A murmur moves through the brothers.
“I always assumed you were indifferent to me at best.” I add.
Clutch makes a rough sound beside him, like he almost choked on something. A few brothers scoff. Theaudacityof a woman answering the president like that crackles through the room.
Angel smiles, not angry, almost amused.
“What do you think of me as president?” he asks.
That’s not where I thought this was going, but if I hesitate now they’ll smell blood.
“I think,” I say slowly, holding his gaze, “that in any society people shouldn’t follow one man blindly.”
The murmuring escalates immediately.
“What the hell.”
“Who does that bitch think she is?”
But I keep going. “Because one man can easily become blind to what his society actually needs… to what is happening behind closed doors..” I gesture lightly around the room. “And make no mistake. Each MC is a form of society. A community… A ecosystem.””
More murmurs follow. Some of the brothers look openly offended,others look curious. Clutch is staring at me now and for some reason the look in his eyes almost makes me falter.
Almost.
Because I remember how he used to look at me. The feeling that would spread through me at his touch that I never once had experienced before in my life. But he hasn’t looked at me like that in a while.
Angel chuckles softly. “See,” he says.“This is why I like you.”
He takes a slow drink from his bottle.
“You’re smart. You see things differently.”
His eyes sharpen slightly.
“And I agree. No one should follow blindly.”
He gestures toward the men around him.
“That’s why I keep the brothers I trust most close.”
His gaze sweeps over them.
“When they start talking…”
His eyes come back to me.
“I start listening.”
I bite the inside of my cheek, because the words sitting on my tongue would start a war.
What about the women?
What about your sister?
Angel tilts his head slightly.
“You know… Cypher couldn’t find much about your past.”