“Well, we aren’t really happy with what Angel did, either,” I grumbled.
“Enough,” Fangs snapped.
The room fell silent again, except no one had the balls to break the silence that time.
“All right,” our president said as he raked his hands through his hair. “I get it, Angel made a shit decision. But he did it to get Nadia back. Any single one of us would’ve done that, and more, if it was our girls that had been taken.”
He pointedly looked at the taken men of the group: Goose, Bender, and Viper. He stared them all down, and in solidarity all three of them softly nodded their heads. Mumbling about how Fangs was right. Muttering beneath their breath on how they would’ve done that, and more, had it been their girls.
I didn’t understand that kind of bond, but I understood taking care of family.
“Reaper,” Fangs said as he looked back over at me, “look more into Wes. See if there’s anyone else that gives a shit about him. If someone else is coming, we gotta know about it. Viper?”
The mountain man stood from his seated position. “I’ll reach out to people and see what we can find out about Ink and the crew. See if they plan to retaliate.”
Fangs grinned. “Good. Goose? Get Harley to our safehouse. We’ll send some prospects to watch over her when you aren’t with her. Now, if there’s nothing else you assholes wanna bellyache about, let’s get to it. Church dismissed.”
And with a double-clap of his hands, we all got back to work.
As I dragged my ass back up the stairs, the only thing I wanted was to fall face-first into bed and sleep the entire weekend away. Fridays were usually my favorite day of the week because that meant good beer and wings at my bar across town. No, not one of our bars. I didn’t enjoy mixing work with pleasure, or any of that bullshit.
But so many Fridays over the months had come and gone without so much as a celebration that I wasn’t sure how to do it any longer.
“Ah, bedtime,” I groaned as the mattress caught my body. But just as my bone settled into the bed my phone rang.
“Jesus fucking Christ,” I hissed.
I kicked my foot out and slammed the bedroom door closed before shoving my hand deep into the pocket of my jeans. Whoever the fuck it was could go suck a dick for all I cared. I needed rest if I was going to start digging into Wes’s background in order to fish around for other threats.
I prepared myself to ignore the phone call the second I brought that bright-ass phone up to my face. However, when I saw the phantom number calling me, I didn’t hesitate to pick it up.
Seeing her name pop up on my screen brought back so many memories. Her face bombarded my mind immediately, and all of the sudden my exhaustion dissipated into nothingness. She had been my lifeline throughout high school. The one person I could lean on, no matter what. She taught me about love, life, friendship, and kinship. She taught me how to kiss, and what to do on dates with women. Hell, she even helped get my ass through Pre-Calc, which had been a nightmare in and of itself.
I rubbed my eyes just to make sure I wasn’t seeing things. However, when her name didn’t disappear, I knew there was only one reason for her phone call.
She’s in trouble.
“Rose? Are you all right?” I asked as I picked up the phone.
And the second her crying filled the line, I leapt right back out of bed.
4
ROSE
“Rose? Are you all right?”
Relief washed its way through my body the second Caleb spoke. Holy shit, he never changed his number. My God, he had actually picked up the phone. I drew in a broken breath as a tear slid down my cheek, and somehow I knew everything was going to be all right.
He knew it was me.
“Rose, talk to me,” he said softly.
“I’m—I’m okay,” I choked out.
“You’re crying; you’re obviously not okay. What’s going on?”
I sniffled as I wiped at my wet cheek. “Just some stupid emotions.”
