“Said the wolf to the wheelchair-bound lamb.”
He chuckles, reaching out his hand to help me up. I look behind me to Kruger for reassurance. He smiles and nods, so I figure, fuck it. He’s not likely to kill me outside the hospital, right?
“Nobody’s going to kill you.”
“Balls. I didn’t mean to say that out loud.” I slowly slip my hand into his large one and let him help me up.
He waits until I have my balance before his eyes move from mine to Kruger’s. “I was in the area. Figured I’d swing by myself.”
“Appreciated. Not like you to be anywhere without Neveah, though.”
“She’s knee deep in her new book. Apparently, I was blinking too loudly, and the sound of my breathing was annoying her, so she kicked me out.”
I can’t help the chuckle that slips free at that. Havoc rolls his eyes, but I can tell that he’s not mad about it.
“I’ll just roll this back. You’ll be okay with Havoc for a second?” Kruger asks. I won’t lie. I want to kiss him for asking and not assuming.
“She’ll be fine,” Havoc answers for me, but Kruger doesn’t take his eyes from mine until I nod.
“Be right back.”
“Let’s get you in the truck.”
“Um…okay.”
“Everyone make you this nervous, or just me?”
“Let’s just say the last time I had a run-in with a club president, things didn’t work out well for me.”
“I get that. Had a shitty run-in with a club president myself. We’re not all built the same way, though. Besides, I have experience in fucking over someone who didn’t deserve it. Not looking to make the same mistakes. I’d like to hear about what went down from your perspective. Not now, though. You gotta rest.”
“All I do is rest,” I grumble as my brain stumbles over what he said. “You’re talking about Lola, aren’t you?”
“You remember her?”
I nod as he pulls open the back passenger seat door. “I only met her once. I went with Lee—eh, Snake—when he had to see Khan about something. She was the only one who made me feel welcome. Everyone else was really cliquey. Kinda reminded me of high school.”
“I didn’t know that.”
“Why would you? I remember she was younger than everyone else, and they treated her as if she were dumb because of it. It gave off a whole mean girl vibe that made me grateful for the girls back at the mother chapter, at least until everything went down and they pretended I didn’t exist.”
He rubs his hand over his face, looking tired.
“I shouldn’t have said anything.”
“No, I’m glad you did. I just hate how much I was so fucking oblivious to. Driller may have been the one to abuse her, but I might as well have held the door open for him to walk through.”
I hiss at the sound of Driller’s name. “Your brother was a dick. He was slimy and gave me the creeps. It always confused me how nobody seemed to see it. Though I noticed Lola did.”
His head dips and sighs before he makes me yelp as he picks me up under the armpits and lifts me into the truck.
“She’s coming up in the next couple of weeks with my nephew. You should come visit the clubhouse. She’d appreciate a friendly face.”
“I don’t know, Havoc. I’m not sure the clubhouse is somewhere I can go again.”
“The club is a part of him.” He nods his head toward the hospital doors as Kruger is walking out. “But I have a feeling if you asked him to choose, he’d choose you.”
I swallow hard. “I’d never ask him to.”
