Chapter 11
Callan
The next couple of weeks passed in silence.
In blissful peace, something my woman desperately needed after all the hell she’d recently been through.
Rachel continued to heal, more and more of her memories slowly coming back to her.
Most seemed to be back, and whatever she still drew blanks on, I did my best to fill in for her since it seemed to be everything that had happened pretty recently.
I hated that she was missing some of the memories we shared, and I could tell she felt the same way. It frustrated her—upset her.
She’d already lost so much, and now, our memories had been ripped from her, too.
Rachel stepped into the kitchen just as I was finishing up her cup of coffee.
My gut still clenched when I saw the cast around her wrist. “You’re spoiling me,” she mumbled as she took the mug from me, her voice husky with sleep.
She’d been doing a lot of that lately. Sleep had been vital in her recovery so far, but I was also pretty sure she was finding it easier to sleep than to remain awake and face her new reality.
A reality in which we’d lost a baby. A reality in which she lost some of our more precious memories. A reality in which we’d never be able to have children of our own.
I cupped the back of her head and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “I almost lost you, kitten. I have plans to spoil you so fucking much, you never want to leave me.”
A smirk tilted her lips as she looked up at me from beneath her lashes. It was a sassy look, a teasing, taunting one, though I knew she was in no condition to be doing anything sexual.
“Spoil me by taking out the assholes who did this to me.” She tried to play off the whole thing with dark humor, but I knew it bothered her as much as it did me.
We lost Henry—our prospect—and Genesis was suffering a broken leg, recovering from a severe concussion, and learning how to navigate life without three of her fingers.
They’d been too smashed to heal properly.
But on top of all that, we’d lost our chance to ever have a family of our own. We’d lost a baby we’d never even gotten the chance to know about. And Rachel had lost valuable memories.
I would gladly wipe the entire Souls of Grim MC off the face of the fucking earth for what they’d done to Rachel. To all of us.
“That’s the plan, kitten,” I assured her just as my phone began to ring.
I sighed and pulled it out of my pocket, frowning at Carter’s name on my screen.
He’d left us alone for the most part the past couple of weeks, knowing Rachel and I both needed space from the club.
And while he’d checked in with me from time to time to see how his little sister was doing and to see how we were holding up, he’d never called this early in the morning.
Something was going on. Fuck. Which meant the club was calling—the last fucking thing I wanted to be dealing with.
Sighing, I swiped my thumb across the screen to answer his call.
“Yeah,” I grunted, leaning back against the kitchen counter behind me.
Rachel slipped onto a bar stool, her eyes locked on my face as she waited to find out what her brother wanted.
She tentatively sipped at her hot coffee, her thin fingers wrapped around the mug.
“Need you and Rachel here at the clubhouse,” he told me. “I’ve got a run planned, and my sister doesn’t need to be alone while we’re gone.”
I gritted my teeth. “I don’t want to fuckin’ leave her, Carter. You remember what happened last time? In case you’ve forgotten, I almost lost her. Her life was irreversibly changed.”
He sighed. “I know, but I have a plan in place. Just trust me.”
I made a sucking sound with my teeth. “When it comes to her, brother, I don’t trust anyone.” Carter grunted, sounding a little offended. Tough. She was too goddamn precious. I didn’t trust anyone with her any longer.
I glanced at my watch before looking at Rachel, who had barely touched her coffee. “Give us two hours,” I finally told him. “Rachel needs to finish her coffee, have breakfast, and we both need to shower. Is this going to be an overnight thing?”
“Yeah,” Carter muttered.
Fucking hell. And fuck this club.
“Two hours,” I said again.
I hung up the phone before setting it down on the counter.
Reaching up, I scrubbed my hands over my face, hating the scruff along my jawline that I hadn’t had time to shave.
Rachel was frowning, her brows furrowed.
“A run?” she asked, not sounding pleased about it.
Couldn’t really blame her. I didn’t want to fucking leave either, and if I didn’t like or trust whatever plan Carter had in place, he could count me the fuck out.
I nodded. “Carter supposedly has a plan in place. I’ll find out more when I get there.
” Turning, I headed for the fridge to begin whipping up pancakes and bacon for Rachel.
The pain medicine she was on needed to be taken with food, and she only took it in the mornings, preferring to take ibuprofen and acetaminophen throughout the rest of the day, claiming the prescription meds made her too loopy.
“But if I don’t like the plan he has in place, I won’t be going. ”
She sighed. “But the club—”
I cracked an egg into the bowl before adding the amount of milk I needed.
“If you think I won’t turn my cut in and get my ink blacked out for you, you’re sorely mistaken, kitten.
” Turning my head, I looked at her over my shoulder, letting my eyes meet hers.
“You are my priority,” I told her. “Not a goddamn thing else matters. Not anymore.”
She swallowed thickly before nodding her head, letting the subject drop.
I knew she understood the club was supposed to come first. But not before her. Never fucking again. I’d made that mistake once, and it almost cost me everything. I wouldn’t make that mistake a second time.
The gravel lot was full of bikes when I pulled onto the lot.
Rachel tightened her arms around me, her head lifting off my back to look around us.
I slowed to a stop near the clubhouse doors and turned the bike off.
Carter stepped outside as Rachel slid from behind me and began removing her helmet.
Once she’d handed it to me, Carter pulled her into a hug, holding her for a moment longer than he usually would.
It’d terrified him, too, to almost lose her.
“Good to see you back here, sis,” he told her quietly.
She made a noncommittal noise but didn’t say anything else otherwise. I knew she didn’t want to come back here—not yet. But I wasn’t leaving her behind, and honestly, I wasn’t sure she was ready to be apart from me. Another reason I hated Carter was calling for a run.
I arched a brow at the president. “Who the fuck else is here?”
“London’s Tears,” he informed me. I frowned. It was rare they ever came around. “They’re offering their services after what happened to Rachel. They’ll leave some brothers behind to protect her while the rest of us are gone.”
“Then why do you need me?” I demanded as I pressed my palm to Rachel’s lower back, relishing in the way she leaned back into my touch.
“Because if we accomplish what we’re looking to do, then you’ll be able to get your hands on everyone who hurt Rachel,” Carter told me.
I stared at him for a moment before nodding my head once. That was a plan I could get behind. “Then, let’s get inside and get to the table.” I looked at Rachel. “You want to sit in?”
She shook her head, her eyes clouded with darkness and internal pain.
My gut twisted, my heart wrenching in my chest. I wished I could do more to make this go away, but all I could do was wipe out every son of a bitch who touched her.
Who hurt her and made her suffer. Who ripped her chance of having children from her and her memories.
“I need a drink,” she muttered. She didn’t need to be drinking with her pain meds, but I didn’t say anything. I trusted her to choose something weak and only a shot. Rachel wasn’t stupid.
She separated from me, heading inside the clubhouse before either Carter or I could move. I sighed and shoved my hands into my pockets, staring after her until the door shut. Carter grimaced. “Did I do something wrong?”
I shook my head. “She just needs time.” With that, I headed inside, instantly finding her leaning against the bar. I stared at her for a moment before heading into the chapel, nodding once in greeting to Drake, the president of London’s Tears, who was already seated at the table.
“Been a minute,” he gruffly spoke up.
“Yeah, it has. Everything on your end been good?”
He nodded. “Good as it can be.” Hell, I was pretty sure that was all any of us could ask for anymore. It’d certainly been better than two weeks ago, so I guess that was a plus, at the very least.
Carter stepped into the chapel, shutting the door behind him.
Once everyone, aside from Genesis, who was still recovering, was seated, Carter cleared his throat.
“Drake has informed me that the Souls of Grim are holed up two states over while they work on expanding their territory there and their club. The goal seems to be a second charter.”
Fucking great. More roaches to stomp out before they could infest more area.
“We won’t let that happen,” Drake said, taking over the meeting.
“Five of my men will remain here to protect Rachel, which is who they’re after.
The president wants her, though none of us know why.
I imagine we’ll find out once we get our hands on him.
” I leaned back in my chair, crossing my arms over my chest as I listened to him lay out the plan.
“Those of us not staying will ride. We’ll strike at night. The place they’re building currently has no electricity. The most light we may have to worry about are from any fires. It should be a new moon, so we won’t have to worry about moonlight.”
“The plan when we get there?” Brittany asked, leaning forward and bracing her elbows on the table, her fingers steepled in front of her chin.
“Take out everyone except the president.” Carter looked at me. “Any special requests?”
I smirked, blood lust thrumming through my veins. “I want the fingers of every son of a bitch who played a hand in almost taking Rachel from me.” Because I wanted to deliver them to my woman. They would be proof that none of them could ever harm her again.
Carter nodded once. “Consider it done.”