He leaned in slightly. “Good. I wanted you to wake up happy today, and every day really.”
I felt myself blush. “You know, you didn’t have to do all this.”
He didn’t look away when he responded. “I wanted to do something nice for you, sweetness. You deserve nice things. Please don’t ever forget that.”
I picked up a fork and took a bite of eggs. It felt strange to be considered, cared for, and being someone’s priority. When Fuse didn’t eat, I fed him until, between us, all the food was nearly gone.
I took another sip of coffee and let the warmth settle me. Up here, in this bed, with breakfast and kittens and Fuse watching me like I mattered, the world felt different. It felt possible. And I wasn’t used to that.
Chapter 12
Fuse
Storm’s phone buzzed as we were getting ready to leave for the council meeting. He looked at the screen before stepping away from the group. He took the call standing about ten feet from our assembled bikes while we stood quietly waiting for him to join us. At this distance we could only hear Storm’s side of the conversation.
“Storm. What do you want, Viper?”
There was a pause before Storm’s aggravated voice snapped, “I said we’d be there. We’d already be on the road right now if you weren’t calling to irritate the fuck out of me.”
There was another, longer pause before he snarled, “The fuck you will. The woman stays with us. That’s not up for debate, so don’t fuckin’ bring it up again.”
I had no idea what Viper was saying, but it pissed Storm off even more.
“Don’t fuckin’ threaten me about the woman or any damn thing else, Viper. I don’t take well to threats. They make me fuckin’ homicidal.”
There was a much longer pause this time before Storm’s voice said tightly, “I heard you the first time, asshole. Now you hear me. The Dark Slayers made a deal and we’re honoring it. That’s what we do. But don’t think for one goddamn minute that we are ever gonna be friendly after this deal is over. Just the opposite, in fact.”
He ended the call and stood there for a second before stalking back over to us.
Grit asked, “What the hell was that about?”
“Viper wanted to confirm we were coming and prepared to vote in his favor,” Storm replied. He climbed onto his bike before continuing. “And he was ballsy enough to remind me what will happen to Winter if we don’t execute the three favors like we’re supposed to.”
I felt a surge of panic lance through my body. “Can he actually take her back?”
Storm looked at me for a long hard minute before speaking. “Three months ago, I’d have said no. His club only had a handful of brothers in brand new cuts with no alliances to back them up. Right now, he’s got close to fifty patched brothers. He fought for and claimed territory. That means he’s stronger than ever before. I think we could take them in a fair fight, but when have you ever known Viper to play fair?”
“Goddamn, are you saying that asshole could make a move on our clubhouse?” Grit’s question made us all uncomfortable.
“He might be stupid enough to try,” Storm replied bitterly. “If he did, we’d handle it by calling in help from allied clubs. But I don’t particularly want to risk the lives of our club brothers and affiliates dealing with an unpredictable fuck like Viper.”
I could see where Storm was coming from with that train of thought. It would be a shame for someone to get killed or maimed dealing with a garden variety asshole like Viper.
Storm continued, “Viper is more trouble than he’s worth, so let’s keep to the deal we made with him. The sooner I see the back side of him the better.”
Thunder spoke up, “Let’s just get our asses to the council meeting, cast the Dark Slayers’ vote on his behalf and check the fuckin’ second favor off our list. Don’t fuckin’ give him a reason to escalate the situation.”
They were saying the best way to keep Winter safe was to walk into that room and do the last thing any of us wanted to do by helping him get his hands on Vulture’s old territory.
We hit the road, Storm, Celt, Thunder, Grit, Breaker, Renegade, and myself. Riding the open road should have made me feel free and proud. It did, but enjoying the ride was hard when all I could think of was Viper double crossing us somehow in order to get his hands on my old lady.
The others were in a somber mood as well because a lot was riding on this road trip. No matter what, we had to knock out this second favor. Vulture’s territory was up for a regional vote and Viper wanted everyone to see us support his claim. This favor seemed simple enough, except nothing involving a shifty ass fucker like Viper was ever simple.
The Savage Legion joined us about twenty minutes out, Siege at the front of their formation, matching our pace without a word being exchanged. One of their officers, a broad guy named Tank, pulled up even with me and rode there for a while before stopping for gas.
He spoke, “Is your club sure about voting for Viper to get Vulture’s territory? You know it puts that dipshit closer to Griffinsford. You really want Viper and his shit in your backyard?”
Tank was exaggerating about them being in our back yard, but they would be a hell of a lot closer. Pulling the gas nozzle out of my gas tank, I slid it back into its housing. Turning to Tank, I told him, “No. We ain’t certain of nothin’, except keeping my old lady safe.”
