Chapter 30 Catfish
CATFISH
“You never write, you never call,” Atom says drolly.
“Fuck,” I mutter beneath my breath. “I was just about to call you guys, I swear.”
Grudge steps forward, but the weapons don’t come down.
“What the fuck is this?” I ask. “Put the weapons down.”
Wren joins me. They tugged on their boots so fast, the laces are still undone, but they’ve also pulled on a coat.
“Right now,” they say to someone on the phone, their eyes fixed on Grudge.
“Yeah, Grudge is here too. All of them, with weapons pointing right at us.” They step in front of me and offer the phone to Grudge. “King wants a word with you.”
If anger could take form, I swear, the temperature around Grudge would increase as he takes in what Wren just said. It was the mother of all “I’m gonna tell Mom” tricks, to call the national president on him.
I take the phone from Wren, then nudge them behind me as Grudge approaches.
Grudge takes a deep breath, then takes the phone from me. He holds it behind his back and says, “I should kill you for this alone.”
“I’m never going to let you hurt him,” Wren says. “I might not be able to fight like you can, or kill with the same ease, but that doesn’t mean I won’t play dirty.”
In a heartbeat, my world flipped. I always thought I’d have a brotherhood to protect me, while I protect my love. Instead, Wren is protecting me from brothers I never thought would lift a hand against me.
“King,” he says, gesturing for my brothers to lower their weapons. “Before you say anything, let me—”
Grudge stops talking, and while I can’t hear what is being said, I can hear that King is yelling. He walks away from the group, and I can no longer hear what he’s saying.
“Would it have hurt you to call?” Wraith asks me quietly.
I turn to face him. “Would it have hurt you to trust me? Like, for real, when have I ever done anything that wasn’t in the best interest of the club?”
“Ballsy move,” Smoke says to Wren, ruffling their hair like you would a younger sibling.
“Protecting someone you care about isn’t ballsy. As a former first responder, I thought you, of all people, would know a thing or two about that,” Wren says.
Feelings are weird. The residue of one still lingers, even when a new one attempts to replace it. I still feel the panic I experienced when I’d thought Wren wanted me to leave Willa and the twins and Mom behind.
I hated the internal conflict.
That I couldn’t leave my family, who need me, behind just to follow someone I love.
That I couldn’t let Wren, someone I love, go alone, while I stay back and care for my family.
That somehow, I’d be left with a life that would only ever be able to fulfil half of me.
But maybe it’s a good thing. Maybe Wren and I need to see how we react when we argue. Learn more about each other than obvious attraction.
I like the way they apologized.
I like the way they realized that what they might be asking of me was too much.
And I’m proud of myself, the way those lessons Willa taught me about keeping my frustration in check helped me stay in the moment and conversation with Wren.
It’s probably time I acknowledge that, for the first time in my life, I’m well and truly in love.
My breath comes out in a white puff when I blow out sharply. Reaching for Wren’s hand, I tug them back behind me. “That’s enough of you being my white knight today, sweetheart.”
Wren’s eyes lift to mine. “I wasn’t going to let them hurt you.”
“They weren’t. I don’t know why we’re standing here like this, but they were never going to shoot.”
Wren huffs. “Then the club, especially Grudge, just fucked around and found out, didn’t they?”
A wry smile appears on their face, and I can’t help but match it.
Jackal and Shade walk towards us, and I realize they were never holding their weapons. “We got you,” Jackal says as Shade moves to stand on the other side of Wren.
Shade looks across at me. “Congratulations.”
That’s it. One word.
But it means the world.
Fuck it. I take Wren’s hand and squeeze it.
Grudge ends the call, then turns back to us. Before he can say anything, I ask, “Was there an FBI agent called Dorian Chase there last night?”
Grudge raises an eyebrow. “Why is that name so important?”
I stub the toe of my boot into the dirt. “I’m serious. I need to know if he was there.”
“Why did you run?”
The thick collar of my biker jacket is warm against my ears as I pull it up around them.
“I made an exit plan. I figured if we had an unexpected FBI raid, we’d dip as soon as we got wind of it happening.
Had supplies ready to go. Too many people there last night who could have confirmed Wren’s whereabouts. ”
Fair.” Grudge takes a step closer. Wren’s hand tightens on mine. “But, you were never singularly responsible for Wren’s safety.”
“Technically, I am, because we agreed to it in the clubhouse the day Wren arrived. But I might as well get it all out, seeing you’re pissed at me anyway.
I’m now one hundred percent responsible for them because they’re mine.
” I lift our joined hands. “Whether I’m a brother or not after this, the end result is the same.
I kept Wren away from the Feds who are after them and kept them safe.
So, again, answer my question about Dorian Chase. ”
“Fuck.” Grudge tips a cigarette out of the packet and lights it. “Why couldn’t you keep your hands off her like you were meant to?”
“Them,” I say. “I couldn’t keep my hands off them. I mean, if you’re gonna get mad, get mad using the right pronouns. But Wren’s my person. Clause, or no clause.”
“All I want to do is keep my club safe,” Grudge looks at Wren. “I should have said no when King showed up with you. But we needed the cash, and saying no the national president is a career limiting move. You’re trouble.”
“Apparently,” Wren says.
“Yes. Chase was there. A visiting agent from a different bureau,” Atom says. “Who happened to match the photograph on those passports we found in the storage facility. The one he never returned to because he must have gotten scared off when we chased him across the field that night.”
“The person in the storage facility was Chase?” Wren asks. “He was the one who tried to get to the ranch house? Not an assassin from the cartel?”
The color has drained from their face.
“That’s what it looks like,” Atom says.
Grudge nods. “FBI went through the place like fucking locusts. Scared the shit out of women and children. Ruined my fucking proposal to Lucy.”
Fuck, I forgot about that.
“Grudge,” Wren says. “For what it may be worth, I’m sorry your celebration was blown up.”
“Wait,” I ask. “How did you find us?”
“Put a sensor on the door,” Atom says. “Came up one day and found someone had been using the cabin. Had eaten all the canned goods and shit. Wondered if they were homeless or an asshole. Just put up a camera. Saw the alert on my phone this morning. Realized it was you.”
“A camera?” Wren asks.
“Don’t worry. It’s pointed straight at the door. No volume. So didn’t see or hear anything the two of you might have been getting up to in there. And given everything that happened at the club last night, I didn’t think to check the notifications until this morning.”
I shake my head. “So, if you knew it was the two of us, and then you see my truck standing there, why the fuck did you think to show up with your guns raised?”
Wraith steps forward. “My fault. A precaution, Was worried someone else might come find you. Didn’t know who else might be in there.
If they had the same skills as Wren, they might have been able to hack the feed or some shit.
Loop it. Told Grudge that we needed to be ready in case the two of you were being held against your will, or if you weren’t of the right mind to give Wren back to us. ”
“Stop,” Wren says, releasing my hand. “I’m not something you pass around.
I’m not a job you get to tick off your to-do list. You talk about me like I’m not standing right here.
Like I’m not of sound mind. I’m not Catfish’s, and I’m not yours.
I am, however, River’s. And River is mine.
So, start talking to us as two grown human beings who could walk back into that cabin, shut the fucking door, and never speak to any of you again, you assholes. ”
“And I thought Ember was opinionated,” Atom says.
“Because God forbid someone other than a man has opinions,” Wren says, but they’re smiling.
“Cool your heels, never said my old lady having opinions was a problem. Just that she had a lot of ‘em.”
“You know that term predates the wheel. Old lady.”
“Can’t wait until Catfish makes you his old lady,” Atom replies playfully. “Or whatever the nonbinary version of that is.”
“Think I’d rather choke on a bag of cement than be called that,” Wren says.
Across from us, Grudge shakes his head. “Way this is going, you’re gonna need a patch name, eventually.”
“What about old trouble?” Wraith asks. “Wren’s a handful.”
That gets a round of chuckles.
“Not sure why I’m old anything, seeing as I’m younger than you all are,” Wren says.
“Old code?” Taco asks. “Since they’re always glued to their laptop.”
Wren folds their arms across their chest. “Absolutely not.”
“Old flame?” Jackal says. “Wait. No, that means something totally different, doesn’t it?”
“That was ridiculous,” Shade mutters.
“If you’re all quite finished, I’m not patching in, so I don’t need your labels.”
I throw my arm over their shoulder. “What if I want you to have one?”
Wren raises an eyebrow. “Really?”
I nod. “Yeah. Always had a dream about having a permanent backpack on my bike. Someone wearing a property patch. Someone wearing a name I’ve given ‘em to show they mean something to me.”
“Are you listening to this, Atom?” Smoke says. “You should try being romantic with Ember from time to time.”
“Fuck you,” Atom says. “I’m romantic behind closed doors.”
But my eyes remain on Wren. “I’d never call you my old lady because it doesn’t fit.”
“Damn right it doesn’t.”