Bonus Scene
PIRATE
“This shit is fucked. All of it.” Leaning back in my seat, I reach up and shove the palms of my hands against my eyes. I’d been up for two days straight dealing with this bullshit, and I’ve barely gotten anywhere.
It doesn’t help the matter that Gianna’s here. She’s back, and she’s pissing me off. To top that, she brought that guy with her. I know who the fuck he is and what he does for a living.
Finnegan is like a damn ghost when he wants to be. It’s his business to keep himself that way. He’s got a few men who work with him. I don’t know them personally, but I’ve been in contact with one or two over the years.
How he got mixed up with Gianna, now that’s something I wouldn’t mind knowing even if it pisses me off.
The last time I saw her, she swore she wasn’t going to come back here.
Said she was done. She might have told her brother it was that she just needed space, but I knew the truth.
She couldn’t handle what I wanted from her.
Before shit went down and she’d been taken, the two of us had a thing.
We kept it on the down low, her decision not mine.
She wasn’t ready to settle down. I’d given her that play.
Honestly, I wasn’t either. Then she’d been taken, and everything became clear for me.
Gianna didn’t want to hear it and said she was out. She wasn’t coming back.
It pissed me off, and the truth is I’ve stayed pissed with her since.
With her being here, seeing her, it’s not easy.
I want to pull her in my arms. To sink inside her.
To taste her. None of it was gonna happen, though.
Not because I didn’t want her or that she didn’t want it.
But because I’m done with bullshit. If she wants me like I want her, then she can outright fucking tell me and make it real. Not some bullshit shadow games.
“Meow,” Gizmo purrs, hopping on my lap, taking my mind off everything else.
A grin spreads across my lips at the sight of the Maine coon.
If Nevaeh hasn’t already figured out I’d snagged him again, she will soon, and she’ll lose her shit.
Not that she’d actually get pissed with me.
It’s a damn game between the two of us. I didn’t think I’d be an actual cat person, but this cat, fuck me, he’s something else.
Upon meeting him, he attacked my leg and bit me. His sharp kitten nails dug deep. It took me bribing him to get him to stop, but he’d somewhat gotten attached to me, and I was okay with that. He was good company.
And truth be told, I sleep better when he’s next to me. It’s like his purring lulls me to sleep.
“What’s going on, Gizzy?” I ask, petting Gizmo between the ears. He starts purring immediately and leans into my hand. “You know Vaeh’s gonna be looking for you soon.”
“Meow.”
Grinning, I can’t help but find him amusing. Talking to him, it’s like he talks back.
I’ve never had an animal before. I grew up in a strict household with Christian beliefs.
I thought my parents were quacks who needed their heads examined.
At eighteen, I left and haven’t gone back.
I see them around town sometimes, but I don’t talk to them mostly because my dad didn’t want anything to do with me since I was a part of the club. Fine by me.
My brothers are all the family I need.
Though seeing some of them settling down, it’s hard not to want the same for myself.
My laptop makes a pinging sound, and I glance from Gizmo back to the screen and nearly jump out of it.
“Oh fuckin’ hell.” I blink at the screen and stare at the information that I finally was able to crack through.
All of the girls, each and every one of them that Veronica and, in turn, Bishop had gotten their hands on, were from MCs.
Not just around here. But all of the states.
There’s a list of them. Who came from where.
There’s even a list of the kids that were in the same house Fawn was taken to.
All the boys were now in a few foster homes. We didn’t know where the girls were, but now, we do.
This is a huge breakthrough and something I’m gonna have to talk to Viking about. We could finally connect those kids to family. Give those who were probably still searching or having lost hope the closure they need.
On top of that, the information gives us Bishop’s true identity. And who he is, I never saw coming.