“You probably know why I called this meeting,” Blitz said.“We had a few escapees last night, thanks to an act of heroism.”He nailed Crash with a glare.“But we can’t let them run loose.It will only be a matter of time before they replenish their numbers and come after us.And I won’t let that happen.”
“What about the girl?”Cinder asked.“Think she’s part of the Double Deuces and only cried out as a ploy?”
Crash growled.“She was tied to a fucking wall like a dog!You think she asked to be tied up?To be treated like garbage?”
“What I think is that she was there when no other females were.Now either she was their fuck toy, or she was an entrusted member of the club.It wouldn’t be the first time an M.C.had allowed a female to patch in.”Cinder narrowed his eyes at Crash.“Maybe if you weren’t thinking with your dick, you’d have thought of that.”
Burn slammed his fist down on the table.“Crash jumped through a damn window, into a burning building, and saved that woman.And she has a name.Willow was tormented by the Double Deuces and didn’t shed a tear over their deaths.”
Blitz rubbed his jaw.“Cinder has a point.What do we really know about this girl?What if she was told to say those things when we rescued her?She could be a Trojan horse, just waiting for the moment to strike, or to let the Double Deuces through the back door while we sleep.”
“Un-fucking-believable.”Crash shook his head.“If you don’t believe her, then just ask the Black Daggers.She said they owned her before the Double Deuces, so reach out to them and ask about a girl they snatched fifteen years ago.She said she’s only been with the Double Deuces a few months.”
Blitz snorted.“Yeah, because I’m tight with the Pres of the worst, most lethal club in the U.S.”
“Then we’re at a stalemate because we believe Willow,” Crash said.“What’s it going to take for the club to trust her?”
“You should let me torture the information out of her,” Cinder said.“I’ll have her singing like a canary in no time.”
Burn shot to his feet.“You’re not torturing our mate!”
“Mate is it?”Blitz asked.“And she’s agreed to that?You thinkI’llagree to that?”
Crash drummed his fingers on the table.“We want to claim her, and she knows it, but she’s asked for some time.She’s never known freedom, not since she was five years old.All of this is a lot to take in.You should have seen her eating breakfast this morning.You’d think she’d never had scrambled eggs and bacon.There was a look of pure joy on her face with every bite.”
“So because she acted like she’d never had eggs and bacon, you think she’s telling the truth?”Timber asked.“Don’t you think that could have just been some really good acting?”
“If you’d watched her last night, if you’d heard her tell her story, then you would know she’s innocent.”Crash glared at Blitz.“You were there when she told us what happened to her.You saw the tears in her eyes, heard the emotion in her voice, how can you possibly think she’s lying?No one is that good of an actress.”
“I’m giving you twenty-four hours to either mate her or turn her over for more questioning,” Blitz said.“But keep in mind that if she turns against us, if she sticks a dagger in our fucking backs, it is Burn and you who will hang for the offense.”
Crash and Burn nodded.
“Now, as to the Double Deuces who escaped…I made some calls and it sounds like they’re hiding out in a cabin on the outside of town.We’ll go after them tonight, under the cover of darkness.I don’t want them to see us coming, and I don’t think they’ll come after us before then.”
“We’d like to stay behind with our mate,” Burn said.
“No.I need all hands on deck for this,” Blitz said.“I’ll leave a handful of Prospects here to watch over her, and if Blaze wants to bring Luna to the clubhouse, she’ll be protected as well.”
“Hell, Luna is safer at home than around these horny Prospects.Besides, I don’t think any one of them could shoot fish in a barrel.No way am I leaving my mate under their protection,” Blaze said.“And if Crash and Burn mate Willow, then they deserve for their mate to have more protection than just the Prospects as well.”
Timber tapped on the table.“Any volunteers to stay behind with the Prospects to watch over the mates?”
“I will,” Spark said, lifting a hand.“My beast is a prehistoric throwback, which makes me even bigger than Blaze’s bear and twice as deadly in shifted form.Unless they knock my ass out, no one is getting through me to harm the mates.”
Crash had to admit he felt better with Spark’s offer.He trusted the sabretooth cat to care for Willow as if she were something precious, and to Burn and him, she was.He watched and waited to see if Timber and Blitz would accept the offer and breathed a sigh of relief when they did.
“The day is your own,” Blitz said.“But I want your asses on your bikes and ready to ride by seven o’clock sharp.What you do until then is your own damn business.”
The gavel banged on the table again and everyone rose to leave.
“Crash.Burn.Remember what I said.Twenty-four hours, but if she isn’t your mate by the time we ride tonight, then Luna’s safety takes precedence and I’ll make sure Spark knows Willow’s expendable.”
Crash fought back the growl that rose in his throat and nodded before walking briskly from the room.If he didn’t get away from Blitz right then, he might go for the Pres’ throat.To say he wasn’t pleased with the turn of events was an understatement, but they had a little time to convince Willow to be theirs.He didn’t want to press her, but she needed to know about the change in timeline.He’d leave out the torture part though.
When they entered the bedroom, she made a pretty picture stretched across the bed, her attention rapt on the TV, almost as if she’d never watched one before.Crash moved further into the room, curious as to what she was watching.When he saw it was an older romance, he couldn’t help but smile.It just showed how soft their Willow was.Even after everything she’d been through, she still believed in a happy ending.He just had to convince her that she could have one too.
“Did the meeting go okay?”she asked, turning her gaze toward them.
