Mason gives a curt nod of acknowledgement, never taking his eyes off mine.
“I had every fucking right,” Sadie retorts, jumping back into the conversation.
“Baby,” Hawk admonishes.
“No,” Sadie argues. “She was talking shit about Mason, this club, my man,our family. Of course, I went digging. I wanted to know why she was so bitter toward everyone. All she’s done these past couple of months is talk shit and cut us all down. Even at Avery’s wedding. When we welcomed her and Kaylie to stay with us during the storm, she bitched about club girls and our way of life. All the while, knowing her mom was worse than a club girl. She was one of their money-making prostitutes. While we kept her and Kaylie fed and warm, and you and Vincenzoplayed fucking Santa Claus to the entire club including her sister, she’s hated us.”
Sadie stalks toward Mason, jabbing her finger on his chest. Hawk grips her hips from behind, halting any further advancement. “What thanks did you get, Mason? Has she ever said thank you or defended you to anyone around here? No, she’s been using you. This whole fucking time, and you don’t see it because you’ve wanted her for so long you’ll take any scrap of attention Everly will give you. Meanwhile, she spits on you behind your back and disrespects everyone associated with that patch you’re wearing. The patch my family literally died for and all becauseherfatherwas a heartless bastard who wanted us all wiped out.” Her words hit like a punch to the gut.
Sadie steps back, pressing her back into Hawk’s chest. He quietly shushes her in her ear, soothingly. Her eyes bounce between me and Mason. “So, yeah, I went digging. Then I heard you were planning on claiming her at the table, which means the club is going to have to step in shit to save her.”
“Claiming me?” I ask, confused. “What the hell does that mean, Mason? Claiming me, how?”
“That’s all you took from that?” Mason huffs, scrubbing a hand down his face. His smile is one of frustration and disbelief. I can see his body vibrating physically. He’s as angry as I am, only I’m not sure if it’s with Sadie for digging into my family’s past or the information she just blurted out.
“Miss Greene,” the deputy calls for me to join him by his car.
“Coming.” I don’t waste another second trying to sort through the bomb Sadie’s just dropped in my lap. I turn toward the deputy and walk away as fast as I can, knowing Mason will follow. “Stop following me, Mason. I don’t know what Sadie’s talking about, but this claiming nonsense, if it’s what I think it is, you can forget it. I’m no man’s property.”
He eats up the distance between us, walking beside me now. “Let’s get this shit with your shop figured out then we’ll talk.” Mason grips my shoulder, guiding me toward the deputy. I try to open my mouth to deny him, but Mason shakes his head. “Don’t say anther word, Sprite, or I swear to all that is holy, I’ll show you exactly what she meant about me claiming you and afterwards you won’t sit for a fucking week.”
What the hell does he mean by that? And why does he sound so hot when I’m supposed to hate him right now?
4
MASON
Austin and Colt pull up in a truck next to Pres. Their trucks are loaded down with plywood, cardboard boxes, and supplies to clean and board up Everly’s salon. If they hadn’t shown up, and she didn’t have to talk to the cops, I would take her ass in the back and show her exactly what it means for me to claim her.
The night of my patch party, I made my intentions known to my brothers that Everly was going to be my ol’ lady. I half expected Pres to reject my plans after everything everyone heard her saying in the clubhouse that day, but he didn’t take it personally. He did warn me the women would be the ones she’d have to smooth over, and after Sadie’s confrontation just now, I see what he means. My only concern is how much of what Sadie knows has been spread to the others. I haven’t told Pres about Ever’s past or her connections.
The guys had a different reaction to my claim. They all laughed and wished me luck in making her see things my way, but I’m not deterred. Of course, I hadn’t toldEverlythat I planned to claim her in church, or what that means for her and Kaylie. Thanks to Sadie, I’ll have to have that conversationsooner rather than later, but that doesn’t matter. Everly will warm up to the idea … eventually.
The fact is, Everly’s been mine since the day we kissed by the lake years ago. She ran away because she was afraid. For some fucked up reason she believes she’s not worthy of love, but that’s bullshit. I’ll get my girl to see reason, and then I’ll prove to her how loved she truly is and redden her ass at the same time for believing something so stupid.
Yeah, I like that plan.A lot.
“Do you have anything more to go on, Mike?” Declan asks the deputy. Mike’s been a friend of the club’s for a long time now and generally lets us handle club shit our own way, but this time is different. He got called in before we were by a neighboring business.
“Not yet. I’ve got calls in to some of the other local businesses to see if anyone else’s cameras caught anything, but it will take some time to gather all of that up with such a short staff on hand. It’s just me and Jones right now. My other two guys are still on vacation with their families,” he says. “You said your system was hacked?” He turns his question to Hawk.
“It wasn’thacked.They just managed to shut it off. The system is still intact, and nothing was fucked with beyond cutting the cameras. They didn’t even think to run a loop or check the rest of the block for cameras, which, by the way, is how we found it in the first place. Garrison monitors all these systems on this block. Hell, most of the ones in town.”
“So, you have footage of the guy in question?” Mike asks.
Hawk nods his response.
“Well, are you going to share with the rest of us?” Mike asks, perturbed. “You know that’s why we’re all standing here in the first place,” he adds, exasperated.
“I don’t have a face, just a neck tattoo,” Hawk replies. “He’s a Devil.”
“Fuck,” Mike hisses. “Does this mean you boys have shit brewing in town again with the Devil’s Order? Because the last thing I fucking need is those Fed pricks coming back here pissing in my yard.”
“We don’t know, to tell you the truth. We hadn’t seen or heard anything from them since the Feds were in town,” Hawk continues.
“So, you’re telling me there’s one lone Devil in Oakridge, and you boys don’t have any idea as to why?” Mike asks, suspicious. He has every reason to be, but he also knows we won’t give up everything we know. Club business is for the club to handle. Cops are optional and often not included. If Mike hadn’t gotten the call and shown up on the scene first, it’s highly unlikely we would’ve notified him at all. “You and I both know clubs never send one guy to do a job. You boys generally ride in pairs.”
“Hmm,” is all Hawk has to say.
