Chapter 20
Avery
The clubhouse was buzzing with morning energy: laughter, clattering dishes, the smell of bacon and coffee filling the air. Long tables were pushed together family-style, members crowded around them, talking over each other.
It felt like a home Avery had never seen before.
Stone waved them over. “Food’s hot. Sit.”
Rook pulled out a chair for Avery before taking the one beside her. Grim, Ledger, and Havoc were already digging in.
Avery looked around, taking it all in: the camaraderie, the warmth, the way everyone treated each other like brothers.
She leaned closer to Rook. “This is… nice.”
He smirked. “Don’t let them hear you say that. They’ll get soft.”
Havoc pointed a fork at them. “We heard that.”
Grim grunted. “We’re not soft.”
Stone added, “Speak for yourself. I’m delightful.”
Avery laughed, and Rook’s eyes softened, like something loosened in his chest.
Avery was still smiling when Havoc leaned forward, eyes narrowing at Rook like he’d spotted something suspicious.
“So,” Havoc said slowly, “Rook… you gonna tell us why you’re sitting there all relaxed and smiley this morning? Because that’s new.”
Rook shot him a flat look. “I’m not smiling.”
Grim grunted. “He’s smiling.”
Ledger nodded. “It’s unsettling.”
Stone lifted his mug. “Makes me think we should check him for a fever.”
Avery blinked. “He’s not smiling.”
Four men pointed at Rook at the same time.
Havoc: “He is.”
Grim: “Definitely is.”
Ledger: “It’s subtle, but it’s there.”
Stone: “It’s the ‘I’m pretending I’m not smiling’ smile.”
Rook muttered something under his breath, and Avery caught the faintest hint of color at the tips of his ears. The sight made her chest warm in a way she wasn’t prepared for.
Havoc jabbed his fork toward them. “He’s extra grumpy too. That’s how you know he’s flustered.”
Avery’s cheeks heated. “He’s not flustered.”
Grim raised a brow at her. “He’s been flustered since you showed up.”
Rook shot Grim a look sharp enough to cut steel, but Grim didn’t even blink.
Ledger pushed his glasses up his nose. “He pulled out your chair. Rook doesn’t pull out chairs. He barely pulls out his own.”
Stone nodded. “Man’s practically domesticated.”
Havoc slapped the table. “Housebroken!”
Avery choked on a laugh, and Rook’s glare swept the table like he was mentally planning their funerals. It only made them grin harder.
Then Fish, quiet, steady, impossible-to-read, finally looked up from his plate.
“She looks good next to you,” he said simply.
The table went silent.
Avery felt her breath catch. Rook went completely still beside her, the kind of stillness she’d learned meant he was feeling something he didn’t want anyone to see.
Havoc whispered, “Damn. When Fish talks, it’s basically gospel.”
Grim nodded. “Man’s not wrong.”
Avery tried not to smile too hard, but it was impossible. The warmth in her chest spread, settling somewhere deep and steady.
She shook her head, still smiling, and Ledger leaned back in his chair, eyeing her with a thoughtful squint.
“So,” Ledger said, “you’re the one who fixed up the bakery.”
Avery blinked. “Trying to.”
Grim nodded once, approving in his quiet, granite-like way. “Place looks good. Smells good too.”
Havoc grinned. “Yeah, walked by yesterday and thought someone was baking. Nearly followed my nose inside.”
Rook shot him a look. “You do that, and she’ll put you to work.”
Havoc pointed at Avery. “Would you? Because I can lift heavy things. And I’m great at taste-testing.”
Avery laughed. “I might take you up on that.”
Stone snorted. “Don’t encourage him. He’ll move into the pantry.”
“I could,” Havoc said proudly. “It’s nice in there.”
Ledger shook his head. “Man has no shame.”
A chair scraped softly at the far end of the table. Fish looked up from his plate, his movements slower, more deliberate than the others. His gaze settled on Avery, steady, unreadable, but not unkind.
“You did good with that place,” he said, voice low and even. “Takes guts to bring something back instead of walking away.”
Avery’s smile softened. “Thank you. Really. I’ve been working hard on it.”
Grim slid the bowl of fruit closer to her. “Shows.”
It wasn’t loud or dramatic, just a simple gesture that landed with surprising warmth. Avery felt it settle in her chest, a quiet acceptance she hadn’t expected.
Rook watched the exchange, something easing in his expression. Like seeing her fit here — with his people — meant more to him than he’d ever admit out loud.
“You’re good for the place,” Stone said, lifting his mug in her direction. “And for him.”
Avery’s cheeks warmed. Rook didn’t argue. He didn’t look away either.
And Avery felt that acceptance from all of them settle somewhere deep and steady inside her.
After plates were cleared and coffee poured, Stone set his mug down. His posture shifted, shoulders squaring, the room falling into a natural silence around him. When Stone spoke, men listened.
“We need to talk about the Reapers,” he said, voice steady, authoritative. His expression shifted from warm to lethal. “Before we get into the break-in, Grim and Fish need to report what they found on their recon.”
Grim leaned forward, forearms braced on the table. “They’re pushing past the line. Not just sniffing around…they’re securing places in the county.” A ripple of tension moved around the table.
Fish spoke next, voice low and even. “Two bikes parked behind the old mill on Briar Road. Same place they used when they tried pushing product last year.”
Rook’s jaw tightened. “If they’re back at the mill, they’re not testing us. They’re planning something.”
Grim leaned back, expression hard. “They’re not just planning something. They’re gearing up. Could be a push.”
Fish nodded once. “Saw three men. One lookout. Two moving crates. Couldn’t get close enough to confirm contents, but the pattern fits their drug runs.”
Stone’s expression darkened. “I reached out to their Pres again this morning. Still nothing.”
“That’s intentional,” Ledger said. “They want us guessing.”
Havoc muttered, “Or they want us pissed.”
Rook’s voice dropped, cold and controlled. “If they’re this close, they’re not scouting. They’re positioning.”
Fish added, “And they were watching the road. Not random. Not sloppy. They were waiting for someone.”
Stone nodded. “Which means they’re not just sniffing around…they’re trying to establish ground.”
A low murmur rolled around the table. Grim’s jaw flexed. Havoc’s fingers drummed restlessly. Ledger’s eyes narrowed behind his glasses. Even Fish stilled, the air tightening around him.
Stone let the weight of it settle before he continued, voice steady but edged with steel. “This isn’t small. And it’s not coincidence.”
Only then did he turn to Avery. “Now you understand why we’re not taking chances.”
Avery stiffened. “Because of me?”
Stone nodded once. “We don’t wait around when someone threatens one of ours.”
Avery blinked. “One of yours?”
Rook went still beside her, the words landing hard enough she could feel the change in him. He rested a hand on her knee under the table, warm and grounding. “Yeah, Aves. You’re ours.”
Across from them, Grim leaned back, arms crossed. Havoc tapped his fork against his plate, restless energy rolling off him. Ledger already had a tablet in hand, eyes sharp behind his glasses. And in the corner, half in shadow, sat Fish watching everything with that unblinking, unsettling calm.
Ledger turned the tablet so the table could see. A map of the county lit up, dotted with red markers.
“These are confirmed Reaper sightings in the last six weeks,” he said. “Mostly small stuff…bar fights, intimidation, recruiting attempts. But they’re moving closer to our territory.”
Grim’s jaw tightened. “Too close.”
Havoc stabbed a piece of bacon with unnecessary force. “They’re testing boundaries. Seeing how far they can push before we push back.”
Stone’s voice was calm, but steel threaded through it. “They want a foothold here. They’re not getting one.”
Avery swallowed. “But… why me? Why the bakery?”
Ledger exchanged a look with Rook before answering. “Most likely because Rook’s been spending time there.”
Avery’s stomach dropped. “So this is because of him?”
Rook’s voice was low, dangerous. “This is because they’re cowards who go after what they think matters.”
Stone nodded. “The Reapers don’t fight clean. They don’t fight fair. They don’t go after the strongest man in the room. They go after what the strongest man cares about.”
Avery sucked in a shaky breath. “Me.”
Rook didn’t deny it.
Grim added, “They saw him helping you. That’s enough for them to take notice.”
Avery hesitated.
Her fingers tightened around her mug.
Rook noticed immediately. His hand on her knee stilled. “What?” he asked quietly.
Avery swallowed. “I… I didn’t want you to think I was being dramatic. I thought I was imagining it.”
Rook’s entire body went rigid.
Avery continued, voice small. “A couple times… when I was cleaning the bakery… I thought I saw someone across the street. Just standing there. Watching.”
Rook’s jaw tightened, a slow grind of muscle she felt more than heard.
Avery’s voice dropped even lower. “And then… the other day, when I was running errands… I kept seeing the same dark sedan. I thought it was following me, but every time I tried to look directly at it, it turned off or disappeared.”
Rook went still, the muscle in his jaw ticking once, sharp and controlled.
“I told myself I was being paranoid,” she whispered. “But it didn’t feel like nothing.”
The table went silent.
Ledger’s fingers froze mid-tap. Grim’s eyes darkened. Havoc muttered a curse. Fish’s head lifted slightly, the only sign he’d reacted at all.
Rook’s hand tightened on her knee, not painfully, but with a tension that vibrated through him like a live wire.
“You should’ve told me,” he said, voice low, rough, barely controlled.
Avery’s throat tightened. “I didn’t want to overreact. I thought I was tired. Or jumpy. Or…”
“You should’ve told me,” he repeated, softer but no less intense.
Stone stepped in before the tension could snap. “Avery, it’s good you said something now. It helps us understand the timeline.”
Ledger nodded. “It means they were watching before the break-in. That matters.”
Avery nodded, but her eyes stayed on Rook.
He wasn’t looking at her.
He was staring at the table, jaw clenched, shoulders tight, breathing slow and controlled, the way he breathed when he was holding something back.
Avery reached for his hand under the table.
He let her take it.
But he didn’t look at her.
Not yet.
Stone leaned back, folding his arms. “Which is why we’re not waiting for them to make the next move.”
Ledger tapped the map again. “We’ve already got scouts watching the county line. Cameras are going up at the bakery today. We’re tracking their routes, their known associates, their supply lines.”
Havoc grinned, all teeth. “And if they’re stupid enough to step foot near you again? We’ll handle it.”
Avery shivered, not from fear, but from the sheer force of the loyalty surrounding her.
Stone’s voice softened. “Avery, listen to me. The Reapers aren’t like us. They don’t have rules. They don’t have honor. They don’t protect their community, they exploit it.”
Grim nodded. “They run guns, drugs, extortion. They recruit kids. They burn out businesses that don’t pay.”
Ledger added, “And they’ve been trying to expand for years. We’ve kept them out. They don’t like that.”
Avery’s voice trembled. “So they’re… dangerous.”
Rook finally looked at her.
His eyes were dark, storm-gray, full of something fierce and unspoken.
“They’re not touching you,” he said, voice low, steady, absolute.
Her eyes met his, wide, scared, trusting.
Stone cleared his throat. “We’re not telling you this to scare you. We’re telling you because you deserve the truth. And because you’re not alone in this.”
Avery nodded slowly. “Okay.”
Rook leaned closer, his voice low enough only she could hear. “We’ll talk later.”
Her stomach flipped.
Not from fear.
From the weight of what he wasn’t saying.
She squeezed his hand. “Okay.”
Stone stood, signaling the end of the meeting. “We’ll keep you updated. For now, eat. Rest. We’ve got work to do.”
As the men dispersed, Avery stayed close to Rook, her hand brushing his under the table. He didn’t pull away.
He laced their fingers together.
But his jaw was still tight.
And for the first time since the break-in, Avery felt something like safety settle in her chest…
Even as she realized Rook was holding back a storm he wasn’t ready to unleash.
Not yet.