Smoke and Steel (Wild West MC #2)(83)

“Does your daddy know you’re fucking a biker?”

“Dad and I don’t talk anymore.”

She nodded like she got me. “I shoulda done that. Woulda saved a lotta headache. Didn’t. But whatever. Still, beware. You ever change your mind, knowing you’re biker snatch now, nothing will ever change his.”

“Okay, I don’t care if you’re done. I am. Can you please leave?”

“No, baby,” she cooed. “One more thing. You ask around. You sit with your sis Archie. You ask her to tell you the story of poor old Benito Valenzuela. You ask her to share how Resurrection hounded that man until he lost everything. Until he was selling his own ass just to feed himself. Played with him so much for so long, he stopped being able to deal. Took his own life. But Resurrection, they don’t always play with their mice that way. Sometimes they just need to get done so they”—she faked shooting a gun—“take care of business.”

She then shot me a look that chilled me to the bone.

“But your girl got into some trouble, so you know that already, don’t you, sweetie? You know what Resurrection is about. You know who you’re fucking.”

I said nothing.

She waited.

I remained silent.

She waited more.

“I guess we’re done now,” she decided.

“’Bye,” I said shortly.

She smiled a smile spiked with malice, rose from my chair and looked down at me.

Her parting shot?

“Never knew how fun it was, visiting with family.”

I didn’t take my eyes from her as she strutted out.

I made sure she disappeared then I waited to make sure she didn’t come back.

Only then did I snatch up my phone.

I didn’t call Archie.

I called Jagger.

“Hey, what’s up? Everything okay?” he sounded friendly but uncertain, and with reason.

I’d texted him in the past, but I’d never phoned.

“Did the Resurrection Motorcycle Club beat up Rosie?” I asked.

Utter, complete silence.

Oh my God.

Until then, I didn’t believe Eleanor.

Or, I didn’t want to believe.

It didn’t make sense. It didn’t fit who Core was. Or Beck. Web. Spartan.

Maybe Eight, he was edgy, still, he was mostly cool so it would be a push.

But it definitely, definitely didn’t fit Core.

Now, I knew she spoke truth.

And it was then I remembered Core’s words from months ago, when we first met, before we were us, when he first told me about the Angels of Death business, when he spoke about the dark path his club was on.

And then later, at his house, when he’d shared more.

Brother business is brother business, sweetheart.

They never open their mouths, not ever to anyone, even other brothers, about the club business they know.

Oh my God.

So this was how it felt to bleed internally.

“Listen,” Jagger said urgently. “I’m going to call Dutch. And Rush. Where are you? They need to talk to you.”

Archie owned her own store. Archie owned the whole building. It had apartments, so she was also a landlord. Archie was relatively newly married and setting up a life with her husband. And Archie was like Li, she worked to live. She traveled a lot. She took long weekends. She’d go up into the mountains on a whim. And now, Jagger went with her.

I’d never been tight with Archie, but I liked her. We’d been getting closer of late. That said, it honestly wasn’t an unusual thing that months went by when I didn’t see her, the same with us being in contact, because obviously, I was busy and had a life too.

So I didn’t know if Andy said something (he probably did) or if it was a between-clubs thing (and it probably was).

But Jagger knew I was with Core.

And now he knew I knew.

I knew.

I knew what Eleanor said was true.

And it sounded like he was immediately instigating damage control.

God, Archie was married into this?

Apparently, that documentary about Chaos wasn’t a documentary. It was propaganda (which of course it would be, the woman who directed it, Rebel, was married to Rush).

Now I knew something else too.

They weren’t all about brotherhood and family. They didn’t put it all on the line to get clean for their women and children.

They were just like all the other MCs.

They were about men and men only.

They were out there, in this modern world, living like it was the 1700s, where men were all-important and women were property.

“That’s okay,” I said softly in response to his offer.

“Listen to me, Hellen,” he ordered firmly. “I don’t know who talked to you—”

“I’ve gotta go,” I mumbled.

“Hellen,” he called.

I disconnected.

I also turned off the sound on my phone.

I’d have to deal with how I felt about Archie being in that, and what I might have to say to Andy about it later.

I also had to call my fucking dad and warn him about Eleanor, as well as tell Mom and Li.

But I had to do that later too.

I needed to deal with this now.

Then put it behind me.

I had my proof. I was never in love with Bryan, nowhere near it.