Page 13 of Dragon Strife
“Exactly.”
“I’m missing something here obviously because I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about. You were at the clubhouse that night, I saw you when I came back from Genni’s ho—” My voice cracks as I speak of her, my chest ceasing with the breath I try desperately to suck in.
“You’re right.” Laith nods, pity for my fucking insanity shining from his eyes. “I was here. Whoever she saw only looked like me.”
“Malik,” I snarl and straighten up to look at him, the room around me spinning. “That motherfucker had his eyes set on Genni even then?”
Laith rolls his eyes and scrubs his hand down his face. “No, brother. I do think he’s in talks with Kennedy and possibly Cash. Although, Cash has been with us for a long time and he’s been known to rescue some brothers who have had too much to drink at the bar.”
“He would’ve seen Malik though,” I add, my head swimming with the details but unable to connect them. “He would’ve told us.”
“Cash also knows Vic was on his last leg with Kennedy and his insubordination. Maybe he was worried Kennedy would be exiled, we all know that man has no one besides us.”
Both of us turn at the same moment to find the man in question sitting at the table with Chip. He’s always been quiet and sly, and I’ve never quite liked him. We're brothers so I play nice and if I needed to, I would fight for or with him, but I don’t mesh with his vibe. It’s dark and depraved.
“Kennedy was planning something with your brother,” I surmise with a nod, my finger absently rubbing along the ache on my forehead. “I bet Cash thinks he’s squashed it and hopes to stop not only all-out war with the March but also one inside our ranks. Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”
Laith leans forward, his elbows hitting his knees and the dragon etched into the back of his cut gleaming. His eyes don’t waver from Kennedy as he lowers his voice and says, “I told Jaeger. This was the information I told him the night before Vic was killed and Genni was taken by the March.” His eyes flick to mine as my stomach drops out from under me and my mouth dries with realization. “He knew Kennedy and Cash didn’t leave on their mission, and he knew about Malik because I told him. Look around you, brother.” I do as he’s told and scan the room, my eyes lingering on Kennedy at the table with Chip and then they find Cash on the couch as he speaks to a few brothers. “Those two rarely speak and are never in close proximity to each other,” Laith quips. “I’ve been watching them. Also, where is our leader?”
“Are you suggesting Jaeger is in with March?” I snarl. “That is enough to have your branding flayed and your body dumped beyond the Arizona border.”
“How did they know when to show up at that house? It was perfect timing, no?” His questions send a chill down my spine and I stiffen, making me sit up straighter. “How often did Jaeger go to his house during that time? Not enough for it to be predictable, and we all know when we’re being trailed, especially the son of the President and VP.”
I knew about Jaeger’s plans to have Genni taken, that was no secret, but I have no idea what happened inside that house to Claire or Vic, that was never in his plans. Not the ones I knew about anyway. I’m starting to realize Jaeger had his own plans all along, and the more Laith speaks, the less I trust my best friend and President, but Jaeger did tell me something and asked me to keep it to myself.
“Vic had stage four brain cancer,” I blurt out, causing Laith to whip his head around quickly to look at me, his skin slowly losing its color. “He planned to hand the Presidency over to Genni, keeping Jaeger in the Vice position.”
It’s like verbal diarrhea once I start and the more that tumbles out of my mouth, the paler Laith becomes.
The large, warehouse door opens and bangs off the wall, the loudboomfinally shutting off the stream of my words, but the damage is already done.
“Brothers!” Jaeger calls out. “Mass.” His hair is slicked back as if he just got out of the shower, and his chin is held at an arrogant angle.
“How ironic,” Laith mutters. “The Devil calling for Mass.”
I can feel everyone’s eyes burning a hole into my forehead as I walk into the warehouse. The chatter immediately dies, and even through the fog of my exhaustion, I can sense an impending storm of disaster.
Maybe it’s the nerves from my newly appointed position fucking with my head, but I’ve always been good at reading a room and this one is not only dirty but wary.
“You guys have fun,” Kennedy stands, a creepy smile lining his gaunt face. “I’m heading over to Glitz.”
“Stick around,” I tell him as he walks by me, my hand landing on his shoulder. “You’ll start joining us for Mass now.”
It’s subtle but I can hear the hushed words of our brother’s around us. Kennedy was banned from Mass when he blurted some information inside a bar and my father determined he was a risk to the club when he hit the bottle.
I’m changing things around here. People deserve a second chance, not everything is as cut and dry as it seems.
I direct the brothers to push two large tables together, the sight instantly making my blood boil and my hatred for Genni to burn. This is what we’ve been lowered to, having Mass inside a filthy warehouse, sitting around two plastic fold-out tables. It sends a shot of guilt through me for not seeing how hard Vic worked to keep what the club had safe. I need to remember that we are not infallible and our integrity needs to be protected.
All of it makes me want to flay the stomachs of the two newer members of our club who let her in without much thought. They thought she was an Old Lady, they told me. They thought that because they assumed she had aProperty Ofcut on.
No, the bitch had a Hell’s March cut on.
I have four things I need to bring up in Mass today, and then our lives will begin to go back to normal and these men will let go of whatever suspicions they’re holding on to.
If they don’t… I’ll kill them.
I plant my ass in a fucking flimsy folding chair, the feel of it making my teeth gnash together in frustration, and I watch as my brothers slowly gather around the table. Quinton looks like fucking death as he takes the chair to my right. The pride he once had for his long hair has been forgotten as it looks like he hasn’t brushed it in weeks. The bags under his eyes are dark and puffy, and his face is looking haggard.
