Page 40 of The Secrets We Keep

Eric: They’re ready and waiting for you.

I stuff the phone into my pocket and fist my hands at my sides. “He’s two minutes out,” I tell Cane.

Eric looks unphased. He knows that this is just the end for him. He burned my family too many times. I can’t trust him to truly move on. He will get his quick death, though, as long as James walks through that door as planned.

We hear the rumble of a bike as James pulls into the gravel lot surrounding the warehouse. When the engine cuts out, I don’t move, I don’t breathe. I just wait for him to appear.

The door flies open and James strides in. “Eric, you filthy bastard, I didn’t think you had it in you.”

He halts in his tracks when he sees me standing there with Cane. His green eyes go wide and his face leeches of color. He whirls around and tries to leave, but the prospects are standing in the doorway now, blocking his exit.

“James,” I mutter cooly. “Are you not happy to see me?”

He whirls around again and glowers at Eric. “What the fuck did you do? I got you out of that hellhole and this is how you repay me?” Eric doesn’t respond, he just stares off into space.

“That’s all you have to say?” I bark. “Nothing about sending people to kidnap my old lady and my kid?”

He faces me. “The Silver Springs charter wassupposed to be mine. John promised it to me when I bailed the charter out with the funds that my charter fronted. He didn’t have an heir. Everything would have fallen to some random person. But no, he decided to take you on and mentor you. He couldn’t pop out a son, so he got the next best thing. You,” he says through a strangled laugh. “You didn’t even know what was going on. No one from your charter did, except your secretary at the time. He was smarter than all of you.”

“You’re not telling me anything I didn’t already know,” I mutter as I step forward. “Why the hell did you think taking Sophie and Asher would change anything?”

He smiles at me maniacally. “You took something from me; I was going to take something from you.”

I lunge but Cane and a few of the other presidents, who finally made themselves known, stop me from reaching him. The smile wipes off James’ face when he sees them.He knows he’s done.

“I’m fine,” I murmur, and the guys release me. I push my shoulders back and stand tall. “James Black, you have gone against the Sovereign Sons code of conduct. You have betrayed your club. You have betrayed your brothers. What do you have to say for yourself?”

“Fuck. You,” he growls and then spits on the ground at our feet.

I chuckle. “You have been stripped of all the titlesand rights given to you by this club. I’ll leave it up to the rest of you on what you want to do with him,” I say to the presidents beside me. They nod their heads.

I motion for Cane to follow me to the back room and the prospects grab Eric. He comes willingly but doesn’t make a sound. I close the door after the prospects lower Eric to the floor and exit the room. They don’t get to see anything illegal that our club does, so they can’t be a part of what comes next.

Cane offers me a handgun with a silencer attached to the barrel. I don’t hesitate; I point it at Eric’s head and pull the trigger. His body falls to the floor a second later. I watch as the blood pools around his lifeless form, but I feel no remorse.He hurt Sophie. He tried to take her and Asher away from me.

“How do you live this life and be a good dad?” I ask Cane after a moment.

He clears his throat. “Sometimes it’s hard,” he admits. “We do some bad things that could make anyone think they’re a bad person. I just like to remember that most of the bad things we do are for the greater good. We do the things we do, so more people don’t get hurt. We do what we can to protect our community, to protect our friends, to protect our family. At the end of the day, that’s one of the most important parts of being a good parent. You’re a good man, Grayson, and Sophie and Asher are so lucky to have you in their lives.”

I swallow the lump in my throat. His words meanmore to me than he could ever know. Being a good father is something I’ve been striving for since I found out that Asher was mine. I never want to disappoint him. I only want what’s best for him.

“Thanks, brother,” I murmur before slapping him on the back. “Let’s take care of him so we can get home.”

“Sounds good, brother,” he smirks.

29

SOPHIE

One thing that lets an old lady know if she’s going to make it in club life or not, is if her man shares everything with her. When Grayson came back from Tennessee, I knew something was different. He told me what happened right away. Eric was never going to be an issue again. James was never going to be an issue again.

The immense relief I feel at their deaths should probably scare me, but it doesn’t. I know that my family is going to be safe now, and that’s the most important thing to me.

Today we’re having an end of summer barbecue at the clubhouse. It’s members, their families, and a few of the club girls. No outside charters, so it’s more comfortable for everyone.

“Everyone is here, so we’re ready to eat whenever,” I call over my shoulder to Chef as I walk out of the kitchen with a large container of macaroni and cheese.

“Okay!” He hollers back.

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