My pulse thundered in my head worse than any hangover. The pain in Quinn’s eyes would haunt me until my fucking grave. But that pain would save her. France. It was perfect. It was hell.

Bear sat at the head of the table looking grim. E.Z. looked even worse beside him. Only Axle seemed calm. He sat beside E.Z., leaning far back in his chair. I was the last to arrive. Toby stood guard at the door. Once I walked inside and he closed it, nobody would go in or out without going through him. Someday, I hoped he’d sit at that table with us. By the stone-cold look in Bear’s eyes, I wondered whether Toby still did.

“Quinn needs to get to the airport,” I said to Bear. “You got a problem if Moose and Machop see that she gets there?”

“Just Moose,” Bear said. “Machop’s doing something else for me. And it’s a good idea.”

Bear didn’t meet my eyes when he said it. I came fully into the room and took my seat.

E.Z. took a series of uneven breaths, shifting uncomfortably in his chair beside Bear. Whatever shit he wanted to say, he had to physically restrain himself from saying it. This wasn’t good. The tension between those two had gotten worse.

“I’ve worked out a deal,” Bear said. “The Hawks have agreed to hand over Fitzie if I agree not to blow up their shit in retaliation for what happened at Cups. A.J. Moss is swearing up and down he didn’t endorse the drive-by.”

A.J. Moss had just been voted in the Hawks’ new prez earlier this year.

“And we’re supposed to fucking believe that?” Benz said.

A rumble went around the table. I couldn’t fucking breathe. “Bear, this is bullshit!” Chase said. “Are they trying to claim that shooting was somebody going rogue?”

Bear scratched his chin. He made a gesture to E.Z., keeping him silent. “A.J. didn’t admit to it outright, but my gut’s telling me it was. A.J.’s green as prez. Word was the vote putting the gavel in his hand was as tight as they get.”

“So he doesn’t have full control of his crew,” Maddox said. “Jesus.”

“He doesn’t want a war. Maybe others in his crew do, but he’s wearing the president patch. So am I.”

“Mother fucker.” I couldn’t hold my tongue. “Wendy almost died. She still might. Ariel was in the club standing right next to her. So was Quinn.”

“Bear, we can’t let this slide,” Zig said. “Cups is Gina’s and you know it. They hit it for a reason. If the businesses along the docks think we can’t even keep that place secure, what’s that going to do for us going forward?”

“I don’t like it any more than the rest of you,” Bear said.

“Fitzie’s not enough,” Maddox said. “For fuck’s sake, Bear. He’s not enough.”

“Yeah?” Bear leaned far forward. Fire lit his eyes. “You need me to remind you how we got into this situation? If your old man hadn’t flown off the goddamn handle and taken matters into his own hands, I could have kept this shit contained a little longer. As it stands, they’re handing over Fitzie. What we do with him is another matter. He’s a traitor to this club and the word is out on that. Shooting up one of the Hawks’ businesses just escalates into an all-out war. Right now, I care more about the message we send if we can’t make an example out of a fucking traitor. So we give a little, we get a little.”

“For how long?” E.Z. erupted.

“For as long as it fucking takes!” Bear shouted.

“Never mind Fitzie or Maddox’s old man or any of it,” Kade said. “This already is a war, Bear. You’ve tried to keep us out of it. I get why. But we’re not afraid. Let’s take it to them and end it once and for all.”

This got a round of grunts in agreement. My own fingers itched as I felt the weight of my 9mm in my side holster. E.Z.’s eyes glinted with satisfaction.

Bear pounded his fist against the table. “You’re not afraid? Well, you fucking should be. Except for E.Z., none of the rest of you knows what a full-out club war is like. You were all fucking kids during the last one. We lost over half our membership, it damn near destroyed this town. It’s taken us a generation to recover from it and get to a point where we’re earning decent again. And that’s after winning the last fucking war. There’s a reason why this club is so damn young now. I’d tell you to ask your fathers about it but most of them were casualties of it. Maddox, you go ask your daddy. He lives in his damn castle away from all this shit. If there’s a way to keep the peace and keep this club strong, that’s the route we go. Sure, I hate the fucking taste of this. But getting Fitzie back is the best way to handle this. I need you boys to trust me. But I respect you. All of you. That’s why we’re here.”

“So they give us Fitzie,” I said. “Then what?”

“Then we go back to business as usual but we watch our backs,” E.Z. answered for Bear. Bear nodded.

I hated it. We all did. As much as I wanted to tear Fitzie’s face off for turning on this club, I still couldn’t get the ring of bullets out of my head. We were thirsty for retaliation. All of us. And I realized yet again, that’s why Bear sat at the head of this table.

“Will it be enough?” I asked.

Bear let out a breath and met my eyes. “I don’t know. The Hawks are spoiling for a fight. I think Moss is holding it together with his bare hands and he’s close to a civil war within his own club. And I don’t believe he sanctioned the hit on Cups. I know it doesn’t matter. Those were patched members firing those shots. But yeah, for now, it’ll be enough.”

“But not forever,” I said. Bear knew me well enough to know I wasn’t just asking for me. He’d brokered a temporary peace. The next salvo might be even more deadly.

“Not forever,” Bear said. He was answering a question I hadn’t given voice too. Even with this deal, anyone associated with us would be at risk. Quinn would still be at risk. Though it shredded my heart, I knew I’d done the right thing in sending her away.

Bear nodded and looked around the table. “All in favor?”

Half of the membership voted “aye” right away. I did too. I trusted Bear. Kade, Zig, and E.Z. were the holdouts, But in the end, even they finally agreed.