“A coup?” asked Henry.

Ramirez nodded and blinked slowly. “He was, in fact, the architect of the arson previously in your territory, the one to which your man referred earlier.” He nodded toward Will. “Paulo orchestrated the violence that led to our treaty, and he was always resentful of losing his men and the territory for the act. He never agreed with my decision to accord with your club. Apparently, his first act to overthrow me was to rectify that situation and start where he left off.” Ramirez looked down at the corpses in the van and sighed. “How he was able to talk the others into it, I don’t know. But it’s over.”

Will’s chest tightened, adrenaline running through his veins. He stared down at the familiar bodies in the van, knowing one of them was the man responsible for his grandmother’s death—truly responsible. And he had almost done it again with Eva. More than that, he saw in Paulo’s anger and resentment some ghost of his future, where resentment for his own club led him to do something as drastic as Paulo had—and with as high a price. Could that have been him in the back of one of the MC’s vans, snuffed out by Henry, or even Jase, for endangering the club in his prideful quest for retribution? In more ways than one, Will suddenly felt like he had barely missed being hit by a freight train.

“You have my word that this will not become an issue again while I lead,” said Ramirez. “Your pass will remain untouched, and your men need not worry about having to dole out beatings anymore. I’m sorry you had reason to doubt your faith in us.”

Henry held his hand out and Ramirez shook it. “Good. Let’s get back to business as usual, then.”

He stood staring at the van as voices faded into the quiet around him. Suddenly men were closing the doors, hopping inside, and starting up the vehicle. Jase’s hand landed on his shoulder.

Jase looked down at Will, and worry crossed his face. “You all right? You look pale.”

Will looked back at the closed doors of the van as the brake lights blazed red, tailpipe belching. He felt lightheaded. “Yeah, just…” He backed up, unsteady, until his back hit the cold, hard concrete of the docking bay wall. He slid down to the floor. “Just give me a minute.”

Jase knelt down next to him and said nothing. From back in the bay, Ghost wandered over with a curious look on his face.

“You need some water?”

Will shook his head. His stomach roiled and his pulse beat in his head like a muffled drum. It was like some floodgate inside him had broken open and spilled inside his brain as soon as he heard Ramirez’s words, as soon as he comprehended the sight he was seeing in the back of the van. Had some deep part of Will’s lizard brain understood all this time that someone hadn’t paid for the death of his grandmother? Had he known, somehow, Paulo was out there? Because at this moment, he felt the relief he had expected to feel when he shot the arsonists two years ago in this very warehouse. Relief hadn’t come then, but it arrived now so forcefully that Will felt like he was being yanked up and out of a nightmare.

In his mind’s eye, he saw Eva; sweet, beautiful Eva in her delicate dresses, smiling up at him, kissing his skin, writhing underneath him. A horrifying realization washed over him. If he hadn’t been so distraught in his grief—if he hadn’t been unsettled—he might never have started going to Swashbuckler’s. He would have never met Eva, and he wouldn’t have been able to protect her from the cartel. He knew deep in his gut that both she and Charlie would be ash and bone right now, if not for the crushing grief that drove Will to visit the site of his deepest pain.

His mind felt stuffed, ready to break. He looked up and saw Jase searching his face with curious eyes.

“What’s up?” asked Jase.

Will shook his head as if to say he didn’t know. He took a few breaths and tried to find the words. “I just… I’m overwhelmed.”

Jase nodded. “Understandable.”

“Call me crazy,” said Ghost, walking closer, “but you look like a completely different man right now, Will.”

“You’re crazy,” said Will half-heartedly.

Ghost chuckled. “I’m serious. Look at his eyes, Jase.” He pointed. “You’re telling me that’s the same guy that was pushing you around the bar an hour ago?”

Jase did as Ghost asked and turned to look Will in the eyes. Will expected it to make him uncomfortable, as it consistently had the last six months, but he didn’t feel that way now. It was like Jase looked different, too.

Jase stared a moment, then furrowed his brow. “Huh. That’s… that’s fucking creepy.”

Will actually laughed. He laughed without thinking about it, or without stopping it. “You’re both crazy.”

“Something’s gone from your eyes, that’s for sure,” said Jase. “I don’t know how else to explain it.”

“Whatever it is, I hope it means I can sleep now,” said Will. He looked over at Jase. “I’m sorry man. I really don’t know what…”

Jase gave him a flat grin and clapped a hand on his shoulder, shaking him in a friendly way. “Hey, I’d really just like to get the fuck past it, if it’s okay with you. I’m really tired of chasing asshole Will around.”

Will gave him a self-effacing laugh. “Lucky to have you, brother.”

“Same,” said Jase.

Will saw Henry shuffling up. He moved to climb to his feet, but found his limbs were still a little shaky. Jase gave him a hearty yank until he stood straight.

“Will,” said Henry.

“No, please, let me start,” said Will. “I’m sorry, Henry. I’m sorry for being such a shithead lately. My behavior for the club was… inexcusable.”

“It was,” said Henry. “Never had to deal with that from you, Will. And from what I hear about this little rogue operation at Swashbuckler’s, we’re very lucky I’m not cleaning up civilian bodies today.”

The words stung Will deeply, but this time he didn’t feel anger to fight back, only regret.

“I fucked up,” said Will. “I fucked up bad.”

“You fucked up, but from what I understand, you also kept those people alive,” said Henry. “Still, we’re going to have to take you off active duty for a while. Until we can be sure you’re really back to being yourself. These transitions can take time.”

He was expecting it, but it still wasn’t pleasant to swallow. “I understand.”

Henry put up a hand on his shoulder. “This life isn’t easy on any of us. There’s no playbook, and we sure as shit can’t just Google the answers to our problems. What happened to your family was…” He paused, shaking his head. “It was more than I would wish on my enemies, Will. And I wish we could have kept it from happening. I hope you believe me when I say I tried to make things right for you.”

“I do. And I know now it wasn’t your fault,” said Will. “And I see now that not all problems can be solved with one solution—a battle plan has to be flexible.”

“How’s that?”

“If the murders by the cartel were part of a coup, then there was never any diplomacy to solve that problem. Paulo wanted power, and he was going to try to take it, no matter what anyone said or offered. So if I hadn’t used violence against them to protect Eva…” He stopped, then continued self-consciously, “…to protect the bar… then they would surely be dead.

“But at the same time, if I had used violence to strike out against the cartel as planned, instead of coming to this meeting, it would have escalated everything into chaos and death. We needed diplomacy and violence to solve this problem. I just got lucky that they happened in the right order.”

Henry smiled at him. “That’s a very wise insight for someone so young, Will. And one we should all keep in mind from now on.”

“Does that mean you’re going to put up less of a stink when I want to go in hot?” said Ghost. “If so, then this is definitely the best day ever, guys. I knew wearing my lucky underwear was going to pay off.”