Chapter Twenty-Four
Corey
“So we just have to hide out?” I ask, frowning at Julianna and Bella. “Surely there’s something else we can do to help?”
I know Damon just wants me to sit here and look pretty tomorrow night, but I want to be useful. And I know they don’t want me to message Tatum anymore, but what if I can get something else out of him?
“We just need to stay away so the other men can’t use us as leverage,” Bella explains, sighing. “River basically told me I’m his weakness, and he can’t let them use his weakness against him.”
I purse my lips. “Wow, my brother has a way with words. You aren’t just his weakness—you’re his strength, too.”
“He did say that also,” she admits, grinning.
“Well, we have the most important job, which is to make sure Julian is safe,” Julianna adds, tucking her blonde hair back behind her ear. “I don’t love hiding either, trust me, but Bella is right. We can’t let them use us. And if we are safe the men will be able to do what they need to do with clear minds.”
“The whole thing is crazy—do we even know what their plan is?” I ask, looking to Julianna, who is the most likely to know.
“We will decide tonight when we go to church,” she says, glancing between us. “But I don’t know if I can tell you every detail, especially if you aren’t happy with staying behind.”
I know that comment was aimed at me, and fair enough. “It’s not that I have FOMO or anything. I just would help if given the opportunity.”
“We know,” she and Bella say at the same time.
“Who is staying with us, then?” I ask, knowing they aren’t going to leave us without someone staying behind to protect us.
“I’m not sure, but it will have to be someone they trust.”
Jeremiah, one of the Devils MC members, sticks his head into the lounge room where we are all congregating. “What are you three whispering about?”
“Come and sit down and find out,” I tell him.
He grins and steps inside. He’s wearing his staple leather pants, a black tank top, and one of those chain belts I haven’t seen anyone else in this decade wear. “Okay, what’s the gossip? Is this about Damon and Corey? Because we all know already. And yes, some of us are jealous.”
I open my mouth, then almost choke on my words. “What?”
“Damon has a hot, younger old lady,” he replies, shrugging. “And he got one that was off-limits. We love forbidden fruit.”
I cover my mouth with my hand, both amused and horrified. “Please don’t refer to me as forbidden fruit ever again. Or talk about me like I’m not sitting right here.”
Although I get a secret thrill at being called Damon’s old lady. I know I shouldn’t, but I love it. Being known as his is something I’ve wanted for a long time. Not that I’d ever admit that out loud.
Jeremiah puts his hands up in surrender. “Sorry, it’s a compliment.”
Jag walks in eating a mango, speaking of fruit, which makes us all laugh. “What?” he asks.
Diamond walks in after him, and it’s like our meeting’s turned into a freaking party. I leave the room to go and find Damon, who is outside having a chat with Romeo. Not wanting to disturb them, I head into the kitchen and start making a platter for everyone to munch on.
We need this time with all of us together tonight.
“What have you got there?” Damon asks, hugging me from behind and pushing my hair off my neck so he can kiss me there. My fucking favorite.
“Just feeding the masses,” I reply on a sweet sigh. “I came looking for you but didn’t want to interrupt.”
He picks up a grape and pops it into his mouth, making a satisfying crunch. “Just working a few things out.”
That’s all he gives me.
But I’m not going to ask for any details until they’ve laid out their official plan tonight.
He helps me finish the platter and take it back out to the living room, where Jeremiah is showing off his dance moves to a song playing from his phone. We put the platter down on the coffee table and sit down to enjoy the show. He’s not a bad dancer, to be honest, but then Diamond joins in and puts him to shame. I try not to look, but also don’t want to not look, as he does a little grind movement that is pretty damn hot.
“Okay, I’m not as good as Diamond, but I’m not bad,” Jeremiah then tells Julianna, who is picking up some fruit from the table with a grin on her face. “Don’t underestimate me. Ooh, food.”
“I didn’t say you weren’t a good dancer,” she replies, laughing. “I just asked if you could dance, because I’ve never seen you dance.”
“Well, now you know,” he says, winking at her.
“You put more mango on the platter,” Jag says, smiling up at me, his green eyes lit up. “You are seriously the best, you know that?”
I look over at Damon, who instead of being angry like he usually would be, is looking over at me with pride in his eyes. I suppose that’s the difference with me openly being with him. Before, the men were a threat because they could take me. But now that I’m his, he can appreciate how well I get along with his MC brothers.
Love the man, love the club, right?
Except I already loved the club.
Damon being in it is just a bonus.
When my phone buzzes with a text, my eyes widen when I see it’s from Tatum. This time, I show Damon right away.
Tatum: Come meet me?
“Surely we can use this to help us.”
He hands me my back my phone. “Maybe. Don’t reply for now, and we will come up with a plan.”
I nod, happy that he’s listening and considering my offer. I might not be able to be on the front lines, but I can still help, and that’s all I wanted to do.
We all sit around talking shit for some time, until Romeo and River call all the men to church. Julianna joins them. Bella and I sit back with Julian and wait to see what is decided.
I already feel like I know how this is going to go. The men are going to ambush them, maybe kidnap Tatum, or maybe even kill him.
I know I should feel sadness at this, but Tatum is a stranger to me. He’s not my family.
And now he’s threatening the people that are.
I won’t stand for it.
And if the time comes, I’ll do whatever I can to protect what’s mine.