Chapter 4
CHAPTER FOUR
HUNTER
Islept maybe two hours all night once we’d gotten home from Jensen’s.
Trying to figure out other ways to help Rory was impossible.
I’d given up my research at three in the morning to sleep before hitting the road on my bike just after five with Marco following, making the four hour ride to Fairview to see Lexi.
We stopped for a late breakfast on the way to the prison, going through the process to get inside with the usual strip search they loved giving us since they were so sure we were trying to bring drugs into the prison.
We sat at a table in the visitation room once they’d established they were wrong again, and I instantly started scanning the other people so I knew who was in there. No one I recognized, which was always a good thing.
Marco slouched in his seat looking bored, probably wishing he was literally anywhere else. He’d only come as my backup in case I had trouble on the road, but I hadn’t liked the idea of him sitting outside on his bike while he waited.
A soft smile tugged at my mouth when Lexi walked through the door, rocking her prison outfit as always. The girl would look good in a trash bag.
I stood, giving her a quick hug and noticing how tight she held on this time. I knew Lexi like the back of my hand, and as much as she was strong, she wasn’t like Rory, who enjoyed the violence and mayhem. She only went along with it out of pure survival.
“Hey, Bryant,” I murmured, stepping back when one of the guards gave us a dirty look for taking too long. “You look good.”
“Probably all the sex I’m having,” she said slyly, moving to sit in the seat across the small table from us. “Hey, Ortega.”
“Having fun, I hear?” he asked dryly, and she shrugged.
“Depends on the day. I got laid twice yesterday and slept like a baby, so can’t complain.”
“I was hoping you’d be able to tell me what went down yesterday,” I stated, her eyes sparkling with amusement.
“Ugh, you’re a perv. It started with my tongue in her—”
“Not your sex life. The issues with Aurora,” I said impatiently, her face suddenly becoming serious, knowing I wasn’t in the mood.
“Not a lot to tell. She’s holding her own in fights, doesn’t rat when the girls start on her, and she got burned last night, but she’s okay today. She’s buddies with one of the nice girls in here, and my girl Jamie still looks out for her sometimes when she’s alone. She likes her.”
“Can you hurry up and like her too?” I grunted, and she raised an eyebrow.
“You don’t want me liking her, babe. I’d be knuckle-deep in her by dinner time.”
“If it keeps her safe, I’ll risk it,” I huffed, tapping my fingers on the table. “Besides, she’s not into girls, so I’m not really worried about you stealing her.”
“She’s not yours to steal anyway. Skeet was in here talking to Trixie and didn’t do anything for Donovan, so shouldn’t you be kissing his ass to fix things?
” she asked as she rested her elbows on the table and her chin in her hands.
“Donovan’s adamant that Skeet’s on her side helping her in the background.
You going to break the news to her on Wednesday? ”
I blew out a breath, not really knowing how to handle it. It was dangerous bringing bad news to any inmate, and Rory was likely to flip the fuck out over it and get herself dragged away to the hole.
“How the fuck do I break her heart like that? She’s probably only getting through the days here by putting all of her trust into him. What happens when she doesn’t have that hope?”
“I hate to say it, but it’s not your problem.”
“I’m making it my problem. She’s in here when I promised to keep her out,” I said under my breath.
“Well, you know better than to make promises like that. Heard anything from Arch lately? He’s been quiet,” she said offhandedly, but I could hear the hurt in her voice.
“He hasn’t visited you?”
“No. He’s busy running the crew.”
“Me too, but I’m making it out here multiple times a week at this point,” I answered bluntly, wishing she’d see he was an asshole.
“Do you think they’d let us have a conjugal? Kind of sick of doing the railing in here. You’d let me be a pillow princess,” she sighed, and I couldn’t help but smirk.
“There’s no way you’re getting that. I prefer you doing all the work anyway.”
“You’re so full of shit. You’re a pussy pleaser,” she chuckled, letting me see some of the tiredness in her eyes. “I’m just looking forward to getting out of here. I miss my comfy bed, and I’d kill for a good cocktail right now.”
“You’ll be out in no time. I know I can’t make you buddy up with Rory, but—”
“I’m keeping an eye on her, don’t worry,” she huffed, tilting her head a little. “She’s really under your skin, isn’t she?”
“You have no idea,” Marco muttered, glancing around the room and making a beeline for the vending machine.
“Why did you make him tag along?” she asked as she eyed him.
“Things really aren’t good out there, Lex,” I murmured, her eyes sliding to mine.
“You’re all a lot safer in here, trust me.
Right now, it’s just the Devils, Psychos, and Soldiers beefing, but who knows when the Kings will join in.
They’ll find a way to drag the Reapers in too, you know how Rage likes taunting Hendricks. ”
“How bad is it?”
“Not too sure where we stand with the Psychos right now. As you know, they’re not happy about us and Rory.
Who knows when Skeet will make a move,” I said honestly.
“The shit with the Soldiers is quiet, but quiet just means something’s coming.
I haven’t been able to watch them much since I’m trying to get Rory out of this mess. ”
“You’re stupidly in love with that girl.”
“Am not, I just really like her,” I chuckled as Marco sat down with three bags of chips, handing one to Lexi. She took it, giving him a small smile before opening it to pick at them.
“He talks about her in his sleep and everything,” Marco teased, giving me a small nudge. “Go on, tell her about the cameras.”
“You won’t make it home if you don’t shut up,” I warned, only making him grin.
“Sure, boss.”
Lexi filled me in on prison gossip for the rest of the visit, and as always, it was hard giving her that hug goodbye and leaving without her. I fucking hated her being stuck in this place.
“You really do love Donovan,” Marco stated once we were back outside on our bikes putting our helmets on.
“Don’t fucking start.”
“I mean it. You didn’t grab Lexi’s ass on the way out,” he observed, making me frown. I totally had, hadn’t I?
Marco gave me an amused grin before it vanished under the helmet, and I flipped him off then put my gloves on, getting ready to leave.
I wasn’t going to lie and say Rory didn’t mean anything to me, she did and I wanted her on my cock badly, but it wasn’t as extreme as he was making it out to be. I wasn’t going to marry the girl or anything.
Even if it would be worth it to piss off Skeeter.
We rode for an hour before stopping to stretch our legs, and I made sure to check in with my guys while I was at it.
Hammer was handling a few issues for me, like breaking some asshole’s legs for thinking they could cut and run before their debt was paid, while Derek, Preston, and Dom handled a drug deal in Newhaven for me.
Faris and Bobby were keeping an eye on some of our fighters that were training today at the warehouse, and I didn’t want to leave them alone for too long.
They’d proven I couldn’t trust them when left alone, and Preston was lucky to have been allowed to go with his besties. I’d only allowed it because the three of them worked well together, and he’d been trying to prove himself ever since pissing me off last time at the party.
Everyone reported back, saying everything was fine, so I looked over at Marco.
“You heard from Ty?”
The guy was a stage five clinger, but he was growing on me fast. He really didn’t seem okay about being left behind today, but there was no way he was backpacking one of us on the bikes.
He was hanging out with Jensen and Lukas, so hopefully, he was occupied enough to not go and burn down a damn house or something.
“Yeah. He’s at my place,” he said as he put his phone on its holder.
“Why? I thought he was going to hang out with the guys? You gave him a key to your house?”
“They had a disagreement, so he left. He didn’t really have anywhere else to go. Told him he can crash at mine again if he wants since I have a spare room,” he shrugged, and I placed my hand over my heart.
“Are you leaving me for him? You’re breaking my heart, man.”
He laughed, shaking his head slightly and starting his bike before turning on his comms system so we could keep talking.
“He’ll never be you, Hunt. Doesn’t mean I can’t have a side piece, right?”
“You wound me,” I snorted, starting my bike too.
We didn’t have a problem on our ride until we were about an hour out of Ashburn Valley.
We’d just stopped to grab gas and stretch, barely being back on the road for two minutes before Marco cursed. “Shooter. I got hit.”
I glanced over to see him clutching his side, and from the way he was breathing, it hurt like hell.
I frantically looked around for the attacker, hearing Marco shout as my bike went down from under me and sent me skidding across the road. I braced for impact as I slid into a fence, managing to look up just as a van went past and a bullet narrowly missed my head.
“Hunt, you good?” Marco bit out, most likely asking me multiple times already but I hadn’t heard him.
“Yeah, I think so,” I grimaced, managing to get to my feet as he parked close by and climbed off his bike. My bike was on its side further down the fence line, my body starting to hurt as I got moving to walk towards it.
“Slow down, man. You might have broken something,” Marco scolded as he caught up to me, still holding onto his side. “Good thing you had your leathers on.”
I took my helmet off and put my bike upright on its stand, cursing at all the damage.
“It had to be Razor,” I growled, kicking the fence and sending jarring pain through my body, but I didn’t care. I was beyond pissed.