Chapter 33
BISHOP
The bullet burned through my shoulder with a savage pain.
I’d felt worse.
A lot worse.
The location of the pain told me it had been a clean through and through.
It had missed the bone, missed major arteries. I’d live.
Noelle knelt beside me on the cold asphalt, her hands shaking as she pressed them against my chest.
Blood seeped between her fingers, and her face drained of color. “Fuck, Bishop. This is all my fault. I’m so sorry.”
“I’m fine.” My voice came out rough, but she was used to that.
The pain was manageable.
Watching her fall apart over me?
That hit differently.
“Just a flesh wound. I don’t need an ambulance.”
“Just a flesh wound?”
Her brows knit together. “You’ve lost a lot of blood. Blood that you need inside your body.”
She pressed her forehead to my chest. “You took a bullet meant for me. You could have been killed.”
“I’m tougher than that.” I tried to laugh, but it drove a deeper wedge of pain into my chest.
How did I tell her that I’d rather die in her place than live without her?
Ash materialized beside us, breathing hard. He braced his hands on his knees. “How bad?”
“Clean through. Need stitches and I’m good as new.”
I tried to sit up, and Noelle’s hands fluttered over me like she wanted to push me down again.
“I’m not dying, Noelle. Stop looking at me like I am.”
“You scared the ever-loving shit out of me and now you want me to stop looking at you?” She huffed and held out her bloody hands as she shrugged.
“Got a first aid kit on my bike. Be right back.” Ash tore off down the road.
I’d lost sight of Rafe, but I wasn’t worried about him.
The Serpent club ran at the first sight of us.
I sat in the middle of the road with Noelle and the weight of everything that had happened.
She stared at the blood on her hands, lowering them to her lap with her palms facing upward.
Rafe’s voice carried from down the street.
He barked orders at the others, something about making sure the area was clear.
No cops had shown up. What did that mean for Noelle?
“I need to tell you something.” Noelle glanced at me but couldn’t—or wouldn’t—hold my gaze. “All of you. I should have told you earlier. Maybe then, none of this would have happened.”
Doubtful, but I understood her sentiment.
“Noelle—”
“I’m a detective.” The words came out so fast, they tumbled over each other.
Ash and Rafe moved within hearing distance.
Noelle took a shuddering breath.
“My name is Noelle, but I’m not a reporter. I was sent undercover to investigate the Steel Vipers for suspected drug smuggling.”
Betrayal hung in the air between us.
I should have been shocked. Furious.
Neither bothered to edge in past the fatigue that had nothing to do with blood loss.
Ash moved to sit beside me and began working on my wound. “I know.”
Her head snapped up. “You know?”
“I suspected. From the beginning.” Ash concentrated on the wound.
I studied Noelle’s face, memorizing the way she looked in that moment.
Vulnerable and terrified and beautiful.
Ash continued. “You asked too many questions. Knew things a reporter shouldn’t. And your story had holes.”
He shrugged when he spotted Noelle’s shocked expression. “I figured you were a cop. You’re not exactly subtle, sweetheart.”
“You knew?” She looked from Ash to me.
I hadn’t suspected, but it all made sense now that Ash brought it up.
“You knew, and you still…”
“Still let you into our lives? Into our bed?” Ash gave her a devilish grin. “Why wouldn’t I? You were never a threat, Noelle.”
Until tonight. And I didn’t give a fuck. “It’s done. We know the truth now. I don’t care.”
Ash nodded.
Noelle sucked a sharp breath between clenched teeth. “But I lied to you. Deceived you.”
“So?” I hissed when Ash disinfected the wound. “Everyone lies, Little Viper. What matters is why you did it.”
I wiped my thumb over her cheek, cleaning away bits of gravel and tears. “So, why did you do it?”
Rafe appeared behind Noelle.
His legs widened into a defensive stance, and he crossed his arms while staring down at her.
His face could have been made from stone for all the expression he gave.
Noelle took the gauze Ash handed her and pressed it to my wound. “My captain threatened my job if I didn’t make an arrest on Christmas Eve. I knew…”
She blinked a few times. “I knew from the beginning that you were the good guys. The way you treated people, the things you did for the community. The toy drive.”
Her gaze darted behind her, to the warehouse.
Rafe was right in her line of sight, but she didn’t look up.
“But you kept the wire on.” Rafe said it in that deadly quiet voice that made most men turn tail and run.
Noelle sighed and rubbed the back of her hand across her forehead. “You have no reason to believe me, but I was going to tell you tonight. After I heard about the Christmas operation, I was going to come clean to all of you. I love you.”
Her eyes reddened, and it took considerable effort not to yank my arm free from Ash and wrap her up in a hug. “I love all of you and I would never do anything to hurt you.”
Ash’s hands stilled on the bandage.
Rafe’s jaw ticked, the muscle jumping beneath his skin.
I knew his response before the first word left his mouth. “You love us but you were going to arrest us.”
“No.” She exploded upward in a flurry of movement. “I was going to tell my captain I found no evidence of wrongdoing. That you were clean. I only wore the wire to prove I was right.”
“And you’d willingly lose your job?” Rafe bent to bring his face closer to hers.
Anger burned bright in his eyes.
Ash worked double-time to finish wrapping my arm.
Neither of us spoke.
There was still a chance that Noelle could convince him.
Noelle nodded. “Yes. I would have given up my job for you.”
The air shifted.
Rafe wavered, the walls he’d built over the years threatened by her claim.
For a minute, I thought he’d forgive her.
Ash finished dressing my wound and began shoving everything back into the red bag.
“Get out.” Rafe straightened to his full height and glared down at Noelle.
Noelle recoiled much like she had in the warehouse.
I pushed to my feet. “Rafe.”
He stopped me with an icy glare that demanded my respect and my loyalty. “No.”
He dipped his chin toward Noelle. “Get out of town. Don’t come back. Ever.”
“You can’t be serious.” Noelle took a step toward him.
She was either the bravest woman in the world or the most foolish. “Rafe, I’m not going to let them arrest you.”
Her hand lifted, and Rafe stared at it with a cold cruelty that twisted my stomach.
I couldn’t sit by and let him do this.
I finished the agonizingly slow movement to stand.
Dizziness whooshed through me with such ferocity, Ash ducked beneath my arm and helped hold me upright.
“I’m dead serious.” Rafe pointed a finger at her car parked across the street.
He took a step closer, looming over her. “You think being willing to sacrifice your career makes this okay?”
A scoff twisted his mouth. “Love doesn’t fix this. Fuck love.”
I’d never heard him so cold.
My vision cleared. “Rafe. Stop.”
I shrugged away from Ash.
“None of this would be necessary if she’d been honest from the beginning.” Rafe scowled and jerked his chin. “I never would have let you stay. None of this ever would have happened. This is on you.”
Noelle’s already pale face went translucent. “I understand.”
She turned toward her car, and all the life and vigor I loved about her dulled to nothingness.
“No. You don’t understand shit.” I grabbed her hand with my good arm. “Noelle, wait.”
She pulled away, already walking to her car, giving up, her shoulders rounded, and I hated the defeat in her posture.
She’d been on the verge of suffering untold dangers tonight because her lies were revealed and she’d been frightened away from us.
She didn’t look back.
I could run after her.
Or I could confront Rafe.
There was no reason to try and bring her back without Rafe’s approval. I shoved my way into his space. “What the hell is wrong with you?”
Rafe’s eyebrows shot up. “She’s a cop, Bishop. She’ll destroy us.”
“They sent her to investigate us. There’s a difference.” Ash caught my arm when I wobbled.
Damn blood loss.
I should be stronger than this.
I’d been shot in combat and kept going.
The adrenaline of that day didn’t compare to tonight. “She chose us.”
“She lied to us.” Rafe was a dog with a bone, and he refused to let it go.
I willed the dizziness and pain away.
Losing Noelle hurt more than any kind of physical ache. “We all have reasons for keeping secrets. Or did you forget that I didn’t tell you about my PTSD for years?”
I stood close enough that he was forced to look up to meet my gaze.
“That’s different.”
“How?”
Rafe blinked. “Because you weren’t sent here to bring us down.”
“We’re a family.” Ash stood between us, hands fisted and ready.
Family wasn’t supposed to fight like this.
Family wasn’t supposed to give up on each other, especially when the love of a lifetime was on the line.
My hands clenched into fists. “You saw her face when she realized what we were really doing. You heard her. You heard every fucking word, the same as me. She wouldn’t betray us.”
“You can’t know that, and I can’t risk all of our operations on that assumption.” Rafe shook his head. “You’re too trusting, Bishop. Too soft. I sent her away for our own good.”
In other words, I didn’t have the balls to do what needed to be done. “And you’re fucking paranoid.”
I grabbed his shirt and dragged him in close.
To hell with my injury.
Losing Noelle hurt worse, and I refused to let it happen. “She almost died tonight. She was going to die tonight because she chose us.”
Rafe gripped my wrists but didn’t yank my hands away.
“She chose us after she got caught. If she loved us so much, why did she run?”
“She chose us a long time before that.” I knew it in my heart. “And you know damned fucking well why she ran. You’re an asshole.”
My loyalty clashed with Rafe’s protective nature.
If I weren’t injured, I’d give him the brawl we both wanted.
“I’ll take Bishop home.” Ash shoved his way between us again. “He still needs medical attention, and you need to cool off.” He pushed Rafe away from me. “We’ll talk about it tomorrow.”
I wanted to keep fighting, wanted to make Rafe see reason, make him understand what he was forcing us to throw away.
The road came rushing up to meet me.
My arm burned, and all the strength I’d found in fighting for Noelle drained away.
“This isn’t over.” I poked a finger in Rafe’s chest.
He swatted my hand away. “Yes, it is. It’s over, and for the good of the club, you need to let it go.”
Never.
Noelle was out there somewhere, broken and alone, thinking we didn’t want her.
She was so wrong.
Maybe not about Rafe.
He might not be able to forgive her, but I sure as hell could.