“You’re right, they did. So we need a plan. Bad Ryders aren’t a big club anymore. We call in some backup, and we can easily take them,” Kal says as he looks at every one of us.
“I vote we get back up and go in.” I’m the first to speak. I’m ready for this shit. Maybe then I can find a way to move forward. The vote goes around the table, and we all agree. We call in backup and go after them.
Chapter 22
Anika
I sit on the couch with my knees pulled to my chest and watch everyone else moving around. Patch had to go into church, and I was left on my own in his room. I couldn’t stand being in there without him, so I came back out to see what the girls were up to. Most of them were busy or off in their own little circles, so I opted for the couch.
The door opens to the office at the side of the room, and I see the guys start filing back out. Patch comes out, and immediately, like he knew I was here, his eyes find me. He glances back at the office before turning and coming toward me. My insides dance with anticipation as he walks over and sits down next to me.
“You okay?” he asks.
“Yeah. There was nothing to do in there,” I tell him.
“I need to talk to you about somethin’.” I nod my head as he shoves off the couch and offers me his hand. I slip my palm against his and stand before he leads me out the side door again. We walk the same way to the back of the property, where all the guys are buried.
“Why are we going back here?” I ask.
“I like it back here. It’s calmin’.” I don’t question him as he leads me around the side to where a bench sits that I hadn’t noticed before. I take a seat next to him, but he keeps my hand held tightly in his.
“I was a bad kid, always in trouble. My adopted parents couldn’t handle me. I basically did what I wanted, when I wanted. I found the club when I was just a kid. They didn’t let kids in, though, you know? So I hung around with some of the other kids who grew up here. We became good friends, and that’s how I found the club. They took me in, didn’t care that I was different or acted differently. They gave me a place to call home, and I never looked back.”
“What about your parents?”
“My real parents?” I nod my head. “Didn’t know them. They put me up for adoption when I was four. My adopted parents are around, but we don’t talk much. I’ve basically made my own way in life.”
“That had to be hard for a kid,” I say.
“It was, and it wasn’t. I had good friends, good people around me. This club became my life, my family. They became everything I needed.”
“And you stayed.”
“And I stayed. It was home. It’s the only place that ever felt like home.”
“I get it,” I say softly. Patch turns to me now, and I can see the serious look on his face.
“Shit’s gonna get bad for a while. Things are gonna get bloody, and I need to know that you can handle that,” he says.
“What do you mean?”
“We know who the guys are that took us,” he says, and my heart leaps into my throat. They know? They found them? Whathappens now? I have so many questions, but none of them will come out. It’s like I can’t form words.
“I …”
“Don’t need to worry about anything, darlin’. I’m gonna handle this,” he says.
“What does that mean?”
“It means I’m gonna take care of it. You don’t need details. You just need to know that if I come home different, that’s why.”
“I … I don’t know what to say.”
“I want you, Anika. I think I have since the first night you ran into my life. Things got fucked up. Things happened, but now I’m gonna fix them. We know these guys were tied to your brother’s death. We know they were the ones who took us and held us there.”
“You’re going to kill them?” I ask. I need to know what all of this means. I need to understand.
“Yeah. I’m gonna kill them.”
