Chapter Four
Bishop couldn’t help but shake his head at the girl’s reaction when Viper asked about the member of the club her father used to be part of. Her eyes went wide and for just a moment he thought she was gonna bolt but she relaxed again, though she still looked confused.
“We have a loose alliance with the Angels, Mama.”
She narrowed her eyes as she continued to watch him. “You ever been up to visit them?”
Bishop shook his head. “I haven’t had the pleasure. But Viper and Warlock have.”
“Then go ask one of them why I don’t like being called Mama.” She folded her arms over her chest, waiting.
Bishop didn’t bother to ask, just looked at Viper and lifted one brow. His brother didn’t bother denying he could hear every word they were saying.
“The Angels call their club girls mamas,” Viper said without inflection in his voice. Bishop wanted to reach over and smack Viper upside the head.
“And you let me keep calling her that?”
Viper shrugged. “We didn’t know she was part of the Angels.” As if that was all there was to it.
He wasn’t wrong, but still.
“My only defense is I didn’t know. I’ll do my best not to call you that again. Is there something else you prefer?”
“Other than Winter?” She shook her head. “Not really.”
“Then Winter it is, at least for now. Back to what we were talking about before that little revelation, or more accurately, the one that led to that. Do you trust them? The Fallen Angels?” He watched her, looking for any indication she was hiding something or lying to him.
Not that he would blame her for trying to keep secrets from a stranger, he just needed to figure out why she would lie and what she would hide.
It was part of his job as Sgt. at Arms to protect the club, and Bishop always protected the Sons of Sin.
She scowled at him. “Of course. They were my dad’s brothers. Most of them are like uncles to me.”
“Then call them. Ask about the Sons of Sin. Ask if we’re someone you can trust,” Bishop said.
“What? Now?” She stared at him, wide-eyed again. He wondered how many expressions she had and if he could learn them all.
Where the fuck had that thought come from?
Bishop didn’t reply, just lifted a brow, watched her, and waited.
With a sigh, she pulled her phone from the small purse she wore slung across her body, looked at it long enough to find the number she wanted, and hit “dial.” When she put it to her ear, she looked back up at him, anxiety plain on her face.
Bishop didn’t like seeing her scared. He wanted to find the little punk stalking her and show him the proper way to treat a woman, by beating it into him.
“Hey, Uncle Raven, it’s Winter.”
Bishop could hear the echo of a voice on the other end of the line, but not well enough to make out what was being said.
“I’m okay. I moved to Arizona a while back and I’m better here.
Fewer reminders.” She fell quiet again, and Bishop suspected whoever was on the other end of the line, this Raven was either reading her the riot act about not telling them she was leaving, or he was giving her the rundown on who she could trust in the area.
“Um. That’s kind of what I was calling about.” Her voice held a tiny tremor but she continued. “I’m standing in front of someone now. When he found out I knew the Angels, he told me to call and talk to someone.”
She fell silent again and he could only wonder what was being said on the other end.
Something about the look in her eye changed.
She lost the look of fear and a light appeared.
She looked ... happy. Lust shot through him making his cock stiffen and throb.
He shifted his weight on his feet and ignored his body’s demands as he watched her.
“He’s tall.” She laughed. “Taller than me by a few inches.” She skimmed her eyes down his body. “He’s got muscles that make Bear look like the boy next door, and bright teal hair.” She looked up and met his gaze, laughter dancing there.
She was up to something. He might not know her well, not yet, but he knew he wanted to.
The question was, could he convince her to take the chance?
“His road name is Bishop. Yes, he’s got an officer’s patch.
” The light dancing in her eyes got brighter and something told him she was doing this because now that she wasn’t afraid anymore, she was having some fun, the question was who with?
The Raven on the other end of the line, or him?
He’d had enough of this. He took the phone from her before she had a chance to realize what he was up to and try to stop him. He hit the speaker button and held it between them.
“Damn it, girl. I know you like your little games but I need you to stop being stubborn and answer my questions,” the voice on the other end of the phone said, frustration clear in his voice.
“This is Bishop, you’re on speaker. I’m the Sgt. at Arms for the Sons of Sin, Phoenix. Your girl here has someone stalking her and approached me on the street for help.”
“Damn it, girl!” The other man’s frustration was only getting higher.
“You know better than to do that kind of shit. You should have called and let us know you were in trouble. I would have told you to go to the Sons for help. But there are more than a couple of clubs down there and not all of them are friendly.”
“I didn’t know who was friendly and who wasn’t, but I didn’t tell them about the Angels, at least not right away.”
A growl came from the other end of the line. Bishop kept his eyes on Winter, wondering how this would go.
“I’ve got her,” Bishop said. “We’ll take care of her as if she was one of ours.”
“You fucking better. And remember, she’s a club princess, not a mama.
I expect you to treat her accordingly. I’ll be in touch with Bulldog to check in and make sure her issue is getting taken care of,” Raven said.
Winter rolled her eyes. “And don’t roll your eyes at me.
You did the same thing when you were sixteen and your daddy told you going out with that Wilkerson boy was a mistake.
You remember how that turned out.” Winter scowled and folded her arms across her chest as she continued to scowl at the phone.
“You know,” she said, “maybe part of the reason I had to get out of there was to get away from the telling me what to do and the I-told-you-so’s.”
“Still should have told us, Summer. We could have at least reached out to the Sons and had them at your back.”
She sighed, closed her eyes, and spoke again.
“Well, I’ve got them on my ass now, so it all worked out in the end. Thank you for letting me know I can trust them. I miss you all and I’ll be in touch soon.”
“I’ll hear from you soon, and Summer?” He paused, obviously waiting for her to answer. Bishop frowned at the way the other man called her by the wrong name. But he’d been calling her Mama, and that was worse now that he knew what she thought he’d been calling her.
“Yeah?”
“No more lies. I’ll have Bulldog assign someone to keep an eye on you twenty-four/seven if I have to.”
Her shoulders slumped and she let her head hang for a moment.
“No more lies,” she said.
“Good. Bishop? Take me off speaker.”
Bishop did as the other man asked.
“It’s just me now.”
“Good. Take good care of her.”
“I plan on it.”
“She’s special, but she’s not had it easy.” A low, wry chuckle came across the line. “Hell, who among us has? Still, she’s looking for something. I’m not sure if she’ll find it there but I’d take it as a personal favor if you and the Sons keep an eye on her while she’s in your town.”
“Not a problem. I’ll treat her like one of our own.
” Bishop watched the woman in front of him.
Watched as she took several deep, slow breaths and rebuilt the walls of the facade she presented to the world.
But he wouldn’t forget the vulnerability she’d shown him.
And he wouldn’t let her shut him on the outside of that wall.
“I’ll hold you to that. I’ll be in touch with Bulldog about details.” Before Bishop could say more, the line went dead. He handed Winter back her phone, waited while she put it away, then took her hand.
“Come on, Spitfire, I bet you could use a ride.”
She didn’t fight him but let him take her hand and pull her out onto the street.
He scanned the crowd but didn’t know what the fucker who was stalking her looked like, so couldn’t be sure if he was here or not.
He’d have to get a picture from Winter, or at least his full name so Hammer could look him up and find one.
They would all need to be able to recognize him.
Plus, Bishop planned to teach him some manners. The hard way.