Chapter 22
TWENTY-TWO
THEA
What the hell kind of situation have I just stumbled into?
I’m sitting on the bed, cleaning my gun, when Sniper walks in the room. He freezes the moment he sees the weapon in my hand. Then he sighs, walks inside, shuts the door with a surprising softness, before clicking the lock. All without turning his back on me. I don’t bother to hide my amusement as I finish cleaning it and then set it aside, watching him.
“You know that if Bullet finds out you have that in here, he’s going to lose his shit,” Sniper remarks drily as he leans back against the closed door, watching me.
“Because he’s worried I’m going to start shooting people? Or because he doesn’t want me to loan it to one of the other women?”
Sniper’s lips twitch. “I’m leaning more toward option two. You’re not as much of a wild card as the others, and they would shoot someone just to make a point.”
“And I wouldn’t?”
He moves away from the door and slowly makes his way toward me. “You wouldn’t be so obvious,” he says when he finally stops at the edge of the bed, and I have to tilt back to look up at him. “You’d sneak up behind one of us and snap our necks. Less messy.”
He’s actually right, though I haven’t had to do that in a very long time. “You think you have me all figured out, huh?”
“I think that when it comes to a woman who can kill me in my sleep, I don’t have much other choice,” he answers drily. “So what are the chances of you putting that away, getting naked, and finishing what we started this morning?”
“Probably about as much as you telling me what the hell the Russians have to do with your club,” I reply with a cool smile.
He doesn’t react to that for a moment, staring down at me, gaze revealing nothing, but I see the slight clenching of his jaw and know that he’s not pleased with my statement. Finally, he lets out a low sigh, and rocks back on his heels before turning away. “Is there any point in saying that it’s club business and I can’t talk to you about it?” he asks, moving over to the chair in the corner of the room and sitting down, leaning forward to unlace his boots.
“Apparently club business isn’t something your ally is worried about considering he’s the one that said it,” I point out, moving the gun from the bed and putting it back into the case. If we’re going to have a discussion, then probably better he doesn’t worry about me shooting him, even accidentally.
“Yeah, and his President will have his ass for that.” Sniper sighs. “But before I can answer that question, you need to answer a few questions about us. Because what I tell you, depends on those answers.”
I arch a brow at that. “Me finding out information is contingent on if I’m willing to sleep with you?” I don’t know whether to be shocked or insulted, but I’m definitely leaning toward the latter.
“It has everything to do with actually making something of this situation between us,” he corrects, setting his boots aside and getting to his feet. He shrugs out of his cut and carefully hangs it on the back of the chair. “And like I told you this morning, I want to give this a shot.”
“So, what, you want to date and be exclusive?”
He pulls his shirt over his head, tossing it into the hamper near the bathroom door, and I’m momentarily distracted as I stare at his bared torso. Fuck, the man is ripped, and nothing about it screams over forty other than a couple of graying chest hairs. The ink he has covering his chest is interesting, and I’m pretty sure it’s the same as the patch on his cut. My fingers itch to trace it, and my tongue tingles at the thought of getting to run my mouth over all that deliciousness. I saw him without his shirt in the Army, coming back from a morning run, and even then I’m pretty sure I drooled a little. Now, though, age has only defined him more, and if I’m not mistaken, even filled him out a bit too.
“Baby girl, you keep looking at me like that, and we’re going to be postponing this discussion,” he warns in a gravelly voice, making me lift my gaze back to his.
I don’t bother to feel embarrassed. “Look, I’ve never once said I don’t find you ridiculously hot, so the second you start stripping, I’m going to be distracted.”
“Good to know.”
I roll my eyes. “But only for a second. Doing that isn’t going to make me forget about what we’re talking about. So, is that a yes to the dating thing? Because honestly, I didn’t think bikers really dated.”
“We don’t, generally. And honestly, I don’t think you need that. If we didn’t know each other, sure. But do you really give a shit about sitting in a restaurant and talking about shit that doesn’t change the fact we’re attracted to each other? We can take the time to learn those things about each other naturally. Every single damn one of my brothers that have ended up with their women, they didn’t date them. They saw what they wanted and went after it. And that’s what I expect the two of us will do. And knowing us, we’re going to fight, because I’m too damn stubborn and set in my ways, and you like to run your smart mouth to piss me off.”
“And you think that two of us are going to be able to make it work?” I ask dubiously.
“Probably not at first, but I think if we’re both committed, we will. Thea, I’m not a kid. I’m forty-two years old, and I’ve lived and done things that have taught me to assess things and react quickly. You know that, because you were trained to do the same, even if it was in a different way. And that also means I don’t want to waste time when I already know what I want. Namely, you. I want you, and I want to spend time figuring it out as we go, but knowing that you’re already mine. And I’m not going to do any of that playing hard to get bullshit. Any man that does that isn’t a real man in my opinion. You want something, you go after it. And if you really don’t want to be together then I’ll respect that, but I also don’t think you want that either.”
I don’t answer immediately. I mean, what can I say to that? How many times have I wanted a man, any man, to say something like that to me? I’ve never been one who enjoyed the chase of trying to date someone and being coy so they have to work to keep my attention. It’s a waste of time, just like he said. But at the same time, I’m hesitant to give in because it could get very messy.
“I don’t know if I can give you what you want,” I admit finally. “One because I don’t know if I want to be involved anymore than I already am with whatever you have going on with the Russians. Because if they are behind the explosions at the bar, that means you’re all in deep enough that people could die. These assholes don’t play, and if they do, they do it as dirty and bloody as possible. And there’s also the fact that I work for the security company, which, in a roundabout way, makes you my boss, and if things don’t work out, I’m going to not only lose you, but my job. And not to mention, what does that mean for my brother? He likes it here. I don’t want him or his chances at being part of this MC to be affected if we implode. Or to make things awkward if I come to see him and you moved on.”
Sniper moves across the floor to the bed, coming to sit down on the edge. He doesn’t touch me, but still, he’s close enough that I can feel the heat of him, and my fingers itch to reach up and stroke along his skin. But I’m pulled from that thought the moment he says, “And I understand all of that, but I can promise you if shit between us ever goes sideways, you won’t have to worry about your job or your brother. That kind of vindictiveness is little boy shit. With regards to your job, your bosses are Viper and Shadow, not me. I’m VP of the club, but think of me as a silent investor of sorts, and despite what I’ve said in the past, I don’t have any say in your employment.” I narrow my eyes at him at that. “I know, you can be pissed at me for it all you want later. They like you, and they’re not going to get rid of you because of some shit with us. And as for your brother, he’ll have to work on getting his patch on his own, so you and I will never factor into that. And even if we end badly, it’s a vote that gives him his patch, and I can always abstain. But none of that is going to matter because you and I, we can make this work if we both put in the time and the effort.”
“And you want that? Even though we barely really know each other? Or the fact that before now, I haven’t seen you in a decade, and even then, we barely knew anything about each other?”
“That’s why we need to work together. I already know you’re stubborn, sassy, and a pain in the ass.” I narrow my eyes at him a little further, and he grins at me. “But I also know that you’re loyal as hell, have more strength inside you than anyone else I know, including those I now call my brothers, and that you’re going to keep me on my toes. I am ready to conquer anything you throw my way. And you’re far too smart for most of us to ever hope to keep up with. I don’t need to know more than that to know I want to have that in my life every day for as long as we’re both happy.”
Who knew that a man like Sniper could speak so perfectly? I don’t want flowery words; I want real emotions, real examples because far too many men have lied to me using words to hide behind. Still, I hesitate.
“Are you sure you’re not just confusing lust for this?” I ask carefully. “I mean, I have no doubt since I’ve last seen you you’ve been with your fair share of women, but if this is some kind of rebound situation, then?—”
“No,” he interrupts firmly. “Thea, there is no rebound for me. Have I been with women in the past? Yes, I won’t hide that. But I also haven’t had a serious relationship in all that time because I never felt the kind of need that I feel with you. The kind that is past physical and on a level of wanting everyone to know you’re mine.” He lapses into silence as he stares at me, before he finally asks, “Is it the age thing that also worries you?”
“Not exactly,” I admit. “I don’t care that you’re ten years older than me, but I do care that maybe what we want out of a relationship wouldn’t be the same. You’re forty-two, and I don’t know what kind of life you want for yourself in your middle-aged to twilight years.” I hold up my hand when he narrows his eyes at me and they flash in irritation. “That wasn’t a dig. I mean that at forty-two, do you want kids? Grandchildren eventually? Or are you past the point where you want that? Do you want to just sit back, be in a committed relationship and live your life like you are now? I’m thirty-two, and up until now I’ve never thought about any of that, but looking at you now, I know that it might be a possibility. And I don’t know if I’m ready to give up on the hope of a family one day.”
I almost expect him to balk at the mention of kids and that kind of step, but instead, he nods in understanding. “I’ve never had a true family myself, until the club,” he admits. “Well, other than my father, but he wasn’t really a family man. It was a different time then, and he was a military man and he fully expected me to be as well. My mother died when I was five, and from then on, he wanted to make me into the best soldier he could. But I didn’t have any cousins, siblings, or aunts and uncles. My mother was an only child, and my father’s family lives in Europe. He immigrated here when he was twenty and never looked back. So it was just me. The Army soon became my family, and while I’ve never really thought of having kids, I’m also not going to say no to it for the right woman. If that’s something you want, then we talk about it when we’re ready.” He reaches out and cups my cheek gently in the palm of his hand. “All I’m asking is for a shot, Thea. And if we crash and burn then we know we tried and we won’t have any regrets.” Then he gives me a cheeky smile as he adds, “And when I’m in my retirement home in a few years, I can think of you fondly when the nurses give me my heart meds and new hip.”
I laugh at that. “Well, I think this morning proved that all that is a ways off,” I tease. I turn my face into his hand, reaching up and putting my hand over his. Everything in me is telling me to be cautious, but right behind it is the reminder I’m strong and I can handle it if things go south. Taking a leap of faith, I tell him, “Let’s give it a shot. But promise me you’re going to tell me if you ever aren’t happy or change your mind.”
“No worries on that,” he promises me, a soft smile on his face. I like seeing it. It’s so different than any other smile or look I’ve seen on his face before, and I feel like it’s special and just for me. And I want to see it a lot more often. Then he leans forward and presses his mouth to mine, and I have to force myself not to sink into him. Not even when his other hand sneaks down to rest on my hip, fingers sliding under the edge of my pajama shirt. This man is far too clever.
I force myself to pull away and rasp out, “Now that we’re doing this, does that mean you can tell me about the Russians now?”
The heat in his eyes dims, and he pulls away with a grimace. Yeah, he doesn’t want to talk about it, but there is no way that he is going to put this off. It’s far too important, I can feel it deep in my gut.
“Alright, but what I’m about to tell you stays between us, and isn’t to be discussed with the other women, or any of the other men unless you are asked specifically by one of our MC, not the Misfits, and can’t be discussed with your brother,” he warns me seriously. I nod, watching him expectantly. “And it also can’t be discussed at the security business because we have non-MC members that work there and we don’t want them overhearing.” I nod again. Clearly whatever this is, is serious enough they don’t want anyone outside those who need to know to hear about it. “I need the words, baby girl,” he prompts.
“I understand, Sniper. I won’t discuss whatever you tell me other than with you unless directly asked. And even then, I’ll hold my questions until we’re alone,” I add. “Don’t forget, I’m used to this.”
He smiles. “I know that, which is why I know you’re not going to freak out at what I’m going to tell you.” Then he starts giving me the story, and the longer I listen, the more my eyes widen. That all of this has been happening in this town, under everyone’s noses, and they don’t know anything about it, is insane. I mean, this is the kind of thing that usually spills over to the innocent, but the club has been doing a hell of a lot to keep that from happening. My heart clenches when he mentions that their former brother tried to kill Bullet, Rose, Izzy, Sage, and Kaleb, but seeing as they’re here, I’m also grateful he wasn’t successful. But when he starts to talk about how things have started to ramp up, and what they have been able to uncover, I realize why he’s been hesitant to tell me much.
This is a lot, but at the same time, little things are starting to click into place.
When he finishes, I clarify, “So what you’re saying is that the Russians are the ones that blew up the bar, and they were trying to take you all out in one location. But you’re not sure if it was from this Vlad’s guy’s orders, or Vlad himself considering what happened.” Then another thought hits me. “Wait, what did you say his name was?”
“Nikolai Egorov.” He arches a brow. “The name ring a bell?”
“It does,” I say absently as my brain racks itself to try and figure it out. “I know that name but I don’t know why or where from. Just that it triggered something. Let me think on it a bit more.” He nods. “So what about these journals? They aren’t giving you the locations and things that you need to look for all this stuff?”
He hesitates long enough that I know he doesn’t really want to tell me about this part. I don’t push him, waiting. Finally, after a few more minutes, he says, “It’s encoded, and we’re working on decoding it right now.”
I don’t react to that immediately, letting it roll around in my head. But I don’t understand why it’s a touchy subject. “And you don’t want me to know that because…”
“It’s not that I don’t want you to know, but getting you involved in any way puts you in danger. And every single one of the women that have come into this club have been pulled into this shit show somehow and find themselves in danger. And I don’t want the same thing to happen with you.”
“And how would that get me in any more danger than I already am in? I mean, they almost blew me up in the bar, right? What more can they do that would be worse than that?”
He scowls at that. “Really, Thea? That’s what you get from that? Do you have no sense of self-preservation? They could kill you. They’ve already tried to do it to most of the women in some way, and I don’t want to add you to the fucking list.”
“But how would they know to come after me?” I point out. “I mean, yeah, they might have seen me, but as far as they know, I’m here as the club’s employee and the sister of one of your Prospects. Because they’re going to pay more attention to that than me being attached to you. And you also haven’t considered that if you let me help decode those journals, then it means you end this faster, right? Or, and this might be going out on a limb, but I never leave things to chance, that maybe, just maybe, they might be able to get through to my military records and figure out what I can do. This could mean if they know that, they won’t be waiting for you to make a move; they’ll be coming here. Not to just kill me, but all of you because you’re getting too close and they clearly don’t want that.”
He’s silent as he stares at me, but I see the tension in his body at my words. Clearly, no one has thought about that little possibility and what kind of danger I pose being here. “Fuck,” Sniper hisses, thrusting his hand through his hair in frustration. He starts to pace.
“But, to play the other side,” I add thoughtfully, “there is also a chance that whatever is in that journal isn’t something I can decode anyway, and they would know it if they have copies of it. Which means they’re not worried about me.”
He pauses and looks over at me. “Let’s hope to fuck that’s the case.” He resumes pacing.
“Does your MC know my history and that I can help?”
“Cryos found it in your military records in the background check, and he was the one who suggested it in Church the other day,” Sniper says absently. “We have Crypt working on it, but this wasn’t his area, and with his concussion, he was having a hard time. But I told them I don’t want you involved. So Silver is going to have a look at it and see what he can figure out.”
“And what’s Silver’s background? And don’t think I’m not coming back to the part where you said Cryos was looking through my military background,” I add with a glare.
He stops pacing and looks at me. “The only people to see that were me and Cryos. No one else knows, and Cryos won’t say a word, I promise, Thea.” His words ring with sincerity. I give a curt nod, but I don’t reply, unsure of how to feel that someone else knows what I’ve been through. But that’s something to figure out another time. “And as for Silver, the man is a genius, and I’m not just saying that. He’s got the IQ tests to back it up. He wanted to work on it before we discuss bringing you into it.”
“Okay.” I think it’s a waste of time, but I also know this boys club won’t want to bring me into it until they absolutely have to, so there is no point in arguing. “So then while you’re trying to get this figured out, I need to stay at the clubhouse? I need to work, Sniper, and I refuse to sit here and twiddle my thumbs and play the scared little woman.”
Sniper snorts. “No one would ever mistake you for that, baby girl. As for work, what I want is to keep you protecting the women and kids. We’ve already had men sneak onto the grounds and take one of the women, and the last thing we need is for that to happen again. And while the women can fight, Vlad knows that they are our weakness. Between you and Syn’s dogs, we wouldn’t have much to worry about.”
“And yet you have all these men around who are more than capable of doing that very thing. So are you saying that to placate me and keep me where you think I’m going to be safest?” I demand, pushing up off the bed to stand and glare at him. I try to keep my irritation in a firm grip, but I can feel it building.
He holds my stare as he glares back at me. “And so what if I am? I don’t care how good you are. You are not faster or better than a bullet or a bomb. If you’re here, I’m not going to be distracted wondering where you are or if you’re in danger.”
“So what you’re saying is you don’t respect all the work I’ve done and what I’ve trained for,” I sneer. The audacity of this man knows no bounds. “You sit here and say that you want us to be partners, and then you go and try to put me into a role you know damn good and well is going to piss me off. Or do you not trust the men you now call brothers to keep an eye on the women?”
His eyes burn with fury at that, and he steps forward, towering over me as he snarls, “I trust my brothers with my life every fucking day and that extends to their women. And now I have to trust them with your life too. And you’re the one woman out of all of them that matters the fucking most to me. And maybe instead of taking my suggestions as a slap in the face, you realize what they are. I just said I trust my brothers with the most important woman in my life, and they would be doing the same to you looking after theirs. Two of whom are pregnant. Vlad knows our families are our weakness, and he and Dmitri have gone after them far too much for any of us to just trust anyone with their safety. Because one of our own betrayed us. And we will do anything to make sure that never happens again. Ever. People can be bought or blackmailed, and the first place they will strike is the women because that is the chink in our armour.
“So no, Athena, I don’t think that regulating you to bodyguard means you’re not helping. I think it means you are doing one of the most important jobs out there. And it pisses me off that I have to put you in that situation. Like that makes you somehow less important because you’re the one guarding them and not someone guarding you. Because I am not about to lose you now that you’re finally mine.”