Chapter 50
fifty
JUDE
Despite the furious glare Greer’s throwing my way, I’m relieved.
I’ve hated the secrets, the half-truths.
Watching her fruitlessly check her phone for a message or a call back from Allie.
I’ve warned Flinch repeatedly that it’s only a matter of time until Allie’s family realizes she’s not in school.
I do see the benefits of her staying here.
Allie’s enjoying peace and quiet to recover and is taking her courses online.
More than once, I’ve found her curled up on the cabin’s porch swing with a mason jar of sweet tea, watching the bayou.
“Has she seen a doctor? It looks like her ribs…” Greer pauses mid-sentence.
I keep waiting for Greer to start putting all the pieces of the puzzle together, but it doesn’t happen.
“Would you like to enlighten me as to what the hell is going on?” she bites out in a voice dripping with venom. “You know how upset I’ve been that Allie hasn’t returned my calls or texts.”
“Do you remember what I told you about claiming a woman? What it takes?”
“So Flinch and Allie slept together at some point, and Flinch decided to keep her,” she says matter of fact. “That doesn’t explain why she’s here and not in her dorm.”
“It’s complicated.” I want to give her all the answers, but until she sees Allie and hears them from her own lips, she’s going to look for what’s been left unsaid.
I’ve committed the sin of omission. Not by choice, but necessity.
Her voice is cold, “Is this why Allie completely broke things off with P.J.?”
Allie’s voice intrudes from the porch. “P.J. and I have been over for a long time. It’s just official now, that’s all.”
She takes uneasy steps toward us. “Come in. It’s past time we talk.”
Flinch is at her side, an arm draped over her shoulders, a mark of possession for my benefit.
I didn’t want any of this. For Greer to be upset and worried.
But Allie rattled her cage, determined to go back to school.
Normally, the MC would never allow a woman to be kept like this, but in these particular circumstances, it’s not even a question.
We can never allow anyone affiliated with the club to stay on enemy turf, regardless of how much times has passed since the war.
They’ve already taken the life of an old lady, an unforgivable sin.
I’ve pushed and demanded that Allie be allowed to stay in the apartment. She’d still be under Bayou Dog protection from P.J. and deterred from walking straight into enemy territory.
Flinch and I share a glower as we make our way up the stairs, neither of us happy about the entire damn situation.
The irony is that if things had happened organically, and Allie and Flinch got together, I’d be happy they were together. Not while holding Allie here against her will though, or with Greer not knowing.
Allie should have been under my protection this entire time.
At least Greer and Allie have each other again. As much as I want to give her everything, she has Allie the same way I have my brothers.
We’re all going to be a family now.
Whether Flinch and I like it or not.