Chapter 69 Planning
Jaxon's POV
Sage looked at me like I'd lost my mind when I told her about Dante's offer the next morning.
"You want me to sit in a room alone with a man who betrayed this club and got kicked out for stealing and feeding information to our enemies?" She put down her coffee cup hard enough that some splashed onto the table. "Are you seriously asking me to do this?"
"I'm not asking you to do anything. I'm telling you what Dante offered and letting you make your own decision about it." I leaned back in my chair and tried to keep my voice calm even though everything in me was screaming that this was a terrible idea. "He claims to have information about who killed our dad and he says he'll only share it if he gets time alone with you."
"Why me? Why does he specifically want to talk to me instead of you or Ryder or anyone else in the club?"
"I don't know and that's what worries me the most about this whole thing." I looked at Ryder who was standing by the window with his arms crossed and murder in his eyes. "But if there's even a small chance that he actually knows something real about Dad's murder, we can't just ignore it."
Sage stood up and started pacing around the kitchen while putting her hands through her hair. "This feels like a trap and you both know it. Dante doesn't do anything without an angle and without some way to benefit himself."
"You're right, which is why we're going to control every aspect of this meeting." I pulled out my phone and showed her the list I'd been making since last night. "It happens in an office in the clubhouse where we know the layout and can secure it. Guards will be posted right outside the door the entire time. Ryder and I will be closely too and we can hear everything through the intercom system. One hour maximum and the second you feel uncomfortable or want out, you say the word and we pull you."
"And if he tries something? If he tries to hurt me or grab me or whatever the hell he's planning?"
"Then he dies before he makes it out of that office." Ryder's voice was flat and deadly serious. "I'll put a bullet in his head myself."
Sage stopped pacing and looked between the two of us with an expression that said she was not happy about the situation. "You really think this is worth the risk? You really think whatever information he has is valuable enough to let him anywhere near me?"
"I think we're running out of time and options. I think Diego is going to drag you to Arizona in three weeks unless we find some kind of leverage against him. I think finding our dad's killer might give us that leverage." I stood up and moved closer to her. "But more than anything, I think this should be your choice to make and not mine or Ryder's."
She bit her lip and I could see her mind working through all the possibilities and risks. "What if the information he has isn't even real? What if he's just making shit up to get access to me for some other reason?"
"Then we'll know he's full of shit and we'll kick him out again, except this time he won't be walking out on his own two feet." Ryder moved away from the window. "But Sage, if there's any chance he actually knows who killed Vincent, don't you want to hear it? Don't you want answers about what really happened that night?"
"Of course I want answers, but not at the cost of playing into whatever game Dante is running."
"So we play smarter than he does. We control the game and the rules and the outcome." I reached for her hand. "One hour in a secure location with both of us right there to protect you. What do you say?"
Sage looked down at my hand holding hers and then back up at my face. "I hate this and I hate that Dad's death has put us in a position where we have to make deals with traitors."
"I know."
"But I also hate not knowing the truth about what happened to him and who took him away from us." She pulled her hand back and crossed her arms. "Fine, I'll do it. I'll sit with Dante for one hour and hear whatever bullshit he wants to sell us. But the second I feel like something is wrong, I'm out of there."
"That's all I'm asking." Relief flooded through me even though I knew this could still go sideways in a hundred different ways. "The meeting is at noon today. That gives us a few hours to set everything up and make sure security is tight."
"I want to be armed." Sage looked at Ryder. "If I'm going into that room with him, I want a gun."
"Absolutely not." I said immediately in response.