Chapter 22
Despite the trouble brewing, the Club still had work to do, and Ink was planning a job for someone we had recently started running security for. He wanted it small, with just a few guys along for the ride. I wasn’t considering going, given the issues with the Kingsmen.
Not to mention this new thing with Waverley.
I didn’t mind helping him to take my mind off what just happened out there.
I needed to take some time to calm my shit after the run in with Reinhart.
I don’t think I would have stopped myself pounding his face to shit if King hadn’t stopped me.
And I’d come clean and let everyone know despite what happened five years ago and Waverley leaving.
I went and got her name branded on me, anyway. I couldn’t decipher from her face what she thought of it.
For an MC, getting a woman’s name tattooed on you meant something. It was a claim and the connotations of it being there were huge. King would understand that. Waverley did too.
The sound of shouting outside drew my attention away from our conversation. Both Ink and I looked towards the door. Had Andrew come back to stir up more shit?
“That’s King,” Ink said, moving from his chair, his heavy boots thunked against the wooden floor as he moved to the door.
I got up too, as more shouting came from beyond the clubhouse door.
We went outside, and I cursed under my breath seeing Tanya facing off against King.
They stood in the clearing between the clubhouse and the garage.
Handlebar was standing close to Tanya, with something in his hand, his posture tense as he glared at her.
“What the fuck now,” I muttered at Ink, who gave me a smirk. King didn’t get involved in this shit, but he was pissed at Tanya for something.
“You could have fucking killed her,” he snapped.
What? Killed who? I stepped down off the porch and saw Waverley.
She was leaning against one of the bikes, her face pale.
My eyes roamed over her, assessing what was wrong.
When I saw a blood line running down the side of her neck into my T-shirt, I didn’t hesitate.
I went straight to her, ignoring the sobbing coming from Tanya and the rage emanating from King.
“What happened?” I stopped in front of her and touched her chin. She winced and her face paled even more as she reached around to the back of her head. “Wave. Tell me.”
She nodded and although the pain was clear, she wasn’t crying or shying away. She was watching her father and Tanya, only turning to look at me when I moved her to look at the back of her head.
“I’m fine,” she sighed, like all this was tedious.
“You’re not fine, you’re bleeding,” I pointed out, and she looked down at her hand in surprise, staring at the blood on her fingers.
“I want fucking answers now. Are you working for them? Is that what this is about? You trying to go after my fucking daughter?”
“No,” Tanya sobbed. “I didn’t mean to. It was… I was angry, and I just picked it up and threw it. I swear King, I swear I didn’t intend to do it.”
“Angry?” King roared, moving towards Tanya, his whole body vibrating as he grabbed her.
She struggled to get out of his grasp, but his fingers were pressing into the bare skin of her upper arms. Her feet scrambled against the dirt, heels digging in as she tried to get away.
He may have been in his fifties, but King was tall and solid muscle, and he was pissed enough that he didn’t care he had hold of a woman.
I glanced at Handlebar who stepped towards them, as if he was going to stop King but was unsure.
Whether that was because he didn’t want to see King hurt a woman or because of what Tanya had done, I wasn’t sure.
I put myself in front of Waverley, not knowing what the danger to her was, but I sure as shit wasn’t letting her get hurt any more than she already was.
“Handlebar, get Ballistic out here. I want answers from her.”
“No,” Tanya whimpered.
Everyone knew what getting Ballistic meant. I stepped towards them, against my better judgement, held up a hand to halt Handlebar. He looked conflicted about whether he should obey his president or me. I went on, forcing him to stay.
“What the hell happened?” I asked. Tanya turned her head to me. Her face was a mess of tears and snot and terror. “What did you do?”
“I didn’t mean it, Hudson. I’m sorry, I’m sorry, it was a stupid reaction and…” she dissolved into sobs, almost falling against King.
He released and pushed her. She stumbled and fell to the floor, still crying. Everyone was standing in shock. I could see he was about to shout at her again, or do something else, so I put a hand on his arm. He turned his rage to me, but I didn’t back down.
“I heard shouting, so I came out of the garage to see what was going on,” Handlebar spoke up.
“When I saw it was Waverley, I headed over,”
Tanya sobbed louder, the meaning in his words clear.
If it had been another club girl she was fighting with, Handlebar would have left them to it.
King was so fixated on the danger his daughter was in that all he saw was a conspiracy Tanya could be working against the club.
I pinched the bridge of my nose and indicated with the other hand for Handlebar to go on.
“I don’t know what was said, but Waverley turned to walk away, and she picked up a rock. I came over to stop her, but she already threw it.”
I looked down at the rock he was holding in his hand. It was pretty big and jagged. It wasn’t just a rock like the others lying around in the gravel, it was big. Big enough to do some serious damage. And it had, judging by the blood on Waverley’s head.
“I pushed Waverley, so it didn’t hit her as bad,” Handlebar finished.
“If that hit my daughter full force,” King’s fists were clenched hard, his voice had gone quiet, which was a sure sign he was about to blow up. “Like you fucking intended,” he spat.
“I didn’t. I swear.”
“Are you working for the Kingsmen?”
She was so lost in terror and emotion, Tanya couldn’t formulate any words.
I hadn’t considered Tanya might be working with them.
Didn’t believe it for a second but I could see how King might make that leap.
He didn’t know the extent of Tanya’s obsession.
Her jealousy was all-consuming. It was because of me Waverley got hurt.
“It has nothing to do with that.” We all turned to look at Waverley as she spoke up and walked closer. “Calm down, dad.”
“Calm down?” he whirled on his daughter. “If Handlebar hadn’t stepped in, you could be fucking dead!”
“But I’m not,” Waverley said.
I didn’t like that she wasn’t so steady on her feet.
“That isn’t the point!” King shouted.
“Don’t yell at me. She isn’t working for the Kingsmen,” Waverley argued, as she looked down at Tanya with surprising sympathy. “This is about her feelings for Hudson.”
“What?” King asked incredulously.
“Fuck,” I tipped my head back.
“That’s why we were arguing. She doesn’t think I deserve him.”
I didn’t like the way Waverley’s eyes were going unfocused. I walked over to her and put an arm around her waist, looking her over and brushing some hair out of her face.
“You dizzy?” I asked. She shook her head, but that made her wobble a bit more.
“This is about some fucking crush you have on one of my men?” King whirled back on Tanya. She was huddled up, her arms wrapped around her legs. “This true?” King looked at me.
“There was a… thing, yeah,” I said reluctantly, blowing out a sigh, keeping a tight grip on Wave.
He got in my face then. “You did something that almost got Waverley hurt?” he snapped.
I stood my ground as Waverley grabbed King’s arm and tried to push him back.
“Dad, will you stop? This isn’t about the Kingsmen, and it isn’t about anything Hudson has done.”
Waverley touched a hand to her forehead, eliciting a look of concern from him. But she went on.
“She’s obsessed with him, and she doesn’t like that Hudson just,” she licked her lips and glanced at me. “Claimed me.”
“Don’t sound so thrilled about it,” I mutter. “I never gave her any sign there was something between us. That’s beside the point. What the fuck was she doing throwing shit at you?”
“I don’t like her, and this is fucked up, but… just let it go. She doesn’t need to be taken away for questioning and torture,” Waverley addressed King. “My head is killing me.”
King put his hands on his hips and looked more closely at her. More guys had come back out to see what was going on. It wasn’t often King got involved in shit like this and seeing him so angry and shouting at the front of the clubhouse twice in less than an hour caused interest.
King took a step back and looked at Tanya. “I want you off this compound. You get your shit and get out. I never want to see your face back here again.”
Tanya sobbed again, but no one went to help her. After a few moments of realizing she had no support, she pulled herself up and ran away, towards the annex without a backward glance, a loud wracking cry tearing from her.
War, who I hadn’t noticed had come outside, came up beside his father.
“I want her watched when she goes,” King told him. “This might be a stupid infatuation situation for her, but she threw that rock at Waverley’s head and if Handlebar hadn’t seen it, this could have turned out differently.”
No one argued and War nodded before turning to his sister.
I turned to her too, touching her cheek and tilting her head to me.
I didn’t like what I was seeing. I looked over at Handlebar.
“Go get Medic,” I said. He didn’t have to go far.
Medic was already watching. He came over once he realized I’d asked for him.
I walked her over to a picnic bench and Medic crouched in front of her.
“Waverley, look at me, can you follow my finger?” he started moving it in front of her face. She followed it, but her eyes crossed for a second. “Your pupils are dilated,” he told her. “Do you feel nauseous, dizzy?”
“A little,” she mumbled.