Chapter 12
Bear
Me and Natalie have been sharing a bed for a couple of weeks now.
It’s much better than I anticipated. I’m halfway through my second mug of coffee when she finally drops into the chair across from me.
I notice she’s wearing one of my shirts under my property cut and that sparks something protective in me.
Seeing her in my cut always brings out the best in me.
And that’s why I can’t help thinking that the imprint of my hand is probably still on her ass under those jeans.
“You’re runnin’ a little late, sweetness,” I say mildly, to cover my dirty thoughts. “Hope I wasn’t too much for ya last night.”
She steals a strip of bacon off my plate without blinking. “That’s crazy talk. Not only were you not too much but I can’t wait for tonight so we can do it all over again.”
“Don’t make promises you can’t keep, darlin’,” I say, looking at her over my mug.
She sips her coffee and her expression turns blissful. “God, I love the clubhouse coffee. Why does it taste better here?”
“‘Cause you didn’t have to brew it yourself.” I jab a fork towards her plate. “Eat more. You’re gonna be runnin’ damage control on Angie and Rob this morning.”
“You make them sound like liabilities,” Natalie says with a laugh.
“Nah. They’re okay, but they ask so many damn questions,” I mutter.
As if summoned, Natalie’s phone buzzes. She glances down at the text message. “Speak of the devil. Angie’s at Pleasant Hills Pharmacy. Doesn’t know whether to mark the temperature log in Celsius or Fahrenheit.”
I chuckle, digging into my pancakes. “Tell her we’re not drug smugglers. Fahrenheit will do just fine.”
Natalie snorts a laugh and texts back. She’s efficient, direct, and calm, which is exactly the kind of support our new hires need. I knew they’d be solid. Still, I’m matching up where they are in their routes to make sure they’re not lagging behind.
Another call comes in. It’s from Rob this time. Natalie puts it on speaker. “Hey, what’s up?”
“I’ve got a customer refusing delivery. He says he never ordered these meds.”
“Get his ID,” I say. “Read the script label back to him.”
Rob fumbles for a second, then we hear another voice say, “Oh shit. My wife ordered this. My bad, sorry.”
“Keep it movin’,” I say, sternly. “We’ve got a schedule to keep.”
By the time we finish, we’re both smiling and in a good mood. It’s the latest start we’ve had in a while. We’ve got Rob and Angie doing the early deliveries. That way if anything kicks off, we can jump in and help them and not mess up the later deliveries.
“Damn, I forgot what it felt like to relax for a minute,” Natalie murmurs, brushing her foot against mine under the table.
“I like this,” I admit. “We’re having a nice time and coaching the rookies before our second cup of coffee.”
“Yeah, I agree that spending time with you is nice. If I’m being honest, I didn’t think that our new hires would show up for their first day, much less stick it out for two weeks and execute all their pharmacy pickups without needing help.”
“The pharmacy pickups are the easy part. It’s dealing with customers that’s a challenge.”
“Still, they’re both doing okay,” Natalie says.
“Morning,” a deep voice says from behind us.
Dutch and Tank appear at the edge of our table with the confidence of men who know they’ll be welcome at any table they decide to visit here at the clubhouse. Their eyes bounce from my face to the property cut Natalie’s wearing.
Dutch jerks his chin towards her with a sly grin. “Damn, she looks good in your cut, Bear. Rick’s gonna lose his mind when he gets out of the hospital.”
Tank lets out a low chuckle. “Hope he doesn’t rip out his IV trying to come for you.”
I start to open my mouth to tell them to remember whose table they’re standing at, but Natalie straightens them out before I can get the first word out.
“You’ve got it backwards,” she says, lifting her chin. “It was me who claimed him. If my brother comes after anyone it’ll be me for stealing his best friend away.”
For half a second, they are frozen in place, staring at her. Then Dutch and Tank explode into laughter and keep moving, tossing me glances over their shoulders meant to communicate I’m a lucky man.
I drag my gaze back to her and mutter under my breath, “Shit. That was fuckin’ bold. What are you gonna do if Rick really does come for you?”
She doesn’t even pretend to look repentant. She takes a slow sip of her coffee, eyes bright with mischief. “Plan A is to hide behind you, and plan B is just to run faster than him. Considering his injuries I think I have a head start.”
I snort a laugh, because she’s clearly joking.
“Seriously though, I hope he doesn’t throw me out over this. Or fire me.”
“He would never,” I’m quick to reassure her. “He’d never so much as yell at you. He’s just beat me harder.”
“I doubt that. He’s known you longer and probably likes you better.”
I was gonna make some smart-ass comment, but then I realize she’s subtly asking a whole other question.
“You know, your well-being and safety don’t depend on Rick.
You’re my old lady. That means I’ll always provide for and protect you.
We’ll have to look into getting our place.
I don’t think Rick’s going to take that news very well. ”
I hate that we don’t have a place of our own, something to call our own.
We can’t risk going back to the apartment right now, but even that is shared with Rick.
However, I realize that sitting here seeing her wearing my cut, laughing with my club brothers, and telling them all about how she claimed me is more than enough for now.
She belongs in my world. Not just because of the property cut on her back, but because she moves through this clubhouse with the same quiet confidence she brings to every other area of her life. She is a cut above every other woman I’ve ever dated and I’m proud to call her my old lady.
That’s about the time my phone vibrates in my hand with a text.
Siege: Come to my office ASAP. Bring Natalie.
I turn the phone so she can see the message. “If you’re finished with your breakfast, we should get movin’. It sounds important.”
Her eyes get big and she asks, “Do you think they figured out who hurt my brother?”
Coming to my feet, I reply, “There’s only one way to find out.”
The walk to the officers’ wing stirs a little bit of worry, no matter how many times I’ve made it.
Today it feels even more tense. The noise of the clubhouse stays behind us, laughter thinning, boots fading, the rhythm of brothers at work giving way to the quieter halls where decisions get made and consequences are born.
Natalie stays half a step behind me the whole way.
I don’t know exactly what Siege wants with us, but I’m prepared for anything.
I hired help to keep Natalie off the roads until we can figure out who sabotaged her brother’s bike, and also to free myself up to hunt down the fuckers who hurt my best friend.
I won’t give whoever did this another chance to hurt the people I love.
When we reach Siege’s door it’s already cracked open, the way it always is when they’ve invited one of us to meet with them. I push the door open and step inside, then let Natalie walk in first.
The room is already crowded by the time we enter.
Siege is sitting behind his desk with his forearms braced against the top.
His expression is unreadable. Rider is leaning against the far wall with his arms folded over his chest. Tank has claimed his usual spot by the window.
His broad shoulders are nearly blocking out all the light.
Rigs is seated with his hands laced together.
Dutch taps a pen against a worn notebook while Zen scrolls across his tablet, his expression immersed in whatever he’s reading.
In other words, everyone is in a holding pattern, waiting for us to arrive.
“Sit,” Siege says, with no messin’ about.
I guide Natalie towards the chairs in front of his desk.
Dropping into mine, I reach over, tugging her chair closer to me.
I don’t know why I did that. I know she’s perfectly safe from my club brothers who all have old ladies of their own.
When Tank snorts a laugh I realize that I’m just being a possessive fucker.
Natalie doesn’t protest. She settles in beside me, reaching over to grasp one of my hands in her own.
Without thinking I bring her hand to my lips and give it a light kiss.
Siege clears his throat and speaks. “We’ve run down every enemy his club and Rick has ever had.
We reviewed personal beefs, club business, and outside trouble.
They were all dead ends. Those assholes who were cooking meth are still in county thanks to Harvey.
They’re not our problem anymore and certainly weren’t responsible for what happened to Rick. ”
I nod once, but my jaw tightens all the same. Clearing the obvious threats doesn’t make this easier. It makes it colder.
Natalie moves beside me, clutching my hand tighter. I can see that she’s trying to keep the poker face a lot of the brothers wear but failing miserably.
Siege jerks his chin towards Zen, who has apparently been waiting his turn to talk.
He picks up where Siege left off. “That brought us back around to Natalie’s former foster family.”
Natalie sits up straight at that.
Siege nods. “Looks like you were right.”
“So they want me back?” she says, her voice flat.
“Maybe,” Siege starts, and fixes Natalie with a look. “But there’s more to it than that.”
That gets her attention and mine too. When Zen turns the tablet so we can both see, I squint trying to understand what I’m seeing.
The image is grainy but appears to show a man close to the window in the back of our building that leads to our mud room, his shoulders hunched like he was either old or sneaking around… or maybe both.