Chapter 8 Cash #2
“Not yet. Figured I’d hand it to you first, since…” He lets the sentence die.
Since she’s mine, he means. Since if anyone’s going to rip this Band-Aid off, it should be me.
I push off the table and pace a tight circle in the empty chapel. “You think Stone is going to turf her out, once he finds out?”
Bones shrugs, face unreadable. “I guess that depends on what you tell him.”
“You’re saying I need to claim her to protect her.”
“I’m not saying you need to do anything besides think about what you want.” He puts all the print outs back in the folder while he speaks. “But, I am going to give you this.” He pushes it toward me. “And let you decide what to do from here.”
I don’t need to think. I already know what I want.
“We need to tell Stone,” I say, snatching up the folder and curling it in my fist. “Now.”
“OK.” Bones’s brow lifts, but he nods. “He’ll be in his office.”
We find Stone behind his desk, going through what looks like inventory reports. He looks up when we knock.
“Gabriel Rogers is a cop,” I say without preamble. “Mercy’s ex—her husband. He’s transferring to Stoneheart PD on Monday as part of Summit’s new task force.”
Stone’s expression doesn’t change, but his pen stops moving. “Sit.”
We do.
“Talk,” he orders.
I lay it out—everything Bones found, the timeline, the connection to Summit. Stone listens without interrupting, his face getting darker with every detail.
When I finish, he leans back in his chair. “This woman. Mercy. What is she to you?”
“She’s mine,” I say without missing a beat.
His brow shoots up. “You’re young, Cash. Twenty-six is a bit soon to be claiming an old lady. So you sure this isn’t just some tail you’re chasing? I’m not one to keep tabs on your love life. But I don’t recall you ever…dating.” His eyes are hard. “Or am I missing something?”
“She’s not just—” I stop, take a breath.
This is the moment. The moment I admit out loud that I need someone.
That I’m giving up the solitude that’s kept me safe since Bones pulled me off the streets.
Sure, I’ve fucked around—I’m no monk. But I haven’t let my guard down enough to want something beyond the physical.
With Mercy, I do.
“I know I’m young, Stone. But I’ve lived a thousand lives already—most of those lives being the kind no one in their right mind would want.
But all that shit I went through, it taught me how to read people.
How to know a good thing when I see it. Mercy’s that for me.
She’s the first person I’ve ever wanted who looked at me and saw something worth knowing. ”
“So she’s it for you?” He raises an eyebrow.
“She is.” I meet his stare head-on. “She’s mine, Stone.” And I’m hers. Even if admitting that means giving her power over me. Power to hurt me. Power I’ve never given anyone since I was a kid who couldn’t protect himself.
“You claiming her?”
The weight of the question settles over the room. Claiming someone in the MC isn’t just saying you’re together. It’s saying you’ll kill for them. Die for them. That their enemies are your enemies, their fights are your fights.
And it means I can’t walk away. And neither can she.
“Yeah,” I say without hesitation. “I’m claiming her.”
Stone studies me for a long moment. “You understand what that means? Her ex is a cop. He’s got backing from Summit. This won’t be some bar fight that ends with bruised knuckles.”
“I know.” Better than he realizes. I’ve fought cops before. Lost every time. But that was when I was small, weak. Now I’m a fuck ton bigger. And I’ve got brothers.
“Do you know? Really?” Stone leans forward. “Because once you claim her in front of the club, there’s no take-backs. She becomes one of us. Protected by all of us. But that also means if shit goes south, we all go down together.”
“She’s worth it.” Worth giving up control. Worth the risk of needing someone. Worth everything.
Stone looks at Bones. “You agree with this?”
Bones shrugs. “Kid’s already made up his mind.
Besides, this Gabriel asshole is coming whether we protect her or not.
At least this way, we control the field.
” Kid. The man is only four years older than me, so it’s not like he’s got a hell of a lot more wisdom.
But his position in the club as intelligence officer does give him a little strategic insight, so I’ll give him that.
Stone drums his fingers on the desk, thinking. Finally, he nods. “All right. She’s one of us. But we do this smart.” He points at me. “You and Bones are on watch. I want eyes on her at all times.”
“Already planned on it.”
“And Cash?” Stone’s voice stops me as I’m standing to leave. “She know about any of this? About her husband being here?”
“No.”
“You planning to tell her?”
Mercy’s fear flashes through my mind. The way she turns on every light, the way she said ‘stop calling me’ with such desperation. “I’ll talk to her tonight. After work.”
Stone nods slowly. “Your call. But don’t delay too long. Secrets have a way of blowing up in your face. Especially with women.”
“I’ll handle it.”
“You better.” He turns to Bones. “Get me everything on this Gabriel Rogers. Financial records, disciplinary actions, anything we can use. If he wants to play dirty, we’ll bury him in his own shit.”
“On it,” Bones says.
As we’re leaving Stone’s office, he calls out one more time. “Cash?”
I turn back.
“She better be worth it.”
The weight of his words follows me out. I’ve been patched in for years, but this feels different. This is me putting everything on the line for a woman who doesn’t even know I’m saving her yet.
And that should terrify me. Giving someone this much power. Making myself this vulnerable. But instead, I feel... solid. Like I’ve finally figured out what the point of all this was.
“You good?” Bones asks as we head back to the main room.
“Yeah.” I flex my bandaged fingers again, feeling the sting. “Just thinking.”
“About?”
“About how I’m gonna be at Devil’s tonight without letting Mercy know I know who her husband is.”
Bones claps me on the shoulder. “Same way you’ve been pretending not to be completely gone for her for months. You’re good at playing the long game.”
“This is different.” She’s mine now.
“Is it?” He stops walking, turns to face me. “You’ve been protecting her from the shadows since she got here. Warning off other men, and more recently—following her home and watching over her.”
“You know a bit about watching over women, huh?” I tease, and Bones rolls his eyes.
“This isn’t about me. We’re dealing with a real threat on our doorstep.”
“Gabriel Rogers.” I taste the name like poison. “Decorated cop. Summit’s new weapon.” Another authority figure with power he’ll abuse. Another predator who thinks his badge makes him untouchable.
“And Mercy’s monster,” Bones adds quietly. “Don’t forget that part.”
I won’t. Because I know exactly what it’s like to have monsters with badges. And this time, I’m not a scared kid on the streets. This time, I’m the one with the power. And I’m not letting her face this alone.