Page 47 of Beautiful Ruins
Scout rubbed his hands together, his nervous energy buzzing like the first sign of the cicadas in the distance. I could almost hear the gears turning in his head.
“Maybe . . .” he said, gaze zeroed in on me, “we should let Sadie help.” His voice was uncertain, as it fucking should have been. There was no way that was happening.
I scoffed. “Over my dead fucking body.”
Scout slumped back onto his bike, fidgeting and kicking a few loose rocks with the toe of his boot. He deflated like I’d just popped his insides.
Bear gave a slow nod. “Kid’s got a point, bro,” he said, his voice even, an unspoken challenge in the words. “Sadie’s mum was working on a story before she died. Let’s find out what she knew. If it ends up being a dead end, then at least we’re covering every angle.”
Bear wasn’t spit balling. It was a strategy. One I’d refused to even think about. But he was right. He was telling me what I already knew and didn’t want to admit—that if we didn’t sort this out, someone else was going to pay with their lives.
And that someone could very well have been Sadie.
I bit down on the inside of my cheek, hard enough for that familiar taste of metal to fill my mouth. The truth gnawed at me. We needed to know what Patricia had been working on. Logan had been smart, using a song they’d made up to lead Sadie. He must have known no-one else would understand.
I sighed, scrubbing my hands over my face, the tension in my temples pounding like a dull hammer. The noise of the bush seemed to grow louder, like even nature knew shit was coming.
“Fine,” I said, my voice hoarse. “But we do it my way. I don’t need Sadie getting any more involved than that.” That last part was for my benefit as much as anyone else’s. If I said it enough, maybe I’d believe it. “We find out what her mother knew, and that’s it.” I met Bear’s steady gaze. “But I want it kept between us. Iron doesn’t need to know, and God help me Scout, if you so much as murmur a word to anyone else, I’ll cut your goddamn tongue out myself.”
Scout scrunched up his nose. “Jesus, VP.” He held both hands up. “Mouth shut. Got it.”
He knew I wasn’t kidding. He’d been around long enough to understand that if Iron got wind of this, there’d be hell to pay.
And if Snake found out we were involving Sadie in club business, it would be all over before it even began. My claim on Sadie had already piqued his curiosity, and I didn’t need another reason for him to come after me. If I had my way, his days were numbered.
“But if we’re doing this, I need eyes on her,” I said, my throat dry, as I stared straight at Scout.
He was my only lifeline. It was a hell of a thing to trust him with this, but what other choice did I have?
He shoved a hand through his hair, uncertainty written all over his face. “Sadie?”
I gave a quick nod, lighting another cigarette to keep my hands busy. “Snake’s getting too curious,” I said, attempting to keep the fear out of my voice. The last thing I needed was for them to know how bad it really was, that I could feel the danger wrapping around us. “I don’t want him getting ideas, and we could be dragging her further into trouble.”
His eyebrows shot up. “You want me to follow her?” He shifted from foot to foot, like his legs couldn’t decide which side to stand on.
But if he wanted to prove himself to me, to stay on my good side, then he’d very well do as he was told.
I nodded again, blowing out a lungful of smoke. I pointed to her window. “Follow her. Watch her. I don’t care if she’s buying fucking toothpaste—I want to know.” My voice was rough, grating against my throat like I’d chewed glass and thought it was a good idea to then swallow it.
Scout straightened up. “I’ll keep close,” he said. “She won’t even know I’m there.” But I caught the pause before he spoke, the doubt in it, like even he knew that was going to be hard to achieve.
“You keep pretending this is about keeping her safe,” Bear said, more amused than pissed. “And one day you’re going to have to admit you’re the one who’s dangerous.”
I didn’t have a comeback. He was right once again, and I fucking hated him for saying it out loud. It meant that no matter what, at some point I’d have to let Sadie go for good. While we were pretending, we could do just that—pretend. But once this was over, once we got to where we needed to go, she would leave me again.
Bear didn’t say another word, just let the silence close in around us. It was a challenge, that silence, a dare for me to own up to my bullshit. I let it hang there like the cigarette smoke.Like the goddamn memory of Sadie’s face when she had left me all alone.
I flicked the last of my cigarette into the dirt and ground the butt into the ground until the ember went out with a hiss. I thought handing her off would be enough. But at that moment, I wanted it to be me in the shadows.
Obsession didn’t come with an off switch. It just flickered, waiting for the right time to burn everything down.
Chapter Fifteen
ROWAN
The sun beat down on my leathers uncharacteristically warm that morning as I trudged across my lawn to Sadie’s house. How I let Bear and Scout talk me into bringing Sadie on board was beyond me.
What the hell could go wrong, right? Except fucking everything. A goddamned disaster was waiting to detonate, and we all knew who would be picking up my remains from the wreckage after the explosion.
