Chapter 15
Cleared it with Will
See you soon
At nine, I was locking up the house behind me.
For my outfit, I decided to go casual—understated but sexy.
I wore the tightest pair of black jeans I owned, the denim distressed with holes at both knees.
My cream, long-sleeved bodysuit was designed to be worn off my shoulders; and while I debated between a pair of platform heels or my tried-and-true cowgirl boots for a solid fifteen minutes, the boots won out in the end.
My look was completed with a full face of makeup, a pendant necklace, a belt with a cute horseshoe buckle, and my hair styled half up and half down. I’d yet to try it this way, and I decided I rather liked it—especially with the bangs.
As I folded myself behind the wheel of my car, the thought crossed my mind that I could get to the clubhouse and Pistol could not be there.
Or, if he was, maybe he’d be behind closed doors, handling club business.
I didn’t receive much information by way of gossip that day, but it was nine o’clock, and I hadn’t seen or heard from Pistol since our run-in at the diner.
‘Hey, angel. You good?’
I ignored the tingle in my belly at the memory, shook my head clear and started the Mustang’s engine.
I was done with being left at home. Done staying in the dark.
I had no intention of being a citizen wife—completely removed from all things Wild Stallions.
Not to mention, while Pistol chased my brother off that afternoon, he said things, things I didn’t think should be ignored.
While I didn’t exactly want to be in the middle of their club rivalry, that seemed to be precisely where I found myself.
When I pulled onto the compound it was far from empty.
The garage was closed for the night, which meant there weren’t a lot of cars in parking stalls—the front of the clubhouse lined with Harleys.
Still, even at the late hour, when I got out of my Mustang, I noticed one of the garage bay doors was still open.
The light from inside illuminated the man at work as the last bit of sunlight grew dim behind the mountain.
It was Reaper, laying nearby, that clued me into the fact that the man still at work was Pistol.
Having not expected to find him there, I furrowed my brow as I journeyed toward him.
Reaper noticed me first. Perking up at the sound of my footsteps, she barked once before trotting over to say hi.
“Hey there, pretty girl,” I murmured as I reached down to smooth a hand between her ears.
“Hey. What are you doin’ here?” asked Pistol, not unkindly.
I gave Reaper one last pat before I straightened, slipping my fingertips into the back pockets of my jeans as I entered the garage.
Upon closer inspection, it was impossible to ignore how the sight of this man made my insides clench.
At present, he was in a pair of navy coveralls, the top folded down and tied around his hips.
The white tank he wore was stained with sweat and grease.
It covered most of the tattoo that spanned his chest but left the ink on his arms on full display.
My gaze swept over the Celtic braid he had inked around his left forearm, and all the things I wished I knew about him were starting to feel like an anvil wrapped around my heart.
“I was going to ask you that,” I said, forcing myself to lift my gaze to meet his eyes. “Isn’t it a little late to be working?”
He tugged a rag from out of his back pocket and wiped at his hands as he nodded at the bike which stood between us. “Been without her the last two days. That’s two days too long. Didn’t get out of prison on the tail end of summer to get cooped up in a different cage.”
“Oh,” I breathed, giving the hog a second look.
I didn’t recognize it without Reaper’s sidecar. Then it dawned on me how the driveway had been empty the last couple of the days. At the diner, when the others mounted their rides, he climbed into his. I didn’t have the presence of mind to connect those dots.
“What happened to it?”
“Kings fucked with it.”
“Shit,” I whispered. “Well—are you going to be able to fix it?”
“Just about there. Need another part. Should be here tomorrow.”
This was good news. As was my realization that he hadn’t been avoiding home or partying into the wee hours.
Though, this new awareness of how he was spending his extra time didn’t exactly put me at ease.
This was merely another tally against the Copper Kings, in a rivalry that didn’t need any assistance in staying alive.
“Anything new I should be worried about? I mean, with the club drama?”
Pistol, finished with the rag in his hands, tossed it over his shoulder and folded his arms across his chest as he shook his head once. “Been quiet. Probably too quiet, but we’re all layin’ low. Best guess, they’re comin’ up short, which means they can’t do dick.”
“Carmy’s suspicious. I don’t know what he thinks he knows, but—”
“If they had anything, they’d move on it. They don’t. I made sure they wouldn’t. As for your brother, scared him off easily enough earlier.”
For the hundredth time that day, I remembered what it felt like the moment Pistol’s lips pressed against the side of my head before he mumbled against my skin.
The memory, coupled with the man standing in front of me, made me want to blush.
Again. Honestly, before that afternoon, I couldn’t remember the last time a man made me blush. It was quite ridiculous.
But as I tried to get a handle on my hormones, I knew this was my chance to get answers.
He brought it up, so I could ask.
Why did you call me angel?
The words were on the tip of my tongue when the sound of approaching footsteps caught Pistol’s attention. Reaper’s, too. Pretty soon, all three of us were looking back over my shoulder as Maxine approached.
“You two are talkin’. That’s a good sign,” she said with a grin. “Hey, Reap,” she added, holding out a hand.
While the shepherd got up in order to receive a bit of extra affection, Pistol and I glanced at one another. Max wasn’t wrong. The two of us having a cordial conversation was certainly progress I appreciated. As for where things were going between us, that remained to be seen.
And this no longer felt like the moment for me to find out.
Fortunately, the night was still young.
“We’ll let you finish up here,” I began to say, reaching for Maxine’s elbow. “See you inside?”
He jerked his chin in silent acknowledgment, and Max, following my lead, waved before we both started for the clubhouse.
“Okay, fill me in,” she said when we were out of earshot. “Is there a game plan for tonight?”
“Yeah,” I replied, willing myself not to look back at the man. “Get him to come to me.”
“Ah, so we’re playing cat and mouse.”
She did a little skip in excitement and the smile that parted my lips wouldn’t be stopped.
“You’re a big fan of his.”
I said it almost in passing, but as we approached the clubhouse doors, she stopped me in order to look me straight in the eyes.
“The biggest. He’s like an older brother to me. And I know he screwed up, but I swear he’s worth a second chance.”
I wondered why she was so sure of him. Then again, she’d been around the club since she was born, and an extension of the Montana chapter since she was a kid.
She grew up with him. As the president’s daughter, it wasn’t hard to imagine how most of the Stallions likely kept an eye on her and made her feel safe. Pistol included.
While he and I didn’t have the warmest relationship, we had our moments.
And I now knew what it felt like to have him make me feel safe.
“Does he ever call you anything other than Max? Like a pet name or nickname or anything?”
Max shrugged. “He’ll call me babe, sometimes. Not in, like, a sexual way or anything. It’s not even unique to me, so—I guess that doesn’t really count. Why?”
I’d been hanging onto the word all day, keeping it to myself, trying and failing miserably not to make too much of it. Her response had me losing my grip all over again.
“No reason. Come on. I need a drink,” I insisted, reaching for the door.
Given it was only Thursday, which meant the clubhouse was humming but not entirely wild, and I was on a mission and wanted to keep my faculties—when Buff offered me a drink, I opted for a light beer.
I was sitting with my back to the bar, my first bottle half gone, when Pistol and Reaper made their entrance.
Tex, who was trying his damnedest to play it cool as he chatted with Max and me, was in the middle of speaking, but I lost track of what he was saying as I watched my husband cross the room and disappear into the corridor of private rooms.
Cherry, who I clocked as soon as I arrived, snuck out of my periphery and trailed after him. She slipped out of sight, seemingly unnoticed, and dread turned my stomach.
I didn’t want to believe it was possible.
Not tonight. Not from him.
They both knew I was in the building.
Cherry was a bitch, and I wasn’t going to put it past her; but Pistol was still a wildcard.
It irked me how much I cared.
How much I hoped.
‘Hey, angel. You good’
Shit. Shit, shit, shit.
I chugged the rest of my beer and set aside the empty bottle as I stared at the hallway’s opening. I didn’t know what to expect, but I anticipated the worst.
Then, before my imagination got the better of me, she was back.
Cherry reappeared as casually as she left. But there was something off about her. I could sense it by the way she scanned the room, wanting to go unnoticed.
Her eyes caught mine and narrowed.
We held each other’s gaze long enough for me to understand I won this round.
A tightness in my chest I wasn’t fully conscious of loosened.
“Everything okay?” asked Max, capturing my attention.
“Yeah,” I said on a sigh. “I need another beer, though.”
Max turned her smile on Tex, and he was up and over the bar in a second.
We both laughed.
He was down bad.
Poor guy.