Page 129 of Ruin
Shark is nodding at his side, showing us that he approves of this. It means a lot. All the guys here may be iffy on Coyote, especially after this weekend, but everyone loves my brother. He’s just one of those guys you can’t help but like, even if he is annoying as fuck.
Coyote clears his throat before looking everyone in the eye and explaining what happened. It takes him a few minutes to get it all out, giving a lot of good information but not overdoing it. When he’s done, it’s quiet. No one moves as we all process what this could mean, then I see heads turning this way and that as they have silent conversations with each other, feeling each other out. It’s a lot, and there’s no guarantee everyone will forgive him.
“So, you expect us to just move forward?” Rhino asks, sounding a bit disgusted. I think out of everyone, he’ll be the hardest to get through to. Unfortunately, if he’s the only one, he’ll lose.
“Yes,” Coyote says. “Shark and I have been talking, and we feel this is what’s best for the club.”
“So you two are the only ones who have a say?” Rhino asks.
“Weallhave a say,” Shark adds firmly. “But you know how this goes, Rhino.”
“Right,” he says with a humorless laugh, then gets to his feet. “I know exactly how it fucking goes.” And then he walks out the door.
“Should someone go after him?” Tank asks.
“No,” Shark says. “I’ll talk to him later. Let’s finish up here, lay it all out, see what everyone else thinks first.”
Coyote shifts his feet and says, “You all know Howler was here yesterday for a meeting, which is why we’re sitting here together on a Monday. Seems their club has had some changes, and we talked about a treaty.”
A few of the guys scoff, but Coyote continues.
“We didn’t decide on anything. We need to look at maps and figure shit out, but they have a point. We’re sick of people dying and getting hurt; we’re sick of all the fighting. Right now, they’re our biggest enemy. We both live in this state and we should both be taking care of it. The border is big enough for them to get a share. They don’t need to take from us, they can have their own, as long as they figure it out on their own. They don’t impede on us; we don’t impede on them.”
“There’s a reason they didn’t do that in the first place. They’re impossible to get to,” Grizz says.
“And that’s why we’re working on figuring out a way to make it happen,” Coyote begins. “Look, I know I fucked up, but having more allies will help us, especially over the next couple years, as we grow. The whole point of this club is to protect thetown, and that’s all well and good, but we need to look at the bigger picture. We drove all the way to New Hampshire to ask for help when we needed it, and those guys over there had no problem helping us. But why do that when we’re bigger than them? Our state is our home, not just this town. There’s no reason we can’t branch out and make other towns safe too. It doesn’t just have to be about Pinehaven.”
A few of the guys nod in agreement, but a few still seem unsure.
“We aren’t voting on this today, but it will be a vote. Majority rules, as we’ve usually done,” my brother explains.
Coyote nods, then adds, “I’ll be around if anyone wants to talk or has questions. If you choose to get rid of me, I’ll deal with it, but I’d like a chance to make this club worth something more. Some of our fathers cheapened it, and made our experience shit. I don’t want that for the future of our club—for our kids. We need to do better. Fucking up made me see that.”
When the meeting ends, I decide I don’t want to spend the day with the club. Usually Sunday is our day off, but since I didn’t get that, I’m going home now. I’ll surprise Lucian, we’ll fuck, eat dinner, fuck again, then go to sleep. Maybe we’ll do something in between, like get some work done on his house. The sooner it’s finished, the sooner it can be cleaned.
His car isn’t parked out front when I get there, so I assume he’s out running errands, maybe, I don’t fucking know. But I use my key to head inside, and go to the kitchen to grab a cold bottle of water. It’s hot as fuck today. Any day now, it’ll flip likea switch and the warm days will be replaced with cold ones, and then soon after, the snow will come. I don’t hate the snow, but it makes it hard to ride. I like my truck, but I love my bike more, and unfortunately, we don’t get a lot of ride time in the winter since they’re so brutal.
I’m used to there being chaos in this house, since he’s doing so much work on it. A lot of things don’t have places since there isn’t much furniture or the furniture is covered and not used. But I’ve never seen a stack of mail on the kitchen counter before, so it catches my attention. What really catches my attention is where the letter on the top of the stack is from.
Probate court.
What could he possibly be getting from probate court in Boston?
I stare at it and feel like it’s staring right back at me. Taunting me. I know what that is, but I don’t want to admit it because it doesn’t make sense.
He said they were divorced. He said they were over. Had been for a few years.
My stomach threatens to expel the water I just drank, and that lump comes back to my throat.
As much as I want to trust him, I can’t. Yes, he came back to me, but that doesn’t mean he’s being truthful. Whatever is in that envelope, it feels important. It feels like it’s going to destroy me. So I do the only thing that makes sense, and I tear it the fuck open.
Chapter Fifty-Three
Lucian
I have no idea what time Kolton will be home, but I want us to have a nice dinner together, so I go out early to get everything I need. I stop at the butcher shop to get prime cuts of steak, then go across the street to the grocery for potatoes and squash. I hit the liquor store on the way home to get wine that will pair well with the meal. It’s my favorite thing to eat. I’m a steak and potatoes kind of guy, and so is Kolton. He likes eating fresh and healthy, so cooking a meal for us is easy.
I’m surprised to see his truck when I pull into my driveway, but even more surprised to see him sitting on the front steps. He looks up at the sound of my car on the dirt driveway, and I know something is wrong immediately. I can feel it, even from here. It’s like a weight on my chest. And when I get closer, I see the shadows along his face.
