Isaac stayed at the foot of the bed, glaring down at his feet. When he finally looked up at me, I could tell that he was still as angry as ever.

 

“So you formed your MC,” he said slowly. “And you found killers for members. Is that what you’re trying to tell me?”

 

I nodded. “I had to do a lot of research,” I said. “Especially to find people like Val.” Just saying her name put a bad taste in my mouth. Val was dangerous, and I was starting to realize that just because I was her leader I wasn’t guaranteed protection from her heinous schemes. “I had to pay a lot of money to find names like that.”

 

Isaac laughed humorlessly. “You paid to find that big dyke?” He shook his head. “She’s fuckin’ trouble, Stephanie.” The name sounded unreal from him now that he knew who I really was, but I didn’t really want to ask him to call me Candace. “Stay away from her.”

 

I shook my head. “She was necessary,” I argued. “And we used to be best friends.” I ran a hand through my hair. “I was actually grooming her to take over the Succubi, until recently.”

 

Isaac coughed. “Why? What happened?”

 

The air between us had settled a little bit, but that didn’t make me feel any better.

 

“It’s none of your business,” I said quietly.

 

Isaac frowned. “What was that?”

 

I spread my legs out on the bed and rested my elbows on my knees. I was hyper aware of being close to Isaac again—I could still catch the faint whiff of my musk on his face whenever he talked. “Nothing,” I mumbled. “Look, Isaac, about the past—”

 

Isaac held up his hand. His face was deadly serious, and the anxiety came crawling back down my spine. I realized that he was still angry with me, but that he’d somehow managed to turn it inside. This was a trick Isaac used to pull all the time back in the old days. He wasn’t ever comfortable being emotional so he always made himself bottle everything up and keep it inside. But it rarely worked, and I knew that once he’d started, he’d keep things in until he couldn’t bear to bottle it up any longer. And when Isaac exploded, I knew it would happen fast and hard. Isaac had a hell of a temper, and I could only imagine that leading an MC for years had made it sharper than ever before.

 

“I don’t wanna talk about that right now,” Isaac said slowly. He stared at me, as if beginning to realize something. Suddenly, I got a horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach.

 

“Isaac,” I said slowly. “You remember I told you about Jessica’s assault? How it happened the night of the party we threw to celebrate our independence?”

 

Isaac nodded. He frowned at me. “Yeah. So what?”

 

I bit my lip and swallowed. “So,” I said slowly. “Some of your guys came to the party. Nick and TJ and Kyle, they were all there.”

 

“Yeah,” Isaac said. He ran a hand through his hair and stared at me. “So what? You fucking told me this already, Stephanie,” he added, his voice grating with irritation. “There’s nothing else to discuss. I said I was sorry, I don’t fucking own my guys. I can’t tell them where or where not to go.”

 

“No,” I said quickly. “It isn’t about that. This is different, I think it’s important.” My heart began to thud against my chest and I felt my torso tensing up with anxiety. Raking a shaky hand through my hair, I looked at the ceiling. “Well, Jessica didn’t see her attacker,” I said. “The room was dark, she only said that it was definitely a man.”

 

“Men rape women all the time,” Isaac said. He sneered. “It’s fucking disgusting, but it’s a fact of life.”

 

“No,” I said forcefully, holding up my hand. “It’s not that. It’s…it's what Val told me afterward. She told me that she saw a guy sneaking out of the clubhouse, wearing a Jungle’s Thorns jacket. She told me it was one of your guys."

 

Isaac looked at me with a stunned expression on his chiseled face. He shook his head. “No,” he said. “That’s fucking impossible. One of my guys wouldn’t do that.”

 

I felt sick inside as Isaac’s face turned from red to white to almost green. I felt the same way, like I was going to puke everywhere. Something clicked in my brain and I realized that not for the first time, I’d gotten everything wrong. Still, I wasn’t ready to let Isaac off the hook.

 

“Can you prove it?” I asked finally. “Can you prove that your guys weren’t involved?”

 

Isaac thought for a second. He nodded. “Yeah,” he said. “I can prove it because they all came back to the clubhouse,” he added. He wrinkled his forehead. “Except for Kyle,” Isaac added. “He must have stayed out somewhere that night.”

 

My heart sank. If he didn’t have an alibi for every single one of his guys, I didn’t think we’d be able to prove anything.

 

“Wait,” I said slowly. “Do you think he stayed with Alexa? I mean, is there a chance? Do you know if they were dating a few weeks ago?”

 

Isaac nodded. “Yeah, that makes sense,” he said. “Can you call her and ask her?”

 

With shaking fingers, I pulled out my phone and dialed Alexa’s number. Working with Isaac felt better than I’d expected it to, almost like old times again. Even though my anxiety was rising by the minute, I didn’t want to waste any time. Not with Val on the warpath and Kyle in the hands of the Russians.

 

“Hey,” Alexa said. I frowned. There was something odd about her voice, something about panicked. “What’s up?”

 

“Nothing,” I said, trying to sound casual. “Just wondering about something. The night of the party, did Kyle stay with you?”

 

“What?”

 

I groaned. “The night of the party, the party we had in the clubhouse a few weeks back, did Kyle stay with you? You were dating by then,” I added for emphasis. “Just tell me the truth, Alexa.”

 

Alexa stuttered. “I don’t know,” she replied. “I mean, can you ask him?”

 

“No,” I practically exploded. “I can’t ask him, as you know, because he’s being held by the fucking Russians! This is really important, Alexa, some innocent lives are at stake here. I need to know where he stayed.”

 

“I really don’t remember,” Alexa said. “You know, I had so much to drink that I can barely remember a thing about that night.” She paused. “You do mean the night that Jessica was attacked, right?”

 

Rage and irritation seared through my mind and I tried to take a deep breath and calm down as best I could. Don’t yell at her, don’t yell at her, don’t yell at her, I tried to tell myself. But then I started remembering some other things that made me even angrier. Alexa hadn’t been too drunk the night of the party; she’d told me that she was getting over a cold and she was still taking antibiotics. And when the guys had arrived, Nick and TJ had hung out and harassed Val. Kyle had disappeared. So had Alexa. They’d likely gone to a room and spent the whole night fucking. Why wouldn’t she just admit it?

 

“Stephy,” Alexa said, her voice sounding nervous. “Are you still there? Did you hang up?”

 

“I’m right here,” I snapped callously. “You have five fucking seconds to tell me the truth,” I said angrily. “You have five fucking seconds or I’m coming over there and beating it out of you myself. Don’t lie, Alexa. I know Val’s been manipulating you from the start and I’m not going to take it anymore.”

 

Alexa let out a sound, something like a little, shocked, gasp. It was the kind of cry that someone would make when stepping into an icy pool, or when burning themselves on the stove. And in that cry, I suddenly knew everything. Alexa was lying to me. Val had been lying to me the whole fucking time, and she was playing Alexa like a cheap fiddle. Val hadn't seen a member of the Jungle’s Thorns sneaking out of the clubhouse because Kyle had never left. He hadn't even been in Jessica's room; he'd spent the whole night with Alexa. And now, Val wanted to blame the attack on him. I shook my head, feeling more bitter and upset than I had in a long time.

 

“I know Val is getting you to lie,” I said slowly. “But you really need to think about what you’re doing, okay, Alexa? If you lie to me like this again and I catch you, you’re out for good. And your name is fucking mud,” I added. “Val isn’t doing this to be your friend. Val’s doing this because she wants to lead the Succubi.”

 

“Val wouldn’t hurt me,” Alexa said. I was pleased to note that she sounded incredibly uncertain. “Val cares about me. She cares a lot more than you do, Steph.”

 

I burst out laughing. It was a harsh, dry sound. From the bed, Isaac glanced up at me in alarm. “You’re fucking mental,” I told Alexa. “Val is trying to blame the attack on Kyle, don’t you get that? He was the only member of Jungle’s Thorns who stayed the night, the only member who could have hurt Jessica. And she made you lie and say that you were drunk just to get you out of having to admit that he spent the night in your room! Don’t you fucking get it? Val is using your boyfriend as a scapegoat,” I said confidently. “She doesn’t give a shit about you. She just cares because you’re dating someone in the MC she wants to smear.”

 

Alexa was silent for a long time. “I don’t believe you,” she said finally. “Val was the one who told me it was okay if Kyle stayed in the first place,” she argued vehemently. “And if she was trying to fuck me over, don’t you think she would have lied?”

 

“No,” I said sharply. Nausea came over me in such a strong wave that I had to lean over and retch. Nothing came up but I didn’t feel better when I straightened myself. “No, she wouldn’t really care about that, Alexa.”

 

Alexa was quiet again. “I have to go,” she said suddenly, her voice sounded hurried and panicked. “Bye.”

 

I rolled my eyes as the dial tone buzzed in my ear. “Fuck her,” I mumbled, throwing my phone across the room and taking a perverse pleasure in the sound of it cracking against the wall.

 

Isaac stared at me. “So Val was behind this whole thing.”

 

I bit my lip and nodded. “I feel like such a fucking moron for listening to her.” I moaned, putting my head in my hands and resting my forehead on my knees. “I can’t believe she was lying the whole goddamn time!”

 

Isaac moved closer. For a second, I thought he was going to put his hand on my back as a gesture of comfort. Judging from the confused expression on his face, he was probably thinking the same thing. “It sucks,” Isaac said sharply. “What was the revenge plan?”

 

A sinking feeling came over me just as nausea came roaring back. Before I could leap to the side, a rush of bile came up my throat. It was hot, sour, and thick and I choked on the taste as I struggled to swallow it. Wiping my mouth with the back of my hand, I flopped back down on the bed and stared at the grimy ceiling. "You're going to hate me," I mumbled, covering my eyes with my hands. There was still a glass of beer on the bedside table and I reached for it, drinking almost the whole thing in one gulp. It went down warm and carbonated but at least it washed the taste of vomit out of my mouth.

 

“I already kind of hate you,” Isaac said. There was no trace of mirth or laughter in his voice. “You lied to me for years,” he added slowly. “Just in case you forgot.”

 

“I feel sick,” I whined. Forcing myself to take a deep breath, I sat up and stared straight at Isaac. “Things are bad, Isaac. This is really bad.”

 

Isaac licked his full, sensual lips. “What happened?”

 

“After the attack, Val was the one who roused up the whole club about getting revenge,” I said slowly. “I wanted to steal your arms dealer from you and take over the city, but she was convinced that wasn’t enough. She wants to drag the cops into this, Isaac. The fucking police!”

 

Isaac gaped at me. “That’s so wrong,” he said, twisting his face into a disgusted expression. “She’s a fucking monster if she wants to snitch on an MC like that.”

 

“I know,” I said quickly. “I remember what happened to Hell’s Handmaidens.” Isaac gave me a blank look. “They were wiped off the map because one of their girls was raped and they snitched on another MC running the same drugs they were,” I said. “They all went to jail and they were all killed in prison for being fucking snitches. Val didn’t listen, though. She was fucking hell-bent on dragging the cops into this for some reason.”

 

“So what’s the plan?” Isaac’s voice was heavy and painful to hear. “She’s just going to call the cops on us, then?” His voice rose louder and louder. “She’s going to fucking ruin my MC because of a lie?” He stood up and balled his hands into fists, shoving them into his pockets.

 

“She’s going to have the cops show up when you meet the Russians,” I said miserably, feeling sicker than I had before. “She…she seduced them, and now she knows when you’re doing the big meeting on Saturday.”

 

Isaac shook his head. "That fucking bitch," he said, frowning and kicking at a clod of dirt on the floor. "Wait," Isaac said, staring up at me. "She's a lesbian, right? How did she seduce those guys?"

 

“Work is work,” I said with a shrug. “I don’t fucking know.” Isaac stared at me and I felt a hot flush come over my cheeks. “What?”

 

“I don’t believe you,” Isaac said. He shook his head and sat down heavily, glancing around the room. “I think you know exactly how she did it.”

 

I bit my lip. “She gave them head,” I mumbled. “She met them outside, in the desert, near where the gun deal is supposed to go down on Saturday. And they promised her the date and time were set in stone.”

 

Isaac shook his head again. “This is so fucked up,” he breathed slowly. “I have no fucking idea what to say to you right now, Stephanie.”

 

I winced again at his use of my new name. “I know,” I said meekly. “I’m sorry. But I didn’t want to go to the cops! I kept telling everyone that it was a bad idea! And Val got all the other girls on board and they fucking railroaded me until I agreed!”

 

Isaac looked at me and narrowed his eyes. The disgust on his face was obvious. “You’re not a fucking leader,” he spat. “You barely know how to lead yourself! You aren’t fucking fit to lead an MC right now, letting your girls run all over you like that! You’re supposed to be their goddamned president!”

 

All I could do was hang my head. I knew everything that Isaac was accusing me of was true, and yet I didn’t want to cop to owning any of it. I knew that this was my fault, that I should have dug my heels in and really argued when Val brought up bringing the cops around. I knew that it was my fault. But still, even though Isaac and I had come clean to each other, I couldn’t make myself apologize.

 

“I’m sorry that I hurt you, Isaac,” I said in a shaky voice. “But I don’t know what to do.”

 

“You have to stop Val,” Isaac said in a warning tone. “You have to fucking warn her against showing up or calling the cops, Stephanie. You can’t ruin our lives like this. My guys aren’t rapists. Kyle’s a selfish asshole, but he wouldn’t rape anyone.”

 

“Then who did?” I asked in a small voice. “Who fucking did it?”