“Another thing. They’re not bringing you with them. I was cleaning out behind the bar and overheard Ryan and Ian arguing about it.” My hackles rise at her words. I fucking hate having it confirmed. They never planned on bringing us along. Not even for a moment. “Ryan said Alex has this plan to offer herself up to her dad, but he won’t let her do it. Ian thinks it’s a good plan. He wants you all with them, but he was out-voted.”
“Goddamn it. I knew they’d try and pull this shit.” My words are a shout and they draw attention. Ruby heads over, followed by Mindy, Holly, and Alex who trail behind. Nic stays at the bar, perched on a bar stool. For the first time in months, she doesn’t have her daughter attached to her hip. Elle, who was at one of the tables in the main room, abandons the laptop she’s been working on and joins the crowd, albeit at a distance.
“There’s more,” Mishy whispers. She leans in and sighs, nervously eyeing our audience. I give Ruby a nod to which she gets the other women to take a few steps back. They all stand around awkwardly, giving us our space but not really retreating.
“Tell me,” I say, encouragingly. She sighs and takes several shaky breaths. Whatever she has to say can’t be good. My own sister won’t meet my eyes.
“They reached out to Detroit for back-up, just like they did when they went and got Alex. The club put Davey in charge. He’s bad news and after all the shit with Rig— they just can’t trust Detroit, okay?”
Not much rattles Michele Wallace, so when she’s freaking out, it automatically freaks me out too. The past few months have been good for us, helped us to establish that sisterly bond that’s been missing for years. I finally got to meet my nephew, who is cool as hell. And she’s gotten to know my kids, too. Zander figured out pretty quickly that Mishy’s a lost girl, and that wasn’t a fun conversation, but they’ve gotten to know each other well enough that I don’t think it matters to him anymore.
“Davey’s shady, but Rig’s gone. I made sure of that.”
“I don’t want to get into it,” she says. “Not here. Just, please. Tell the boys they can’t trust Davey.”
“Sis, that’s not gonna fly. I can’t run my man’s shit like that without telling him why.”
Mishy leans in closer, her eyes glassy with unshed tears.
“I know what Rig did to you. He did the same thing to me and when he was done, he passed me off to Davey. Rig was a cakewalk by comparison. There’s worse shit they’ve done. I can’t prove any of it and all it’d do is open old wounds. What I’ve already said is enough. Don’t let our guys trust Detroit.”
“How did you know?” I’ve never talked to anyone about that. Not really anyway. The only person who could have any idea is Torque. My eyes fall closed as I try to regulate my breathing long enough to compose myself. Torque, Mishy, and I all grew up together. His dad was a brother in Detroit. Torque was patched in there and only transferred after some shit went down between he and Rig a few years ago. As he was leaving he was really insistent to make sure I was okay. He kept asking if I was scared or if anything was bothering me. No matter how many times I told him I was fine, he didn’t believe me.
“Doesn’t matter,” she says. People give her crap for what she does, but my sister is loyal. I want to tell her I’m sorry and that this is one thing I never wanted to share. I want to ask her about the secrets she can’t prove and everything else, but we have an audience close by and we weren’t raised to apologize for shit we didn’t do. I have a role here and it’s not to wipe her tears. She came to me for help, not comfort. Instead of throwing my arms around my sister and selfishly crying about our damage, I turn to the women, idly waiting for us to do something.
“What’s going on?” Ruby asks.
“The guys are going rogue. They don’t plan on bringing us with them. They want to enlist Detroit’s help, but we have it on good authority that’s a bad idea,” I say, just loud enough for them all to hear me. In the back, Elle shakes her head and weaves her way to the front.
“And we’re making this decision based on what intel?” Of course Elle takes issue with this. Her entire role here is intel and keeping the authorities as far away from the club as possible while this plays out.
Now’s not the time for my sister and best friend to sort out their issues. They share a man, even if Elle won’t acknowledge it. Diesel may be Elle’s old man, but he’s my nephew’s uncle. Neither Diesel nor Mishy talk about Xavier’s father. They don’t need to. After the way that piece of shit treated my sister, I know damn well he’s no longer breathing. If I had known the way it really was for her back then, I’d have been a better sister. I wouldn’t have abandoned her the way I did. I could have stuck by her side and pulled her out of that hell myself. At the end of the day, I’m just grateful that she had somebody. Now, my only hope with that situation is that Elle can come to terms with the fact that Mishy isn’t going anywhere.
“It’s solid intel,” Mishy says, her eyes free of judgment as she stares at Elle. I don’t blame Elle for taking issue with her late father’s affair with my sister, but damn if the woman can’t hold a grudge.
“I didn’t ask for you opinion, bitch.”