Chapter 16
CHAPTER 16
MAEVE
S ighing impatiently, I paced the room, carving out a track to and from the door. “It’s been hours,” I grumbled. “Where are they?”
Kennedy studied me from her seat at the small square table. “It’s only been forty-five minutes. Atlas and Pagan need to talk it out. Try not to worry.”
“It’s easy for you to say,” I retorted. “The Kings of Anarchy weren’t pointing their guns at Breaker’s head.”
“They were under orders, babe,” Kennedy pointed out. “Any trouble, shoot first, ask questions later. At least they didn’t pull the trigger.”
I bit my lip nervously. “Did you see the SAA haul Callum away? What if they do something to him?”
“Atlas won’t let that happen,” Sophie assured me. “They just need to get to the bottom of what happened. The guy Callum beat is supposed to be an ally to the KOAMC, and his dad too. Pagan needs to be careful.”
The door to the room the Kings of Anarchy had locked us into opened suddenly.
“At last,” Sophie muttered.
My head jerked around, praying that Callum would saunter in and tell me it was just a big mix-up and we were going home, but instead, Tristan came rushing inside.
“Oh Lordy. What the hell got into the Irish stallion?” he asked, his eyes rounding. “I couldn’t believe my delicate, pretty ears when Cruisey told me he beat the shit out of the sheriff’s son. It’s not like Callum O’Shea to get involved in trouble.”
I stumbled to a chair and slumped into it. “Sheriff’s son?”
Tristan nodded. “Yeah. He’s a deputy of Coal Creek along with those other boys he came in with.”
“Oh fuck,” Kennedy spat, her eyes sliding toward me. “I may need to do some major damage control here.”
“But it wasn’t his fault,” I wailed, tears hitting the back of my throat. “That man touched my boobs. Callum was just defending my honor.”
A dark shadow crossed Tristan’s face. “What man touched your girls?”
“The sheriff’s son,” I whispered, my eyes lowering shamefully. “He and his friends were causing trouble.”
Within a second, Tristan was in front of me on his haunches, grabbing my hands. “Tell me!” he barked.
“That guy Callum beat grabbed Maeve’s breasts,” Sophie cut out, her voice shaking. “That asshole singled her out. Our guys saw them coming and tried to get to us, but they were too late. One of them grabbed Ned, and the other sexually assaulted Maeve. Kennedy held her own, and I got them both away, but Callum lost his shit. Atlas couldn’t stop him because he was holding Kit back from going berserk. If Breaker had gotten hold of him, he would’ve killed him, then we would be screwed.”
“I should never have worn this top,” I wailed.
“Stop that,” Tristan snapped. “You could’ve worn a fucking turtleneck, and he’d still have found an excuse to touch you. It wasn’t your fault. These are grown men who are meant to protect and serve. They know the law, and they know grabbing your boobs without consent is breaking it. I hope Callum taught the bastard a lesson he won’t forget.”
Kennedy’s lips twitched. “He broke every finger on the hand he used to touch her. It was one of the hottest things I’ve ever seen.”
Tristan's expression went from angry to flushed, and he whistled, fanning his face. “Ooh wee! I wish I was there to see it.”
“It was hot,” Sophie agreed grudgingly.
“Yeah,” I concurred. “It was fire, but now the Kings have taken Callum away somewhere. They may be giving him a smackdown or feeding him to the fishes or something.”
Tristan’s chin dipped. “Don’t get them mixed up with your family. We’re talking about bikers. They’re far more likely to tie him to a bike and ride it around until the road rash has skinned alive.”
“Oh my God!” I cried.
“Nobody’s skinning anyone alive,” Sophie snapped. “Atlas won’t let anything happen to Callum,” she turned to Tristan, “and where have you been, anyway?”
A wide grin spread across Tristan’s face. “Cruising with Cruise. He offered me a tour of the compound and ended up giving me a tour of what he’s got behind his zipper.”
“Tristan!” Sophie exclaimed. “On the first date, too.”
“I’m not sure he’s the type to date. I think he’s more of the bend you over his bike and see what pops up kinda guy, but whatever.” He shrugged, still grinning from ear to ear.
The door opened again. “Hey, bitches,” a woman’s voice greeted before a long, shapely leg appeared. My head reared back when I saw Cara Landry strut into the room, calling, “Surpriiise.”
Our jaws dropped, and Cara laughed. “Cash got the call. He’s here with Abe, trying to smooth things over. I gotta say, though, the father of that cocky asshole Callum beat the shit out has a death wish. He’s even trying Abe’s patience.” Her gaze rested on me, and she gave me a concerned smile. “Are you okay?”
I’d only met Cara one time and honestly, she intimidated me a little, but then so did Kennedy. I liked her, though. She was louder than I was used to but still kind. I hadn’t met Cash at all, so I hoped he was skilled at diplomacy with an outlaw biker club. I was prepared to contact Patrick and call in a favor if I needed to, but it was a last resort.
“Yeah,” I replied. “Have you seen Callum and the others? Are they alright?”
She gave me a casual wave. “They’ll be fine. Cash will deal with it, that’s if the sheriff keeps his mouth shut, or else Cash may be up on a murder charge. My baby daddy’s not the most patient person in the world.”
“Oh my God,” I cried, my stomach sinking helplessly. “This is all my fault.”
“Nope!” Cara argued. “It’s the pissant’s fault. You don’t put your fingers in somebody else’s cookie jar, especially without asking first. Let this be a lesson to him. If a hot guy walked into the place bare-chested, would you walk over and grab his dick?”
“No,” I told her indignantly.
“So what gives him the right?” she challenged. “Men walk around with their tops off all the time, and we manage to control ourselves, so why can’t they do the same when we show a little flash of titty?”
“I never thought of it like that,” I replied thoughtfully.
“Because we’re conditioned not to,” Kennedy murmured. “Society always blames the women, so over the years, we’ve got good at blaming ourselves, too. Fuck that!”
“Yeah,” Cara agreed, just as the door cracked open again. “Fuck that.”
“Fuck what?” a deep voice I didn’t recognize asked.
I twisted my neck to see one of the most handsome men I’d ever laid eyes on strut inside the room.
Cara went straight to him, tipped her head back, and waited for him to kiss her mouth before asking, “What’s happening?”
His stare fell on Kennedy. “Need you to do your thing. The asswipe’s pig dad is diggin’ his heels in. We gotta sheriff with a God complex who thinks he rules the roost and wants to make an example of Callum for touchin’ his innocent boy.”
Kennedy’s eyes narrowed. “Lemme at him.”
The man’s stare came to me and softened. “I’m Cash. Wish we were meetin’ under better circumstances. Need you to stick with me and Kennedy and play along. Can you do that?”
“I’ll do anything to help Callum,” I confessed.
“Just tell the truth and let Kennedy do the rest,” he advised, jerking his head toward the corridor. “Come on.” He bent his neck to kiss Cara again before leading us out to the corridor where two KOA men were waiting. One of them—the same man who threatened to shoot Callum—caught my eye as we walked.
He moved alongside me. “You okay?” he asked.
“Bit late to ask that now,” Ned drawled with a toss of her long hair. “Maybe it would’ve been pertinent to check on her well-being when the incident happened rather than threatening her husband and locking us away.”
“We didn’t see what happened,” he responded. “We couldn’t get there in time.”
“It’s okay,” Kennedy said haughtily. “Maeve’s husband protected her when you didn’t. You know who I mean, right? You put a gun to his head and hauled him away like he was the one going around sexually abusing women.”
Cash’s throat emitted a strangled sound.
The man had the grace—and good sense—to look away before Kennedy hammered her point home even more. “In here,” he muttered, stopping at a door at the end of the corridor. The KOA brother pulled at a chain full of keys from his belt loop and unlocked the door with one before holding it open for us to walk in. “After you,” he said with a sweeping motion of his hand.
Kennedy gave me a reassuring smile before taking my arm, and we followed Cash inside.
The first thing I noticed was a huge, round table surrounded by chairs. Pagan sat at one, talking to an older man in a Sheriff’s uniform. The cop’s eyes lifted to study me and Kennedy, and his lip curled in an unattractive sneer.
Another mature man sat on the opposite side of Pagan. His hair and neatly trimmed beard were mostly grey. When he saw me, his expression immediately took on a look of concern. Beside him sat Atlas, then Callum in the seat next to him.
“Oh my God, are you okay?” I breathed, my gaze frantically scanning my husband, looking for any marks, bruises, or signs that the KOA men had hurt him.
Callum must’ve seen the worry in my expression because, in an instant, he was up and out of his chair. “Come here, Maeve,” he rumbled, opening his arms.
With a strangled sob, I ran at him, hitting him so hard he went back on one foot before wrapping his strong arms around me.
I tipped my head back, searching his eyes. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” he murmured, his hand stroking over the side of my face and my hair. “More to the point, are you okay?”
“I will be now,” I replied. “I just wanna go home.”
He settled me into the chair beside his, then sat down. “We will soon.”
“The only place you’re going is County,” a spiteful voice cut in. “My boy’s in hospital getting his fingers reset, and I need to get back to him. I got no clue why you’re holding this arrest up, Pagan, but I wanna get on with it.”
“Sheriff...?” Kennedy began, a questioning tone to her voice.
“Huntley—Gus,” he replied, a gleam of interest in his eye as he studied Kennedy and held his hand out.
She took it, smiling sweetly. “And it was your son who was involved in the altercation with Mr. O’Shea?”
He jerked a nod. “Yeah, my boy, Junior. He’s one of my deputies.”
“A deputy, you say?” Kennedy asked, sounding impressed as she dropped his hand. “Well, my client, Doctor Maeve O’Shea, would like to press charges against Deputy Huntley for sexual assault. He carried out an attack on her in front of witnesses.”
I caught Pagan’s grin before he quickly hid it.
Huntley’s eyes slid toward me. “Doctor... Witnesses?”
“Yes, namely myself, Kennedy Stone, her lawyer. Doctor Sophie Green who’s head of General Surgery over at Baines Memorial. And Doctor O’Shea’s husband, Mr. Callum O’Shea, a respected business owner from Hambleton. Maeve herself is an esteemed archeologist and a renowned expert in women’s history, who’s headed lectures at several Ivy League universities as well as at Oxford and Cambridge...” Her voice trailed off, and she smiled sweetly. “Anyway, shall we get on with it? You’ve got a report to make.”
“But this place is full of whores,” he blustered. “My boy would have assumed?—”
“He assumed Doctor O’Shea was a whore?” Kennedy’s tone hardened to broken glass. “Does your,” she paused then spat the word, “ boy often sexually abuse women he thinks are whores? Does being a whore make being assaulted acceptable in the eyes of the law in Coal Creek?” She leaned forward, her face blanking. “I’ll be in attendance with Mrs. O’Shea at her interview. Do you want to take her statement first or shall we go back to Hambleton and make a formal complaint through the sheriff’s office there?” Her eyes flickered to the nice older gentleman at the table. “I see you’ve already got the Mayor of Hambleton involved. Excellent! By the time I’ve finished with your boy , he’ll be under investigation with IA and listed on the sex offenders registry.”
My gaze rested on the older man, who by then was grinning down at his boots.
Mayor?
Callum’s fingers tightened around mine, and he kissed the side of my head.
I watched the color drain from Sheriff Huntley’s face. He slumped back, his stare going to Callum before coming to me. A cold shiver trickled down my spine at the spite gleaming in his eyes. “I’ll drop the charges if she does.”
Callum took my hands in his and turned me to face him. “I think you should still go ahead with it.”
My heart swelled at his words.
All he cared about was that I did what was best for me. My husband would gladly go to jail if it meant I got justice for what that man did. The problem was that Callum going to prison wasn’t an option. How could I get through a day without him, let alone years? Especially after tonight and the way he’d put himself on the line to protect me, not just with this awful sheriff and his son but also the Kings of Anarchy.
“I just want to go home, curl up in bed, and forget it ever happened. Please, Callum,” I begged.
“Don’t do it for me,” he insisted. “I’ll happily face whatever comes.”
My fingers lifted to touch his cheek, and tears welled in my eyes. “Take me home, please. I just want you to take me home.”
After a pause, Callum leaned forward and kissed my forehead. “Okay, baby. We’ll go home.”
The sound of a chair scraping across the floor echoed throughout the room. “We’re done here,” the sheriff snapped.
Turning my head, I saw Pagan lounge back in his chair, folding his arms across his chest. “Probably best to have a word with your boy and suggest he stays away from our parties from now on,” Pagan advised, his tone deceptively friendly.
Huntley cocked his head. “Like that, is it?”
Pagan shrugged. “Your boy set the precedence. He came into my home and disrespected a friend of my club and his wife. I told you to drop it, but you didn’t. Instead, you turned it into something it didn’t need to be. Now there’s a whole lotta bad feeling flying around the place when we should all be celebrating the Kings’ arrival. Not a good start, is it, Huntley?”
The sheriff let out a humorless laugh and stood to lean across the table. “You’ll learn who’s in charge around here, asshole. Even if you do it the hard way.”
Pagan’s face hardened. “Is that a threat?”
The sheriff puffed his chest out, full of bravado. “What if it is?”
Multiple clicks sounded through the room as every MC member released their safeties while simultaneously pointing their guns at the sheriff.
Cash stepped in front of Kennedy while Callum shielded me, but weirdly, I wasn’t scared. I knew Pagan wouldn’t hurt me, quite the opposite, in fact.
“You’re an ally of this club,” Pagan grated out. “That’s why we’re gonna get a few things clear before we start shooting.” In a flash, he leaped from his chair, pulled his fist back, and punched Huntley hard in the stomach.
I flinched and burrowed closer to Callum, watching, almost fascinated, as the sheriff doubled over with a pained moan.
Pagan grabbed his hair and pulled his head back with a hard tug. Then, with his expression contorting with rage, he leaned into the sheriff’s face. “You being an ally to my club is why you haven’t got a bullet in your head right now. I could have you dead and a brother handing himself in with a confession within thirty fucking minutes. I know your type, Huntley. Dealt with men like you all my life. Little men who think they’re big ‘cause they’ve somehow convinced the powers that be that they deserve a sliver of authority.” Pagan released the sheriff and patted his chest, gesturing for him to sit.
With a hard cough and a glare, Huntley slid back onto his chair.
I stared, open-mouthed, as Pagan followed suit and slouched in his seat as if nothing had happened. “Now, let’s try this bullshit again. Tonight, your boy and his fucknut minions came into my home and disrespected my guests. Do you fuckin’ get me?”
The sheriff jerked a nod.
Callum looked down at me, rolling his lips together to stop himself from laughing.
I gave him a hard nudge and big eyes.
“Then you came into my home, and instead of apologizing for his bullshit, you doubled down and threatened the same people your boy disrespected. Are you keeping the fuck up?”
Huntley’s chin jolted upward, indicating he understood.
Pagan leaned threateningly toward the other man. “So, what have you gotta say for yourself?”
Huntley stared at Callum, hate radiating from every pore, and spat, “I apologize.”
Kennedy’s lips twitched while Cash choked back a laugh.
Callum squeezed my fingers. “What do you wanna do, Maeve?”
My eyes caught on Pagan, who stared at me with a small smile playing around his mouth.
“We accept your apology,” I whispered.
Pagan jumped from his chair, letting out a loud whoop , and slapped the sheriff’s shoulder playfully. “Look at that. We got there in the end. Halle-fuckin’-lujah.” He clapped hard three times, and his men crowded the sheriff, hauled him up, and pushed him toward the door. Before they led him out, Pagan held up his hand to stop them and called, “Huntley?”
The sheriff’s feet faltered, and he craned his neck to look directly at Pagan.
The hairs on my arms stood up when I noticed the Kings’ prez’s eyes turned ice cold and steely. “You’ll do well to remember that nobody fucks with the Kings. Remind your boy of the same, and we’ll all live a long, happy, and prosperous life together. You feel me?”
Huntley gave a terse nod, and then his stare passed over Callum and me before he was ushered from the room.
Pagan sat back in his seat, staring thoughtfully after the sheriff. His men laughed and chatted among themselves, but nobody approached their prez.
My heart went out to him. He seemed so alone amongst a room full of people. I knew he had a clubhouse full of brothers, but it dawned on me that it had to be lonely at the top. Cash had Cara, but from what I’d seen of Pagan, he didn’t have an ol’ lady, and in that moment, I wished it for him more than anything.
Everybody needed somebody, even a tough MC president.
“Thank you, Pagan,” I whispered. “You’ve been sweet and kind to me, and I appreciate it.”
His eyes drifted to me, and it struck me how handsome he was in his own kind of tough-guy way. “You don’t need to thank me, doll. I’m sorry that prick’s son touched you in my club. In my line of work, I have to deal with the dregs of humanity, and there’s nobody lower than a dirty cop. Unfortunately, I don’t have a choice. If we were in a big city, I could avoid the law altogether. I don’t have the same luxury in a small town. I have to co-exist with them. The best way to keep my eye on them is to bring them into the fold, at least to a certain point.” Pagan’s gaze went to Callum. “You were never in any danger. I had to make him think I was on his side. He knows how I feel about women being abused, so the second that shit came into the open in a way nobody could dispute it, I could act, but I had to bide my time.”
Callum’s arm went around my shoulder, and he pulled me close. “Can I take my wife home now?”
Pagan gave him a tight-lipped smile. “Yeah.” Then, his smile widened. “I’ve been tryin’a get a couple of tickets for your bash next weekend. Seems it’s easier to find fucking gold dust. Anything you can do to help me out with that?”
Callum barked a laugh. “Places are limited, but I can leave three with your name on at the door. That enough?”
Pagan grinned full-on, and it lit his face up, making him beautiful. “I can make it work.” His stare shifted to Kennedy. “I like your style. Think we could be useful to each other. Can you leave a card?”
She smirked. “I think I can arrange that.”
He chuckled. “The way my boys are, we’ll keep you busy.” He jerked his chin toward the door. “Atlas, Breaker, and the others are with my VP, Castle. Bootneck will take you to them.” He got to his feet and rubbed his hands together gleefully. “I’ve got a party to get back to. It’s not every day I get to sucker punch a cop. It’s time to find a celebratory bottle of JD and a couple of women to help take the edge off.” He gave us a loose salute with his index finger. “A few of my boys will escort you outta town. I don’t trust that rat cop and his hangers-on. Drive carefully, and safe travels.” After giving us all fist bumps, Pagan kissed mine and Ned’s cheeks and disappeared back to his party, clasping the shoulder of the brother, who I assumed was Bootneck, as he passed him at the door.
“I’ll take you back to your cars,” the SAA, Bootneck, informed us, ushering us from the room. “Huntley’s a rat bastard, and so are his men. Me and five brothers will surround you with our hogs. Stay under the speed limit; we don’t want to give the pigs any lame excuses to haul you in.”
“You think they’ll try somethin’?” Cash asked.
He shrugged. “It’s my job to make sure they don’t. Huntley won’t go against Pagan, so you’ll be protected if we’re backing you up.”
“Much obliged,” Cash muttered. “Makes me feel more at ease.”
“The pissant Callum beat is a mean little fucker. He ain’t nothin’ on his own, and neither are his boys. That’s why they run in a crowd. If they’ve regrouped, I wouldn’t put it past them to get in their cop cars and lie in wait. It’s exactly the kind of sneaky shit they’d do.” Bootneck glanced at Callum. “Had no intention of shooting you, but I had to keep the pretense up; those idiots are supposed to be allied with us. Had to put up a public show of unity.” His stare lowered to me. “I got to you too late. Sorry. I didn’t factor the crowds into my men’s response times. I fucked up.”
“It’s okay,” I assured him. “The only person to blame is the guy who did it.”
“Yo!” Atlas’s familiar voice clipped out.
I looked down the corridor to see Donny, Tristan, Atlas, Breaker, Sophie, and Cara waiting by the doors. “Let’s get gone,” Breaker called, walking toward us and holding his hand out for Kennedy.
We filtered into the parking lot, where a group of KOA men were already waiting for us on their bikes. Bootneck walked toward a big, black Harley, lifting the helmet from the handlebars. “Remember, whatever happens, stay with us,” he ordered before pulling the protective gear over his head, zipping up his thick jacket, and pulling on some warm-looking leather gloves.
We all hit our vehicles, and within minutes, we were driving out of the compound and hitting the main road out of town.
Callum’s hand immediately hit my knee. “You okay?” he asked.
I pulled my knees up and turned my body to face him in the seat. I still had his leather jacket, so I pulled it over my shoulders to keep warm and declared, “I think tonight was one of the best nights of my life.”
Donny barked a laugh from the back seat.
Tristan chuckled.
“I just love Pagan,” I went on. “I think we should fix him up.”
Callum’s chest heaved with the strength of his sigh, and he muttered, “Jesus.”
“Everybody needs somebody,” I insisted. “And Pagan probably needs somebody more than anyone else I know.”
“We’re not fixing Pagan up,” Callum cut out.
Tristan leaned forward. “Girlfriend. That boy had more women trying to get his attention than Chris Hemsworth after a naked photoshoot.”
“Doesn’t mean a thing,” I pointed out gently. “You can be in a room full of people all vying for your attention and still feel like the loneliest person on the planet. Being the one everybody wants a piece of is good for the ego but bad for the soul because none of it’s real. He knows it’s the MC president they want, not the man underneath.”
Tristan’s hand squeezed my shoulder.
Callum glanced at me again. “I get it, and I love that you care so much, but we’re not setting Pagan up. If that shit goes wrong, I’ll be in the firing line, and after already being in all of tonight’s damned firing lines, it’s not a place I wanna be again.”
I huffed. “Oh, alright,” I griped, my lips setting in a line.
Callum shook his head again, obviously exasperated with me.
I didn’t care. This was just our way of communicating, and I knew he got just as much out of it as I did. I liked keeping Callum O’Shea on his toes; he needed it, or else he’d get bored. Maybe that was why he’d never settled down before. Maybe all those beautiful but vacuous women he screwed didn’t challenge him the way he needed to be challenged.
Turning my head toward the window, I smiled secretly to myself.
Maybe this relationship stuff wasn’t so difficult after all. Or perhaps it was just easier with Callum. I didn’t kid myself that it would all be moonlight and roses with us two, but we were growing closer—even intimate—and after tonight, I knew his feelings ran deeper than I could have ever hoped.
The way Callum dived into the fray and punched the idiot who touched me sent a thrill down my spine. He was like something out of one of my romance novels, and as much as I should’ve hated it, I didn’t. It made me even more attracted to him, if that was even possible.
Who would’ve thought that nerdy little Maeve O’Shea would not only land the best-looking boy in her circle but also the most alpha hot guy too. After a shaky start, Callum O’Shea was starting to mean the world to me. He made me go giddy, and I wasn’t usually the giddy type unless a hardback, foiled-covered, sprayed-edge special edition of my favorite book series was involved.
My smile got bigger, and my heart filled to the brim with so much emotion that I wanted to sing from the rooftops.
After so long, it was time for nerdy little Maeve Monroe to finally find herself some happy.
Yippee!