“Eric,” I urged him, leaning forward and lowering my voice. “Tell me.”
“When Harry told me he had cancer and that he was dying, he gave me no choices, Drew. That fool, the one we’d all taken for granted, told me that I had to come back to Babylon. He told me no more running. He told me you’d need me here, even if you thought you didn’t. I wasn’t so sure myself. I left for a reason, and I intended to stay away. For you, for the club, for everyone involved. But when a dying man’s last wish is for you to man the fuck up and return to your son so he knows there’s someone here who can protect him from himself, you honor that wish. No matter what that means for you and the rest of your sorry life.”
“Eric,” I breathed, my fists balling, making my knuckles pop with the strain.
“If I tell you who we suspect, I need you to promise me…promiseme… we handle thismyway.”
I narrowed my eyes and looked at him like he was fucking crazy. “Unless your way is stringing the fucker up from the highest pole I can find and having the whole of Babylon watch him bleed out, then go fuck yourself.”
Ayda shuffled for a moment behind us and came closer. Still giving us our space, but close enough to be a part of the conversation. “I’m with Drew on this one, but for the sake of propriety and covering all our angles, what is your way, Eric?”
My head snapped to Ayda, taking her in.
“You won’t like it,” Eric warned.
With a sigh, I turned back to him, and I closed my eyes. “You want me to stay quiet. To act like I don’t know shit.”
When I opened my eyes again, Eric’s face was somber. “You can’t chase a rat, son. They go into places you can’t reach, scamper away into sewers. They hide away and drive you crazy, letting you listen to their scurrying, their games, and thriving off the fact that you know they’re there, but you still can’t get within six feet of them. You want to catch a rat in your own home, you lure that motherfucker to you.”
“I told you not to call me son.”
“And I’m telling you right now, you’re my son, and I’m here to protect you whether you like it or not, so you better start fucking believing it.”
I wanted to argue. I wanted to argue so badly. This was my castle. He’d given up his throne, and he had no right telling me how to rule, but there was something about Eric Tucker. Something that twisted me up but also calmed me at once. He was the alpha, the leader, without wanting to be it anymore. Did that make me the fucking beta now? I didn’t know. All I knew with any certainty was that there was a tiny part of me, and a tiny part it really was, that wanted him standing by my side, giving mesomeguidance when I lost my way.
And I didn’t know what the hell to do with any of that.
“You have a plan?” I asked him coolly.
He nodded slowly. “Do you trust me?”
I glanced up at Ayda again, asking her silently if I was goddamn crazy for even thinking of saying yes, but knowing that, deep down, I wanted to.
Ayda’s glance moved to Eric and back to me. It was clear she was just as resistant as I was, but surprisingly, she nodded once in agreement anyway.
There was a chance I was going to live to regret this, but leading meant working on gut instinct, and whether it was the mutual DNA or just the fact that I was high on rage, I wanted to trust him. With one last look at Eric, I released all the air in my lungs and held out my hand for him to shake.
“I trust you.”
I wasn’t meant to see the subtle shock in his eyes before he covered it up, but I saw it, as well as the emotion it carried. Reaching forward, Eric took my hand and gripped it tight, his fingers pressing against mine. It was the closest thing to a hug we’d had in years.
All at once, I tugged on his hand, yanking him closer. He fell forward clumsily, catching himself with his free hand and looking up at me in surprise.
“But you lie to me, withhold any information ever again from me, or you start to think this is your club, not mine, and I will bust you up so fucking bad, you’ll wish it wasyouI’d chosen to execute in front of the whole of Babylon.” I leaned in closer. Our heads only inches apart. “Do you fucking understand me?”
A slow, sadistic smile curled the edges of his mouth, and if I wasn’t mistaken, I thought I saw pride shining back at me.
“I’ll put the bullet in my own head for you,” he answered quietly.
“Don’t take away all my fun.”
Eric huffed a humorless laugh and shook his head, pushing himself up onto his now-bloody knees that peeked through the tears in his jeans. I let go of his hand, watching as he rested both of his on his thighs.
“Okay, kids. Time for some truths. We have a rat problem, and I’m trusting both of you to listen to me when I tellyou how this is going to go. We act as normal as possible. Anything suspicious, and the rat will figure it out. They’ll go to The Mayor. The Navs. Whoever they’re working with on Sutton’s side of the law…”
“Sutton’s definitely clear?” I asked, feeling sick at the thought. He’d been there for every part of this fucked up journey since my release from prison, yet I’d never suspected him. Not until now.
“He’s squeaky clean,” Eric assured me.