Chapter Twenty-Three
“Here are your keys,” Bulldog said and tossed them in her direction. Winter caught them in one hand then stuffed them into her pocket.
“What’s up?” She wondered if they’d moved her truck or what had happened that he was giving them back now when he could have done so any time in the several days since she’d arrived. “Do I need to move it?”
“No, it’s good where it is. Just wanted to make sure you had them if you wanted them.”
Winter narrowed her eyes as she watched him a moment longer. She was staying on Sons’ property for a reason, or had he forgotten that? She should ask if he was telling her that she was wearing out her welcome, but she was a guest and not someone to question the president.
“Oh, well, thanks.” She smiled at him, finished the soda she’d been drinking while she’d visited with Billy, then slid off the stool and headed for the shop. Bishop had told her he would be out there working on something when he’d left an hour earlier.
At the shop, she looked around a moment then spotted him, bent over and almost hidden behind a large custom bike on the far end of the shop. She headed his way, still thinking about the best way to handle this.
“Hey, how are things going?” She shoved both hands in the ass pocket of her jeans as she approached.
“Good. I’m almost done here. You need something, baby?” He looked up from where he was working.
“No. I’m good. But I do have a question.”
“Oh?”
“Do you know why Bulldog gave me the keys to my truck?”
“Yeah. So, you can come and go as you please.”
She stared at him for a moment, not understanding what had changed. Bishop had asked her not to go anywhere without a couple of the brothers, or at least prospects, with her. And now that seemed to have changed.
“I don’t understand.” She could have said more but thought she’d give him a chance if there was something he might have forgotten to tell her.
“Can you give me about ten minutes to finish this up? Then we can sit down and talk. There are a few things I need to let you know but this isn’t the place to talk about it.”
“I can. You want me to wait here?”
“Sure, I’ll never turn down your company, Spitfire. If you look over there...” He tilted his head toward the back wall, “You’ll find a roll-around stool if you want to be more comfortable.”
She found the stool and an out-of-the-way spot to sit for a while, watching Bishop work on the bike in front of him.
She closed her eyes, listened to the general noise in the shop, and couldn’t help but be reminded of days she’d spent with Dad while he worked on his bike or hung around with the Angels.
Being here with the Sons reminded her of what she hadn’t been aware she’d been missing.
She hoped Bulldog giving her keys back wasn’t his way of telling her it was time to move on.
She’d started to like it here and enjoy having people around again.
“Ready?”
Winter opened her eyes to find Bishop standing in front of her, holding out one hand. She gave him her hand and let him pull her to her feet.
“Come on, Spitfire, I’ve got a couple of things to tell you.
” Bishop wove his fingers through hers and led her from the shop toward a large open grassy area behind the main clubhouse.
It had a large shade over several picnic tables, a bunch of chairs and a few benches around a firepit on the other side.
A couple of soccer balls sat on the grass as if waiting for someone to come along and kick them.
Bishop led her to one of the tables then picked her up and sat her on the end of the table.
“Bishop, people eat on these tables,” She tried to slide off.
“And we wash them or cover them with a cloth when we do. Stay put for a minute.” He moved close, cupped her chin until she looked up at him, then bent and placed a gentle kiss on her lips.
She felt like he was leading up to something.
Not knowing if what he was leading up to was good or bad, her stomach churned.
Bishop stepped between her knees, making her crane her neck to look up at him.
“There are several things we need to talk about. First, tell me how things worked with the Angels, since I’m not familiar with them.”
She stared at him for a moment, confused.
“You’re going to have to give me some context here. How did things go with the Angels?”
“How do they deal with the old ladies, how much do they know? How involved are they in club life?”
She waggled her head back and forth.
“I’m not sure I’m the best person to ask about that. I was a kid. I was expected to do as I was told and not ask questions.”
“I get that, but you were old enough to see what happened between the men and their women, weren’t you, or at least some of it?”
“Kind of, but there were never a lot of old ladies around the Angels. Usually maybe two or three at a time.” She fell silent for a moment as she tried to remember interactions between her dad’s brothers and their women. She’d been too young when Mom died to have noticed much between them.
“Like I said, there weren’t a lot of old ladies around. I think the only one I spent much time around was Debra, Freud’s wife. She was sick when I left. I’m sure she’s passed away since then.”
“People do get better, you know.”
“I know.” She gave him a sad smile. “But she was terminal and we knew it. Not staying in touch with her and being there with her to the end is one thing I regret in the way I left Montana.” She looked down at her lap.
Bishop used a finger on the end of her chin to lift her face to look at him again.
“I’m sure she understood, but maybe we can take a trip up there and you can talk to this Freud about it. I’m sure he won’t hold it against you.”
“He won’t,” she said shaking her head. “He was always so sweet to me.”
Bishop scowled and she wondered if he thought Freud was interested in her. Even if he hadn’t been married, Freud was more than twenty years older than her, and that just did nothing for her.
“Back to us. None of the Sons have a woman yet. I mean we’ve got the club girls but no one is married, and until recently, no one had anyone they wanted to claim. We do have some policies in place already but some of this will be learn as we go.”
“We?”
“Yes, Spitfire, we.”
She let out a relieved breath. “Good. I thought maybe Bulldog tossing my keys at me like that was his way of telling me I’d been here long enough.
That it was time for me to go.” She paused and closed her eyes as she took several deep breaths and tried to regain her composure.
“Kevin is still out there and I’m afraid of what he’ll do if I go back to my apartment. ”
“Babe.” Bishop’s tone was patient. He didn’t say anything more but stood so her knees touched his hips and waited until she opened her eyes.
“I was going to tell you last night, but you were asleep. When you woke me this morning the way you did, damn. Your lips around my cock made me forget what I was supposed to tell you.”
“What’s that?” she asked.
“You’re safe. It’s over.”
“Over? Kevin is going to leave me alone?”
“You’ll never had to deal with him again.”
Winter narrowed her eyes.
“Something tells me there’s more you’re not telling me.”
“There are going to be things I can’t tell you, Spitfire.
Times when I expect you to trust me and do what I tell you to do.
It’s not because I don’t care, it’s because I do.
I want to make sure you’re safe. That nothing happens to you if I can help it.
It also means I’ll keep things from you so they can’t be used against you. ”
She was quiet for a moment, watching him and thinking.
“That’s where you went last night. I hope you didn’t kill him because of me. His following me wasn’t worth you killing him or risking prison.”
“Okay, couple of things there. Number one, yes, you are fucking worth it. Worth prison and more. So yes, what he did to you, his scaring you like that, was totally worth what he got. But that’s not all.
Hammer found that six other women had disappeared after being tied to him.
After questioning, we believe there’s a chance the one before you is still alive.
Ashes and a crew headed out this morning to look for her.
We don’t know exactly where she is but we have a good idea.
They’ll find her and if she’s alive, they’ll get her the help she needs, whatever that is. ”
“Oh God. Six? Are you sure?”
Bishop nodded. He wouldn’t tell her the details they’d gotten the fucknut to admit to, but it was bad enough that Ashes had included Doc, the club medic, in the crew that went to find the woman.
“We also got enough information from him that the police will be able to find the bodies of the other five. Hammer will get it to them in a way that doesn’t implicate us.
” He knew how Hammer would do that but he wasn’t going to share it with Winter.
The less she knew about it, the better it would be.
“So, their families won’t be left wondering what happened to them?”
“There will always be questions, baby. But at least they won’t have to wonder if they’re out there being hurt now. They may not ever know the details or what happened to the fucker who did it, but they’ll know their girls are gone. That’s something.”
Winter nodded. She could see what he meant, but they couldn’t let those families know that Kevin had killed them and he’d died for his sins because that would bring the law to looking at the Sons.
“I’m glad I’m safe. And knowing what he’s done, I’m glad he’s gone. But what does that mean for me and why Bulldog gave me my keys? I felt like he was telling me it was time to go, without actually saying it.”
Bishop shook his head.
“I know that was not his intent. I don’t even have to talk to him to know that. I can check if you’d prefer to find out exactly what he was thinking but I know he was not telling you to leave.”
Something about his tone, or the passionate way he spoke, set her at ease, though there was that tiny voice in the back of her head that said Bishop was wrong. Bulldog wanted her gone. Bishop held no tension in his body, though he searched her face and looked desperate to make her believe him.
“How?”
Bishop licked his lips and looked away. There was something he was hiding from her.
“I kind of already asked Bulldog to get you a property cut,” Bishop said, his voice so low she wasn’t sure she’d heard him right.
“Excuse me?”
“I hate seeing this on you. Not because it’s yours and it keeps you safe, but because it’s not mine. I hate that you wear something that’s not Sons and that you don’t have my name on your back.”
“You’re claiming me?” Winter lifted one brow at Bishop.
“I’m trying to.”
“Do I get any say in this?”
“A little. I knew at that first kiss you were mine. I knew before I ever got you on the back of my bike or here at the clubhouse that you would be mine. I fell far faster than I’d ever thought possible but I can’t imagine living without you. Will you be my old lady, Winter?”
“I have a couple of questions before I answer.”
He didn’t say anything right away, but lifted both brows in question.
“If I’m yours, does that mean you’re mine?”
“It does.”
“Does it mean if I catch a club slut hanging on you, I can teach her some manners or will you still be spreading yourself around?”
Bishop lifted one brow. “Spreading myself around?”
“You know what I mean.”
“I do. And yes, you can. There’s no one else I want. You’re mine and I’m yours. No extracurricular activities, at least not unless we’re both involved and both consent.”
“Are you saying you want to share me? Because I’m not in for that.”
Bishop shook his head. “I’m not into sharing, though I might have tried it once, if you wanted it.
I’ll never force you into something you don’t want.
We can talk about anything before we do it, if that makes you more comfortable.
What I’m talking about is commitment. I want you.
I love you. I want to be sure you’re mine for the rest of our lives. ”
“I can live with that.”
“Good.” He pulled her close. Winter rested her forehead against his chest. “One more thing.”
“What’s that?”
“You ever thought about getting inked?”
“I’ve considered it, but haven’t found anything I want bad enough to wear for the rest of my life.”
“Would you consider getting my name?”
She pulled back and looked up at him. “If I’m inked with your name, you’re getting inked with mine.”
“Done, Spitfire.”
“Then I’m yours.” She looked up at him, watching with a happy smile as he moved in for a kiss.
It might not have been a fairy tale meeting but Bishop had turned out to be her knight. If he rode a steel horse instead of a white steed, who was she to turn him away? Besides, horses shit way too much. She’d take a Harley over a horse any day.