Chapter 34 Unexpected allies
Sage's POV
The motorcycles belonged to Tommy and three other club members returning from a supply run.
I watched them park in the lot below, my heart still hammering from the false alarm. Every sound felt like a threat now. Every engine could be enemies coming to finish what they started. Every shadow could be hiding the person who wanted me dead.
Ryder helped me climb down from the roof and I tried to stop my hands from shaking. But the fear had settled into my bones and I couldn't shake it loose.
"You okay?" he asked quietly.
"No. But I will be."
We walked back inside and found Jaxon in the bar with an unexpected visitor. Marcus sat across from my brother nursing a beer and looking uncomfortable. He was one of the older members, maybe sixty, with gray hair and weathered skin. He usually kept to himself and I couldn't remember the last time I'd had an actual conversation with him.
"Sage," Jaxon said when he saw me. "Marcus wants to talk to you."
"About what?"
Marcus set down his beer and met my eyes. "About your father. And that contract you found."
My stomach dropped. "How do you know about the contract?"
"Because I was there when he signed it. Vincent asked me to be a witness." He looked down at his hands. "I told him it was wrong. Told him you deserved to choose your own life. We fought about it pretty bad."
Jaxon stood up. "I'll give you two some privacy."
"No." Marcus shook his head. "You should hear this too. Both of you."
Ryder had followed me in and now he leaned against the bar, his presence solid and reassuring at my back.
"What do you want to tell me?" I asked Marcus.
He reached into his jacket and pulled out a folded envelope. The paper was worn like he'd been carrying it for a while.
"Your dad gave me this two years ago, right after he signed the contract. Said if anything happened to him, I should give it to you." He held it out. "I've been waiting for the right time but after tonight, I figure there's no time like the present."
My hands shook as I took the envelope. My name was written on the front in Dad's handwriting. Just Sage, nothing else.
I opened it carefully and pulled out a single sheet of paper.
Sage,
If you're reading this, I'm gone. I'm sorry I couldn't tell you about the contract in person. I'm sorry I made choices for your future without asking what you wanted.
The agreement with Diego was meant to protect you from something worse. There are people who want to hurt our family and the alliance with the Blood Sisters is the only thing standing between us and destruction.
I know you're angry. I know you feel betrayed. But please understand that everything I did was to keep you safe. Even when it meant taking away your choices.
Trust Jaxon. Trust the family. And forgive me for the choices I made.
Love,
Dad
I read it twice before the words really sank in. My father likely knew he was going to die. He knew and he still signed that contract.
"What did he mean?" I looked at Marcus. "What was he protecting me from?"
"I don't know. He wouldn't say." Marcus shifted in his seat. "But I can tell you that Vincent was scared. Really scared. I'd never seen him like that before."
"Scared of what?"
"Someone inside the club. He didn't tell me who but he said there was a traitor. Someone feeding information to enemies and working to destroy us from within."
The room went silent. Jaxon and Ryder exchanged looks.
"Did he say anything else?" Jaxon asked.
"Just that he was handling it. That he had a plan to protect the club and his family even if things went wrong." Marcus looked at me. "I think the marriage contract was part of that plan. Insurance in case the traitor won."
"Insurance how?"
"If you married into the Blood Sisters, you'd be protected. Even if the Steel Wolves fell apart completely, you'd be safe with Diego and his family."
My throat tightened. Dad had sold me to save me. He'd planned my entire future because he knew someone was going to kill him and he wanted to make sure I survived whatever came after.
"There's something else," Marcus said quietly.
"What?"
"The night Vincent died, I was at the clubhouse late working on my bike. I saw someone in the parking lot who shouldn't have been there."
My pulse jumped. Ryder straightened and Jaxon leaned forward.
"Who?" Jaxon demanded.
"I don't know. It was dark and they were wearing a hood. But they were standing near Vincent's truck right around the time he would have been leaving." Marcus' jaw clenched. "I almost went out to ask what they were doing but then they took off on a bike and Vincent came out. I figured it was just someone waiting for a ride or something."
"What kind of bike?" Ryder asked.
"Harley. Black. No plates that I could see."
"Did you tell the police this?"
"No. By the time I realized Vincent had been shot, the cops were already treating it like a random drive-by. I didn't think my story mattered."
"It matters," Jaxon said. His voice was tight. "Marcus, whoever you saw in that parking lot probably killed our father."
"I know. That's why I'm telling you now." Marcus looked at each of us. "Vincent was a good man. He deserved better than getting shot in his own clubhouse parking lot. And Sage deserves to know the truth about why he did what he did."
I folded the letter carefully and put it back in the envelope. My hands weren't shaking anymore. The fear and uncertainty that had been eating at me for weeks crystallized into something harder.
Someone killed my father. Someone in the club, someone close enough to know his schedule and movements. And Dad had known it was coming, had tried to protect me the only way he knew how.
"We need to find out who was in that parking lot," I said.
"Agreed." Jaxon stood up. "Marcus, can you think of anything else? Any detail that might help identify who it was?"
Marcus was quiet for a moment, his face creased with concentration.
"The bike," he said finally. "It had custom exhaust. Real loud, distinctive sound. I'd recognize it if I heard it again."
"Then we start listening," Ryder said.