Chapter 23
WREN
I don’t know what to think about what happened in court today. The last thing that I expected was Dylan being Zach.
I don’t know if I’m fucking stupid or just that unlucky. I guess it really goes to show that I had shit taste in men. I went on dates with the guy. No, I didn’t end up choosing him, but I still made that mistake.
I always thought that I would never be the girl who would end up with an abusive asshole, but I still dated one.
Even though I just had an argument with Axel, I’m kind of numb to the situation.
I let him lead me to my SUV and situate me in my seat and then sit there waiting while he talks to Rowan and Grayson before getting into the driver’s side.
He reaches over and buckles my seatbelt before pulling out of the lot and waiting for the guys to circle around us.
The drive back to the clubhouse is silent, and I’m thankful for it. It allows me to stew in my thoughts. I know that what I said at the courthouse is true. I don’t want Zach to take anything else from me. He’s done enough.
We follow the bikes past the gate into the clubhouse lot and park. I get out of the vehicle and meet Axel in the front. He wraps his arm around my shoulders and pulls me inside. The clubhouse is quiet since all the guys are with us except for the two prospects on guard.
We go in the direction of church and my steps falter.
“What’s wrong?” Axel asks.
“That’s church, I can’t go in there with you all.” I’ve been inside before, but that was when I was here with Lenny and discussing club legal issues.
“You can because it pertains to you,” Grayson says as he stops beside us.
“We make an exception when it comes to our women,” Rowan murmurs. “They are the only exception.”
I should have known that. These men are the best kind of men.
They’re honest. They’re loving. They’re faithful and protective.
They are truly everything that a woman wants in a man.
I don’t know how they all ended up being friends and joining the club together, but you won’t find a concentration of men like them anywhere.
Axel tugs on my hand and I follow along as the men all pour into the room in front of us. They all take their seats, and Axel sits down and pulls me into his lap. He sits to the left of Grayson and across from Rowan. As the club’s sergeant at arms, it’s his responsibility to protect the club.
Grayson bangs the gavel and startles me, making me flinch and Axel pull me tighter to his chest in response.
“We all saw what happened today and we need to figure out a way to take Zach out without drawing attention to us,” Grayson says, his voice filling the now quiet space.
“I can start doing a deep dive on him,” Noah, the prospect, offers. “Now that we know who he really is I’ll be able to dig deep and find out everything about him.”
“Do it,” Grayson mutters. “He can’t sneak his way out of this now that we know his real identity.”
“You guys were looking into Dylan?” I ask, surprised.
“Of course, we were,” Axel murmurs from behind me. “We kept coming up short, but we didn’t’ know why. We were going to look into Zach for you, but Dylan took our top priority.”
“Now, we know why we kept hitting dead ends,” Cane mutters.
There’s a knock on the door that surprises us all. Grayson nods for Levi to open it, and I’m surprised to see Lenny on the other side.
“Let him in,” Grayson orders.
Levi steps to the side and lets Lenny into the room.
“Can someone fill me in on what’s going on?” He asks, concern lacing his tone.
“You know that Wren was attacked the other day by a man that she went on a few dates with,” Axel explains. “His name was Dylan, and we couldn’t find anything out about him. Until today, when he showed up in court as Zach Rycroft.”
“What the fuck?” Lenny rasps. “I’m so sorry, Wren.”
“It’s not your fault,” I murmur. “There’s no way that you could have known.”
“I can give you everything I have on Zach,” he offers.
“I’ll take it,” Noah says. “It’ll help me to have somewhere to start.”
“We’re set to head back to court tomorrow,” Lenny says. “I’d be surprised if he actually shows up.”
“We’ll be there if he does,” Axel growls.
“We’ll have a group ready to follow him when he leaves,” Rowan says.
“Good,” Lenny murmurs. “Just keep the violence in public to a minimum. I can’t get all of you out of jail quickly.”
I snort.
“We’ll keep the public violence to a minimum, Lenny,” Axel says, and I hear the smirk in his voice. “He dies, though.”
Murmurs of agreement break out around the room.
“He dies,” I whisper.