"And heal," Ghost added.
"And spend time with the woman we almost burned a warehouse down over,” Buck teased. Wren rolled her eyes, and Buck actually smiled. For the first time since this nightmare began, Wren allowed herself to believe they might actually have a future. Sure, it would be a complicated one. It would be messy, but it would be theirs. Unfortunately, judging by the look Reaper was giving them, that peace probably wasn't going to last very long.
Wren should have known peace wouldn't last. The Kings of Anarchy clubhouse had been quiet for exactly six hours, and she was beginning to think that had to be some kind of record. By noon, Buck and Ghost were both downstairs arguing with Reaper while half the clubhouse crowded around maps spread across the war room table, and Wren stood in the cornershamelessly eavesdropping. She stood outside the partially open door with a cup of coffee in her hands while Leah stood beside her looking equally annoyed.
"They're planning something,” she whispered.
Leah snorted. "Obviously."
"They promised they weren't going to do any of this today,” Wren breathed.
“Believing that they’d stay out of this for any amount of time was your first mistake,” Leah said. Wren sighed because that was a fair assessment.
Inside the room, Buck stood at the head of the table, looking entirely too handsome for a man discussing tactical operations. The bandage beneath his shirt should've slowed him down, but it didn't. Ghost sat beside him with his injured shoulder strapped into a sling and somehow still managed to look like trouble.
Reaper pointed at a map. "The facility is here."
Buck nodded. “How far away is that?” he asked.
"Three hours north,” Reaper said. Wren's eye twitched, and Leah looked over at her. The two women exchanged a look and then simultaneously pushed the door open. The room went silent, and every biker froze. Buck looked guilty as hell as he held one of the maps, and Ghost looked delighted that they had been caught plotting. Reaper immediately started backing away from the table. He was a smart man because she had a feeling that things were about to get ugly.
"Wren," Buck began carefully.
"Don’t Wren me,” she insisted. Ghost laughed, and Buck shot him a glare, making him laugh harder. Wren marched straight into the room and planted both hands on the table. "You promised." Buck looked completely unrepentant.
"We said we weren't leaving today,” Buck reminded.
"Yet, here you are planning on leaving me again,” she insisted.
"Technically,” Buck said. Ghost made an extremely poor attempt at hiding his grin, and Wren pointed at him.
"Don't encourage him,” she spat.
"Impossible." Ghost leaned back in his chair. "He's naturally gifted." Buck looked proud of that, and Wren actually considered violence.
"You two almost died yesterday,” Leah said. The room quieted because nobody could really argue with that. Ghost's smile faded slightly, and Buck looked away.
Wren crossed her arms over her chest and didn’t miss the way that her guys looked her over. "There's law enforcement involved now, so do you guys really need to be involved, too?” she asked.
Buck nodded. "Yes."
"Federal investigators, too,” she said.
"Yes,” Ghost said.
"Task forces,” she breathed.
"Yes,” Buck said.
"Then why exactly are you planning another rescue mission?” she questioned. Buck and Ghost exchanged a look. It was the kind of look that made Wren want to scream, because she already knew the answer—neither man could walk away from this. Not when people still needed help.
Buck finally exhaled. "There are women trapped in there." And she realized that was the impossible, frustrating reason she loved him—Ghost too.
Leah groaned. "You're both idiots."
"Correct," Reaper agreed. “They are.” Buck ignored all of them, even when Wren stared at him. She noticed all the bruises still fading along his jaw and the healing cut near his eyebrow. She saw the exhaustion he was trying to hide, and underneath all of it, the impossible goodness in him.
Buck reached for her hand suddenly, lacing his fingers through hers. "We aren't going today."
