Something in my chest twists tight with hope and fear all at once. Me and them with her. Can I figure out a way to come to terms with that? And will she still want me when I do
“I’ll message you her information,” she says.
“Thank you.”
We both stand, pushing our chairs back. She heads across the room toward her father just as he calls for church to start. All the patched members file into the meeting room.
I wait for a minute and then I follow them into the room. Normally, I sit at the front but today I take a chair at an emptytable toward the back. I place my hands on the table and drop my head as I replay everything in my head. I think about what I’m going to say because the next part is going to be brutal.
Then two chairs scrape across the floor as Luke and Doc take a seat on either side of me.
“Hey, man,” Doc greets as Luke gives me a nod before taking a swallow of the beer in his hand.
“Hey.” There’s an awkward pause, then I speak again. “How’s Vee?” I ask finally, not sure if I even have the right to know.
Doc sighs. “She’s doing good. Healing well mentally and physically.” He glances at Luke before continuing. “She’s wanting to go back to work.”
“What?” The word comes out louder than I mean it to. “It’s only been a week.”
“That’s what we told her,” Luke says with a small huff. “But you know how hard-headed she is.”
Yeah, I do. She’s one tough pistol.
Doc leans forward, elbows on the table. “We actually wanted to talk to you.”
My stomach tightens, not knowing what he’s going to say. Does he want me to stop delivering the coffee? Has he found out that I’m watching the house at night? Are they planning to kill me and feed me to the pigs at Cassie’s farm?
“She doesn’t want to see you,” Doc says carefully. “But we can’t always be there with her. So we wanted to ask you to keep an eye on her when we can’t.”
“But don’t crowd her,” Luke warns me.
“You know I will always look out for her,” I say immediately. “You didn’t even have to ask.” They both nod as though they expected that answer.
It isn’t even a question when Vee’s safety is involved.
We sit there in silence, and a few minutes later the door opens and Earl, Sam, and Javier step into the room, heading straight for their spots at the front as the officers of the club.
“Church is starting,” Bash shouts from the door, for the last minute stragglers who rush to get inside, dropping down in whatever empty chair they can find.
Earl calls the meeting to order and starts going over old business. Runs that are planned for this year, repairs that need to be done at the clubhouse, and upcoming business opportunities. Kaleb stands and gives updates on how the tattoo parlor is going, followed by Bash with Hell’s Desire and lastly Colin with the garage.
I hear the words, but my mind keeps drifting, thinking about what I’m about to do.
Just before Earl wraps things up, I push my chair back and stand.
“Pres,” I say. Every head in the room turns to face me.
Earl looks at me for a moment before nodding. “You got something to say, Hank?”
I take a deep breath.
“Yeah, I do, sir.”
The room goes quiet.
“I owe every one of you an apology,” I start. My voice echoes through the room because it’s so quiet. “My behavior lately has been unacceptable. I brought my personal life into club business, and that shouldn’t have happened.”
I glance around the table, meeting the eyes of my brothers one by one.
