Page 12 of Knot Only For One Night

Reed wants to make his dad happy. Which I don’t fault him for. He feels like he has a lot to prove, to everyone, all the damn time. It makes me sad sometimes, because it’s so clearly written on him. Like, he knows this is his home, but he still has moments where he doesn’t believe it. Where maybe he thinks he doesn’t deserve it.

Me thinking of leaving would blow his mind, maybe even piss him off. I was born into the MC. I have birthright. It means absolutely nothing, but to him, it means everything.

It means belonging. And I’m getting ready to walk away.

“I have a separate job for you,” Prez says.

“Whatever you need,” I murmur, sitting at the desk across from them. My nerves burn me alive from the inside.

Do they know about my job offer?

That I applied? That I planned on accepting?

I was going to be an ethical hacker. Now that I’m nearing the end of my computer programming degree, job offers have been rolling in, mainly one from across the country from a company that is aggressively pursuing me.

I’d get a salary, benefits, and a set schedule. I’d have a normal life.

“Hacker,” Prez uses my roadname as he stares at me. “There’s a snake.”

The words settle over me like burning lava dumped on my skin. My eyes widen

Do we even have any new prospects?

Oh wait, I think we do. We have three in their probationary period—call it an audition—to join our club.

Could one of them be a snake so soon?

“Money is missing,” Red supplies, his brown eyes meeting mine. The pain in his and Prez’s eyes are the same, even if that's about all the relation this son and father share. Red is Asian, Prez is white, and his mate, Queen, is Black. There was no way he was biologically theirs, but there was no denying that Red was theirs in every way that matters.

“From where?” I ask. Trying to figure out what they need me for.

“The garage.”

So they need help going through the electronic records. We run Wolves Garage clean, using the high overhead costs from the diner to clean any money we have. It's much harder to identify a snake in the diner since everything is recorded on paper in code.

It’s the absolute dumbest spot for someone to rob us from.

“No one can know we’re looking,” Prez continues. “Until we find out who is messing with our numbers, I don't want them to get so much as a sniff that we are on to them.”

The realization of my new situation dawns on me, and I have to make damn sure my face doesn’t give me away.

I have to figure out who the snake is before my job offer expires.

I can’t leave my MC hanging, not with a damn snake in their ranks.

I nod. I have two weeks to figure this and my entire life out. Great. Pushing my glasses up my nose as I leave the room.

Prez’s voice makes me freeze. “Wait, what was it you wanted to meet about?”

Fuck. Do I tell him about the job offer? No. He’ll pull me off the job. Or worse, he might think I'm the snake.

“I just need tomorrow night off.” I try to think of what the fuck I need to do in case he asks. I was on duty to ride around the neighborhood to keep watch of other gangs.

“Not a problem. Red can cover your ride.”

“Thanks, man,” I mutter, waving a quick hand in Red’s direction, safely making it out of the room.

CHAPTER 5