Page 128 of Blue-Eyed Jacks
We were dead.I’d just killed my family with my defiance.But I’d be damned if I tossed Zoe to these wolves.Shock deserved to die.But saying that would get us killed faster.
“Nonno?Is that true?”
“It was temporary.”
Fuck me.I glared at Nonno.
“For good reason, right, Bandit?”Nonno motioned Shock’s enforcer forward.“For the record, what did you see that night?”
Bandit glanced at Zoe.I stepped sideways so he’d see me instead.He locked eyes with me.“Shock collected blackmail on the club, on the members, the presidents, even the national leadership.”
A rumble of male whispers swept around the room from one wall to the other.With each whisper, the sound grew.
Nonno held up a hand.“Quiet!”
Big G studied me like a bug.“I heard a rumor that he planned to leak it to the Feds.”
Kate shifted beside me.She curled her fingers through the crook of my elbow.Big G’s eyes locked on her.“You did me a favor, killing him.Thank you.”
The room sucked in a breath.I felt Zoe’s palm on my back.
Kate smiled.“He wasn’t killed to protect you.”
Big G’s expression hardened.“No?”
“Shock wanted my daughter.I’d kill anyone because of that.”
There were no lies there despite how it sounded.I liked this ruthless version of Kate.“Ditto to what she said.But someone beat me to it.”Let them think Kate did it.She had more than enough reason.All my men knew about that.Walt’s crew likely knew her story, too.But Bandit could bring us all down.I still hadn’t lied…only omitted some facts.
“Understandable.”Big G scanned the crowd of Destroyers.“You said temporary, Nonno?”
“That’s right.”
Big G stared at my chest.“Where’s his vest?”
Wolf motioned to Smoke, who stepped into our meeting room and returned with my cut.He handed it off to my former VP, who then handed it to Big G.As he turned away, he winked at me.
That damn son of a bitch.He had to have known.I wondered how much he stuck his neck out for me, looping Big G into this fiasco.
“Here.”Big G handed me the leather vest.I noticed the hole where my president’s patch should have been.I slipped it on anyway.If I wore it, I could protect Kate better.Especially in this crowd, with her false confession lingering in their memories.
“That’s better.Nonno?There’s a gap in your leadership.You’ve been without a regional president too long.I think there is a man ready for that job.”
Big G reached out and put his finger on the spot where my officer patch had been.“This chapter has leaders in place that he groomed.He’s proven loyal not only to the club, but in his defense of the club.”There was a bite to his tone.He aimed his next words directly at Nonno.“I think Jackson is yourbestchoice.”
A couple of men near the back spoke out of turn, but no one within the circle around us.Bandit even dipped his head at me, then Kate.
My men cheered.Assholes.
In the commotion, I quietly asked Kate if she was okay with the offer.“I can turn it down,” I whispered against her hair.But if I did, she and Zoe were in danger.She must have read that on my face, because she shook her head.Then she mouthed, “We.”There was a fierceness embedded in her silent guidance.
Nonno tried to quiet the room again, with marginal success.I held up a hand.My crew quieted immediately.Big G raised a finger and his men glared at anyone still making a sound.
“One condition.”
Big G straightened, not accepting my request, nor denying it.
“I asked Kate to marry me, and she said yes.”
