Page 41 of Hard as Stone
To ignore it means losing everything I’ve just found.
12
AXEL
My phone buzzes for the tenth time today, but it’s just Hawk asking about security arrangements for tonight’s town hall meeting. Not Poppy.
She hasn’t responded to any of my messages since the confrontation at the worksite two days ago. Just one text.
Poppy
I can’t see you until after the meeting. Dad’s watching. I’m sorry.
The silence is killing me. Every instinct screams to go to her, to hell with her father’s threats. But Stone’s right—we need to play this smart, and exposing Summit for the corrupt bastards they are will do more to protect Poppy in the long run than charging in half-cocked and throwing down with her old man. Not that the idea hasn’t crossed my mind more times than I can count.
I toss my phone on the clubhouse bar and rake a hand through my hair. My patience is hanging by a thread, and my brotherscan tell. Lee eyes me warily from his seat across the room, spinning an empty bottle between his fingers like it might hold the answers we’re all looking for.
“That girl’s got you twisted up worse than Duck’s spelling,” he says, smirking just enough to piss me off.
“Shut it, Lee,” I snap, gripping the edge of the bar so hard my knuckles turn white. “You don’t get it.”
“Don’t I?” He leans back in his chair. “We’ve all faced this challenge at some point, Axel. Torn between what you want and what you’ve sworn to protect. The patch comes with sacrifices.”
“This isn’t about the patch,” I growl, though even as I say it, I know it’s a lie. “This is?—”
“About her,” he finishes for me, his smirk fading into something more serious. “I get it. Poppy’s different. She’s not just some girl you’re messing around with. But you can’t let your feelings for her cloud your judgment. If this thing with Summit goes south, it’ll affect all of us. The club. The town. Hell, even her family.”
I glare at him, hating how much sense he’s making. “You think I don’t know that? You think I don’t lie awake every damn night trying to figure out a way to fix this without dragging her into it? Without turning her life inside out?”
“Then you better figure it out fast, brother,” Lee says, pushing to his feet. “Because once that meeting starts tonight, there ain’t no going back.”
My phone buzzes again. This time it’s Stone in the MC’s group chat.
Stone
Get your asses in chapel.
Lee and I immediately get up and head toward the double doors leading outside. When we get inside the carriage house, the meeting room is chaos—Mack and Cash have spreadsheets all over the table showing Bennett Construction’s contract bids alongside bank records proving kickbacks. Photos document ‘emergency’ road closures that perfectly align with the notes and email instructions JJ found for us in the trash. It’s enough to prove Bennett’s been taking bribes to strategically disrupt certain neighborhoods, but I can see from the connecting lines on their investigation board that this goes deeper. Up into city hall, maybe higher.
But right now, all I can think about is Poppy’s face when she learns the truth about her father. It’s one thing to suspect, but it’s another to know. I want to shield her from that pain, the way I wish someone had shielded me from my own father’s failures.
“There you are.” Stone emerges from his office, and not for the first time, I’m struck by how he commands respect without trying. He took over as president at twenty-five, youngest in the club’s history, and turned us from a struggling chapter into a force. Did it all while raising his family, before his wife and daughter moved away a few years back. He’s living proof that sometimes life’s hardest hits make you stronger. These days, his dark hair might be more silver than black, but the steel in his eyes hasn’t dulled a bit.
He gestures for me to follow him back to his office. “We need to talk about tonight.”
As the door swings shut behind us, I have a feeling I already know what’s coming. The chaos outside fades into a dull murmur, leaving just the two of us in the small space lit from above by a single flickering fluorescent light. He settles into his chair, studying me with eyes that have seen too much—the same eyes his son Lee inherited, along with that tactical mind that makes them both dangerous when crossed.
“I need you to tell me you’re ready for this.”
“Does it matter?”
“Yeah.” He leans forward. “Because when shit hits the fan tonight, I need to know your head’s in the game. Not just focused on your girlfriend.”
“She’s not?—”
“Cut the bullshit.” Stone’s voice carries the full weight of his authority. “We all saw what happened on that road. The way you moved when her old man put hands on her. The way she looked at you.”
I drag a hand down my face. “What do you want me to say?”
