Page 60 of Just Heartbeats
"Sit," ordered Kodiak.
The officers sat at the table. The others stood behind them. All members waited in silence.
"Nate confessed," he said. "He gave Roma to Deception Motorcycle Club. Sold her out like she was nothing."
Hunter and Rocco shifted in the chairs. Looks of disbelief flashed around the table, but no one questioned him.
"Each of us has read and signed the bylaws. This club runs on loyalty and brotherhood." His eyes raked across every manat that table. "He swore on the patch, like each of you. He understood the punishment if he betrayed Royalla. As president, I dealt the punishment."
Nobody challenged him.
But then someone shifted near the door, and his gaze snagged on Roma, half in shadow, hands gripping the doorframe, chin raised. Despite knowing she couldn't and wouldn't cross the barrier into the room during a meeting, she'd heard every word.
His chest cracked open. He assumed she'd be asleep.
He intended to keep her out of club business. To shield her from the filth, the choices, the crimes. But tonight, the line between his world and hers blurred.
Her eyes weren't angry. Worse—she looked haunted.
What could he say? That he'd done it for her? That it had to be done? That he looked forward to killing Nate?
He turned his attention back to those around the table. "If any of you are unsure where your loyalties stand, now's the time to speak."
From the corner of his eye, he saw Roma turn and disappear in the hallway. The silence from the Royalla members should've reassured him of their position, but his heart still echoed in his chest.
Kodiak should've gone after her. But club business came first.
Having grown up within Royalla, Roma understood that he'd killed Nate. She understood much more than anyone gave her credit for.
Chapter 36
Roma stopped into Kodiak's room, changed her mind, and turned around and entered her room, shutting the door behind her. She leaned against the wood, eyes burning from the conversation she'd overheard outside the meeting room. Kodiak had killed Nate. One minute he was alive, and the next he was dead.
It was over.
As much as she wanted Kodiak home, safe and sound, she felt an overwhelming wave of guilt about what he'd done. Killing a man would haunt him forever. And it was her fault.
Roma crossed the room and dropped onto the bed like she was twelve years old again and thought the world was going to end because she didn't get her way with her dad. Back then, the world had seemed smaller and simpler. Her dad had been alive, and everything had felt stable, even if she hadn't known what he was shielding her from.
She grabbed the pillow and pulled it to her chest, curling around it. Hard facts made her nauseous. If only she hadn't played pool with Nate. If she hadn't gone outside. If only she'd stayed inside. Maybe Nate would've changed his mind about helping that man kidnap her, and he could've turned his back on Deception Motorcycle Club.
It might not have changed anything, or it could've changed everything. But she would never know now. She couldn't go back and make different choices. Kodiak would have to live with what happened, and his pain would always be linked to her.
Tears fell. She missed her dad. Missed the way his presence wrapped her in a bubble, shielding her from everything that happened in the club. Growing up, she never recalled her daddiscussing club business with her. Now she knew better. She knew what being a Royalla member had cost him.
His life.
A fresh wave of fear crept up her spine. Would this be her life now? Loving Kodiak meant living with the possibility thathemight not come back one night. Could she live with that kind of fear every day and night? Would she survive if she lost him?
The door creaked.
She couldn't find the energy to wipe her face or lift her head from the pillow.
Kodiak filled the doorway, outlined in the soft glow from the light in the other room. He didn't try to excuse anything that happened or lie his way out of what she'd overheard. He looked at her with a softness that he reserved for her.
She sat up and launched herself into his arms. Her body collided with his, arms winding around his neck like she'd drown if she let go.
Tugging at his vest, she squirmed in his arms, trying to peel back the layers, fighting everything that stood in her way. Underneath it all was Kodiak Black. She wanted the man, not the president.
