Page 65 of In the Light of Sin

This fucking bastard. I know Joslyn blabbed to her friends what we were doing behind closed doors, but it makin’ its way back to Prez, and whatever mindset he was currently in wasn’t good. “You know damn well she isn’t.”

He shrugged innocently like he didn’t know the game he was playing. “Haven’t seen her naked. Don’t know what she’s wearin’ or not.”

“What the fuck is your problem lately?”

“My problem,” he snarled, slapping his hands on the table, “is that we’re focused on shit that doesn’t matter.” I stood up, walking over to him. I intimidated a lot of people, but even though I was taller and physically stronger than him, he refused to waiver under my scrutiny.

Joslyn mattered.And even if she didn’t mean a God damn thing to anyone in this room, she fucking meant something to me.

“Like what?” Grim’s lips flattened. “If you’re getting pissed at him for shacking up with Joslyn, you mad at me for shacking up with Nyla?”

“‘Course I don’t want you with her,” he snapped at his VP. “Fuckin’ love my little girl and would take a damn bullet for her. Built this goddamn club to find her. But she doesn’t stop our mission. It makes me want to take these fuckers down even more so they don’t get to her first.”

These fuckers already had my girl once, the invisible scars she refused to burden anyone else there still lingering there in moments she felt like no one would see her pain.

They weren’t getting her again.

“What’s Chasm?” Grim asked.

That shut him up, causing him to slam his eyes closed, lips curling as he began to slightly shake. “You already know. It was goin’ to be built as a breeding farm.”

“You’re using the past tense,” Husk pointed out, straightening his spine, prepared for a fight. “You know somethin’ we don’t, Prez?”

“Why the fuck would I keep somethin’ from you guys?” He was furious, refusing to show us whatever hand he currently had. He was twitchy, fingers slightly spasming with the urge to choke Husk out.

“You seemed awfully interested in them when Sarge brought them,” Tyrant accused, his usual carefree attitude frigid as his ice-colored eyes looked incriminatingly at our President.

“Almost ripped the blueprints in half when you snatched them from him,” Knight added tepidly, his fingers tapping against his crossed arms as the tensions between everyone rose.

All attention was on Prez. His eyes slowly moved around the room. Any wrong move, and he knew a riot would start. It wouldn’t be the first fight that’s happened here.

But it could damn well be our last. It depended on his answer.

He let out a heavy breath, the first time he ever showed us a side of defeat in him. The crow’s feet on his eyes showed the stress he was under, his dark eyes tired as he sat down in his chair. He put his elbows on the table, interlocking his fingers before taking a steadying breath. “You guys gotta trust me.”

“So let me get this straight,” Husk rose to his feet. “You accuse us of gettin’ distracted, but you ain’t tellin’ us the truth? That shit doesn’t fly, Prez.” Husk had a lot at stake with taking our enemies down. I knew he had a pang every time he saw one of us with our girls, making his resolve to finish this shit even stronger.

It was silent, all of us having differing opinions over the man we’d had unquestionable loyalty to for years. I never would’ve guessed my loyalty to him would be shaken.

“But do you trust us?”

His silence was everything he couldn’t have said.

“I think we’re done here,” Grim said, sounding somber. He looked around the room at us. “We’ll reconvene when shits calmed down. Get out of here.”

There was no denying this changed the way our club would operate. I was still in front of Prez, him refusing to meet anyone’s eyes as everyone headed out of church and into the common area. It was just me and him left before my anger began to rise at his mistrust of Joslyn due to his own damn insecurities. I turned away from him, heading towards the door.

“Be careful of who you let into your life, Sarge.” Was he trying to manipulate me to change the way I felt about her? “The ones who try to save you are the ones who leave you for dead.”

I didn’t turn back to look at him. I would knock him the fuck out if I did, and while that’d help soothe my rage, it wouldn’t help whatever situation he was getting us into. “Good thing I’m already dead inside already.”

I walked out the door, meeting my brothers, minus Hex and V, in the common area. Knight and Tyrant were nursing beers while Grim stayed far away from the bar, sitting on one of the leather couches, fingers punching at his phone. Bet he wished he could drink right now, all of us questioning things we thought we had every answer to.

Prez’s footsteps were deafening as we heard him enter the common area. None of us looked at him. He knew what he was doing. He always told us finding Nyla was the reason he built the club. But what if he was bullshitting us there, too? I never thought I would find myself distrusting him. But I guess he was right.

Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer.

The front door of the clubhouse was kicked open, a tall, slender woman walking through like she owned the damn place. She looked familiar, but I couldn’t remember where she was from. My eye caught something dripping from a metal object in her hand—

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