“Why are the patches different?”
“Sister chapters, honey.”
I look toward the person who spoke. Someone I’ve never met before, but one glance at his vest and I see the name I’ve heard horror stories about.
“No, thank you,” I say in a whisper that has him and Reese looking at me funny.
“Huh?” General says.
“I don’t need medical attention.”
It takes him a minute, and then he smiles and laughs, pulling lots of eyes his way. “I see Kitten’s been talking about me.”
I nod. “Yeah, and no offense, but I’d rather see an actual doctor than you.” The things she told me about this guy make me cringe. I hate the hospital, but I’d rather face it than deal with the torture session he apparently put Jules through when she fell off the mountain and landed on the clubhouse’s doorsteps.
“General’s a real doctor, babe, and he promises to be nice. Don’t you?” Reese glares at the man, who just shrugs, but at least he’s smiling.
“All depends on the lady. Kitten had her claws out, so I did too. You play nice with me and I’ll be gentle with you.” He takes a step toward me and waggles his eyebrows. “Very gentle,” he says before raking his eyes over me, forcing a weird squawking noise out of me.
“Back off.” Reese pushes him away, but I can tell there’s nothing to it. Probably just a club brother trying to keep the mood light after everything. “Go get your own old lady. This one’s mine.”
He puts his hands up in surrender and backs away a few feet. “Can’t kill a man for trying. She’s fine as hell, even if it’s obvious that she’s been through shit. Even before we clean her off, I can already see why the boys are talking about her.”
“Yeah, yeah, remind them boys who she belongs to. Go see if the kids need help, and then you can look over my woman when we get back to the club.” Reese shoos him away as we head over to a van.
“You didn’t bring your bike?” I ask.
“I did, but I’d rather have you in a cage to be safe and not hanging on to me.”
“I’d rather hang on than be anywhere else.”
He stops and faces me. “You sure?”
I nod.
“Fucking lucky is what I am. Lucky as hell,” he says, more to himself than me, as he leans down and kisses me in front of everyone. The dead, the living. Kids and adults. Local club brothers and those from their sister chapters. We’re surrounded, but all I see, all I feel, is Reese.
My man. My hero.
My everything.
Chapter 33—Gator
“H
ow’s she doing?” Dad asks as he sits by me at the Flying Monkeys Bar. The club came out tonight to lend a supportive hand to my girl as she meets up with her friends. She’s seen them a few times, but not outside the club or her home.
It’s been a few weeks since I got her back, and while her bruises are going away, it’s clear that she’ll have emotional scars for a while. This being one of them. She’s developed a minor fear of being alone, as well as being out with strangers. General says it’s a common effect for those who were kidnapped. I've got no problem being by her side 24/7, but I just hate seeing the fear in her eyes if a strange person gets too close. She’s getting better, but it’s going to take time. Which I have. And the club’s got no issue being her security blanket while that time passes. Coming out to a place to drink and have fun, as well as monitoring her to make sure she’s safe, is no hardship for them.
My girl doesn’t blame us for what happened to her. I thought she might, but after she explained it, I get that it was just wrong place, wrong time. Still doesn’t make me feel better when she wakes up screaming in the night. Nothing happened to her there, or so she says. General at least confirmed it for me, just because I know my girl would have kept that shit from me if she thought it would make me mad. But her nightmares are for those who were taken upstairs. She cries for them, and I hold her. I don’t cry myself, just get mad and make promises to end this. Once and for all.
The entire club’s at my back on it. We’re all done with this. Seeing so many little kids walk out of that house in the middle of nowhere was enough for every brother to take this personally. We saw the fear in their eyes, but also their determination to tell us as many details about the people as possible so we can get them all. They even gave descriptions of the girls who were taken before Bailey showed up. We now have a list—a very long list—and we’re all out hunting.
Law put a call in to every single chapter of the Hounds. Everyone wants in on this. We might not shut down human trafficking completely, but we’re going to shut down the shit we can. Starting with Duke and his North, East, and West friends. We might not have names yet, but we will. We’re pulling in all resources on this. And once a Hound hunts, you can bet your ass we’ll take a bite out of what we find and send it right to the Reaper himself.
“She’s good.” And she is. But… we aren’t. I get that things are going to need time, and I’ll give her all the time she needs. But she’s distant, even if it’s not physical.
Which is also something that isn’t happening between us. Again, not angry about it. I get it. It’s just hard. I want to be there for her in every way. I don’t want her to push me away, and it feels like she is. She’s been distant. Taking phone calls away from me, hanging up if I get too close. She’s asked me to leave a few times when she’s been with her friends. I know she needs things, and it hurts like hell to think that I might not be all she needs. That I can’t give her what she wants.
