Sage

I wake with a start, ready to bust anyone in the face if they dare to speak, but I find myself alone. Standing from the bed, I check the clock and see I’ve lost a whole day. The hell?

The memory of Brook’s finger comes crashing back, and I want nothing more than to break Ringer’s jaw. “Sage?” Ringer’s voice on the other side of my door sounds out, along with a knock before he opens it and enters. There’s a darkening bruise under his eye and his nose is crooked. I almost punch him again right then and there, but the prick standing next to him has me delivering my fist to him instead. The thwack of my knuckles meeting his flesh is almost comforting. The man lands with an ‘oomph’ hard against the wall of Ringer’s chest, who promptly shoves him away. But he is able to catch himself

“You know if I have to endure that from all of you I might not be of use to you before you give me brain damage,” Brock says, recovering from the hit. When he steadies himself, I notice he’s already been hit, maybe more than once, making him and Ringer both match. If I wasn’t still fuming about the situation, I would laugh at the comparison.

“That’s what you get, turncoat,” Ringer says with a chuckle. “Already been delivered the same greeting from half the brothers.”

“The fuck is he here for?” I hiss, gripping my cut from the bed and pulling it on over my black Riders sweatshirt. Guess they were nice enough not to let me sleep in my leather. Assholes.

“Says he can help find Brook and Wells,” Ringer divulges, smacking Brock upside the head. “Guess it’s good Gin didn’t kill you, huh?” He laughs and jerks his head for me and Brock to follow.

We walk to Chapel where Rock is standing at the head of the table shooting a glare my way. “When we get her back, you are suspended from the clubhouse for a month. No pay. Shit you pulled don’t fly.” I nod in agreement.

“Only if she stays with me,” I say without even thinking. Questioning looks and narrowed eyes from everyone in the room focus in on me.

“You statin’ somethin’, brother?” Jake rasps from Rock’s right, directly across from where Gin’s chair is. The only empty one at the table.

“Yeah. She’s mine. Ain’t going to—” my words are cut off with a hard hit directly to my face from my VP who is up and out of his chair before I can even finish the claim on Gin’s daughter.

“For him, ‘cause he ain’t here to do it himself.” His voice a mere whisper right in my face as I right myself.

“Got it,” I grit through clenched teeth, sucking down the blood pooling in my mouth.

“Well, now that that’s out of the way, sit your asses down. We got shit to discuss. Brock, you want to let us in on what you know?” With that, Brock starts talking.

“I have been keeping to myself, staying out of trouble and the club’s way, like Eagle instructed. Well, two days ago, I ran into someone, some prick I knew when Wells had set up shop here. He had himself a little band of goons who would do his grunt work—shit he didn’t have us do.”

“Get on with it,” I snap, wanting him to get to his fucking point and tell us exactly how the hell he is supposed to help us.

“Well, this prick recognizes me right away, don’t know shit about the whole fall out and starts bragging about this chick with shiny blonde hair he kidnaped for a job.” My fists clench together as I try to root myself to my chair. “Said it was for someone who paid him big. Said he dropped her off at some apartment complexes. He didn’t see who hired him, just stuck her in the trunk of a car and took the money he was owed from the front seat. I asked him where the job went down, and when he said Cental, I knew it had to be her.”

“Didn’t I fucking say she was in some place clean? He’s got to be talking about those new apartment complexes,” College states, making us listen once again to his theory. “She has to be there. Wiz has some of that fancy tech shit, probably has some heat tech to see if the building has anyone inside it.”

“You got anything else to tell us?” Rock asks, bypassing College’s little giddy moment and staring down Brock.

“Listen, I know all of you would love to see me dead, have good reason to, but Gin let me live. I owe it to him to help get his daughter back—and then some. I’m here to help, not to redeem myself. I know that ship is long gone.” Brock’s words linger a moment, but don’t hold the weight he may have been hoping for.

“No shit it has,” I growl. A flashback of Gin—my then Pres—lying on the floor next to the dead body of his pregnant old lady comes back full force, furthering my hatred. “I want him gone when this is done.” I flick my gaze over to Rock, who meets me with a narrowed scowl.

“Agreed,” Rock nods. “Looks like we are going in. How’s the armory?” he asks, directed at me.

“Fully stocked and ready.” My eager answer comes out as my ass rises from my seat.

“Good. Let’s go get her back and kill this asshole.” The gavel slams down onto the table and I’m out the door heading straight to my room to get my vest and gun.