Chapter 37 - Rafe
RAFE
We walked into a packed clubhouse.
Every member who’d stayed behind waited for us, their faces a mixture of curiosity and barely contained hostility when they caught sight of Noelle.
Word had already spread, not that I was surprised, and not everyone was happy to see her return.
She stiffened but didn’t shrink away from the obvious animosity.
Conversations died and heads turned until we held the attention of every member.
The weight of their stares had never bothered me.
These men had trusted my judgment when I’d brought her into our world.
They’d felt betrayed right alongside the three of us when her true identity came to light.
Their opinions mattered, but only in context.
Marcus, one of our oldest members, stood from his chair near the bar.
He shot a scathing look at Noelle, then dared turn that look on me. “What the fuck, Rafe?”
He spat it out with enough heated venom to cause Bishop to make a wounded noise and take a step forward.
A second voice carried across the sudden silence. “Hey, Noelle. Welcome back.” Colt whistled and clapped, and Ash laughed at my brother’s antics.
Danny shoved Colt’s shoulder, causing him to stumble.
“Touch him again and you’ll lose a hand.” The entire room turned stone cold silent.
Just the way I liked it.
Noelle’s hand found mine, and she laced our fingers together.
Atta girl.
She made a statement with that one move.
Even if she didn’t realize it, she just showed every last one of them that they were not going to scare her away.
I squeezed her fingers, hoping to comfort her.
I had her back, now and forever. “Marcus is of the opinion he can question my authority and my decisions.”
I’d run this club for years, and this asshole wasn’t about to usurp my authority. “But I’m willing to hear him out. Speak your piece, Marcus.”
I waved nonchalantly, like whatever he had to say didn’t matter at all.
Because it didn’t.
My decisions were final.
Whoever didn’t like them could fuck right off.
Marcus scanned the room, no doubt looking for solidarity.
He crossed his arms, a satisfied look of importance bringing out a smile. “Just wondering why we’re harboring a cop. Thought we had standards.”
Murmurs of agreement rippled through the room.
Bryce stood near the pool table, his jaw clenched in anger.
Danny, one of our newest recruits, spat on the floor when his eyes landed on Noelle.
My protective instincts flared.
Only the feel of Noelle’s hand in mine stopped me from knocking the man’s teeth out of his mouth for the blatant show of disrespect.
They deserved an explanation.
They’d earned it with years of loyalty and brotherhood.
I stepped forward.
“I’ll tell you why she’s here.” I brought Noelle in front of me and wrapped my arm around her chest without ever letting go of her hand. “She’s here because she put her life on the line to warn us about an ambush. She’s earned your respect, cop or not.”
Marcus’s expression didn’t soften.
If anything, it turned colder. “After she spied on us for weeks.”
So they’d heard us talking about that.
I wished they hadn’t.
It made things more difficult, but I wasn’t giving up on Noelle.
Not ever again.
“That’s right, after she spied on us. You know what she discovered by spying on us?” I let the question hang in the air.
Curious looks shifted between my men.
They’d been more than happy to talk to Noelle when they thought she was a reporter. “She learned that we’re exactly who we’ve always been. She learned that we’re good men trying to make a difference in a shit world.”
“She’s still a fucking cop, Rafe.” Danny didn’t seem inclined to let it go.
He even took a step toward me, his young face twisted with disgust. “Blood doesn’t wash off that easily.”
Bishop closed the distance and lifted the boy to the tips of his toes with one hand in his collar. “What do you know about blood? Have you been shot for someone you love?”
At Danny’s panicked look, Bishop unleashed his terrifying grin. “I have. And you'd better remember to watch your mouth, prospect.”
He pushed Danny away.
He could have launched the poor kid ten feet, but he barely gave him enough momentum to send him staggering into the guy behind him.
Noelle breathed a quiet sigh, her free hand coming up to grip my forearm like it had become her lifeline.
Danny had pushed too far.
They all knew it, and they recognized that Bishop had let him off easy.
“No one talks about our woman that way.” Ash, refusing to be left out of the party, stood beside me with his arms crossed.
His full-stop statement brought all the attention back to us.
His choice of words clicked.
Our woman.
Not some woman under our protection.
Ours.
Bishop walked backward until he stood on my other side.
He had to be hurting like a motherfucker, but he never let it show.
“Noelle made a choice. When her captain forced her hand, demanding that she arrest us on Christmas Eve or lose her job, she came to warn us that we were being set up. She could have destroyed us and kept her job. But she chose to risk everything to warn the people she’s come to care about.
” I nodded toward Bishop, then to Ash. “She chose us.”
Marcus snorted. “After she got caught. Easy to choose when your cover’s blown.”
“Is it?” My voice dropped to a deathly calm tone.
I released Noelle, guided her to Bishop, and stalked over to Marcus.
I stood six inches taller than him, and I kept walking until he was forced to crane his neck to look up at me.
“She could have run. Disappeared.” I snapped my fingers in his face. “She could have let us walk into an ambush. Instead, she faced my wrath after being told not to show her face here again. She knew I might not listen, might not believe her, might not give a shit whether she lived or died.”
The room turned quiet enough that the soft patter of snow on the windows became loud as thunder.
“She came back because she loves us. We’re her family now, every last fucking one of you.”
I stabbed a finger into his chest. “This fucked up life we’ve built together is hers too. Because I love her.”
I turned away from him and gathered Noelle into my arms.
She’d expected me to defend her, but maybe not so publicly.
She didn’t know them like I did.
I had to confront them like this or we’d never get past the backbiting and snarky remarks.
I refused to put her through that for even a second. “I love you.” I said it loud enough for everyone to hear, then I kissed her.
I kissed her with all the emotions I’d kept from her since the first day we met.
I kissed her like I never wanted to let her go.
Her mouth opened beneath mine, and I didn’t give a shit if they saw me get hard for her right then and there.
When I finally released her, her cheeks were flushed and her breathing unsteady. Just the way I wanted.
“My turn.” Ash nudged me out of the way, grabbed Noelle around the waist, and spun her around.
Grinning, he dipped her backward and kissed her with enough passion that several men whistled.
Colt elbowed Danny. “You should take notes.”
Danny, poor kid, looked as scared as he did intrigued by the idea.
Ash finished kissing Noelle and spun her toward Bishop, who caught her with one arm.
He was gentler with his kiss but no less thorough.
I couldn’t help smiling at the happiness on her face.
The light feeling in my chest demanded that I give in.
“Anyone have anything else they want to say?” I gave them one last chance to air their grievances. “Once we take this off the floor, it isn’t brought up again. This is your last chance. If anyone tries to come at Noelle, you have me to answer to.”
“Us.” Ash bumped my shoulder with a closed fist. “Stop trying to do everything your damned self, Brother.”
No one but me heard that last part, though I suspected based on the shared looks that they understood his intent.
Bishop slowly broke off his kiss with Noelle and tucked her against his side.
The atmosphere in the room shifted from hostility to acceptance.
Marcus’s weathered face broke into a reluctant smile. “Hell, Rafe. When you put it like that…”
He shook his head. “Come on, fellas. I’ll start pouring drinks. Welcome to the family, Noelle.”
The last bits of tension shattered.
Conversations resumed, laughter bubbling up from different corners of the room.
Noelle kept wiping tears off her cheeks.
I’d seen her cry a few times, but not like this.
Not happy tears that brightened her cheeks and put a rosy glow on her skin. “Thanks for defending me.”
“Always.” The single word scraped my throat raw.
I’d told her I loved her, but this promise had more depth. I’d never let a woman into my life like this.
The things she’d made me feel terrified me.
But she was worth every bit of it.
“You’re one of us now.” Colt hugged Noelle with all the exuberance of youth. “That means something around here.”
My little brother hit it dead on the head.
Trust wasn’t something I gave lightly. None of us did.
Hell, until her, it wasn’t something I’d given to any woman.
She’d earned it with her stubborn loyalty and refusal to give up even when we’d pushed her away.
When I’d pushed her away and forced Bishop and Ash to abide by my rules.
Choosing us despite the risks put her in considerable danger.
It proved she cared when I’d been dead set against her.
No one could fake that kind of loyalty.
The woman who’d walked into our lives as a lie had become the most honest thing in it.
“Hope you know I’m never letting you go.” I wrestled her away from Colt, who’d been chatting her ear off for a minute straight.
She palmed my shoulders and grinned up at me with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes. “Oh, no. I’m devastated.”
I snorted out a laugh and kissed her.