She leans back, and I can’t help but leave her with a breath stealing kiss.
“Bed, now.” I tuck her in and watch as she fights to keep her eyes open.
I walk to the door. “If you need anything, text me.” Without a look back, I’m out the door.
Coming down the stairs, I hear shouting and chairs scooting around.
“We’ve got a fucking rat! I don’t care what the fuck you have to do, but we need to find the fucker and make them pay!”
I can’t see anyone yet, but I know that voice belongs to Gunner. Crazy bastard has a slug in his shoulder and is still yelling about club business. Stepping off the last step, I’m met with an absolute shitshow.
The first person I see is Cali, standing off to the side in a dark purple pantsuit and sky-high heels, her arms crossed against her chest. Her platinum blonde hair is pulled back into a perfectly slicked-back bun. She exudes power when she needsto, but her face is painted with worry. She’s staring at Gunner, who’s standing between Jax and Bear. Both men flank his sides, keeping him upright. He’s slurring his words, and it’s clear Doc gave him some hardcore pain medicine.
“Can you please take him up to his old room?” Cali says, pinching the bridge of her nose.
“No problem, Cali. I’ll have the guys help you get him back into bed,” Prince says as he walks toward her.
I make my way over to her and wrap an arm around her shoulders.
“You doing, okay?” I ask her. She looks up at me with tears in her eyes. Shit. I hate it when women cry, and honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever seen Cali cry.
“Hey, Gunner is one tough son of a bitch. He’ll be fine.” I try to soothe her.
She nods at me and takes a deep breath, putting back on the mask of confidence and power that I’m used to.
“I know he will. I just… he said he was just doing boring club stuff tonight, and I get a mysterious call from Doc saying Gunner was shot. Nothing more. I was still at work, and I nearly had a heart attack.” She picks a piece of lint from the sleeve of her jacket. “I’m fine, I promise. Just hate this part of it all.”
I can’t imagine how hard this is for the women of the club. We signed up for this shit, knew exactly what we were getting ourselves into. They, on the other hand, didn’t. I give her a squeeze.
“Yeah, I’ll talk to Doc and remind him he can’t just drop that on you without detail.”
“No, it’s okay. It’s not his fault. It’s Gunner’s for putting himself in that position.” She moves away from us and starts to walk toward the door. “Thanks again for your help tonight, Prince. I owe you.” She waves to both of us as she struts up the stairs.
“No, doll. We owe you.” He tips his head toward her and walks back to the conference room.
Why would we owe Cali?
Men file into Church as we sit in our designated spots. Only patched members are allowed tonight, seeing as how we may have a rat among us. Jax sits outside the door with a basket for everyone to drop their cell phones into while Knife takes his wand and searches the room for bugs.
“All clear,” both of them say in unison.
Prince bangs the gavel and takes a seat at the head of the table. He doesn’t talk at first, but leans back and lights a cigarette. Taking a deep drag, he stares up at the ceiling and then back down.
“Well, boys, tonight has proved one thing to me. The Reapers are not here to make peace; they’re here for war. Nothing and nobody are off-limits to them, so tonight I want you all to make plans. I’m opening the clubhouse up to those of you who want to bring your families here. Keep ‘em safe. Anyone wants to leave or has to go somewhere, make sure there is protection with them.”
Everyone stays quiet and nods. I’ve already decided Jenna is staying with me until this shit is all taken care of. I don’t care how long it takes. She’s going to hate the idea; she already nearly blew a gasket when I told her she was staying tonight. I wish I could take her to my house. She’d be way more comfortable. It’s nothing special—I bought it a few years back to have a place of my own but rarely ever stay there. But I haven’t been able to set up a security system there, so we’ll stay here.
“Otherwise, I want business as usual. We don’t want those fucking Reaper scum thinking they’ve spooked us. Everyone goes to work and does their shit, but we keep a close eye out.”
Prince looks to me.
“I know this has touched some people who don’t exactly belong to the club, but if she stays, you better make sure she can be trusted.”
I look around the room for a moment, looking each of my brothers in the face. I don’t want to claim Jenna yet. She’s not ready for that yet. But I need to make it clear that she’s mine.
“She can be trusted,” I say sternly.
Prince nods to me, and I make eye contact with Blaze.
