Page 19 of When You Stayed
“Her tattoo—it’s of our patch.” There were a few murmured comments around the able, but I didn’t want to give them much time to discuss Royce.
“Did this report come from Silas?” I asked Killian.
Killian’s head tilted to the side. “No. It came from the Chaos Kings.”
That meant this video really was everywhere.
“So why is the video trending, is she in a fight or something?” Johnson asked while casting a nervous glance in my direction.
Killian’s jaw tensed.
My fingers wrapped tightly around the edge of the table to get some semblance of control. “Royce is modeling in the video.”
Johnson still seemed confused while pulling out another Twinkie. “What could she possibly be modeling that would show our patch? I’ve never seen any tattoo, and she wears tank tops and shorts around us all the time.”
“Fuck, kid. You don’t stop, do you?” Killian grumbled, running his hand over his head. It was one thing hearing it alone, but now in front of everyone was testing my resolve.
“Underwear, okay?” Killian snapped. “She’s modeling fucking underwear according to what I heard. If you look up that video yourself, I’ll cut your fucking fingers off, Johnson.”
My second man in charge lifted his hands in defense. “I’m not. Jeez. I would never look at your daughter like that.”
“Well, the issue is, half the internet is…so what are we going to do about it?” My dad asked, leaning back in his chair.
Killian continued, “According to my wife, Royce shot this ad nearly a year ago, so the timing of this popping up now is questionable.”
Dad glanced up at me, then back at Killian. “With the outposts being taken out, now this…it’s not coincidental.”
Killian let out a heavy sigh. “This situation with Rodney giving her this bullshit ultimatum of keeping things quiet here for three months, the outposts, and now this. Maybe I’m wrong, and the company is pushing the ad themselves, but my gut tells me it’s someone trying to start shit up.”
I had to agree. Regardless of why it was out there, if it had been shot over a year ago, it didn’t make sense that it was suddenly going viral. But I hadn’t seen the video myself, so I wasn’t sure if there was some ulterior reason that could be happening.
Voicing a few thoughts, I asked, “Have you asked Taryn about it, maybe see if she knows of some trend that could have pulled that video out?”
Killian shook his head. “She’s giving me a whole different set of issues we’ll need to address at some point.”
Why would that require the club’s involvement? It was something I would have to push aside for now.
“What needs to be done?” Rev directed his question to me, which I knew he did on purpose. The men were supposed to show me the same respect they once did Killian.
“I’ll talk to Royce to see what she knows about the ad.”
Killian’s eyes blazed with anger as he lifted his head and focused on me. “Why the fuck would you be the one to talk to her?”
“Because I’m the president of the club, Killian, and I need to deal with this. Aside from that, I’m her age and she doesn’t care what I think of her.” I acted like I didn’t give a shit about this one way or another, but I didn’t like the way his implication dug at me.
Right as Killian opened his mouth to argue, Rev spoke again, “We have hackers we will reach out to, get it removed from the internet, maybe they can help us trace the source too.”
I gave him a nod of approval. “Take Johnson and Logan to help.”
“Regarding the outposts. I want to hear what each of you found, but we also need to talk about Rodney.” My tone was sharp, getting everyone’s focus.
“The Hollow is currently owned by Bernie Hatfield, who is going to sell it. I plan to buy it for the club, but I need Rodney out of the way. Put a few details on him. I want to know who he’s talking to and why he gave Royce that three-month ultimatum. He wanted her worked up enough that she’d reach out to us about the change in leadership. It was calculated. He’s likely hoping to use her like a game piece to shove us into position. We know he’s working with a rival club. We just need confirmation on which one that is.”
Killian cleared his throat. “Let’s skip the detail and bring him in then.”
Scaring him was a balancing act. Too much fear and he’d skip town or even hurt Royce. Not enough fear, and he might walk all over Royceby dragging this three-month bullshit out. Of the two outcomes, I was more comfortable with the latter, but like hell was I about to admit that to Royce’s father.
“I think meeting him where he’s at will be more insightful with who he gives up. Coming into the club under duress will make him say shit that likely isn’t even true.”
