Chapter 27
Sarge
I’m not a fucking pharmacist.
Sleeping with Hannah in my arms is the closest thing to heaven a man like me will ever experience. She’s warm and soft against me, tucked into my side like she belongs there. Like we’ve been sharing a bed for years, not just one night.
I breathe in her sweet shampoo. It’s like citrus with a hint of floral, and something that’s just her. And it hits me how damn empty my world has been without this. Without her.
She shifts slightly, nuzzling closer, and a low, involuntary sound escapes my chest. The instinct to adore and protect her at all costs courses through my veins.
This woman is tough as nails, but she shouldn’t have to be.
She deserves someone in her corner, playing damage control so she doesn’t have to.
I hold her body safely in my arms, knowing that I am forever changed. This woman is going to ruin me in all the best ways.
Sunlight creeps across the room, catching the curve of her shoulder, the dark spill of her hair over my arm. I should get up. Breakfast will start soon, and I need to move, but I can’t force the motion. Not yet.
Holding her is the first peaceful thing I’ve had in a long damn time.
I stay put, imprinting the memory of how she fits against me. Her quiet, rhythmic breathing reflects a deep, true sleep—the kind I doubt she gets much of.
When the sunlight finally fills the room, I force myself to ease away and start the day. I gently leave the bed and head to the bathroom.
After taming my hair and using the toilet, I get dressed and try to wipe the stupid grin off my face. When I step back out, she’s still curled in the sheets but now awake—watching me.
“Good morning, beautiful,” I tell her, sitting on the edge of the bed. “Tried not to wake you. How’d you sleep?”
A soft smile curves her lips as her eyes drift closed again. “I slept so good... I feel like I could stay here all day. Come on, get back in here.”
She lifts the blankets in invitation, and hell, it takes everything in me not to give in. She’s still naked from last night, looking better than any breakfast the clubhouse could offer me.
“Fuck, you have no idea how much I want to do just that,” I murmur, letting my hand trail down the curve of her waist and settle on the soft fullness of her backside. “But we’ve got a breakfast to get to,” I say, giving her ass a playful smack.
Hannah groans dramatically and covers herself back up for a second before dragging herself out of bed. She gets dressed while loudly informing me that it is “way too early for this shit”—never mind that it’s almost nine and most people have already started their day.
We head downstairs and out to my bike.
It’s a beautiful morning. The kind that feels like a clean slate. Somehow, I get to share it with the woman climbing onto the seat behind me, her legs wrapping around me as if I matter. As if she sees something in me worth loving.
The twenty-minute ride to the clubhouse gives me time to think. One thing is clear: Hannah is mine. Bringing her to breakfast isn’t casual or out of convenience—it’s a statement. A claim. And everyone there will know it the second we roll in.
And secondly, as much as I love having her legs wrapped around me, I need to install rear pegs so her feet have a proper place to rest when she rides with me.
I haven’t brought anyone to a club event since my ex, Evette. Eighteen months of showing up alone. Eighteen months of keeping my life separate from anything that might feel like more.
Not today.
We turn onto the long gravel drive, the clubhouse coming into view. Even from a distance, I can see bodies moving—brothers, old ladies, prospects—standing around with coffee and plates in their hands.
And when they hear my pipes and look up, every single one of them stops what they’re doing...
Because there are two bodies on my bike.
Gizmo comes out first, Ellie in tow. “Bitch!” she exclaims. “You’re here too? Small world.”
Hannah hops off my bike as soon as I park and goes straight in for a hug with her best friend.
Bear, my Road Captain, stalks over next. “Got a minute, brother? I need to get you up to speed on some shit.”
I glance over at Hannah, smiling and gesturing excitedly with her hands as she talks to Ellie, and figure I can step away for a minute. “Hey, Giz, watch the ladies for me. I’ll be right back.”
“You got it, Prez.”
I travel over to Hannah and rest a hand on her hip, breaking up her conversation. “You gonna be okay if I head inside for a bit? Bear wants to get me up to speed. Won’t be long.”
“Oh, yeah, she’ll be fine. I can show her around, grab some food, have girl talk,” Ellie offers.
“Yeah, what she said. I’ll no doubt be at one of the tables happily stuffing my face,” Hannah says on a chuckle, smiling up at me.
I kiss her hungrily, staking my claim in front of everyone. My tongue dives in to deepen the kiss.
“Damn you two. I’m gonna get pregnant just by watching this,” Ellie laughs.
Hannah pulls away, cheeks pink, lips swollen. She presses lightly against my chest with her fingers. “Go on now. I’m starving.”
“Me too, Butterfly. But I can’t have what I want out here.” I wink and continue, “I already paid our cover for food, so feel free to start without me.” I press one last kiss to the top of her head and slip inside the clubhouse.
“It’s not what we thought,” Bear starts once we’re inside. His voice is low, even though we’re safely behind the closed doors where we hold church.
I sit across the table from him, and he continues, “It’s worse.”
“How the fuck could it be worse?” I snap. It’s been two days since Rawhide, two days since the chaos, and now we have lab results. It feels like Bear’s dragging this out, and it’s pissing me off.
He runs a hand down his face. “Your girl was slipped GHB.”
“The fuck is GHB, man? I’m not a fucking pharmacist.” My voice comes out harsh.
The club may run pharmaceuticals, but I’m no expert on them. I leave that shit to the doctors.
Bear exhales through his nose, like he’s deciding how much I can take. “It’s a depressant. Strong sedative. Knocks people out, makes them compliant, easy to move. Easy to...”
He doesn’t have to finish. The meaning sinks in like poison.
My hands curl into fists. “Fucking Scorpions. Which one was it?”
“Ray and I are watching the footage and tracing everything,” Bear says, steady as stone. “We’ll find out.”
“Yeah, you’d better and fast. I wanna know who I get to end.”
My pulse is pounding, vision tunneling. They were trying to sedate her. For what, I don’t know, but I will find out.
How long have they been watching her? Watching us? The thought pisses me off.
“We need older security footage from Rawhide,” I mutter, pacing. “I refuse to believe this was random.”
“That’s gonna be an issue,” Bear says.
“They only keep footage for ninety days before it records over itself,” Raydar adds from across the room, typing something on his laptop.
“Lovely,” I bite out, dripping sarcasm. “Then we’ve got three months to comb through. And since we’re only there weekends, that narrows it down.”
“It does,” Bear says, his voice rough. “We’ll start with that. But once I’ve got time, I’m digging deeper. I wanna know if those buzzards have been circling longer than we think.”
I nod. “Consider yourself freed up, then. I’ll get someone else to work your shifts at the shop; this takes precedence.”
We’re short on time and need answers. Starting with the nights we were at Rawhide, when Hannah was also there, has to be priority number one. But we shouldn’t stop there; digging further back might reveal a pattern and tell us how long they’ve been watching.
I’m thankful for my brothers. Thankful they’ll dig until we get it right. That steadies me a bit.
I need to know exactly what those lowlifes have been up to. If they’ve been stalking her, I swear I won’t stop until I burn their whole fucking world down.
But right now, I need to find my woman. She’s safer here at the clubhouse than she’d ever be at some bar, and having her where I can see her calms the storm in my mind.
“If you two haven’t eaten, grab it now while it’s hot. I’m getting some, you should too.”
Ray and Bear nod, already standing.
“I want the first call as soon as you find anything on those tapes. We need to move on this fast.”
“You got it, Prez. You’ll be the first to know,” Bear replies we all head to join the group outside.