Chaos Bound (Sinner's Tribe Motorcycle Club #4)(77)

“I’d been tailing Evie, keeping her safe for Zane.” T-Rex stared at the window, his eyes vacant as he talked, as if he was lost in the memory. “I saw Viper and his men go into the shop, so I sent a text to Jagger and watched through the partially open shop door. There were too many of them for me to take alone so I was gonna wait for back up, but when Viper pushed Evie over the counter, I had to do something. I couldn’t just stand there and let him … hurt her, so I offered myself in her place.”

“Jesus Christ,” Zane muttered from the corner.

“Viper took the trade,” T-Rex continued. “Then he killed Bill and burned down the shop. I saw Evie and Connie escape as the Jacks pushed me into a cage, so I had no regrets. I figured since the Sinners had kidnapped Viper’s old lady, you’d make a trade and get me back.”

T-Rex drew in a shuddering breath. Naiya slipped an arm around his waist, and T-Rex leaned into her ever so slightly. Tank frowned. Why was he turning to Naiya for support when Tank was standing right here?

T-Rex’s gaze fell on Jagger, his anger almost palpable. “At most I figured I’d have to go through a couple of bad nights in their dungeon.” His voice caught, broke. “But one night became one week become one month and you never came.”

Protests rumbled through the room as everyone tried to explain at once. Viper had refused the trade. He didn’t give a damn about his old lady. And they had searched for him. Every brother had gone out to find him. They’d pulled every mark, used up every favor, blew up the Black Jacks clubhouse. Through the cacophony of sound, the message was loud and clear. We didn’t abandon you. Did T-Rex hear it? More importantly, did he believe it?

“We blew up half their f*cking clubhouse and a semi-trailer to find you.” Jagger silenced the protests with a wave of his hand. He repeated the story Tank had told T-Rex last night about the rescue operation and the body in the dungeon.

“There was a Devil Dog in the dungeon when they brought me in,” T-Rex said. “After he died, they left his body and took me to another dungeon. Musta been in a forest ’cause it smelled like pine.”

Tank stuffed his fist in his mouth to stifle the groan that threated to explode from his chest. They’d heard a rumor that Viper had a dungeon under his house in the mountains, but not until after they’d been there to rescue Evie’s son. Just the thought that they’d been so close made the entire situation infinitely worse. Should they tell him?

As if he heard Tank’s unspoken question, Jagger caught Tank’s gaze and gave an almost imperceptible shake of his head. Yeah, Jagger was right. What good would it do to tell him they’d been even closer than he knew? He was already hurting. Why hurt him more?

“What did the Jacks do to you?” Sparky asked.

Tank’s head jerked up and he glared at Sparky, the bastard who had stolen his Connie away. Did the f*cking moron not realize T-Rex was already emotionally stripped bare? “Shut the f*ck up.” He barked at the senior patch, stepping in front of T-Rex as if to shield him. “He was tortured. You don’t ask a man to live through the f*cking details. All you need to know is you wouldn’t have lasted a f*cking day.”

“Penalty for disrespecting a senior patch is an ass-kicking from me.” Gunner folded his arms over his massive chest.

“You lay a finger on Tank and I’ll put a bullet through your brain, brother or no.” T-Rex didn’t move and yet somehow his power and presence filled the room. Tank had no doubt he would do exactly as he said.

“Stand down. Both of you,” Jagger said. “Emotions are high. People are saying things they might not mean. Let’s cool down and hear about T-Rex’s escape.”

Tank looked over his shoulder and T-Rex nodded, the barest hint of a smile on his lips. This was how it was supposed to be. T-Rex had his back and he had T-Rex’s back, although Naiya had his side.

“Viper threw Naiya in the dungeon with me.” T-Rex put his arm around Naiya’s shoulders. “She was able to distract the guard, and I took him out. I put on his cut and we bullshitted our way across the yard and stole a bike.”

“He told them I was a hooker with an STD,” Naiya said indignantly.

Chuckles filled the room, lightening the mood.

Jagger’s face tightened with emotion. “What you did for Evie, for the club, what you went through … thank you is not enough. I don’t know many brothers who could have gone through what you did and walk out the same man. But damn we’re glad to have you back.”

When the clapping and cheering finally died down, and everyone had a chance to say a few words to T-Rex, Jagger dispersed the crowd and gathered the board members together.

“Well, we got a board meeting to get to. T-Rex, your seat is still at the table. Looks like we’ll need to get you a new cut.”

Tank reached for the saddlebag he had brought with him, but T-Rex caught his eye, shook his head. Tank clutched the saddlebag strap as a growing sense of uneasiness intruded on his joy.

“Naiya can wait here unless she wants someone to take her home,” Jagger continued. “Or she can wait up in your room. It’s still there for you, brother. Same as you left it.”

“I’ll join the meeting, but Naiya comes with me.”

And in that moment, Tank knew something was very wrong.

“Only full patch are allowed in the boardroom. You know that.” Jagger’s firm tone left no doubt about his position on the matter. “I can bend the rule about wearing a cut, but not the rule about closed meetings. Part of my job is to keep the brothers safe, and that won’t happen if we compromise the security and confidentiality of the club.”