CHAPTER 13
MAYHEM
As Ripper settles into a chair on the other side of my desk, my gut clenches. He’s about to tell me some shit I don’t want to hear. I want to ignore it, but I can’t. It’s an impossibility because my woman being in danger just isn’t an option.
I’ll burn the entire fucking world down if something happens to her. I’m aware that it might not make a lot of sense to anyone else. Hell, someone might say I’m moving too fast, but I’m not interested in hearing that bullshit noise.
Addyson is mine and I’m going to do whatever I need to do to keep her safe and ensure her happiness. It’s the only way I know how to live.
Thinking of my woman reminds of how good it felt to sink into her from behind and how well she took me. That was only a few hours ago, but I’m already craving more of her. Fuck, I just want to be near her.
But her safety comes first.
Ripper looks at me for a long moment, as if he’s considering whether I’ll be able to hear his update without flipping the fuck out. I can, I just can’t guarantee everything in my office surviving. But a hole in the wall or a few broken items is the price of admission sometimes.
“Just say whatever it is you need to say,” I grit out the words, a feeling of foreboding settling around us and making me feel uneasy.
The need to have my eyes on my woman only grows. I’m not entirely sure how I manage to stay in my chair, but I do. The leather creaking underneath me is surprisingly grounding.
“Wagner is definitely tracking Addyson,” Ripper’s words are low and rough from disuse.
“From just following him I can’t tell whether he has any help on the force or not.
He hasn’t met up with friends or gone many places.
From the outside he appears to be a man mourning the death of his wife and has kept up with his routine. ”
The feeling of dread in the pit of my stomach deepens. “Except for today,” I don’t pose it as a question, but a fact. Ripper wouldn’t be bringing it up if there hadn’t been a change.
Ripper nods once and roughly exhales through his nose.
“Today, he drove down to Magnolia Point and checked out Addyson’s place.
He was alone and staked it out for a few hours before breaking in.
I didn’t follow him in, so I’m not entirely sure what he did there.
I was going to send Anchor in to check it over for bugs and cameras, but it might tip Wagner off about being watched, or lead him to Addyson earlier than necessary. ”
I lean back in my chair and pinch the bridge of my nose. “Fuck,” I try not to explode even though it’s what I desperately want to do.
It won’t do me any good. Not now. Not in this situation.
“Good thinking about not calling in Anchor. Maybe we let Wagner think he got away with checking out her place. I don’t like that he knows who she is and was able to track her to Magnolia Point,” I admit.
Ripper nods but doesn’t say anything. I’m not surprised. If his words aren’t adding to the conversation, he doesn’t offer them up. Still, I don’t need a brother to talk a lot or be loud. I need a brother to be loyal and Ripper is loyal.
He’s also a fucking psychopath, but that works in my favor in this case.
The last report I got from Anchor didn’t have a lot more information on the investigation. It’s clear that whoever is investigating Kendra’s murder isn’t doing so quickly. I suspect it’s because of Wagner and whatever lies he’s told his brothers in blue.
The thin blue line protects their own. While part of me can’t blame them, in this case they’re protecting a dirty fucking murderer with a badge. Their ignorance will put my woman in danger.
And that just doesn’t work for me.
“Duckie is on him. I told him about the trip to Magnolia Point,” Ripper informs me. He shoots me a wary look, “Town like that with a cop asking around? Wagner will know her entire life story in no time.”
“Yeah,” I grunt, “it’s what I’m afraid of.” No one will know to keep quiet and close ranks. I can’t even blame anyone because they don’t know any better. “Thanks, brother,” my voice sounds far away, the words more perfunctory than anything else.
My mind is spinning with how wrong this all can go and how much danger my woman is in. A cop without oversight who is dirty as fuck is a dangerous cop. But since everyone thinks he’s a good guy who is loyal to the law, people won’t want to acknowledge the truth.
“Church?”
I look at Ripper when he grunts the one-word question and nod in response. He’s up and heading out of the room after giving me a chin lift of acknowledgement. I’m sure he’s going to grab a drink or something at the bar. Honestly, I’m just grateful for a moment to think.
Thinking about the danger nipping at my woman’s heels is almost too much for me. Danger and violence aren’t things I normally shy away from, but this is different. This is the woman I can’t live without.
To some it might be fast, but not in my world. Life can be lived in one mile or thousands, but it should be lived.
I’m up and stalking out of my office before I can think too hard about it.
I find my woman in the kitchen along with Mom, Candy, and another angel whose name I always forget because she’s new and I have shit going on.
I don’t even try at this point. As long as they know where they stand in the pecking order around here, including knowing there’s a new queen on the throne, I’m good.
They’re working on dinner for everyone and I need to get church started. Soon the good smells coming out of this kitchen are going to be distracting everyone.
Addy turns when I walk through the door and gifts me a smile that makes my heart pound in my chest as my soul settles. I missed her.
It’s a wild fucking feeling.
When I get to her, everything else falls away even though I can feel everyone watching us. Let them watch, I don’t fucking care.
“Everything okay?” The genuine concern in her voice is what does me in. Fuck. This woman.
“I’m a lucky fucking man,” I murmur right before I take her mouth in a kiss that would be punishing if she wasn’t full of fire.
Her hands come up and grip my cut as she abandons whatever she was doing, all of her focus shifting and narrowing to just me. Like mine does with her.
I think I hear a gasp of surprise, but I don’t pay it any mind. I kiss my woman and pour everything into it, including a little bit of the fear I have for her. She takes it all, without question, without hesitation. And she gives it back to me in equal measure.
It feels like leveling out. Like finding center.
“Just keep in mind that I cook for everyone here,” Mom snarks.
Addyson jerks in my arms, pulling her mouth away from mine. “You really gotta temper this whole biker president swagger you have going on,” Addyson demands, her finger circling the air in front of my chest like she isn’t considering stripping me and having her way with me.
But I see the lust in her eyes.
“It wasn’t just Prez who was hot as fuck during the kiss,” Candy whispers out of the side of her mouth, every word filled with a giggle.
Addyson’s cheeks turn a pretty pink and I wink down at her before looking toward Mom. As expected, she looks like she’s floating. She might have just given me shit, but she’s smiling from ear to ear.
Candy wiggles her eyebrows, her voice teasing, “If you ever want to play, Queenie, I’m your girl.”
“Candy,” Addyson admonishes her, but there’s no real heat in her words, “I’ve never been interested in being with a woman. Tal and I kissed once in high school to try it, but that was enough.”
“What the fuck?” I bark out the question, unsure of how I feel about such a revelation. “Does Scythe know this?”
“What?” My woman blinks up at me innocently. “How else would we find out if we liked it?” She tilts her head to the side slightly. “I’m not sure if he knows or not. Only if she told him. It might not have come up.”
Oh, fucking hell. I face palm before gripping the back of my woman’s neck. When I kiss her this time, it’s soft and gentle. Someone sighs, but I don’t give a fuck.
“Got Church,” my voice is rough with the need to kiss her harder, with the need to sink into her. “Then we’ll have dinner. After that, you’re mine.”
“Thought I was already yours,” Addy teases.
“Fuck, yes, you are,” I growl.
I kiss her hard, but it’s brief, far too brief. I plant a kiss on her forehead before I rip myself away from her and head toward the common room. What I don’t do is look back; I can’t. If I do, then I won’t walk away from her.
This woman has me wrapped around her little finger. And I’m all for it. I’m over here just coiling tighter around that finger all on my own. She owns me and I’ve never felt this kind of purpose.
“Church!” I bellow the word and then head back down the hallway to where our meeting room is.
I know my brothers will follow me. Even if the sound of their boots wasn’t enough, it’s just something I don’t have to question. Which is why I know they’re going to give me shit about claiming an Old Lady. And then they’ll accept Addyson with open arms.
They already have.
She’s charmed them completely. The only one I need to keep an eye on is Rampage, but even he’ll keep shit above board. It’s all in good fun because he likes to bust my fucking balls.
I don’t have to wait long for my brothers to file into the room and take their seats around the table. I look down at the devil skull burned into the table. It’s always been a touchstone when it comes to my club.
No, it’s more than the club.
It’s a touchstone for who I am. Who I’ll always be.
Even when the door to Church closes, I keep my eyes on the table. I never thought I’d be here, in this moment. But I am.
And I’ve never been surer about what I’m about to say.
I raise my head and look around the table, my brothers watching me carefully. Some have knowing looks on their faces, already more than aware of what I’m about to say. Others are smirking, prepared to give me shit because they don’t get it yet. Maybe they never will.
Their loss.
“I’m claiming Addyson. She’s mine. I’ve already ordered her cut and the moment it comes in; I’ll be slipping it on her shoulders. I’ll have my ring on her finger and my baby in her womb before too long as well,” my words are a promise.
“Don’t you think you should have her on the back of your bike before you walk down the aisle?” Rampage’s question is designed to provoke me.
I give him a chin lift and flip him off, not bothering with more than that. A few brothers bark out laughs while some clap, whistle, or bang on the table. Everyone knows Rampage is full of shit until he isn’t.
But the shit eating grin on his face tells the story. And everyone has seen how he’s become my woman’s pet.
“I think she’s the right woman to have at your side, Prez,” Ripper’s voice is low and measured, the rest of the brothers going silent as he speaks. “She’s strong and loyal. Look what she did for someone she didn’t know because she felt it was the right thing to do. No one better to wear your cut.”
I blink at my enforcer a few times, sitting back in my chair as I do. That was a lot of fucking words for him. Rampage reaches over and clamps a hand on Ripper’s shoulder.
“You heard the man,” I throw the words onto the table like poker chips when I know my hand is taking home the pot.
Everyone nods and cheers. When they quiet down, I look at Ripper and Anchor. “Now, let’s get everyone filled in on the dirty cop and what he’s been up to. We need to be ready. It won’t take long before he connects the dots and shows up at our doorstep.”
That has everyone calming down and leaning over the table like they’re ready to go to war.
For me.
For my woman.