Chapter 10
Creed
After promising Nova I’ll get her if Crusher takes a turn, I spend the night sitting next to his bed, and just before dawn, he wakes up. I hand him some water, and he gulps it down before trying to sit up all the way.
“Don’t move too much,” I tell him. “Nova patched you up, and you don’t need to be undoing all that work.”
“Nova?” Crusher frowns.
“What happened?” I don’t know how long he’ll be awake, and I need as much information as he can give me. We can’t spend the time talking about Nova. I’ll make sure he knows what she did for him, but not right now.
“I don’t really know,” Crusher says. “I was making good time, hadn’t even seen anyone else for an hour.
Then I went around a curve, and something was there.
I swerved to miss it and hit something slick.
Nearly took me out. I stopped so I could see what the hell was going on.
I didn’t even get off my bike when I felt something pressing against my back.
I couldn’t see who it was or how they got there.
Then I heard the shot and felt like I got punched in the back.
I knew I had to get out of there. Don’t remember much after that. ”
“Did they say anything?” I ask.
“Just ‘stupid motherfucker’.” Crusher scowls. “I didn’t recognize the voice.”
I nod, filing everything away for me to bring up in church. “Don’t worry,” I tell him, “we’ll get the bastards.”
He nods and I can see his eyes are starting to close again.
“Get some sleep,” I say. “Need you healed up for when we take these assholes down.”
He’s asleep before I finish. Not wanting to wake him up again, I’m careful as I get up and leave the room.
It’s almost time for church, so Nix passes me in the hall on his way to sit with Crusher.
Once Nova checks my SAA out, we won’t need to watch him, but I’m not taking any chances, not after how close we were to losing him.
My eyes go to the framed vests lining the corridor.
There aren’t many, but it’s enough. Club brothers cut down before their time, like Revenge.
Ours is a life that comes with danger, and incidents like this bring it home.
Most of the MC is already in the room and the air feels charged.
The guys aren’t silent, but it’s definitely not the usual loud atmosphere I have to quiet down before a meeting.
All eyes turn to me when I walk up to my chair, but I don’t say anything until Cipher—the last one to arrive—slides into his seat.
“Let’s get started,” I say. “First, update on Crusher. He woke up long enough to tell me what happened. Sounds good and it doesn’t look like he’s got any complications. Nova’s gonna look in on him in a bit and let us know for sure.”
No one says anything about her, but I can feel the difference in that silence from how some of the brothers were when she first showed up here.
Even me making her my old lady didn’t change attitudes as much as what she did for us last night.
I never doubted my men would protect her, but now, they’ll keep her safe because she means more than just being their Prez’s woman.
“Crusher didn’t have much to say,” I continue.
I give them the rundown of everything he shared and see my frustration’s shared by them.
“We’re gonna look into it. See if we can find out who’s stupid enough to fuck with the Kings of Ruin.
Might be the same people responsible for Patch’s disappearance, might not be. Either way, they’ll answer to us.”
Everyone voices their agreement.
“Cipher, you got anything new on Patch’s movements?” I ask.
“Not new,” the hacker says. “But I confirmed he visited Reaper territory multiple times. Doesn’t look like he met anyone while he was there.”
“Sounding more and more like the kid fell into some dangerous shit,” Ace says what I’m thinking.
“I can’t believe he didn’t tell anyone,” Stray says.
“Are we sure he didn’t?” Ace asks. “Maybe someone from his life before?”
“I think he told someone,” I say. “I think he told Layla.”
“Shit,” Ace says, “you’re probably right.”
“But it’s worth looking into his past,” I agree.
“Brick, you and Marco dig into Patch’s past and find out if there’s anyone he might’ve talked to.
” I turn to Titch. “You think you can pull police sketch artist duty? I’m sending you with Vandal and Trigger back to where Crusher was shot.
They’ll take pictures of where it happened, but I want you to talk to anyone who might’ve seen anything, and if they can describe a person, a car, or a bike, you draw it until they say it looks like what they saw. ”
“Got it.” Titch’s expression is solemn, telling me he’s taking this seriously.
I look around the table. “Anyone got any other business we need to talk about?” No one says anything.
“Okay. Last thing. We’re gonna have some visitors a little later.
We met with some of the Iron Vipers at the Roadhouse before, but I’m gonna bring them here for an official talk.
It’s possible we’re the only targets, and this shit with Patch and Crusher aren’t even connected to each other, but if something bigger is going down, we’re gonna need allies. ”
The guys don’t look happy with my plan, but no one argues with me. Their trust in my leadership makes me even more determined to make sure I handle this the way a good president should.
“All right, that’s it,” I say. “Smells like Nova’s cooking bacon, so let’s get some breakfast and then do what we gotta do.”
***
I’m at the entrance to the clubhouse when the Iron Vipers come roaring through the gates.
Since they’re coming to our turf, I told Stone he could bring as many of his men as he wanted.
I count two dozen, plus his officers, which is about what I would’ve taken if our positions were switched.
Small enough to show he trusts us, but big enough to hold their own if we betray them.
Stone comes up first, his VP on his right, his SAA on the left. I hold my hand out to him first and we shake before I turn to Ratchet, and then Lynx. I’ve seen both men before but haven’t talked to them much. Stone’s a good man, though, and I trust his judgment.
“C’mon in,” I say. “Let’s get the business shit out of the way and then we can have a drink. I got some of that Scotch you like.”
Stone nods and the men follow me into the clubhouse where most of my MC are waiting.
The prospects are at the gate and Cipher’s got his laptop at the bar so he can keep an eye on the security cameras while he helps handle drinks.
Crusher is already in my office, waiting for the meeting.
Everyone else is standing around, keyed up, ready to party or fight.
“Drinks and food are free,” I say. “Bunnies are here for anyone who wants company, but club rules say they don’t gotta go with anyone they don’t want to.”
“Those are our rules, too,” Stone says. “Any of my boys touch a woman who doesn’t want ‘em, they get their asses beat. I got a daughter.”
At a nod from their Prez, the Vipers scatter, with only Ratchet and Lynx coming along with Stone. Ace is at the entrance to the hall and falls into step behind Lynx. When we get into my office, Ace shuts the door behind us, and we get down to business.
“You look like shit,” Stone says to Crusher. That ain’t a lie. The tough motherfucker’s doing okay, but I can tell he’s in pain. I told him to take it easy, but he insisted on coming to the meeting in case he had anything to add.
“Getting ambushed, shot in the back by a fucking coward, and nearly dying will do that to a person,” Crusher replies.
Stone looks at me. “Reapers?”
“Don’t know,” I say, “but anyone who’s willing to try to take out my SAA when he’s on club business wouldn’t think twice about going after anyone.”
“What’re you proposing?” Stone asks.
“We agree to have each other’s backs,” I say. “Not just backing off and not bothering each other, but making it known if someone fucks with one of us, they fuck with both of us.”
Stone is quiet for a minute, then looks from Ratchet to Lynx before coming back to me. “This gonna be something that lasts past whatever’s going on with your club? You guys get your shit handled and then you’re done?”
I shake my head. “If this is the Reapers, they’re gonna be trying to take over Kings’ territory, and then they’ll come for you.
Neither of us are model citizens, but we both agree there’s lines we don’t cross, but the Reapers do.
I don’t want that shit in Pine Ridge and I don’t think you want it near your family. This is how we keep the Reapers out.”
“Ratchet, thoughts?”
The VP is probably a good decade younger than Ace, but he’s got eyes that say he’s seen a lot. “Makes sense. Even if this ain’t the Reapers, we’ve all seen ‘em pushing boundary lines, testing us.”
“Ratchet’s right,” Lynx agrees. “Better we make a pact now than needing to do it later after something worse happens.” He nods at Crusher. “No offense.”
“All right,” I say. “We’ll work out the details later but shake on the promise now.” I hold out my hand and Stone shakes it.
“How about we get some of that Scotch now?” he says with a grin.
We’re almost at the bar when I see Nova sitting on her usual stool, and it’s damn near impossible not to stare at her.
She’s wearing some ridiculous sundress thing that makes it crystal clear she doesn’t belong here.
White and dark green, it’s got one of those halter tie things that leaves her shoulders bare, and while there’s not a lot of cleavage, the dress is tight enough to really show off her tits.
And I’m not the only one noticing.
“Prez?”
I hear Ace behind me, but I’m focused on the bald, tattooed Viper who’s standing too fucking close to my old lady.
The only thing that keeps me from slamming my fist into his face is remembering that not all the Vipers know who Nova is.
So instead of staking my claim with blood, I come up behind her and wrap my arm around her waist, pulling her tight against me.
Her back’s pressed against my chest, but because she’s still sitting on the stool, I barely need to bend my head to whisper in her ear, “Smile, sweetheart. They’re watching.”
She laughs softly, ducking her head like I said something to make her blush. I feel the sudden need to make that real.
“We need to convince them you’re mine,” I murmur as I flatten my hand on her stomach, my thumb brushing just under her breasts.
She sucks in a breath and I can’t help smiling.
“If you have a hard time, think about what I’d do to you if this was real.
How I’d slide my hand under your skirt and make you come on my fingers, right here, in front of everyone. ”
I can feel her breathing quicken, see that pink flush creeping across her cheeks. I love that I can get a reaction from her, but I don’t get the chance to try for another because a roar goes up from the pool table, pulling me out of the strange headspace I was just in.
I straighten but don’t pull away. Then, deliberately, I kiss the top of her head, inhaling the sweet scent of flowers I assume is her shampoo. When I raise my head, the bald Viper has backed away and he holds up his hands, giving me an apologetic nod.
Signal received. Now, the Iron Vipers know Nova’s mine. Despite that, I’m not about to leave her alone.
For the rest of the night, I’m with her, always touching her in some way. She goes along with all of it. Even when she’s talking to someone else, she’s in contact with me, letting that person know she’s off-limits.
When she’s ready to go to bed, I excuse myself and walk her back to her room. The moment we’re out of sight, I put distance between us. If she notices or it bothers her, she doesn’t say. Her expression doesn’t even change. That’s good, of course, because this is an arrangement, not reality.
It’s not until I’m on my way back to the main room that I realize I can still smell her shampoo. If I’m honest with myself, I can feel the heat of her body against mine. The softness of her skin under my fingers.
And, damn, if I don’t want more of all of it.