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“What the fuck were you thinking?” Rock asks.
“She’s patched plain as fuckin’ day,” Z adds.
So much for letting me hear an explanation from Pants himself.
I hold up my hands in each direction. “Let him talk.” I nod to Pants. “Why’d you do it? You’re not new to the patch.” I nod at his SAA flash on the front of his cut. “You know what a property patch means.”
“Fuck, brother. This is embarrassing.” He glances down at his lap. “But I got played.”
“How?”
“I know you just got out of the joint. Been inside for a while,” Pants says.
“Yeah, so what?” His earlier statement registers in my brain. “Who played you?”
“Spit it out,” Ice growls.
“Tawny. I know she’s an ol’ lady from way back. Been running into her at club events for years. She came up to me when we first got here. Said she was worried about you. Told me she and you have history…”
“The fuck we do,” I mutter.
“I didn’t know.” He shrugs, then winces. “She seemed sincere. Said you wouldn’t take her word for it because of your shared past, but the girl you gave your patch to was bad news. Claimed she used to whore around here and—”
“Watch your fucking mouth,” I warn.
Pants looks to Ice, then Z, but doesn’t find shelter in their hard expressions.
“She asked me to test your girl. Said you didn’t know any better because you were locked up for so long and this girl was tricking you—”
“You didn’t think his own club would be looking out for him?” Wrath asks.
“Do I look like I need a dad here?” I snarl at Wrath.
“Nah, but I wanna play anyway.” I don’t need to look his way to know he’s grinning like a smug asshole.
“It got to me,” Pants continues, ignoring our outbursts. “You’re a brother. Been through some shit. I didn’t want some chick taking advantage of you.” He gestures toward Z. “I know Tawny’s the old prez’s wife. Figured she was solid.”
“A solid troublemaker,” Z grumbles.
“I didn’t realize. She said some other stuff.” Pants hangs his head. “About your girl that I’m not gonna repeat at the table.”
“For fuck’s sake.” I’m gonna strangle Tawny when I see her.
“You’re right. It was dumb.” Pants holds out his hands like he’s pleading for mercy. “I should’ve known better.”
I stare at him for a long minute, studying each micro-expression. He seems sincere. Takes honor to admit in front of all your brothers that you did something so fucking stupid.
“I’m sorry, Grinder. And if you allow me to later, I’ll apologize to her too.”
A growl bursts out of my throat at the thought of him going near Serena again. Even if it is to apologize.
“Or you can tell her,” Pants adds.
“Are we good here?” Ice asks.
“Yeah, we’re good.”
“Can you give us a minute, Ice?” Z asks.
“Sure.” He taps Pants on the shoulder.
Pants stands and leans over the table. I get up and meet him halfway to shake his hand. “Thanks for listening, brother,” he says.
“Thanks for being honest.”
He nods and the two of them leave.
Z waits until the door closes then turns my way. “Thank you, Grinder.”
“For?”
“Being reasonable.”
“I’m still fucking furious.” I scan the length of the table, looking each downstate officer straight in the eye. “This better not happen again. You all might think I’m senile—”
“No one thinks that, Grinder,” Steer protests.
“Shut your mouth.” I glare at him until he nods that he’s going to be quiet. “I’m only saying this once, so listen the fuck up. Take some notes or whatever the fuck you need to do to keep this in your brains. I know Serena used to hang around here. We’ve talked about it.” I shoot a glare at Z. “I also know why she stopped coming to the clubhouse. If it wasn’t for me, she wouldn’t set foot in this place ever again. But I promised her she’d be safe.”
“She’s safe here,” Hustler says. “It was a misunderstanding.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?”
“What?” He casts a nervous glance around the table but when no one comes to his aid he sinks down in his chair. “Sorry.”
“I’m not gonna bother with any ‘back in my day’ speeches because enough of you fucks sittin’ in this room have been around since then. You know this shit doesn’t fly. And you newer fucks never should’ve been voted in if you didn’t respect the property patch.”
“What are you asking of us, Gray?” Rock asks.
“I’m not asking for shit. I’m telling every brother at this table, that this ends now.”
“Tawny’s gotta go,” Jigsaw says.
“We can’t off a brother’s ol’ lady,” Steer argues.
“Who said kill her, you dumb fuck?” Jiggy shouts.
“Easy, brother,” Z warns.
“Don’t easy brother me. This isn’t the first time she’s pulled a stunt like this,” Jigsaw argues. “Sway ain’t our president anymore. There’s no fuckin’ reason for her to be here. She needs to be banned from the clubhouse. Access denied. Permission revoked.”
