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Dante
WhenIgettoRoyal’s house, I’m surprised to find bikes lining the street. I hop off my bike and walk through the door, startled to see so many members of the Reapers inside.
The kitchen table is filled with men and their laptops as others are busy on their phones. Some of them I recognize and some I don’t.
Cruz is pacing the front room with his phone held to his ear. He stops mid-sentence when he sees me approaching. The room drops ten degrees from his icy glare. “I’ll call you right back,” Cruz says to the person on the other end of the line and immediately ends the call.
He stalks over to me with his chest out and brows creased.
“What’s up?” I ask, looking him in the eyes.
“Has Royal filled you in yet?” he responds. Glancing over his shoulder, he looks around the room at all the men frantically working. “King called. I hate to be the one to tell you this, but I feel like it has to be me. You may not know this, but once upon a time, I considered your father a friend.”
My forehead creases, listening to what he has to say. Is he referring to Gabe? Does he know about King being my sperm donor? His words cut through my thoughts as if he can read my mind.
“Gabe. Gabriel,” he corrects himself, knowing how my dad feels about people calling him that. “He was my friend, and I made a mistake all those years ago,” he continues as Angel and Jax join us.
Jax clasps me on the shoulder as Angel looks at me like she wants to wrap me in her arms. She cocks her head to the side as if questioning what to do and settles on nudging me awkwardly. I throw my arm over her shoulder and pull her to my side.
She smiles brightly while the feel of her body has the corners of my lips turning up. With Angel so close, I almost forget Cruz is standing in front of me, trying to tell me something.
Cruz clears his throat to grab my attention. “Anyway, I guess I’m trying to say I’m sorry. I let King manipulate me the way he did the rest of the club, and I turned my back on your father after your mother was killed. Instead of looking at the evidence, I had assumed he went off the rails when he accused King of killing your mother.”
A heavy ache settles in my chest. No one ever speaks about my mother. To hear Cruz admit he was wrong about King feels like coming up for air after almost drowning.
“Dante, King called this morning and we got confirmation that he has Gabriel,” his voice falters.
And just like that, I’m treading water with bricks tied to my ankles.
“Is he alive?” My voice cracks, my body goes numb, and I hardly notice my hands shaking at my side. Angel’s arm snakes around me, rubbing circles on my back for comfort.
“We think so. King was talking like an insane person, but we heard someone struggling in the background.” Cruz replies, clenching his jaw.
If King has Gabriel, he won’t keep him alive for long. It’s surprising to me that he hasn’t killed him already.
I look around the room, spreading my arms wide. “So what’s with the setup? Why aren’t you at the clubhouse with the others?” I ask.
“King’s got eyes in the Reapers, and until we shut that down, Royal stepped up and told us to put this place to use,” Cruz says.
“Can we agree to a truce? I know Zeke and Cain will want in on this, and Gabe trusts them completely. We need as many men as we can get,” I ask, hoping he sees reason.
“I’m still working on that, but keep them in the loop and on standby for when I get the green light,” Cruz states as his phone starts to buzz in his hand. “I need to take this. Jax and Angel can fill you in on everything else. Jump in and make yourself useful.”
He walks away, heading through the kitchen and out to the backyard, where more Reapers are gathered.
“Hey,” Angel says, looking up at me with hope in her eyes. “This is a good thing. If Gabe is alive, we still have time to find him and put King down.”
Leaning down, I kiss the top of her head. I spot Royal and Lucky in the backyard talking to Cruz. Sinner rushes over to them with a paper in his hand. I watch as an ecstatic Lucky jumps on Sinner’s back, hugging him from behind.
Luck must have a fucking death wish.
Cruz and Royal start to laugh as Sinner reaches around, grabbing Lucky by the head and quickly flipping him over his body. Lucky hits the ground hard.
I smack Jax in the chest and rush out to the yard to see what’s going on. Angel follows behind us laughing the whole way. Sinner’s standing over Lucky’s body with his hand wrapped around his throat. “C’mon, man. I just got excited,” Lucky chokes out.
“Let him go, Sinner. He’s learned his lesson,” Cruz chuckles. Sinner whips his head up to give Cruz a death glare that sends chills even down my spine. Lucky slaps the arm holding him in place as Sinner increases pressure for a moment before releasing him.
“I’m sorry. I was just showing you my appreciation,” Lucky coughs out with a laugh behind his words.
