Page 42 of Summer's Edge

It just makes him grin wider. “That bad, huh? Well, you know what you gotta do.”

“What’s that?” I ask despite myself.

We’re standing by ourselves at the back of the clubhouse bar, but the place is packed and the longer he keeps talking the more of a chance someone will overhear and start asking more stupid questions.

“Go for it,” he says like it’s the most logical thing in the world. “You only live once.”

Ice walks in just then, right on cue, and the way his eyes dart straight to me makes me sure he already knows all about me and Summer. But then he nods a hello and I nod back and the queasy feeling in my stomach lessens.

“You’re acting like a stupid teenager,” Ruin says. “All the guy wants is for his daughters to find men who will treat them like queens and take care of them. And I’m sure he’d prefer you for the job over any other guy in here.”

Tank, Cross and Rook, our Sargent at Arms, followed Ice into the bar, Hawk and Scar bringing up the rear.

Ruin is now treading on very thin ice in terms of all the other guys in here figuring out what we’re talking about. Especially since the room has quieted down now that the execs are here, so I just give him a hard look and don’t reply.

“We’re all here, so I’ll make this quick,” Cross says, his voice booming and his piercing black eyes scanning the room. They seem to settle on me for a little longer than the rest.

“There is no easy way to say this, but it needs saying,” he goes on. “We have a rat in the club.”

The room erupts in hushed conversations and angry shouts. I join the latter.

Cross gives us a few moments to calm down, his piercing gaze scanning the room the whole time. I’m sure the rest of the execs are watching us just as closely.

“We became aware of the possibility that someone is feeding our enemy information after the battle in the old mining town,” Cross continues. “More recent information has removed all possibility of doubt. Someone’s talking and we will find him. And he will pay.”

No one speaks but there’s a new kind of tension in the air now. Distrust and anger are almost palpable as we all look at each other.

“What’s the point of telling everyone they suspect this?” Ruin asks.

“To make the rat panic and make a wrong move,” Hunter answers. I didn’t even notice him walk up to us.

“It could also make him burrow even deeper,” I add.

Hunter shrugs. “Things are moving real fast now. But the problem is, we gotta find this person before we can do anything else. The job Ice and Tank went to oversee while we were in LA… that took a nasty turn too. They barely got out alive.”

“And they have no idea who it might be?” Ruin asks.

Hunter shrugs. “I’m sure they have some idea. They didn’t tell me anything though.”

Cross bangs on the counter behind him and the room falls silent again.

“We’ll be questioning everyone, starting today,” he says. “So don’t go anywhere. You’ll get instructions shortly.”

That concludes the meeting, and the brothers start dispersing. The conversations are still tense and the looks that are darting across the room mistrustful. We’re all alive and standing in this room because we trust the brothers who have our backs implicitly. I dare not imagine what happens when that trust is gone. But I think I’m about to find out.

“I’m gonna volunteer to be questioned first,” I say. “I want this over with.”

Hunter shakes his head. “You’re in the clear. You took a bullet for Cross.”

I nod, but Ice walks over before I can thank him for the trust he’s shown me.

“I hear the LA thing went over smoothly,” he says.

“Not so much as a cut on our side,” Hunter says. “A few bruises though. And the Rogues now owe us big time.”

“Good. We needed the win,” Ice says, scanning the room with a very worried expression on his face. “Because this shit is gonna divide us right when we need to be united the most.”

No one knows what to say to that. It’s just one of those cold hard truths that can’t be softened.

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