So while she might cry out for help, he’s just looking out the side of the door, watching and waiting. Not to help but to get the license plate. Something to help him find out who did this to his brother.
Not for me. Not for Abigail or Nat. But for Atom. For the Hound who’s bleeding out.
Because he’s club.
And I’m not. I’m just a girl. Not good enough for the club. Not good enough for my dad.
Not good enough for anything.
Chapter 33—Kooper
Iknow the second she’s taken. Not only because my phone is chirping like a damn alarm, but because the siren goes off in the clubhouse the second shit goes down.
Mad Max called it in, said shots were fired at the hospital. No one thinks twice about hopping onto their bikes and going.
But I already know we’re too late. Too much time has gone by. If things were okay, my team would have told me. Them not calling is all the information I need. Still, I’m not prepared to see it.
The Crazy Eights are on the scene too. I see them, Jack and Billy, run down one hallway, while I go another. Word is that Law is fine. No one came that way, but Mad Max still has shit locked down. A few brothers head to his room anyway. The blood trail I’m following is from another brother. Atom. He got hit multiple times from what I heard over comms.
I’m stopped by a wall of vests, but my eyes go to King. He sees me coming and moves in front to get to me quicker.
“Five, maybe six people came out of a van. No plates. It was white with a blue racing stripe. Nothing on the outside to distinguish it. Went south at the entrance. Told Flint what I could.”
I nod. I get it. Even with the call, the van was gone before Flint could track it. The satellites weren’t in the positions we needed.
“Casper.” I look over at the prez, who’s talking to General. He holds up a finger, and I wait.
“Atom took three shots through and through. The fourth is dug in deep. Going in now. Should be out soon,” General tells Casper.
A day without losing a brother is always a good day.
But losing Ruby? My Peaches? Fuck it all to hell.
The boys are still riled from earlier. They got their punches in. Not all, but a few. I let Bulldog, Chains, and even Bass have a hit. When a line formed, I punched back. I’m not about to get a beatdown over falling for some girl. I can understand the first few hits. I get it. She’s family. And despite everything, they think I fucked her over. Actually, I don’t know what they think. They just got mad at her leaving, and, instead of taking it out on themselves, I was the easy target.
A willing one, because the woman was right. I should have just claimed her, then and there. Should have done anything, even groveled, to keep her there. But I didn’t. Not sure if it’s because I still don’t think I deserve her after all the shit that went down. After I wanted to use her to get the presidency.
I saw her as a thing to use. To dispose of after I got what I wanted. But somehow along the way, I fell in love with her. Not the sweet kind that gives flowers and recites poetry. The hard kind. The gritty kind. The kind people burn bridges for and end up locked behind bars. The obsessive kind.
I was shook when she left. When she called out what we did and threw it away so quickly. In one breath, she acknowledged what we had and tossed it aside. In that moment of weakness was when my brothers attacked. Just three times. Enough for me to get my head on straight and tell them to fuck off. But enough for the damage to be done already.
She’s gone.
“Casper,” I say again, and he looks at me. He knows what I want. He got the same debrief from King like I did just seconds before.
“Yeah, I’ll ask Billy, see what C8 can do.”
I nod because I appreciate it. It means the club will owe the Crazy Eights again. That they’ll have something over on us like before. When all this started and old ladies became part of the damn club and not just a fable a vamp dreamed about when she was in a brother’s arms for a minute.
“Like fuck you’ll ask us.”
We all turn at Jack’s words as she storms down the hall. Billy’s close by her, but not with as much pep. Tears are leaking down her face, and I know they ain’t for our own.
“You had one job. One goddamn job.” Jack gets close to Casper and pushes him.
One push, and that’s all it takes for another brother, Walker, to get in front of her and push her back. For the brothers to realize that we’re no longer friends. No one touches, let alone pushes, a president.
Walker holds her back, but I see the struggle as she keeps trying to get out of his hold.
