Chapter 39
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
GOOSE
Shoving my phone back in the inner pocket of my cut, I start the bike. The engine roars as I head back to the clubhouse. As much as I want to stand watch, I know it’s not needed right now, plus, hopefully, Ivy is monitoring the place.
It doesn’t take me long to reach the clubhouse. I park in my usual spot and climb off my bike and walk into the bar. The place is packed. I’m not sure why there are so many people here, but as I look around, I realize they’re all members.
“What the fuck is going on?” I ask as I walk up to Shocker, who is perched at the bar in his usual spot.
Ice is cuddled up next to him, which doesn’t surprise me. They spend a lot of time together. She lifts her eyes to meet mine and then dips her chin before she shifts her face closer to his ear and murmurs something before she turns and walks away.
“What’s going on around here?” I ask again.
Shocker takes a pull from his beer, then sets the bottle down before he shifts his attention to me. His eyes lift to find mine, and he holds my gaze for a moment.
“Goffredo is dead,” Shocker states.
“What?” I hiss.
He dips his chin. “Hanged himself in jail. Didn’t even have to get to prison. Coward knew he was fucking done for.”
I give him a gentle slap on his shoulder before I walk away, looking for Bullet. I don’t know why he didn’t call me, but I’m going to find out what the fuck is happening. I can’t imagine that this just went down, especially considering how many guys are here.
Bullet isn’t hard to find. He’s standing in the hallway near his office with Ivy. Well, that explains why he hasn’t called me. I walk up to them, not giving them a goddamn ounce of space, mainly because I don’t give a fuck.
Their eyes meet mine, but I ignore Ivy, and I probably will for a good long while. We’re somewhat cool, but I don’t really feel like fucking with him socially right now. He’s my brother, I’d protect him with my life, but I don’t want to socialize with him, and right now, he’s not my friend.
“Want to tell me just what the fuck happened?” I demand.
I know I’m being somewhat disrespectful to my president, but right now, I’m confused as fuck. It’s Ivy who speaks, and it annoys the shit out of me that he does, but I shift my attention from Bullet to him anyway.
“Goffredo killed himself. Knew he was fucked and ended it in police custody. We meet with Lorenzo in an hour.”
“Does this meet include me?” I ask.
Ivy leans forward, his eyes narrowed. “Did the last meet you had with him include anyone else?” he asks.
So he’s pissed off that I went and had a chat with Lorenzo without anyone. Hell, maybe Bullet is pissed, too. Though I never got that vibe from him, and he’d have said something by now if he was.
“You got beef with me, Ivy, I get it, so let’s go. My meeting with Lorenzo was about showing him just how much Goffredo stepped out of line. I made him watch what his son did to Cidney. I didn’t think you’d want to be there and see that. I handled it because she’s my woman.”
He growls, and I think he’s going to say something, maybe do something, but to my surprise, he clears his throat and takes a step backward. He backs off. And that might be the most shocking thing about this situation.
“No harm was done with that meet, Ivy, and you know it,” Bullet says. There is a warning to his tone, and it makes me think they’ve had this conversation already.
I’m not getting into a fight with Ivy right now, not about this, not about anything. If he has beef with me, it’s one sided. I blame him for what happened to Cidney, I always will, but I’m not going to be a dick to him forever.
What I’m going to do is live the life I want. I’m going to marry Cidney. I’m going to claim her. She is mine, and there’s nothing he can do about that. Which I’m sure is going to stick in his craw, but again, don’t give a fuck. That’s his issue, not mine.
“What happens now?” I ask, changing the subject back to where it needs to be, which is on Goffredo and his suicide.
“Now you come with us and meet with Lorenzo. He’s not going to say shit to us. He doesn’t know we’re the ones who staged that. He’ll never know. He can’t even tie Piggy to that shit. His hate is going to be for the Raleigh PD, which is far enough away that it won’t even be a thought,” Bullet says.
“What about them hiring us?” I ask.
Ivy’s brow lifts as if he is just now hearing this for the first time. I fucking love it, because this is all a competition right now. Ivy will get over it, and so will I, in time, but right now, this is a fight for who has the most information.
“Hiring us?” Ivy asks.
“Goose and I went into the owner’s office after the bust and talked to him about hiring us as security for his club. It was a concept I was kicking around to add to our security gig, but something that was more stable than shit around town here.”
Ivy snorts. “Well, that’s fucking done now. No way Lorenzo won’t piece that shit together, and really fucking fast.”
“I agree,” Bullet and I say at the same time before Bullet continues. “We lie low, we do the runs that Lorenzo needs us to do, and we don’t say fuck about fuck. Then, when the contract with Robin is up on this whole Lorenzo transport thing, we bow the fuck out.”
“I like that,” I say.
“That leaves us eighteen months to come up with a plan. Our security stuff isn’t making enough yet to have it be our bread and butter, and the liability of running our own trucks and merch isn’t something I think we should tackle.
“I’d like to get somewhat legit, if that’s at all possible,” Bullet continues. “We gotta get our fucking heads together. Church tomorrow to discuss that and whatever the fuck we talk about with Lorenzo. Goose,” he calls out.
Jerking my chin in Bullet’s direction, I give him my full focus as I wait for him to continue. “Get Maverick to come with us on this. Four is better than three.”
Honest to fuck, right now, all I can think about is going to Cidney and stealing her, marrying her, and having a moment of complete fucking silenced bliss. Goffredo is dead. He won’t ever come after her or anyone else again.
He’s dead.
But I don’t do that. Instead, I get my brother so we can go and have a meet with Lorenzo.
CIDNEY
“What the hell?” Lainey hisses.
There is a loud pounding on the door. My heart begins to race. I’m frozen on the sofa, unable to move. Thankfully, Lainey isn’t frozen as well. Otherwise, I’m not sure how long the door beating would have continued.
I watch, stock-still as she moves toward the door, then leans forward and looks through the peephole.
“It’s Goose,” she says.
She sounds confused by the sight of him standing on the other side of her door. As her words sink in, I realize that I’m confused, too. What is he doing here? What could he possibly want this late that we can’t talk about tomorrow?
Glancing at my phone screen, I wrinkle my nose at the time. What’s he doing here at midnight? I don’t have to verbalize my question, because Lainey is thinking the same thing and asks him as she opens the door.
“I need Cidney,” he says, sounding winded.
I stand from the sofa, and my body moves without me even realizing that I’m heading toward him. Lainey steps out of the doorway as he closes the distance between us. He wraps his arms around me as soon as I’m within arm’s reach.
“What’s happened?” I ask.
Tipping my head back, I look up into his eyes.
He watches me, his gaze shifting around a bit before his chin dips, and I feel his lips touch mine.
The kiss is soft and sweet. My thighs tremble at the sensation.
Then he lifts his head, his gaze flicking behind me, and he calls out for Lainey to stay.
Trent takes a step backward, and I sink my teeth into my lower lip, watching and waiting. He is so amped up I could feel his heart slamming against his chest when we were pressed together.
“Goffredo is dead.”
His words swirl around inside my brain, but they don’t compute. It’s Lainey’s gasp, then her cry, that makes me jump, and realization slams into me. He’s dead. “Jeffrey is dead?” I ask.
“Killed himself in the jail cell. Didn’t want to face the life of a pedo in prison, I guess. Can’t say I blame him, but I’d hoped he’d at least make it to Hogg’s cell block so he could deal with him.”
I know that Hogg is one of the Vicious Reapers who is in prison for life for murder. I don’t know much about the case. I was in middle school when he went to trial and was sent away.
My uncle represented him, of course, and the loss was a big blow to the club. My uncle couldn’t believe he lost. He thought it was going to go a completely different way. Everyone did. It was devastating for the club, but even more for my uncle, who felt like he had failed everyone.
“I can’t believe he’s dead. It’s over?” I ask.
“It’s over,” Trent murmurs.
We stare at one another for a long moment. Lainey walks away. I can hear her feet pad toward her bedroom, but I can’t see anything, anyone, but Trent. Tears fill my eyes. I can’t believe this is real. That it’s happening.
He closes the distance between us again and rests his forehead against mine, closing his eyes. I do the same, exhaling a breath. “Marry me, Cidney. This shit is done. The club is handled. Marry me.”
He could ask me today, tomorrow, or next week, and my answer would be the same.
“Yes,” I breathe.
“Now,” he demands.
Taking a step backward, I stare up at him in shock. “Now?” I ask, unsure that I heard him correctly, even though I know I did.
“Let’s go to Nashville and do the damn thing.”
I open my mouth to tell him that I’m not ready, at least when it comes to consummation. I am eager to be his wife, to be Mrs. Trent Fairfax, and to love him. But I don’t know when I’ll be ready to be his wife.
“I meant it when I said that sex will come only when you’re ready, but I can’t wait to have you by my side.
Walking away from you was the dumbest fucking thing I’ve ever done.
I want there to be no mistake. You’re mine, and I’m yours.
You want a wedding later with the dress and the whole thing, it’s yours.
Whatever it takes, Cidney. Whatever it fucking takes. ”