“Why? Mateo knows everything we found at the Crow compound. He has access to the software that he will share with Saint. Trust your brother.”
“I do. Stay anyway.”
“No.”
Fire rose in Cam’s dark eyes. Anger? Nah. He loved that Alexei fought him at every turn. He didn’t know it, but heneededit. Especially now.
Also, Alexei had a mind and knowledge that was a world away from the rest of us. He was invaluable in so many fucking ways. Never mind the fact that he was still holding my hand and I didn’t want to let go.
I pulled him down from his half crouch. “Stay.”
“I am not a dog.”
“We need you.”
Alexei glared so hard I thought he might kill me. But he sat back down all the same, and Cam relaxed.See? He needs you.
Cam called the meeting to order. Without a secretary, we’d dispensed with the ritual of swearing in and running through generic club business, but Cam had something to say before we moved on to the real shit. “I’ve asked Decoy to take over as club secretary. He hasn’t given me an answer yet, but I hope you’ll all support him.”
“Works for me,” Rubi said.
Mateo, prowling by the door—uneasy with Embry out cold in the arms of someone else, even a brother—just grunted.
Nash nodded. “He’s good people. Helps Orla out all the time.”
Cam looked at me. I wanted to smoke, but not in Embry’s room. The pause stretched out. In church, it always felt like they were all staring into my brain, dissecting the thoughts I couldn’t speak, but with Alexei beside me, I didn’t mind it so much. He tapped a restless rhythm on my pulse point. I latched onto it. Counted. And found my fucking voice. “He’s good for us, but we’re not good for him. He’s got kids. They need him.”
“I know that,” Cam said. “That’s why I asked him. I want a different life for all of us and having a club secretary who works apart from this bullshit is just the start.”
“How the fuck is that going to work?”
“There’s a clear line between what we are and what we want to become. Decoy gets the choice.”
“What if he chooses wrong?” I squeezed Alexei’s hand tighter without conscious thought. “Or his ex screws him to the point where he doesn’t have a fucking choice?”
“Then we’ll be there for him,” Cam snapped. “You think I’d pull him into something that could take him away from Ivy? I love that kid.”
I knew he did. I loved her too. But club life was quicksand. It sucked good men under and spat them out dead or in prison. Literally. Figuratively. In the end, it was all the fucking same.
“He has not said yes yet,” Alexei murmured beside me. “Wait it out. What you are afraid of might not ever happen.”
I glared at Cam. His gaze softened, imploring me to trust him, and I did, but...
No. There was no but. I trusted him.
Cam nodded. “I know you’re protective of him and I’m listening, but he’s good for the club and we need him. Let’s see what happens, okay?”
Okay.
“He said he would do the Christmas things, whatever that is,” Alexei said. “He told me earlier. That should not get him arrested or killed. You can figure the rest out later.”
The conversation moved on. More bullshit I didn’t care about.
Then Cam cleared his throat. “This is the point where Decoy would leave the room. We’d wait for him to go before any dirty shit hit the table. Understood?”
A collective nod went round the room. Cam folded his arms. Changed his mind as the movement pulled on his injured shoulder and let them fall slack again. “We’re all up to speed on the Crow numbers?”
No one disagreed.