Chapter 30
CHAPTER THIRTY
RORY
Ididn’t sleep for long, waking up at nine and dragging my ass out of bed to let the guys sleep a little longer.
Hunter was still sitting at the kitchen table, typing away on his laptop and most likely hacking something from the concentrated look on his face, while Tyler napped in the recliner and Caden scrolled on his phone on the couch.
“You guys didn’t sleep?” I asked, making them all glance up. “Where’s Mark and Diesel?”
“No, we didn’t. Ty only nodded off half an hour ago,” Hunter replied, his eyes running over me as always. I was still in his clothes, and I probably looked like hell. “Mark’s dealing with something for me, and Diesel got barked at to get to the Shed.”
The thought of Marco running off to deal with the Reapers made my eyes narrow, and I dropped down onto one of the chairs to steal one of Hunter’s cigarettes.
“You sent him off to talk to Hendricks?”
“No.”
“Then what’s he doing?”
He held out his lighter for me, giving me a smirk as he waited for the cigarette to spark up before leaning back in his chair.
“You think I’d do that to you? C’mon, babe. I know you want to come with me, so I was waiting for you to wake up. Mark’s at the warehouse dealing with Dom.”
“What did Dom do?”
“Got too drunk at Wet Dreams last night. Violet called to let me know he got too handsy even after she told him to stop, and I don’t play when it comes to that shit. My guys know better,” he answered bluntly.
“You guys seem pretty tight with Archer’s girls.”
“Good business relationships are important. It leads to information, favors, or good deals. Those girls might be Archer’s, but they hold a sense of loyalty to me.
They know they can call me if they need help,” he explained, and I kind of loved that about him.
He was dangerous, but he could be so kind too.
“True. Do you guys sleep with them too?” I asked, not really wanting to know the answer.
A chuckle left him and he reached out to pat my arm. “You already know the answer to that.”
“I take it Ocean is Mark’s favorite? She seemed to like him at the party.”
“Jealous?” he asked, but he didn’t sound amused by it.
“No. She looks exactly his type,” I snorted, ignoring the pinch in my chest.
“Marco doesn’t have a type, as long as it’s got a pussy or a cock,” he huffed, checking his phone. “Get in the shower and change. We can catch Hendricks before he goes to Wet Dreams.”
“Where does he live?”
“On a house boat at the docks. I don’t know how he and Lexi live on that thing. It would make me seasick,” he shuddered, stealing my cigarette after I’d taken another drag. “Go on. I’d rather not have this conversation at the club with half of his boys around.”
“Are they likely to shoot or something?”
“No, but you are,” he deadpanned, getting to his feet.
“I don’t even have a gun. The cops took mine, and the rest are still at home,” I reminded him as he moved to stand next to my chair.
His fingers brushed through my hair, his voice low. “If you think I’d let you go into enemy territory without one, you don’t know me too well. Go get ready.”
I was surprised but did as I was told, feeling Caden’s eyes burning into me as I walked towards Marco’s bedroom for a change of clothes. He’d been watching our exchange, and I could tell it annoyed him whenever I let Hunter touch me like that.
I had no idea what to do about Caden. I loved him, but there was no way I could just forget the fact that he’d turned his back on me. What was stopping him from doing it again the next time something went to shit?
My shower was fast, and all the guys were awake and drinking coffee by the time I was done, none of them looking happy.
“What’s wrong?” I asked dryly, taking a mug from Hunter.
“They’re not coming,” he answered simply, and Caden scowled.
“You should take more backup. I can shoot.”
“The plan is that no one shoots,” he said firmly, giving me a pointed look. “Please.”
“Why are you looking at me like that? I’m not that trigger-happy,” I huffed, downing half the scalding liquid in one go.
“You’re short-tempered and now know how to use a gun. I’m not taking chances,” he joked, sliding his Devils jacket on. Tyler eased me onto his lap, kissing my neck.
“Please behave. If Archer didn’t send anyone after you, don’t give him a reason to.”
“Are you guys staying here?”
“Yeah. We’ll wait here for you. We have the health check this afternoon at four too,” he reminded me as I had another sip of coffee.
“I know. We won’t be that long,” I promised, kissing his cheek. “I love you.”
His face softened, and I didn’t realize how tense he’d been until I’d said that and his body relaxed. Of course he was on edge. I’d just gotten out of prison and then went and killed a bunch of people. He’d probably thought he was losing me again.
“I love you too.”
“You want to sleep all together tonight?” I asked, his arms banding around me tightly.
“Absolutely.”
“Good. I’ll be back soon,” I replied, giving him one more kiss before draining my coffee and standing, giving Jensen and Lukas a quick kiss too. “Love you too.”
“Love you,” they both murmured, Caden looking awkward when I met his gaze. Saying I loved him felt wrong, we weren’t in that kind of place.
“Hey. Get a gun off Hunter and keep an eye out. Don’t get dead,” I ordered, his mouth twitching into the ghost of a smile.
“Don’t you get dead either.”
Hunter rolled his eyes at us but grabbed a gun out of a random cupboard, putting it on the table in front of Caden.
“If you have a problem, call Mark, he’s closer. Lock the door when we leave, and if you do run into trouble, barricade yourselves in Marco’s room where you can see both the door and window,” he instructed, putting a hand on my shoulder. “Let’s go.”
I followed him outside to the car, knowing it was safer than the bike, and we didn’t talk much as we drove towards Ashburn Valley. After a few minutes, I looked at him.
“How can two crews run one town? Why didn’t the Reapers get their own territory?”
“They have their areas and stick to it. There were other crews around before our time, but they vanished over the years as others grew. It went from being street rats just being rivals, to organized crime. Crews got stronger, either killed or scared off rivals, and some even set up elsewhere. Reapers always stuck to the docks, and the Psychos rarely clash with them. They can be rivals but coexist,” he shrugged, glancing at me. “Why?”
“I’m just surprised one didn’t try to push the other out over territory.”
“We might not seem like it, but crews have a shared understanding for each other. There are rules and chains of command. It’s why we all have people in charge to handle meetings and disagreements. It’s rare it turns into war, but every so often, someone snaps.”
“Do you think Archer sent those people after me?”
“Not really, but who knows when it comes to Lex? You might still be Diesel’s girl, but you’re not Psychos’ property. Crews know by now that you don’t have their protection, so someone could be making a move. We’ll figure it out.”
I watched our surroundings as we drove through Rawson Grove, still not really understanding why a crew hadn’t taken over here. It didn’t have any threats to chase them off.
When we arrived at the docks in Ashburn Valley, we turned left instead of right, parking close to a row of boats. There was a house boat at the end, a small porch area with a few chairs, and it honestly looked like it needed repairs.
“How is that thing even still floating?” I asked, making Hunter chuckle as we started walking towards it.
“It’s sturdier than it looks. Hendricks gets it maintained and checked annually. He’s only here to sleep, so he doesn’t bother making it look nice.” He lifted a hand and knocked on the door, waiting for a second before knocking again.
“Jesus, I’m coming,” Archer called out, stomping through the house and ripping open the door. “What the fuck do you two want?”
“Can we come in?” Hunter scoffed, earning a bewildered look in return.
“Absolutely not.”
“Did you send men into my house to kill me last night?” I asked, not bothering to waste time.
“No, or you wouldn’t be here asking me about it. I don’t hire amateurs,” he said dryly. “Why would I even want you dead? You’re annoying, but you’re not that annoying.”
“I’d like that in writing,” I grumbled, crossing my arms. “Do you know who did then?”
“I heard Maddox tried to kill you already, so maybe ask him.” He tried to shut the door, but Hunter put his foot out to block it, shoving him back inside and holding him by the front of the shirt.
“I’m not playing, asshole. Did you send someone after her for fucking Lexi?”
Archer’s jaw clenched in a way that told me he was aware of me touching his wife, but he didn’t fly off the handle about it.
“If I wanted her blood spilled over it, I’d have done it myself.
If anyone was going to die over touching her, you would’ve been in the ground a long time ago.
Her prison fling with Lexi pisses me off, but I’m not going to send men after her.
Especially not sloppy ones. Get off me or both of you are dead. ”
Hunter looked like he was thinking about ignoring him, but he let go and took a step back when a girl walked in to see what was happening. I didn’t recognize her, but she seemed to relax when she saw us.
“Why don’t you and Lex just share girls? You both fuck the same ones,” Hunter said dryly, glancing at the girl. “Hey, Marnie.”
“You scared me, asshole. I thought there was a war going on out here,” she scowled, making me snort.
“There is. Hi, I’m Rory.”
“Marnie,” she smiled, not hiding the nerves on her face from my comment. “Should I go?”
“You’re fine,” Hunter grunted, giving me a dirty look when I walked over to Archer.
“I want to talk to you in private.”
“Absolutely not,” Hunter bit out, but I ignored him and patiently waited for Archer to point to the room off to the left.