Chapter 73 What to do
Sage's POV
I sat in Jaxon's office with Ryder on one side and my brother on the other while we tried to discuss what just went on with Dante.
"Play the recording again." Jaxon's voice was tight and controlled in that way that meant he was barely holding his anger in check.
I pulled out my phone where I had recorded Dante playing the original voice recording and hit play for the third time. I heard my father's voice and I watched Jaxon's face squeeze as he heard dad promise me to Dante as payment for saving his life.
When it ended, Jaxon stood up and walked to the window without saying anything. His shoulders were tense and his hands were clenched into fists at his sides.
"So Dad traded you to Dante three years ago and then broke that deal to make the Diego contract eighteen months later." He spoke to the window instead of turning around to face us. "Which means he was using you as a bargaining chip for years and we never knew about any of it."
"It means Vincent lied to all of us about a lot of things and we're only just now finding out how deep those lies went." Ryder's arm was around my shoulders and I could feel the tension in his body. "The question is what we do about it now."
"We don't do anything because Sage is not marrying Dante." Jaxon turned around and his expression was harder than I'd ever seen it. "I don't care if his agreement came first. He's a traitor who betrayed this club and he doesn't get to waltz back in here and claim rights to my sister."
"But he has information about who killed Dad." My voice came out smaller than I wanted it to. "He says he knows who was blackmailing him and who pulled the trigger that night."
"Of course he says that because it's the perfect bait to get you to consider his offer." Jaxon moved closer to the desk. "Dante is a manipulative piece of shit who's playing on your emotions and your need for answers. Don't fall for it."
"What if he's telling the truth though? What if he actually knows something that could help us find Vincent's killer and stop Diego from taking her to Arizona?" Ryder looked at Jaxon. "We can't just ignore that possibility."
"We also can't trust anything that comes out of Dante's mouth because everything he says is calculated to benefit him in some way." Dad may have actually agreed to his request then but it doesn't mean Sage has to honor it. Dad's dead and Dante got kicked out of the club, so as far as I'm concerned, this agreement is worthless."
“So what do we do?” I asked my brother.
We handle Dante the same way we handled every other problem that threatened this family." Jaxon's voice went cold and dangerous. "We make him disappear before he can cause any more trouble."
"Jax, we can't just kill him." I stood up because sitting still was impossible. "If something happens to Dante right after he comes here offering information about Dad's murder, it's going to look suspicious as hell and bring more attention to the club than we need right now."
"I don't care how it looks. I care about keeping you safe and keeping this family together." He moved around the desk to stand in front of me. "Sage, listen to me very carefully. Dante is dangerous and he's playing a game that we don't fully understand yet. Whatever information he claims to have about Dad's killer, it's not worth putting yourself in his hands."
"But what if marrying him is the only way to get out of the Diego contract?" The words tasted like ash in my mouth but I needed to say them out loud. "What if Dante is the lesser of two evils and I'm better off with him than with Diego?"
"No." Ryder stood up so fast his chair scraped against the floor. "Absolutely fucking not. You're not marrying Dante and you're not marrying Diego. I don't care what contracts your father signed or what agreements were made. You're not property to be traded around."
"But that's exactly what I am in this world." I looked between them both. "Dad saw me as something he could use to make deals and secure alliances. Dante sees me as payment for saving Vincent's life. Diego sees me as a way to get federal protection and connections. None of them see me as a person who deserves to make her own choices."
"I see you as a person." Ryder's hands cupped my face and forced me to look at him. "I see you as the woman I love and the woman I'm going to spend the rest of my life with if you'll have me. Not because of some contract or agreement or debt, but because I choose you and you choose me."
Tears burned behind my eyes but I refused to let them fall. "That's really sweet and I love you too, but love doesn't solve the problem of having three different men claiming they have rights to marry me."
"Then we unclaim all of them." Jaxon pulled out his lighter and held it over a cigarette."We burn this contract and we tell both Dante and Diego to go fuck themselves. We fight if we have to and we run if we need to, but we don't hand you over to anyone."
"And what happens when the Blood Sisters attack the club again because I refused Diego? What happens when Dante goes public with this recording and makes the Steel Wolves look like we don't honor our agreements?" I pulled away from Ryder and crossed my arms. "You're both thinking with your hearts instead of your heads and that's going to get people hurt."
"So what are you suggesting?" Jaxon lowered the lighter but he didn't put it away. "That we actually consider Dante's offer?"