40. Finn
Finn
The truck ride back from the courthouse was too quiet.
Reaper drove one-handed, attention fixed on the road like he wasn’t carrying the weight of my entire future in the cab with him.
I sat in the passenger seat trying not to think about how close I’d come to losing everything.
Kate. Noah. The club.
My leg bounced once before I forced it still.
Reaper glanced at me briefly. "You’re making the truck shake."
"Shut up."
That earned the ghost of a smirk from him.
I stared out the windshield another minute before finally asking the question eating at me.
"She leave?"
Reaper frowned slightly. "Who?"
"Kate."
His expression flattened like he already knew where my head had gone.
"No," he said. "She’s at the clubhouse with Noah."
The breath I’d been holding left me hard enough to hurt.
"You thought she ran."
"Wouldn’t blame her if she did."
"Bullshit."
I turned towards him.
"She sat through every second of that hearing," he said evenly. "Girl looked ready to climb over the table when they started talking about prison time."
Something heavy settled in my chest. I turned away before he could see too much.
"How the hell did you get me off that easy?"
"Not now."
"Pres—"
"Church," he cut in firmly. "We talk about it in church."
That immediately told me I wasn’t going to like the answer.
The rest of the drive passed in silence. By the time we pulled into the clubhouse lot, bikes lined the front and music shook the windows.
I glanced at Reaper.
"What did you do?"
He killed the engine and finally turned towards me.
"Enough," he said flatly.
Then he climbed out.
The second I walked through the clubhouse doors noise exploded around me.
"He’s out!"
Someone slammed into my shoulder hard enough to nearly knock me sideways.
Spider.
He laughed. "Didn’t think they’d let your ugly arse back on the streets."
Keno shoved a whiskey into my hand before I could answer.
Music blasted from the speakers. Prospects crowded the bar. Someone had dragged out enough beer to sink a damn boat. Club girls smiled and yelled, “Welcome back,” but they didn’t move closer.
I was relieved that I wasn’t sitting in a cell waiting to lose years of my life and Kate.
Lucy pushed through the crowd next and threw herself at me. "You absolute idiot," she choked out against my chest.
I laughed despite myself and wrapped an arm around her carefully.
"Good to see you too, Luce."
She smacked my ribs hard enough to hurt before stepping back and wiping quickly at her eyes. "Don’t ever scare me like that again."
"Can’t promise that."
"Finn," she warned.
That earned another laugh from the room.
Then I saw Kate, standing near the hallway with Noah on her hip. Watching me like she still hadn’t fully believed I’d walk through the door.
Everything else faded out. The noise. The brothers. The music. I only saw her and Noah.
I crossed the room without thinking.
Kate’s eyes shimmered when I stopped in front of her. "You’re home," she whispered.
"Yeah," I said.
Noah reached for me immediately, making an excited little sound.
I took him carefully, and he grabbed fistfuls of my shirt.
"Miss me, little man?"
He smacked my face, and the room burst out laughing.
"That’s definitely Caleb’s kid," Spider shouted.
Kate laughed too, soft and shaky.
I shifted Noah on my hip, wrapped an arm around her waist, pulled her close, and kissed her. Kate melted into me, and everything settled inside me.
Reaper let it go on longer than I expected.
"Church."
The mood shifted, because if church was being called on the night I came home, something mattered.
Kate stiffened immediately. I handed Noah back to her and brushed my fingers lightly against her wrist.
"I’ll be back," I murmured.
Her eyes searched mine for a few moments before she nodded. I brushed my knuckles against Noah’s cheek before stepping away from them and following Reaper to the back room.
The church table was already full. Riot. Keno. Spider. Link. The prospects standing along the wall. Reaper standing at the head of the table.
The door shut behind the last brother, sealing church off from the rest of the clubhouse.
Nobody spoke while I took my seat. Reaper stayed standing.
That wasn’t a good sign.
He planted both hands on the scarred wood table and focused directly on me. "You got lucky," he said.
Straight to it. No bullshit.
I leaned back slightly in my chair. "Yeah. I figured that out when the judge didn’t bury me alive."
Nobody laughed. Reaper flicked a glance to Riot, who only nodded.
"This wasn’t only luck," Reaper continued.
I scanned between them slowly. "All right, then. What was it?"
Keno exhaled sharply and rubbed a hand over his beard.
"The Moretti’s stepped in," Reaper replied.
I frowned immediately. The Moretti family. Old money. Older violence. You didn’t cross them. You didn’t owe them. And if both happened at once . . . God help you.
"Why the fuck would they care about me?" I asked.
Nobody answered right away, and that made my stomach knot.
Finally, Riot spoke. "Because of Luca."
Right. Luca Moretti. The man who’d helped Reaper in the past. The same mafia guy who’d shown up months ago when Lucy had information on them.
I sat forward slowly. "What did he do?"
Reaper held my attention. "Made calls."
That told me enough. Judges. DA offices. Witnesses suddenly changing stories. Evidence getting softened.
Strings. Big ones.
My jaw flexed.
“Moretti was happy enough your little outburst put the stepfather in hospital,” Reaper said dryly. “Saved him collecting the debt himself, since Volkov hadn’t been able to find them. Doesn’t mean he did us a favour for free.”
"And now, we owe them." It wasn’t a question.
Reaper nodded once. "Yeah."
I dropped my attention to my hands. The bruises across my knuckles were still bright, though the pain had faded a little.
The memories hadn’t though. Kate screaming. Noah crying. Her stepfather’s blood covering the floor.
I’d do it again. Every damn time.
But owing the mafia? Shit, I’d really dropped the club in it.
"What’s the price?" I asked.
Spider gave a humourless laugh. "That’s the fun part. They didn’t say yet."
Perfect.
Reaper straightened slightly. "Luca says he’ll call when he needs something."
"That could mean anything," I muttered.
"Exactly," Keno replied.
“So, we just sit around and wait for him to call in his favour?” I asked.
Keno snorted. "Pretty much."
A few of the brothers laughed quietly. Not nervous. Not scared. Just accepting reality for what it was.
That was club life—one problem ended and another started.
I leaned forward, forearms braced on the table. "I’m serious," I said, turning towards Reaper. "You put the club in debt for me."
"For family," Reaper corrected immediately.
Riot nodded once beside him. "You protected Kate and Noah. End of discussion."
"That arsehole was hurting them," Spider muttered darkly. "You think any of us would've stopped after one punch?"
A few brothers grunted in agreement.
Because they all knew.
Reaper had painted the clubhouse in blood for Lucy before. None of us were good men, and we never claimed to be. But we protected our own. Every damn time.
I scanned around the table slowly. "Still," I said roughly, "you didn’t have to do this."
Reaper’s attention settled on mine.
"Yeah," he said, "we did."
Spider leaned back in his chair.
"Nobody leaves a brother drowning alone," he said.
"Especially not for protecting family," Riot added calmly.
I swallowed once before speaking again. "I appreciate it," I said. "All of it."
Keno pointed a finger at me immediately. "Don’t get emotional now."
A rough laugh broke around the room. Even Reaper’s mouth twitched slightly.
"You’re home," he said simply. "That’s what matters."
Reaper finally pushed away from the table.
"Until we hear from Moretti, we stay alert. No unnecessary attention. No stupid shit." His attention settled on me at that last part.
A couple brothers smirked, and I flipped them off automatically.
That finally broke some of the tension. Barely.
"Church dismissed," Reaper said.
Chairs scraped back. Voices started low and cautious.
I stayed seated a second longer.
The brothers started filing out slowly, quieter than before, each patting me on the back and welcoming me home.
I stayed seated a second longer, staring down at the table.
I made up my mind that whatever it was that Luca wanted, I would get it done and not bring any other shit down on the club.