Page 89 of When You Stayed
TWENTY-ONE
FORD
“Ford!”Killian yelled somewhere behind me. I kept walking toward the garage where all the firearms were kept. “Ford, I’m talking to you!” Fuck him for giving me no choice but to teach him a goddamn lesson. I stopped mid-step and as soon as he got close enough, I turned around and threw my fist into his face. He instantly fell to the ground and stared up at me in shock.
I pointed at the patch that now boldly proclaimed that I was the president. The members of my club were watching our interaction, my closest men stood in a circle around me, while Jameson stood off to the side. My dad would be here soon, along with everyone else that wanted to remain a patched member.
“Watch how you speak to your president, Killian. You’ll always hold a place of honor here, but let me be clear about disrespect.” I pressed the heel of my boot into his chest. “It won’t fucking be tolerated.”
Once I let up, I glanced around the dark yard, seeing a group of confused members. I took that opportunity to address them. “I’m your new president. You owe me your allegiance, and if you don’t think you can give it, then you can leave. I know you might have questions, and I’ll try to answer them as I can, but here’s a few answers. Killian isstaying in the club, as long as he can accept that I’m going to marry his daughter someday.”
I glared over my shoulder, seeing Jameson help him up.
“Johnson is your new vice-president.” I gestured over at my second, who had slid on his new cut that revealed his title. He stood with a grim expression toward the group.
“You know we’ve been on guard regarding the threat from the Destroyers all these years. We have reason to believe that a club might be working with them, if not more. We’re now allies with Death Raiders and the Chaos Kings. Mayhem Riot up in New York remains a loose ally, although their allegiance may shift, as I’ve heard they also have a new president. The Murdoch Devil Riders are currently connected in releasing the video of Killian’s daughter.”
One of the men tugged his toothpick out from between his lips, “So we goin’ to war?”
“No. We’re not.” I dipped my chin, gathering my resolve.
Killian’s jaw lifted, his busted nose mostly cleaned up. I knew he assumed we were about to go to war, which was why he planned on yelling at me.
“This battle is mine because Royce is mine.”
Killian made a sound like this was painful for him. I ignored it.
“I’m going to war with them, but I want Killian to stay back with all of you. It’s possible that it’s a trap and they want us to play into their hands.”
“I’m with you, prez,” Johnson said, trailed by Kody, Rev, and the others that had been with me from the beginning. Jameson and my dad would stay back, but what surprised me was Connor stepping forward.
“If you’re going to war, Ford, then I’m coming.”
I was already shaking my head, but he cut me off. “You’re my best friend. Not a chance in hell that I’d let you walk in there without me.”
Fine, if he wanted to get himself killed, then he could. I didn’t stick around to hear what anyone else said. I booked it toward the garage where the armory was stocked.
Killian followed me closely, and once we were out of earshot and eyesight from the club, he pushed me up against the cement wall. “You’re being a fucking idiot. We didn’t go through all of this to keep everyone safe just for you to piss it away on a hotheaded decision.”
I shoved him away from me, seething. “What do you suggest I do then? I hope you didn’t have to see that video, Killian, but I did. Those fuckers played it in their?—”
“I know they did! That’s mydaughter, you think I’m willing to allow that to slide? I’m fucking not, Ford. But you have to be smarter than this. You have to think this through. They targeted her on purpose because she was easy to get to through Rodney. He tried to manipulate her, then humiliate her with that video, and he hoped it would push us into this. He wants you to do something stupid. My gut tells me that Max is behind this, and if that’s true then it’s not worth it. We’ll find him another day, but right now my daughter is hurting over the fact that we lied to her. You wanted me to get on board with the idea of you being with her then prove it to me right now. Prove that you can walk away from war when love is on the line.”
I released a painful breath that felt like I’d been holding it for hours. He took a step back and then another while his angry glare remained on mine. “I may not be happy about my daughter being tied to this club, but if what you say is true and you love her, then I’ll trust that. I’ll trust you.”
I didn’t even know how to respond. Worse, I had no idea how the fuck I was supposed to let this go. I felt like fire burned under my skin every time I pictured those fuckers watching Royce’s body in that video. It made me curious if they’d been in the Hollow and watched her in person, or if they’d found other modeling clips of her. Had any of them dated her? Fuck, I wanted to kill someone.
“As her father,” I called out to Killian’s retreating form. He paused and looked over his shoulder. “How do you push the images out…the rage? How do you stay when all of you just wants to ride, and put a bullet in someone’s head?”
He paused, then said, “Daisy. She grounds me, keeps my head clear.”
My fists curled. “And if it were videos of Daisy playing on their screen right now?”
Killian’s head lowered, but I pressed on. “The truth. What wouldyou do if someone had leaked a video of her, and you knew they were watching it?”
His jaw tensed, and then he ground out, “I’d burn it all down, Ford. I’d kill every last one of them.”
I knew it.
