“Yeah,” I scoff, “there are pictures of us sleeping in the same crib, but you want to tell me I shouldn’t threaten you? Come on man.”
Ryker barks out a laugh before pushing me toward the room where we have church. For the first time in my life, I’m dreadingthis. Normally, I’m one of the first to walk into the room and the last to leave, but my feet are dragging this time.
Because part of me doesn’t want to know what Whiskey found.
I also don’t want to relive my woman’s pain for my brothers. Especially after mapping every single scar on her body. I could trace them by memory and draw them from looking in my mind’s eye.
It takes everything in me not to wring my hands while I sit at the table. Instead, I fist them and hide them on my lap. Where no one can see.
Because I still have to be the VP of the Saint’s Outlaws MC at the end of the day.
When everyone here tonight has settled around the room, Ryker clears his throat. Everyone goes quiet, something which normally fills me with awe, but I hardly notice this time around.
My thoughts are back in my room with my woman.
Fuck. I should have taken her back to my house on the property. She’d feel so much better there than in a room at the clubhouse. And she deserves a space she can make her own.
But I was also afraid it would send her running. Or, at least, into hiding.
Not too long ago, even being in the clubhouse was something she would have avoided. But now she’s here and sleeping up in my bed.
Some of the brothers are grumbling about being called into church, but their voices are just noise to me. If anyone shouldcomplain it’s me, I just had my woman wrapped around me and I left her in bed to be surrounded by these assholes.
Ryker leans closer to me, his voice pitched low, “How’s your woman doing?”
“She’s sleeping right now,” I murmur and try, really fucking try, to hide the satisfaction in my voice.
The way Ryker chuckles tells me I wasn’t successful. Then there’s his smirk.
“What’s going on?” Sidewinder looks from Ryker to me. “Is everything okay? You ran out of Hank’s so fast.”
I take a deep breath and let it out slowly. When I look at my other best friend all I can do is shake my head. The way Sidewinder straightens up in his chair tells me he’s ready to jump in and have my back, have my woman’s back.
“Okay, everyone,” Ryker pitches his voice louder. “Even though this isn’t our normal church time, something has come up and everyone needs to be aware.” The whispers begin again and I roll my eyes because my brothers are the biggest fucking gossip queens I’ve ever met. “Snake is going to fill us in on what we know so far and then Whiskey is going to share what he’s uncovered.”
Everyone looks toward me and I glance around the table at the various expressions on their faces. Most of my brothers are very serious and focused. Diesel has a slightly unhinged look on his face, like he’s just been waiting for an excuse to unleash his crazy. Playboy’s smirk is bordering on lecherous as he looks at me.
“Is this about a certain little baker?” Even though I know he doesn’t mean anything beyond fucking with me, I still glare atPlayboy. All he does is wiggle his eyebrows at me. “I’ll take that as a yes.”
I clear my throat, trying to dislodge the lump there. I’m grateful as fuck that these men will stand with me, no matter what comes our way.
“First thing you all need to know is I’m claiming Graycie. She’s mine, my Old Lady.” I look toward Scratch since, as our Treasurer, he’s in charge of ordering everyone’s cut. “I’m going to need her property cut as soon as possible.”
One side of Scratch’s mouth tips up and he nods. “I’ll get right on it, Snake. Shouldn’t take too long to get it in.”
I give him a chin lift in acknowledgement before switching gears. “I’m sure you all noticed that my woman is skittish. She’s only been in town for a few months, and it’s obvious she’s running from something.”
“You sure you want to bring her trouble into the club?” Rector, our chaplain, asks the question, his voice curious rather than incredulous.
While I have a lot of respect for Rector with everything he’s been through, including the years he spent in the military, that’s not going to stop me from narrowing my eyes at the man. I bark out, “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”
Rector holds up his hands in surrender. “Just needed to see if you were claiming her for the right reasons.” He smirks and muses, “Seems I was silly to worry, you possessive dick.”
“Graycie is mine,” I snarl the words and meet the eyes of every brother in the room, the look on my face daring them to say something about it.
Not only would I not give a fuck and not listen, but those brothers would be on my shit list. They’d be damn near dead to me.
“The guy Graycie was with before moving to town was an abusive asshole.” The outrage from my brothers is fucking palpable and it makes me breathe a little easier. “They were introduced by her parents who have never given a fuck about her. At first, it was fine,” I start to explain.