Virgil’s deep laugher echoed in the narrow hall, his heavy footfalls fading until they disappeared completely.
“I’ll walk you out,” Jasper said, his gaze as serious as always.
“Good to see you again, Sadie,” I said, heading for the door. She gave a quiet nod as she took another drag off her cigarette, turning to stare out the window at the garden beyond.
“She all right?” I asked in the hall after the door to her office closed behind us.
Jasper shrugged. “She’s Ma, so who the fuck knows. She’s up to something. And she knows I’ll figure it out, but I swear, she gets a kick out of making me work for intel.” His laugh was gruff but affectionate, his expression worried as hell.
“Whatever it is, she’s looking out for your family, right?” I said.
“Always, but that doesn’t mean I won’t be on clean up duty later. It’s the downside of working with family, but I’m sure you already know that.”
I hunched into my jacket against a sudden chill, looking up at a sky full of menacing clouds as we stepped outside. Night storms in the desert were common enough, but they rolled in fast and furious, leaving just as quickly.
“Yeah,” I nodded. “It’s weird leading a family, especially parents.” I hadn’t had to do that yet, not technically, but as the President, my word was the word, whether or not Dad or Golden Boy liked it.
Jasper laughed again and shook his head. “You can never lead them. All you can do is bark out orders and hope like hell if they ignore you, it’s for the good of the family. Ma does that, but she doesn’t always think ahead. You know?”
I grimaced at his insight. “Yeah, I do know.” That old fight between generations would rear its ugly head once in a while, and I vowed I’d be ready when it did. I hoped so, anyway.
“Anyway, thanks for looking into that fire, Charlie. I appreciate the heads up.”
“Don’t even think about. Between Maisie and our common enemies, we’re kind of family now too.”
Family with different goals and loyalties, sure, but right now we were allies and that was what mattered.
Jasper nodded; his gaze fixed on a point in the distance. “Fucking Rhymer is getting bolder and more desperate. Makes me wonder if he knows something about his sister that we don’t.”
The Ashby family had been searching for the woman since she made her escape months ago, and she hadn’t surfaced yet.
“You think she’s dead?”
His wide shoulders lifted and fell casually. “I don’t know, and since her body hasn’t surfaced, I’m doubtful. But if she is dead, that would be best for all of us.”
Jasper pulled a cigarette from his pocket, lit it, and took a long pull that seemed to instantly relieve his stress. “It’ll give Rhymer enough confidence to make a stupid mistake, and it’ll wreck the old man enough that we can crush him.”
“Right.” The fight between the Ashby and Rhymer family went back years, possibly decades. Cross said he wasn’t even sure, but it was a fight guaranteed to pull in the Reckless Bastards, which meant we needed to be prepared for war.
“Why do you think her old man hasn’t been publicly looking for her?”
Jasper dipped his head and shot me a skeptical scowl. “Because without an heir or heiress, he’s weakened from the inside and out. If any of his lieutenants are looking to take over and do away with Ronan altogether, he doesn’t want to look like a scared old man searching for his daughter.”
“That’s cold.”
Jasper shrugged. “It’s something you’ll come to understand now that you’re president of the club. You have to make hard decisions, no matter what you have to live with afterward. With Brendan making a play of his own, Ronan can’t afford to appear any weaker.”
More leadership advice. “He’s weaker without her,” I said, imagining myself in Ronan’s shoes. “I’d at least hire someone to look for her, but that’s just me.” I couldn’t imagine Dad or Uncle Tate or Cross, or any of the other Reckless Bastards letting one of us rot somewhere for the sake of appearances. “Anyway, I better get going before the roads get too slick.”
Jasper had a last word, as if here giving me a Ted Talk. “Leadership is about making the tough choices when everyone else around you won’t—or can’t. The men you’re leading now are your family, your livelihood. One day you might have to make a choice to sacrifice one of them for the good of the organization. It’s the nature of the beast.” Jasper gave a slight nod, letting me absorb the wise words he offered, and when I nodded, he held out a hand to me. “See you on Friday?”
“Can’t wait. Booze and tits,” I said with a wicked grin. “Sounds like the perfect way to end the week.”