Chapter 30
Ashia
Two Days Later
The sun beats down on the park, and even though it’s late September now, there’s a nice breeze in the area.
As kids run around to play, I can’t help but watch them.
Grease and the MC did a great job with their community barbeque today.
The park is decorated nicely, and there seems to be an activity for everyone.
There are a few bouncy houses, a few water balloon stations, water slides, and a lot of the local food trucks are donating their meals to the attendees.
They even organized a clothing drive to help out families in need.
I’ve known that they do this every summer, but I’ve never been able to attend.
I’m glad I convinced the guys to let us come.
It’s out in the open, and there are so many people here that we don’t believe there’s any immediate danger.
A lot of our people are mingling with the motorcycle club members, and everyone seems to be getting along.
Even Viking has loosened up some. He’s been chatting away with everyone as he grills some food, and when I walked near him earlier, the nod he gave me didn’t seem as hostile as before.
Zeke is standing only about a foot to my left, and the others are close by, but I wanted to make sure they had a decent time.
They deserve some time to relax after everything that we’ve been dealing with.
Alex brought Trina, and they’re off having a cute little lunch date somewhere in the park.
Serena is practically forcing Carter to sit on a picnic blanket and eat like a normal person, and now, he just looks like he’s in pain.
It makes me laugh whenever I watch Carter take on Ser’s overbearing ass.
“The doctor says he’s doing really well,” Leanne says softly through our videocall.
I tear my eyes away from the children playing and focus on her.
She looks a little tired. Her blonde hair is pulled back, and her face is sunken, but at least she looks better than she did a couple of days ago.
“There’s no sign of infections, and the wound is holding together nicely. He finally woke up earlier.”
Hope blooms in my chest, and I faintly smile.
“Oh, he did?”
She nods.
“He was really confused at first, and I’m not sure he’ll remember any of it, but he spoke a little. The doctor said that’s a good sign.” She smiles back at me.
“It’s a great one,” I say back to her. “Are you okay? Do you need us to sneak anything in for you?” The day after John was shot, Alex snuck her into the hospital, and she’s been there ever since.
Serena has brought her clothes, food, toiletries, and anything else she might need.
The staff there said they would take care of her, but we’re going to do the same, of course.
I think as long as she has John, though, she’ll be alright.
“Oh, no, sweetie. I’m fine. I just wanted to call and give you an update.” Her smile slowly fades. “Is there any word on Damien?”
My heart sinks to my feet, and I shake my head.
“Not yet, but I swear, we’re looking into everything we can,” I try to reassure her.
We haven’t moved on Popov yet, and the wait is killing me.
We decided to be patient and get some intel, and while we’ve gotten some, it still isn’t enough for me.
Ezra has been tailing him for a couple of days now, in hopes that he’ll lead us to Damien, but he hasn’t yet.
Popov does seem to be moving in a pretty consistent pattern.
So now, we just need to make sure everything is as safe as it can be before we move in.
“I know you are. You all will find him soon. I’m sure of it,” she says with absolution. I go to say ‘I hope so,’ and that I won’t stop until I do—even if it takes forever—but then I notice Satori walking up to me. His stance is pretty relaxed, and he doesn’t appear upset, thankfully.
“I’ll call you back, Leanne.” I wave bye and hang up the phone. Zeke steps closer to me as Satori approaches. He stands with his arms crossed, like he won’t hesitate to lash out at him, and I know he won’t. Satori glances at him, but then just shakes his head like he’s over the hostility.
“Good afternoon, Ashia,” Satori says with shocking politeness. “May we talk for a minute? Alone?”
“I don’t think so, Macher,” Zeke declares.
Satori looks over at him again, and I hate how the disappointment in his eyes affects me.
He has been rather helpful for the past couple of days.
He’s handled all of the rotations, equipment management, and anything else Kade asked him to do.
The least I can do is give him a few minutes of my time.
I turn to Zeke to give one of those subtle ‘it’s okay’ looks, and he huffs, like he’s annoyed.
“Everything is fine, Zeke. Go grab some food, we’ll sit here and wait for you.
Okay?” I point to the nearby picnic table a few feet away, gesturing to our position, and he looks at the wood like it’s going to jump out and bite me.
After a quick tap on his forearm, I sit down on the wooden bench, and Satori sits across from me as Zeke walks away.
I don’t miss Zeke’s multiple glances back, though. “Okay, what’s up, Satori?”
“I didn’t mean to knock him off his rocker,” Satori jokes and looks back to me.
“He’s fine, just protective.” I back Zeke up. I’m not sure my brother’s hatred for Satori is ever going to fade, but at least they can be within ten feet of one another without trying to fight.
“Yeah, I know.” He grins. “I just really wanted to thank you for allowing us the chance to really show what we’ve got.
As a group, I mean. I guess I just needed to feel important, and with Kade being so messed up over everything that happened, I’m glad he finally feels like he’s in control again…
” He keeps going, but I furrow my brows at his statement.
“What do you mean?” I ask him, stopping him mid-sentence.
“About what?” he asks back, like he doesn’t know what I’m referring to.
“About Kade?”
His face falls a little and then he looks around to make sure no one can hear him. As he takes a deep breath, he looks a little nervous. Is he telling me something he shouldn’t have? Is there something about Kade they’ve been hiding from us?
“After we lost our base and our men, Kade took it really hard,” he says grimly.
“He started blaming himself and acting out. There were times when he’d go off and do things without discussing it first, and without my permission.
He acted really strange until I told him we were moving out here for a while.
Things calmed down after we started moving, and he’s started to seem better.
So, that’s besides the point…” He swats his hand, like I’m not already looking at Kade differently.
Why would he say that? Kade is his number one supporter. Why would he throw him under the bus like that? There hasn’t been a single negative instance with Kade, and he’s Damien’s friend. I’m sure if there was any concern about his mental well-being, Damien would’ve noted or expressed that.
What if he just didn’t have the chance to, though?
Kade did go radio-silent before all of this happened.
Damien went weeks without hearing from him, and then he waited until they arrived to speak to him again.
It doesn’t make any sense. His tech expertise does point to a lot of the issues behind Damien missing, but I just can’t see Kade being behind it.
He’s been so attentive and helpful. Anything I or the guys have asked of him, he’s done without question, and he certainly hasn’t tried to interject himself like Satori has.
“Anyway,” Satori continues, even though I haven’t been listening.
“I just wanted to thank you. I feel a lot better about the situation now, and—” Satori reaches out to lay his hand on top of mine, and I immediately yank it back like he burned me.
A wave of repulsion surges through my veins, and I can’t help but cut my eyes at him. What the fuck was that? “I’m sor—”
“Is there a problem here, pendejo?” Shockingly, Viking steps up to the table and interjects.
He towers over Satori like a bodyguard, and it takes me by surprise.
He should look a little less intimidating with that grilling apron on, but honestly, it actually might make him look even scarier.
His height and Hulk-like build are nothing to underestimate.
“And who might you be?” Satori questions him and stands up like he would actually have a chance against him.
Satori is a decently-sized man, and has a solid physical build, but he’s like Ant Man, comparatively.
Viking only smirks and takes a step closer to him, as if he’d love nothing more than to put Satori in his place.
“He’s with me, mother fucker.” Grease then steps up behind Satori and pockets his hands.
While Viking looks amused, Grease looks anything but.
His face is stern and his lips are pressed into a fine line, showing his clear disapproval of the situation.
The two biker men crowd Satori like a sandwich, and I can’t help but smirk.
Damien may not be here to keep other men from touching me, but it’s nice to know that they will.
“And it looks like you’re bothering the lady. ”
Before Satori can get another word out, Zeke pops back in like a jack-in-the-box and grips Satori by his shirt.
He drags him away, and just when I think they’ll fight again, he just walks away with his hands raised.
Viking laughs, like he’s not surprised that Satori would back down so easily, and Grease turns back to me with furrowed brows.
“You good, mama?” he asks with a serious tone.
“Yeah, I’m fine. We were just talking, and I guess he got carried away.
” I try to justify the situation, even though it almost makes me sick.
This is the MC’s biggest event, and I don’t want to cause problems, regardless of the bugs now crawling under my skin.
I look over to Viking and nod my head a little. “Thank you.”
“Anytime.” He nods back and then jerks his head away, signaling to Grease to keep it moving. As they walk away, Grease turns to me and lazily continues to step backward.
“Let me know if you need anything.”
“Yeah, I will. Thanks. You too.” I nod back at him as Zeke steps up beside me again.
“What the fuck was that about?”
I don’t look up to him. My eyes are now set on Satori as he mingles with Kade and a few of the men.
Kade looks relaxed as always, like Satori’s presence doesn’t affect him, but the other guys tense up some—as if they don’t really like him.
And that’s saying something, because a couple of them are his guys.
“I don’t know. He just wanted to show his appreciation, I suppose,” I say with a slight hint of sarcasm.
“Then why do you look like you could shoot him?” Zeke asks me.
I finally turn my head to meet his gaze, and he’s staring down at me curiously.
Something about that conversation rubbed me the wrong way.
I’m just not sure why. His comments about Kade seemed like a slip-up, and I doubt he would intentionally insult his friend out in public.
Especially to me, when I’m already so wary about him.
It felt like he assumed that I already knew something I didn’t, and perhaps I should find out what that is.
“I’m not sure yet.” I look over to Carter as Zeke sits down next to me, and I’m shocked when he sets a cheeseburger down on the table.
“Eat,” he demands.
“I will in a second,” I reassure him, not willing to fight with him while he’s riled up like this. The moment Carter meets my stare, I gesture him over. Ser pouts as he stands up, but he just ignores her and walks over. I chuckle softly as he steps up to the table. “Can you do me a favor?”
“Always. What’s up?” he asks genuinely.
“How deeply have you looked into Kade?”
His brows scrunch in interest, and I can see Zeke leaning closer to us in my peripheral.
“What makes you think I was looking into Kade?” Carter asks indifferently, but we both know he’s lying. Carter is secretly as paranoid as the rest of us, and even I know the extent of his searches.
“You’re you, that’s what. You always look at everything and everyone,” I retort. Carter glances around subtly and then looks back at me.
“Pretty deep.”
“And?” I ask softly, and he just shrugs his shoulders.
“There isn’t much on him. He lived a pretty normal life out in Texas, and then he moved to Washington about eight years ago. He has no criminal record, and any computer traces I found of his look pretty legit. Why do you ask?”
“Something Satori said, but I just wanted a different input,” I reply honestly.
Carter just nods once, like he understands exactly what I’m thinking.
I’m glad the four of us understand each other as well as we do.
They have the same connection with Damien, and it’s partially how they work so well together.
It’s like there’s a hivemind between us all, a mutual understanding of sorts, and I’m thankful for the connection.
“I’ll keep an eye out.”
“Thanks.” I grin at him before he turns to walk back to Serena. I’m glad they’re spending more time together, but it’s not like it was before. They still have an awkward wedge between them. I wish they would just get over themselves and start having sex again. They were both way happier then.
“Do we think Kade has anything to do with D going missing?” Zeke asks, and I don’t miss the edge of anger in his words.
“Not yet. I just want to dig a little deeper into Sahara’s past, if we can.”
Zeke just tilts his head from side to side and then glances back over in Satori’s direction.
“That’s going to be hard to find, considering they seem so tight-lipped about it.”
“Well, I know Damien has a file on them in the system, but until we know that no one can alter it, I want to find our own information,” I declare, and he looks at me curiously.
“You think someone is messing with the system?” he says accusingly, and he’s right, but I’m just not sure who yet.
I glance over at him, and he nods without me having to say anything.
“I agree.” He pushes the cheeseburger a little closer to me.
“Now, eat. That’s a problem we can look into once we head back. ”