Chapter 15—Kooper
Iwatch her from the shadows. Not in a creepy way like a stalker, just because the lights are low and the clubhouse has shadows for many reasons.
Usually to hook up with a vamp whenever you want but still be private.
I use the shadows as a cover for what I want, though: to watch over her. And no one knows. They can’t know.
They all get what my job is. They all know I have to look out for her.
But me watching her like this? When she’s safely inside the compound?
There isn’t a reason for it. None that I’m willing to discuss or even think on, anyway.
It’s just something I do. And I do it in secret to keep the questions at bay.
After the night I took her for food and we played video games, I knew I’d fucked up.
I was treating her as a person and not as an asset to protect.
And it was… fun. I can’t have fun with an asset.
The job requires me to be vigilant. If you start having fun, you forget to look for threats and just live in the moment.
So I’ve kept my distance. More than ever before.
I hardly talk with her. It helps that very little has gone on lately.
She’s not causing trouble, and trouble isn’t looking for her.
Means I can define the line between what’s right and proper and what I think about at night when I’m alone, watching her on my cameras.
I might seem distant, but I’m closer than I ever was before.
This past year has tested my skills. Flexing my abilities to blend in with those around me so no one sees what I’m actually doing.
Who I’m actually watching. Listening to.
Learning about. It has me invested in new opportunities as well.
The boys just think I’m getting better because of the trainings we have with Operation Hell Hound, or OHH.
I let them believe my tracking skills and aim have sharpened because I want to be part of the missions that I know I’ll never be put on rotation for because of my protection duty over Ruby.
They think it’s just my desire to be part of the group.
How wrong they are.
When she gets up and walks away with Natalie, leaving Abigail and Milly talking, I follow.
To those looking, I’m going for a smoke.
I don’t smoke for the habit but for the cover.
Learned early in life that those who smoke get more breaks.
At first, it was just to get a bit of time off the jobs I was on.
Bosses never complained when you asked for a smoke break, but they sure as shit had an issue if you took a regular break to check your phone or just sit to get off your feet.
I use smoke breaks still, even within the club. Sometimes it’s an excuse to just leave an awkward conversation. Sometimes it’s because I need the peace of being alone. But lately? It’s to track Ruby without anyone seeing what I’m looking at on my phone.
I don’t know when I started acting like this, hiding shit from my brothers. Maybe it’s because of who it is. Maybe it’s because I don’t know what this is. I have ideas. And if I weren’t too busy denying shit to myself, I’d be admitting things. Which I’m not ready to do.
I’m looking down at my phone, watching her travel north back to campus.
She’s got another class to get to this evening.
Don’t know why she opted for late classes during the summer, but it keeps her out of trouble, and away from boys.
Because that’s all that is up at the school—boys.
Not a single man in sight. And boys get stupid and handsy.
I might have stayed away from her these past few months, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t made it clear to more than one guy that she wasn’t interested.
She has school to focus on. A career path that’s important to her.
I’m not about to let some asshole punk kid come in and try to sweet-talk her into losing focus.
Not that Ruby is easily swayed. But some of these guys make a freaking career out of hooking up. They know all the tricks. Ruby isn’t fooled easily, but she’s still so damn young. She could overlook something if she isn’t careful.
And that’s where I come in. Really, I’m only doing this to prevent more problems for me. Ruby not dating anyone keeps my job easy. Her dating, hooking up with guys, sleeping somewhere besides her own bed? Yeah, that’s a problem.
And not just for the job, but for my own damn sanity as well.
Heading back in after the heat gets to me, I find Bass at the bar with his head hanging low. A beer sits in front of him, but it looks untouched.
“Trouble in paradise?”
He can deny it all he wants, but he has it bad for Milly. The girl is tough, like any of the old ladies. Knows when to protect and when to shoot first. Hounds seem to attract a certain type of woman around here, that’s for sure.
“There’s a price on Ollie’s head,” he says without emotion, but the fact that he’s closing down his feelings speaks more than he probably wants. Ollie is Milly’s. And Milly is Bass’s. So that makes Ollie part of the family, and no one comes for our family.
Before I can even think about consoling him, every damn alarm in the place goes off, and a crash from outside tears through the clubhouse.
“Perimeter breach. I repeat, perimeter breach. Multiple assailants. All heavily armed.” Flint’s voice echoes through the building.
The vamps take off running to the bunk room for safety, screaming like banshees. A few Hounds rush to the place we stash guns. But the rest of us? We just pull out the piece on us and aim it at the door as people come in shooting.
I grab Bass by the collar of his vest and throw him over the bar. He was looking out the back, probably thinking about Milly or some shit, and didn’t think to cover his own ass. I hop over, too, and we take cover as bullets and glass rain down on us.
“Shit. Boss is going to be pissed,” he says. And he’s right. Law doesn’t have a ton of rules. But one he does have is to not get blood on the bar. It’s a bitch to clean.
“Ask for forgiveness later,” I say a second before I stand and start shooting at anything I don’t recognize.
Boss can yell his head off later about the amount of blood I spill. But something tells me he’ll only be mad if it’s mine or another brother’s and not the enemy’s.
When the last one goes down, silence falls over the place. I look over the dead on the ground. “Call out,” I say.
“Clear” comes from all around me.
I hop over the bar top as if it’s a small fence and move to the guys on the ground. They’re all in suits. Looking back over my shoulder, I see Bass doing the same as me, assessing the situation. “These for your girl?” I ask.
He nods. “Think so. Don’t know many who wear suits and carry Uzis other than the Russian mafia.”
I nod in agreement.
“Sweep inside, groups of two and three. Once clear, head out and bring in our people.” I can still hear the war outside, but I don’t go running out. We need a secure place to bring in the wounded and protect what’s already inside.
The boys fan out. I stick with Bass as he and I head out the back. He’s on a mission to get to his woman, and I’m not about to let him go alone. We take a few out as we cross the playground. I see Chains getting dragged inside by General as blood leaks out of one of his legs.
We round the building, and I hear Bass scream at Milly a second before I see her standing in what looks like popping sand as bullets fly around her, catching her a few times.
She falls to her knees and then shrieks as she stands and keeps going to a vehicle with a screaming kid being thrown into the back seat.
I fire at every one of those assholes, but by the time I get them, the SUV is gone and Milly’s in Bass’s arms. She looks half dead from what I can see, even as Law comes out and shouts for General to come help.
The plan comes quick from the boss. Our clubhouse is shattered.
Our people are down. And a kid is missing.
We’ve got four bikes left that didn’t get smashed when the first SUV crashed through the gates.
I grab any gear lying around and hop on my bike.
Law, Bass, a prospect, and I speed after them.
We have a tracker on the vehicle. Flint’s telling us where to go, and drones are flying ahead to alert us of ambushes.
We’re as prepared as we’ll ever be for a rescue mission after being attacked. I don’t have time to check my phone like I want. To see if Ruby’s safe. I have to trust that she is. She was so far out last time I saw my tracking software, there’s no way she was caught up in this.
I have to hope that the pain of what happened is the only pain she’ll face. Another thing to keep her up gaming all night to keep the nightmares away. Here’s to hoping that knowing her dad’s club is no longer untouchable is the only bogeyman to haunt her dreams.
“We’ve got to tell her.” Casper’s words have the room going quiet.
I close my eyes and just let it sink in. Everything that’s happened in the last few hours. Everything that’s happened in the last few weeks, months. Even years. Everything led up to this moment, and yet none of it did.
Law’s out. It seems impossible, but it’s true. The one pillar the club never thought would fall, has. He’s not dead, but that’s not the tale we’ll spin. And it’s all because of her. Ruby.
She has enemies. Duke. The Russians. She’s lost so much for this club already, but in order to keep her safe, she’s about to lose even more.
“I’ll tell her.” I speak before I realize I’ve decided.
But as I open my eyes and look around at the boys, they all agree.
Everyone knows I’m her protector. They don’t know all of it, but they know Law has me watching her.
They think it’s just because of my background with security.
They don’t know about me getting the club.