Page 12 of Rough Choice

“You let me down too,” Kye began. “I’ve done everything you ever asked. Without question and usually better than expected, I’ve served at your side and built your empire. Have I not?”

“You have,” Max agreed.

“I never took more than my share of a cut, kept away from booze, drugs, and I haven’t had a single run-in with the law that you’ve had to bail me out of.”

“You’ve been good,” Max said, nodding. “You’ve been damn good. What’s your point?”

“I never asked you for anything,” Kye said and licked his dry lips. “Why couldn’t you let me have her? After everything… why couldn’t you just let me have her?” Kye was frustrated at his own show of emotion, but he didn’t bother exerting the effort to stifle it. He was too dehydrated for tears, but the ache in his voice was evident.

“Do you remember what I told you when you first joined?” Max asked and stood.

“Don’t stick your dick in a dirty tailpipe?” Max barked out a laugh and knocked once on the only door to the room. It opened, and Max accepted a pitcher of water and two glasses. Kye felt his throat go even dryer as Max poured himself a drink of water and sipped on it.

“True, I did say that,” Max said with laughter still in his voice. “What I also told you was to always put the club first.”

“I’ve done that…”

“No, you haven’t,” Max said, pouring a second glass of water and setting it on the chair. He crossed to Kye and untied the rope keeping his hands above him. Despite Max’s weakened condition, he was still strong enough to hold Kye up and help ease him to a sitting position on the floor. For the first time in days, Kye felt circulation in his arms and hands, and they burned painfully. “You’ve done well for the club, made us a lot of money, but you’ve always had ulterior motives. Selfish motives.”

“Have I?” Kye asked and his arms shook as Max handed him the glass of water which Kye downed so quickly he choked on it.

“Easy now,” Max said gently and poured him another cup of water. “I’ve watched you carefully, son, for a long time. You were a good soldier. Smart as hell, a lot more clever than a room full of my best men. I relied on you. I’m not too proud to say I depended on you. But while you served me with your left hand, your right hand was always hidden. Always stashing away and holding on to something else.”

“Eliana,” Kye admitted, and Max nodded.

“Your loyalty has always been divided. I know you’ve held on to the notion that you could make it all work. You could run the Demons and have your woman. I don’t know why you never made the move, maybe you were waiting for me to kick the bucket, but part of you felt you needed to be MC president before you’d earned her.”

“Maybe it was my penance,” Kye said as he sipped the water more slowly. The cool water soothed his burning throat, and the glass edge rattled between his teeth.

“Maybe,” Max said squatting in front of him. “Maybe I just didn’t die fast enough for you.” Kye grinned. “Whatever the reason, I’ve known all along that this decision was going to make or break you. I had hoped that enough Demon blood ran through your veins that you’d see there was more value in what we’d built here than in some girl, but I was wrong. You chose her over your brothers. You chose her over me.”

“I tried to choose both,” Kye said, meeting Max’s eyes.

“You can’t have both.”

“Now I have neither,” Kye said, and Max gave him a soft smile.

“Now you have neither,” he agreed. “Where is she, Kye?” Max asked directly. “I know she’s not dead. We dug up the grave and found an empty bag. The park ranger on my payroll is rotting in your garage and is conveniently missing a hand.”

“What a coincidence,” Kye breathed on an exhale. Max set his jaw firmly and stood. He moved back to the chair and withdrew a large Bowie knife from his belt. Though the dank room was dark, the glint of metal still caught his eyes.

“You’re tough, and you’ve got balls the size of globes, no one is going to deny you that, but if you don’t tell me where she is then I am going to kill you today,” Max said firmly. His voice returned to its usual cold, gravelly bray. His eyes looked like two steel orbs in the dim lighting and the rigidity of his posture left no room for doubt. Max was going to kill him.

“I don’t know where she is, Max,” Kye admitted and set his glass on the ground next to him. “I put her in a car and sent her away. Her cell phone and the GPS in the vehicle are fried. I made sure there was no way to know where she is. I figured, if it came to torture, it was best I not know.”

“That’s noble,” Max complimented, but his tone conveyed his annoyance. “You may not know where she is, but you know where she’s going. You haven’t been in love with her all these years to lose her now. Tell me where she’s going.”

“Max…” Kye said, looking up at the man. “Look at where we are. You say I’ve had divided loyalty. Does it look like I’m divided now?” Max turned his back as he picked up his glass of water.

“No, son,” Max said with the beginning of tears in his eyes. He drank the last of his water before setting the glass down and brandishing his knife. “You’ve made your decision finally. I hate that it’s come to this.”

“Me too,” Kye said softly. A fleeting silence passed where both men allowed themselves to feel the grief of the loss they were experiencing. Though opposite sides, they were still the same coin. Kye pressed his back against the wall and slowly stood.

“Let’s be done with this,” Max whispered to himself. He turned much quicker than his age and infirmity would give the impression. The blade of the knife sliced through the air, but rather than meeting Kye’s flesh, it hit the stone wall.

Kye, not nearly as debilitated as he’d allowed Max to think, had ducked the blow and while Max was off-balance, Kye tackled him straight into the chair. They clattered noisily to the floor, and Max grunted from the blow. He lifted the knife, and it nicked Kye’s chest, but before it could pierce him fully, Kye grabbed Max’s wrist and wrenched it so hard that the bones cracked together, and he dropped the blade.

“No!” Max groaned as Kye punched him. He crawled toward the knife, almost cutting his hands on the broken glass from the cup that had shattered. Max took his opening and struck Kye in the kidney with his fist. White-hot pain seared through his side, and the breath left his body. “I’ll fucking kill you,” Max growled and scrambled after the knife.