“You almost finished?”
I turned around and saw Ryder standing behind me in the garage, glancing at something on his phone before he looked around, pushing back a wrench that had been hanging off the edge of the shelf.
“Yeah, why?”
“You’re up tonight.” I blankly stared at him. “Linc’s fight? Remember?”
“Shit,” I grumbled. “I forgot.” His focus bounced around the room, nodding before spotting something in the corner. “Hey.” Ryder looked back at me. “I never apologized for ruining Roman’s party last week. Sorry about that.”
“It’s all good.” He stood staring at me for a few seconds before he opened his mouth again. “How things goin’ between you two?”
“Great.” I was sure I grinned like a fool, but I didn’t care.
Ryder smiled right along with me. “Good. Just don’t fuck it up.” He walked a few feet away, bent down and picked something up.
“Whatcha got?” I asked, trying to see, but his back was to me.
He held a brown weathered wallet over his head. “This yours?”
“Nope.”
“Huh,” he muttered, twisting toward me before opening the folds.
I didn’t pay much attention, trying to finish up so I could leave a bit early and spend some time with Riley before I had to be at her brother’s fight later.
Just as I closed the hood of the vehicle I was working on, Ryder cursed before barreling toward me. “Where the fuck is Marek?” he shouted, rushing past me.
“He was in Chambers with Stone,” I yelled after him, confused by the sudden turn of events. I tossed the rag on the shelf and followed him into the clubhouse, curious why he seemed upset all of a sudden.
The door to our meeting room was open, and when I walked inside, an eerie feeling washed over me. I saw Ryder pass Stone a picture. His complexion paled right before he made eye contact with our club’s leader. I didn’t think I’d ever seen Stone look so fearful, but I didn’t have the opportunity to ask why before I heard my dad’s voice.
“What are you lookin’ at?” Marek asked, his expression hardening even before Stone answered.
“You better sit down, Prez,” Ryder warned but Marek ignored him, reaching out to take the picture from Stone’s hand.
He flipped it over to see the back, his lips moving briefly before he looked at the front of the snapshot again. “Where did you get this?” A mixture of fear and rage traveled through his voice, the hairs on the back of my neck standing at attention, all while still having no idea what was goin’ on.
Ryder stepped forward and opened the wallet. “I found this in the garage.”
“It can’t be possible,” Stone said, running his hand through his hair before slamming his fist down on top of the table. “We can’t go through this again.”
An uncomfortable and tense silence drifted through the room the entire time Marek’s eyes were glued to the photograph.
Then he refolded it, placed it back into the side slot of the wallet, and shoved it inside the pocket of his cut.
Then his eyes met mine.