“Brock…”
I looked up to see Tara staring at me, her face half in shock. I put the safety on the gun, dropped it down, and embraced her. Silently, I just held her. I lost awareness of anything else around me. I was just glad Tara was safe.
“You guys did well,” Cole said.
I kept my arms around Tara, but I looked at Cole and listened to him speak to us.
“Be warned, however, that there will be retaliation. Not everyone will be happy about the Black Reapers MC being here. Outlaws draw scorn and contempt from those within the law, and I don’t just mean cops. Your own citizens may hate you. But you did the right thing tonight.”
I nodded.
“I need some fresh air,” Tara said. “Can you give me a moment?”
I helped her out of the room, pulling the desk back and letting her walk by. She ambled through the hallway and atrium to the outside where she just looked silently ahead. I looked to my brothers and to my mentor and nodded.
“Well done, guys,” I said. “Thanks for coming.”
“Don’t thank us,” Connor said. “This is our job now. Kick me out of the club if I ever fail to protect you.”
I turned to Steele.
“It’s the least I could have done, brother.”
He offered his hand. I took it. It was a much more authentic and genuine handshake than the last one.
“I’m glad you came,” I said, holding his hand.
“And I’m glad to be your VP.”
And I’m glad we’re finally a club.
We’re finally the Black Reapers MC.
And tonight, we made a difference.
Tara
Ihad never smoked a cigarette in my life.
But as I stood outside of the office, waiting for Brock, Steele, and the rest of the Bernard… no, the Black Reapers to clean up the mess, I began to understand why people under a lot of stress craved one. Maybe it would kill my lungs, but it would also mellow me out a tad.
Fortunately, I had no actual means of getting one, and I doubted that if I really had the opportunity, I would have actually taken it.
I looked back inside and saw Brock shaking hands with Steele. On a night in which I saw many horrible things that portended for things getting worse before they got better in Springsville, this was one of the few things I saw that gave me genuine hope, that made me believe that Brock and Steele were growing up. I still only had eyes for Brock—as had been the case since day one—but it warmed my heart to see Steele rising above the fray.
Brock came outside to me and put his arm around me. In no one else’s arms would I have felt any safer.
“It’s over,” Brock said. “We cleared the area.”
“They’ll come back, though.”
Brock shook his head.
“They may try to, but we will patrol the area for at least a couple of weeks while we grow the club,” he said. “I realized something recently, Tara. I’d said before I wanted to protect this town instead of focusing on you. But what’s a town made up of? People. And if one person falters, everyone falters. If this NME office is the most vulnerable spot for now, that’s the one we protect.”
I nodded, felt overwhelmed, and buried my head into his shoulder. I cried a bit. Brock, the gentle grizzly bear that he was, enveloped me and held me. I heard the crunching of glass as some guys walked outside, but no one said a word to me as they got on their bikes and drove off.
“Are you going to tell your Dad?” Brock said.
