Page 160 of Come Back To Me

“We don’t have fuckin’ time!” Jack presses.

“I know that!” I yell. “But we can’t rush into this half ready. Everyone will lose.”

“This is fucked,” Travis adds his piece, turning and walking to his bike. He’s heard enough.

“Where are you going?” I shout to him.

“I need to clear my head before we take this to the table.”

“The table?” Jack’s eyes dart to me. “Deano, you take this to your table and they vote against it…” his fists are clenched, his face grooved. “If you vote against stopping this, I’ll have no choice but to—”

“—to what?” Travis interrupts him.

I look at Travis. No way the club will vote against stopping this. Bringing the Saviours into it, that’s a different matter. Jack will hate it, but I can’t do this without the club fully on board. And I can’t lose Jack again. My gut’s telling me without Vincenton board, more blood will be spilled trying to bring this to an end. He’ll fight me at every turn to ensure he has his hand in the jar of the gun trade.

Except he’s not in the gun trade. He’s in the pit of Hell, same as me. Helping some cunt ship people for someone else’s gain.

The weight of it is simply too fucking much to handle. My conscience won’t allow me to let this continue, and my past won’t ever let me free. We need to kill the man who changed everything for us. I’m stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Jack and I are chasing the same dream here. Every bit of me hurts for him. And I know he’ll be hurting for me.

“Travis is right.” They both stop to look at me. Feeling my phone vibrate but ignoring it, I stand straight, knowing we need to take this back toeveryone. We need to build any broken bridges with the Saviours. I exhale. “However you think you need us, Jack, this next part needs to be done our way. Club won’t vote to stop it, but we bring everyone in. I’m their president. No fucking way I’m doing this without them knowing the truth.”

“We need the Saviours on board,” Travis backs me up, making Jack look the angriest I’ve ever seen him.

His face drops. “What are you suggesting?” Jack folds his arms.

I run a hand through my hair. Thinking. “Come to the clubhouse.”

Jack balks. “I can’t go there.” Granted, a dead guy showing up, ex-police, now working for secret service, it’s going to raise a few questions about where I stand on things. But we don’t have a choice. “Rocco made it pretty fuckin’ clear I was a man your charter couldn’t trust.”

“Rocco isn’t here anymore. I am. You may not have met them all personally, but out of respect for Ronnie, they’ll listen to what you have to say.” More importantly, they’ll listen to me. I look at Travis now sat on his bike, ready to leave. He’s nodding hishead in agreement. I turn back to Jack. “I’ll call you with a time.”

Jack levels me with a look I’m all too familiar with. He’s with me, but he’s still very much a man on a mission. He’s going to have to keep that in check if he wants this done. Without a word he steps forwards, embracing me with a hard pat on my back. His entire body is tight, riddled with his uncertainty.

Travis and I then watch him leave; the air heavy and still between us. “When we first made the deal with the Saviours, I told you things would get messier. Nothing good comes from working with them.”

I drop my head.

“Organ trafficking,” he says flatly. “How the fuck didweget into that.”

Turning to face him, I slowly pick my helmet off my bike. “Because I made the wrong decision. I wanted peace, but I never saw this coming.”

He sighs running a hand over the top of his head. “None of us did. When we voted this in, none of us could have predicted this shit.”

We both wait, unmoving, mentally assessing our next move. “Honesty.” My eyes find his as he speaks. “When we get back. Total fucking honesty, that’s what’s needed.” My heart drills at the word.“They won’t like bringing in Vincent any more than needs be, but you were right, Saviours owe us. We’ve proven they can trust us.”

“You and me, we can sit down with Vincent after we’ve taken this to the club.” Travis nods at my order and slips on his helmet, but I don’t follow suit. My head’s spinning.

“Dean?”

I look up.

“It’s not just the club you need to speak to.”

I know in the deepest pit of my soul what he’s referring to. I just can’t see how I tell her what’s really happening. And rightnow, he and I have something else we need to do.

I roll my shoulders, picking up my glasses, managing to squash everything else. For now. “I think I know where Lauren’s brother is.”

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