Chapter9
824 Words
Rae waited until the clubhouse quieted — until the shouting died down, until the boots stopped stomping, until the men who hated her retreated to their corners to lick their wounds and whisper their fears.
Only then did she slip into her father’s office and lock the door behind her.
The room was dim, lit only by the desk lamp she switched on. Dust motes drifted through the beam of light. The air smelled like old leather, cigarette smoke, and the faint trace of her father’s cologne.
She set the ledger on the desk.
It felt heavier tonight.
Like it knew what she was about to find.
Rae opened it to the torn page — the one with the Reapers’ symbol. She traced the ripped edge with her fingertip, then flipped to the next page.
Her father’s handwriting filled the margins.
Names.
Dates.
Amounts.
Symbols.
And one word, underlined twice:
“OATHBREAKER.”
Rae’s pulse slowed.
Not sped up — slowed.
Training kicking in.
Breathing steady.
Mind sharpening.
She turned the page.
A list of transactions.
Most were coded.
Some were crossed out.
But one name wasn’t coded.
One name wasn’t crossed out.
One name was written in full, in her father’s unmistakable handwriting:
BRICK.
Rae stared at it.
Not shocked.
Not surprised.
Just… confirmed.
Brick had been dealing with the Reapers.
And her father had known.
She flipped the page again.
More notes.
More symbols.
More warnings.
Then she found it — a folded sheet tucked between the pages. She pulled it out carefully, unfolding it.
Her father’s handwriting again.
A message.
Short.
Blunt.
Deadly.
“If I die, it’s someone inside.
Start with Brick.
Don’t trust Tank.
Jax knows more than he says.”
Rae exhaled slowly.
Brick she expected.
Tank she suspected.
But Jax…
She didn’t want to believe it.
Didn’t want to think he’d kept something from her.
Didn’t want to think he’d been part of the reason she’d come home to a coffin.
But her father didn’t write things lightly.
She folded the note and slipped it into her jacket.
A floorboard creaked behind her.
Rae didn’t turn.
She didn’t tense.
She simply shifted her weight, grounding herself.
“Thought I’d find you here.”
Jax’s voice.
Low.
Rough.
Too calm.
Rae closed the ledger and turned slowly.
Jax stood in the doorway, arms crossed, eyes shadowed. He looked tired. Angry. Conflicted.
He looked like a man carrying secrets.
Rae didn’t speak.
Jax stepped inside, shutting the door behind him. “Tank’s losing it. Brick’s out for blood. Half the club wants you gone.”
“And you?” Rae asked.
Jax didn’t answer.
Not immediately.
He walked closer, stopping on the other side of the desk. His eyes flicked to the ledger, then back to her.
“You found something,” he said.
Rae didn’t blink. “Yes.”
“What?”
She didn’t answer.
Jax’s jaw tightened. “Rae.”
She stepped around the desk, closing the distance between them. “Why didn’t you tell me my father was dealing with the Reapers?”
Jax froze.
Just for a second.
But she saw it.
The flicker of guilt.
The flash of recognition.
The truth he didn’t want to say.
Rae’s voice stayed calm. “How long have you known?”
Jax exhaled slowly. “Long enough.”
Rae’s pulse didn’t spike.
Her breathing didn’t change.
She’d trained for betrayal.
She’d expected it.
But hearing it still cut deeper than she wanted to admit.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” she asked.
Jax looked away. “Because it wasn’t my place.”
“It was my father.”
“It was club business.”
Rae stepped closer, eyes locked on his. “And now it’s mine.”
Jax didn’t move.
Didn’t speak.
Didn’t breathe.
Rae held his gaze. “There’s more you’re not telling me.”
Jax swallowed. “Rae—”
“Don’t lie to me.”
He didn’t.
He couldn’t.
Finally, he said, “Your father wasn’t just dealing with the Reapers. He was planning something.”
Rae’s voice dropped. “What?”
Jax hesitated.
Then:
“He was planning to take the club back.”
Rae’s breath stilled.
Jax continued, voice low. “He didn’t trust Tank. He didn’t trust Brick. He didn’t trust half the officers. He was building alliances. Quiet ones. Dangerous ones.”
Rae’s eyes narrowed. “And you?”
Jax’s jaw clenched. “I was trying to keep him alive.”
Rae stepped back, the ledger heavy in her hand.
Her father had been planning a coup.
And someone inside the Serpents had killed him for it.
Jax watched her, eyes dark. “Whatever you found in that ledger… it’s going to get you killed.”
Rae opened the ledger again.
Her father’s handwriting stared back at her.
“Start with Brick.”
She closed it.
“No,” she said. “It’s going to get someone else killed.”
- Writer
