broken noise escapes her throat, like I just ripped her apart.

Good. She ripped me apart first.

I push away from the chair, pacing the room, running a hand through my hair, trying to drown out the part of me that still fucking loves her. But it's not enough.

I can't trust her. And if I can't trust her, I can't keep her.

"You know what happens to traitors, Ely?" I say, my voice dangerously calm.

She doesn't answer.

I turn, leveling her with a dead stare. "They don't get second chances."

She sucks in a breath, her eyes wide with terror now. She should be scared. Because I should kill her for this. That's what I'd do to any other traitor.

But I can't. I can't fucking do it.

So I'll do the next best thing. I'll strip her of everything. I'll make her suffer. Then I'll send her back to the Crimson Riders. Let them deal with her.

I step closer, my shadow swallowing her whole. Her head jerks up, her body twisting in the chair. Panic. Raw, real panic.

"Bones, please, you don't know the whole—"

I grab her jaw in my hand, forcing her to look me in the eyes.

"I don't care."

Her body shakes. "Please—"

I let her go, stepping back.

"Tank. Joker." My voice is cold, detached, final.

The door swings open, and they step inside.

"Take her to the tattoo chair."

Ely stiffens, her breath choking on a sob.

"What are you doing?"

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