Page 40 of Diablo

Because I deserved it. Because it was the only way to stop LeBlanc. To catch us both in the act would ensure that LeBlanc couldn’t pin the blame solely on me anymore. It was easy to trip the security system and raise the flag that a hacker was inside. Even though I didn’t know where LeBlanc had been holding me, all I had to do was play dumb and make stupid, rookie mistakes.

I tripped alarms left and right. I stalled just long enough to lead the police straight to me.

LeBlanc’s biggest mistake was relying on my desire to maintain my freedom from jail. He thought he could turn the few people in my life against me and I would have no choice but to rely on him.

Since I had nothing to lose, I didn’t have a problem going to jail for my crimes and LeBlanc would get the harsher sentence because he was the mastermind behind it all.

“He was going to kill you,” I replied. “And the club.”

And Stevie.

“The cops also said Tarzan’s bank account was fully reinstated. Not a dime was missing.”

I said nothing. Even though I didn’t like Tarzan, he didn’t deserve what he’d been through.

The cops would probably never find out that Merry Field’s bank also now had a few extra layers of protection I’d put in place. Anyone who tried to hack into it would have one hell of a headache on their hands.

Brewer crossed his arms.

“You should have told us about this, Diablo. You should have told me.”

“It wasn’t your fight,” I said.

I wanted to say: I wasn’t going to lose the only good things going for me in my life just because my past came back to haunt me.

Brewer wrapped one of his big hands around a prison bar, his knuckles crisscrossed with scars.

“Aside from that business with Stevie, do you know why the vote has always been no?”

I shook my head.

“Because of this.” Brewer gestured between us with one finger. “This lone cowboy bullshit you’ve been doing. When you’re part of a club, you rely on your brothers and they rely on you.”

“But I’m just a Prospect…” I trailed off then corrected myself. “Or, I was.”

“The patch is a symbol, Diablo. That’s all. Yes, we wear it with pride, but it’s the man underneath that we care about. Your courage. Your honesty. Your willingness to protect those who need it.”

I dropped my gaze, scrubbing at my palm with my thumb.

“Mack kept saying his vote would be no.”

Brewer angled his head with a look that said, you can’t seriously believe that.

“Mack has always known exactly how to get a rise out of you. That’s what brothers do. That’s part of the initiation into the family.”

He held up my kut and spread it wide. The PROSPECT patch was gone. A new patch had taken its place that read: MEMBER. On the back was the full ALPHA RIDER MC patch.

“What you did was a stupid move,” Brewer said. “But it was selfless, too. You sacrificed yourself to save your club and your town. So, we took a vote. It was unanimous. Welcome to the club, kid.”

My heart swelled until my chest ached. There was a roaring in my ears that made it hard to think straight. I’d wanted this for so long, denied so many times.

In a haze, I crossed the small space of the cell and brought my hand up, touching the MEMBER patch. Brewer draped the kut into my waiting arms.

I was an Alpha Rider after all.

The sound of jingling pulled me out of my reverie. Brewer had retrieved a set of keys from his kut pocket and unlocked my cell, swinging the door wide.

“An anonymous donor posted your bail,” he said. “If you have any idea who they are, I suggest you give them a hearty thank you because the cost was pretty damn steep.”

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