Thud.
Eric never flinched. There was no reaction or curiosity on his face, not even in his eyes. He held my gaze the entire way, his calm a frustration to my boiling fury. The closer I got, the harder I fought to breathe through my nose. My teeth clenched together, my cheeks feeling the tension as I worked themuscles in my jaw and marched closer. Closer. Closer. I began to move faster. Just a little at first, the need to end this pushing me forward until my arms swung, and I charged towards the man in front of me like I wanted to strike a dagger through his heart.
I ran, feet pounding, my cut swaying behind me as I used every ounce of power I had to crash into him, spin the fucker around by his shirt, use all my muscles to push him back and slam him into the brick structure of the pawnshop.
He was a ragdoll in my hands, and I had the power to pull him back and slam him into the building again, my head swaying forward until I was so close to his face, his now-ragged breaths bled into mine.
My forearm pushed up against his windpipe, pressing on him to pin him in place as I shook with him in my grip, all my rage pouring out of my sweat-soaked skin. Our eyes were only an inch apart, and I stared into his seeing a reflection of me staring back. His were wide with surprise, yet he somehow didn’t look surprised at all when I pressed into him, turning his face redder by the second.
The silence, the unspoken words took over until I couldn’t hold anything back.
“Did you know?” I growled through gritted teeth, my arm shaking violently against his throat. “Did. You.Know?”
Eric was grinding his jaw, staring at me like he wanted to kill me as much as I wanted to kill him. But he remained silent, his eyes then flickering around the yard to the other men who had gathered behind us.
“Is it you?” I spat, pulling back to give him a second to breathe before I slammed him back in place. Fuck, I was desperate to hit him. To deliver a strike so punishing, hewouldn’t even know how to lie. The only thing that would pour free from him would be all the truths he’d kept hidden from me.
“Not… here,” he croaked, bringing his attention back to me. His eyes were popping, the red lines in them getting wilder as I stole his oxygen… just like he’d stolen any chance I’d ever had at a normal life.
“Fuck!” I hissed, pressing harder. “You knew. You fucking knew.”
“D-drew…” he gasped.
I got closer to his face, mine all contorted, twisting, and twitching as I struggled to hold back the betrayal I felt.
“You knew we had a rat,” I whispered furiously, so only he could hear.
His eyes searched mine, and he licked his bottom lip before his blue-greens rolled back in his head, and he brought his hands up to try and pull my arm away.
“Not… here…” he croaked one last time, his voice low and furious, but unwilling to fight.
I couldn’t stop looking at him. He was a stranger, but someone I knew couldn’t, andwouldn’thurt me. Harry had trusted him. Harry had kept in touch and communicated with him over the years, making sure he was in the loop of all that was happening. Harry wasn’t an idiot. He wasn’t the unsure man I was. Harry was capable of making better decisions, better judgments, and…shit,I wished he were here.
“They’re watching,” Dad whimpered roughly.
Glancing over my shoulder, I looked at the crowd of men behind me, all of them standing firmly with their legs parted, some with their arms over their chests, others with theirs hanging down by their sides, fists tensed and ready if I neededthem.
I met their eyes. All of them. Jedd. Slater. Kenny. Deeks. Moose—and all the other men who had been a part of the club’s history for as long as I could remember. Every single one of them was looking at me in confusion, but ready to go to war.
How could it be any of them?
I swallowed the lump in my throat, feeling the dry ball of uncertainty go down like a dusty rock. When I turned to look back at Eric, his mouth had parted, and he was struggling to breathe.
All at once, I let him go, and he sank down the wall with no grace at all, crumbling to his knees, falling to one side to rest on his shaky arm.
My chest bounced so damn hard, and I met Ayda’s eyes, just for a second, needing her to ground me again, but not wanting her to come close.
Subconsciously understanding what I needed, she nodded, holding her ground between The Hounds, Eric, and me, an unsuspecting wall no one would try to move. She was pissed too, with eyes of suspicion bouncing from the men she loved and back to me, a subtle glance shooting to Eric.
I followed her gaze, looking back down at my father and watching as his eyes rose to mine.
He knew I wasn’t playing around now. My men knew it, too.
“Is it you?” I asked him as calmly as I could manage, given the audience around us.
“No.” His answer was cold, but I knew a lie when I saw one, and that wasn’t a lie. “Would it have been easier for you if it was me?”
My nostrils twitched, my teeth grinding as I stared at him.