Chapter 141 Truths and reasons
Sage's POV
"It killed me to keep something so serious from you and watch you run back and forth trying to figure it out for yourself." Ryder continued.
The words hit me like a physical blow. I stepped back, my hands falling away from him. "What?"
"I had my suspicions that Jaxon here was RC because of the way he dismissed our investigations and banning you from the office." he said. "The double Y pattern in those emails, as soon as I saw it, something clicked." Ryder's voice was pained. "While you were reading through the messages in your dad's office, I pulled up my text conversations with Jaxon."
"You were checking his texts." The memory came back. Him on his phone, distracted, while I read through the emails. "That's what you were doing."
"Yeah. And I found the same pattern. Every text he had sent me since he got his new phone about six months ago had those doubled Y's." Ryder ran his hand through his hair. "That's when I knew RC had to be Jaxon."
I felt something cold settle in my stomach. "You've suspected for weeks that my brother was cooperating with the feds along with my dead father. That he was the mystery accomplice we had been searching for. And you didn't see the need to tell me?"
"I was trying to protect you—"
"From what?" My voice rose. "From the truth? You watched me run around in circles, suspecting everyone else, tearing myself apart trying to figure out who he was. And you knew the whole time."
"I didn't know for sure it was him until I saw the texts!" Ryder's voice matched mine. "I also wanted to protect my brother. He is still my brother no matter what."
"But you suspected him." The betrayal cut deep. "You thought he might be into something shady and you didn't tell me."
"Because I didn't want to believe it." Ryder's expression was anguished. "Jaxon's my brother too, Sage. We've known each other for years. The idea that he could do those things with your dad was too horrible to accept without proof."
"So you stayed quiet." I wrapped my arms around myself. "You let me keep investigating while keeping this massive piece of information to yourself."
"I was looking for proof!" Ryder stepped toward me. "Something concrete that would either confirm or rule out Jaxon. Moreover, I knew it would break you to hear that, just like it's breaking you to find out now."
I turned away from Ryder, my eyes finding Jaxon where he stood by the window. My brother. The person who had held me when I cried after our mom died. Who taught me how to ride a motorcycle, and who promised he'd always protect me.
"Why?" The word came out broken, barely above a whisper.
Jaxon's jaw tightened but he didn't answer.
"Why would you do it?" I moved toward him, my wedding dress rustling with each step. "You knew what Dad was doing was wrong. You knew he was betraying the club. So why would you help him? Why would you become a snitch too?"
His eyes met mine, and I saw guilt, maybe. Or shame.
"Answer me, Jaxon." My voice was stronger now, anger giving me strength. "Why would you cooperate with the feds? What could possibly make that okay in your mind?"
"You don't understand—" he started, his voice rough.
"Then make me understand!" I was shouting now, all the grief and betrayal of the past months pouring out. "Make me understand how you justified it. How you could look our father in the eye while planning to betray everything he'd built."
"Everything he'd built was falling apart anyway," Jaxon said, his voice hard. "The club was hemorrhaging money. We had enemies on all sides. People were getting killed in territory disputes we couldn't win."
"So you decided to become a rat?" The word tasted bitter. "You decided the solution was to sell out your own brothers?"
"I decided the solution was survival." Jaxon's hands clenched into fists. "Dad came to me first. He told me about the federal deal he was making. About how it would protect us from prosecution for things we'd done. Things that would have put us in prison for life."
"What things?" I demanded. "What did you do that was so bad you had to betray the club?"
Jaxon's expression closed off. "That's not important."
"The hell it isn't!" I moved closer to him. "You don't get to tell me it's not important when you destroyed everything for it. When you turned on your own family to save yourself."
"I was saving you too!" Jaxon's voice rose. "Everything I did, every deal I made, was to protect you from the fallout. To make sure you'd be safe when it all came crashing down."
"Don't you dare." My voice shook with fury. "Don't you dare pretend this was about protecting me. This was about protecting yourself. About saving your own skin no matter who got hurt in the process."
"You're wrong—"
"Am I?" I gestured wildly around the room. "Then why am I standing here in a wedding dress, about to marry a man I don't love? Why did you push so hard for this marriage if it wasn't about getting Diego's protection for yourself?"
Jaxon suddenly went quiet.
"That's what I thought." I stepped back, my chest heaving. "You needed me to marry into the Blood Sisters so Diego would shield you when the truth came out. When other MCs found out you'd been snitching alongside Dad."
"It's not that simple—"
"It is exactly that simple." Tears were streaming down my face again. "You used me. You manipulated me into this marriage to save yourself. And you did it while pretending to care about my wellbeing."
"I do care about your wellbeing!" Jaxon's voice cracked. "Everything I've done has been to keep you alive. To make sure you'd survive what's coming."
"What's coming?" I asked, my voice dropping to something dangerous. "What exactly is coming that you're so afraid of?"
Jaxon's mouth opened, then closed. His eyes darted to Ryder, then back to me.
"People will want revenge. And they'll come for anyone connected to Vincent Romano."
"So you made sure I'd have Diego's protection." The pieces were clicking into place. "You made sure I'd be married into the Blood Sisters so I'd be untouchable."
"Yes." Jaxon's voice was barely audible.
"And what about you?" I pressed. "How does my marriage protect you?"
He didn't answer, but he didn't have to. The silence said everything.
"Diego agreed to protect you too, didn't he?" I felt sick. "That was part of the deal. I marry into his family, and he shields both of us from the blowback."
Jaxon's expression was answer enough.
"You sacrificed my entire future for your protection." My voice was hollow now, all the anger draining out and leaving only devastation.
"I was trying to survive in an impossible situation—"
"We all were!" I shouted. "But the rest of us didn't turn on our family to do it!"
Ryder's voice cut me off.
"Sage, I know who killed your father.”