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I heard Ritz ask, but my eyes were locked on Bear standing with his arms folded over his chest. He hesitated, and something like disappointment flashed through his eyes before he said the name I would’ve never expected. “Skinner.”
It was silent. Never heard that before in this room, but it was clear no one expected that name. Skinner was a good man and a fantastic member of this club. He’d proven his loyalty over and over again.
“That doesn’t make any fucking sense,” I muttered.
“Didn’t to us either.” Bear gestured back and forth between himself and Tank. “Until Hawk told us they’d been in the Air Force together. When he told Skinner his plans for the Widows, primarily to take down Viper, Skinner volunteered to infiltrate us, get him the information he would need, and then get out.”
“Viper’s dead,” Ritz pointed out. “Why the fuck was Skinner still here?”
“Said he liked the club, liked what we were doing, and wanted to stay.”
“There’s no fucking way he thought we’d let him stay after learning he was a rat.”
“Don’t think he saw it that way,” Tank chimed in. “Seemed to me like he figured we all wanted the same thing. Viper out. Maybe thought we’d just be happy he helped get Viper out of our way.”
“Sounds to me like you’re okay with this,” Ritz said.
“Didn’t say that, brother, but I do see his point,” Tank defended himself. “I stood beside him while he fought that bastard. Far as I’m concerned, he showed his loyalty.”
“To which side?” I asked.
“Don’t think he picked a side. Think he saw the opportunity to take out a fucking scumbag and helped us do it,” Tank replied.
“Doesn’t matter,” Bear spoke up. “He’s out. Disloyalty like that can’t be ignored.”
Bull slammed his palm on the table. “I can’t believe that fucker got past us.”
I almost forgot Bull was in the room. He’d been quiet up to that point, which told me he already had the information the rest of us just received. Bear trusted him. Hell, he’d put him on duty to protect Josie, and we all knew what she meant to him.
Bull had been a member long before a lot of people in this room. He’d served under the old president, who had been leading this club down the same damn path as the Widows. That meant drugs, prostitution, jail time, and inevitable death.
Which was exactly what happened.
Sometimes I thought Bull could shift easily back into the man he’d once been. He had a hard time containing the anger that simmered just below the surface when he saw something that pissed him off, which was often.
“You bringin’ him in?” Ritz asked.
“Already taken care of,” Bear admitted. “Sent Tank to find him after the meet with Hawk, got back here, and Skinner was waiting for me.”
“Waiting for you?” Ritz asked. “So he knew you had a meeting with Hawk?”
“According to Hawk, Skinner wanted to be at the meeting.”
This was unbelievable, and I could tell I wasn’t the only one feeling that way. Lifting my eyes, I met Bear’s. “How’d you handle it?”
Bear blinked slowly. “The way I was taught a long time ago. Wasn’t the right way to go, but what’s done is done.”
We all knew what that meant. Bear doled out the punishment the way most clubs would. With his fists. “Any fallout?”
“We lost Kat.”
“How?” Ritz asked.
“She walked into the office with Maggie when we were finishing up. Offered to bandage up Skinner and then said she won’t be a part of a club that does this shit.”
“She doesn’t understand club life.” Bull sat back in his seat, but his expression had changed, and it almost seemed he was disappointed. “Or how this shit needs to be handled.”
Bear didn’t answer that but moved on instead. “Maggie’s havin’ a hard time with it. Reminded her of the time she spent with the Widows. She liked that we weren’t violent, but then she saw that I beat the hell out of Skinner, and she’s questioning her safety.”
