Because if Astrid was going to be living in it, the least it could be was nice.
“Jesus,” Brooks hissed.
I watched him march out of the bathroom before he drew in a deep breath.
“What is it?” I asked.
He ran his hand through his sweaty hair. “The Black Flags President wants to see us for a meeting tomorrow.”
I blinked. “The who now?”
He scoffed. “You heard me. The president is requesting a face-to-face meeting with the entire crew.”
Then, Astrid’s voice piped up from the doorway. “You think that’s safe?”
Both of us whipped our heads toward the doorway to see her hold up a suitcase. “You forgot one outside.”
Brooks sighed. “It’s not that simple. This is a meeting we have to take.”
Astrid nodded slowly. “And let me guess, you want me to stay locked up here until further notice.”
Brooks walked over to her and put his hands on her shoulders. “I know it sucks, but you’re the one that wanted to move back.”
She pulled away from him. “Don’t put this shit on me. You’re the one who chose this lifestyle in the first place. You’re the one always running. You’re the one always abandoning people, just like Dad.”
Brooks’ face grew red. “I’m not abandoning my family. What the fuck do you think I’m trying to do by taking this meeting?”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “You might not be abandoning your crew family, but you abandon me every chance you get.”
The room fell silent and Brooks looked at me over his shoulder. There was something behind his eyes that registered, but I couldn’t interpret it. It wasn’t quite pain. He wasn’t hurt by her words. But he wasn’t angry, either.
He looks almost defeated.
Brooks turned back to his sister. “If that’s how you feel, I can’t stop that. But you need to stay here until I figure out what the fuck is going on. I’ll send someone with groceries to—”
Astrid waved her hand in the air. “Yeah, yeah. Go on. Have fun or whatever it is you guys do.”
I heard the pain in her voice and all I wanted was to wrap her up and reassure her that things would be okay. That things would eventually go back to normal. But instead, I stood my ground and tried my hardest not to deck Brooks in the face for how he treated his damn sister. I mean not calling her for weeks after he had gotten out of prison? He wasn’t running a one-man show. He had all of us. And the man had plenty of downtime; he’d just rather spend his downtime getting fucked by Raven than spending time with his sister.
Astrid deserves better than that.
“Porter!”
I jolted at the sound of Brooks’ voice. “Holy shit, what?”
He narrowed his eyes. “You coming? I’m about to leave.”
My eyes searched for Astrid, but I wasn’t sure where she’d gone. “Yeah, I’m coming. Just thinking about shit.”
His eyes fell down my body. “Better not be about my sister.”
I rolled my eyes. “Get off the high horse, man. We got bigger fish to fry.”
And I hoped Astrid wasn’t in earshot of that statement.
Brooks and I left without another word spoken to Astrid and we raced for the compound. We met the rest of the guys there, along with Raven, and I watched as the two of them shared a sweet kiss. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed his lips softly, as if the two were always destined to be intertwined with each other.
A pang of jealousy ricocheted through my system before Finn piped up.
“Where’s Chops?” he asked.
Everyone looked around the room and found our “faithful president” not in attendance.
“Sweetie, head back to my room and lock the door. Remember our password?” Brooks asked.
Raven nodded. “I do, yeah.”
He kissed her forehead. “And remember what I showed you a couple of days ago?”
She nodded again. “I remember that as well.”
He cupped her cheek. “Good. Now go. And don’t answer that door for anyone except me with our password. Got it?”
They shared one last kiss and I actually had to turn away. I wanted that to be me and Astrid. I wanted to be able to kiss her lips, hold her close, and protect her with all my might without my best friend breathing down the back of my neck with that old-world bullshit.
But this whole business of Chops not being around didn’t sit right with me.
“Where the fuck is he anyway?” I asked.
Archer paused. “Chops?”
I nodded. “Yeah. He should’ve been the first one on the scene with something like this.”
Finn held out his hand. “That’s what I was saying earlier! See?”
Cole walked up to us. “I just got off the phone with the President of the Black Flags.”
Archer furrowed his brow tightly. “Since when do you take phone calls?”
Cole snickered. “Since the clubhouse phone rang. Did you guys not hear it?”
We all looked around and fell silent before Cole continued. “Yeah, the President wants to set the meeting for tomorrow morning. Early. Like, before sunrise kind of early.”
I licked my lips. “You think this is a trap?”
Tanner shrugged. “It might be. You know, get us all in one place before surrounding us?”
Brooks hovered behind me. “Or tossing a grenade into the middle of us.”
Cole nodded slowly. “It might be revenge for what we did to their men at the wharf.”
I rubbed my hand across my face. “Do we have any other choice, though? They know enough about us to know the number for the clubhouse. How the fuck did they get that shit in the first place?”
Just as I asked the question, the front door of the clubhouse burst open and the smell of Chops’ cheap aftershave followed him inside. He stepped with heavy footfalls that caused all of us to turn around, and we watched as he slid his sunglasses off his face.
The man looked like he played a part in some sort of movie.
And it only put me further on edge.
“How nice of you to finally show up,” Brooks said.
Chops glared at him. “Nice to see you, too.”
I puffed out my cheeks with a sigh. “So, you got any input as to what’s going on?”
Brooks held up his hand. “Actually, where the hell have you been?”
Chops blinked. “I’m not following.”
Brooks walked over to the man. “Where the hell have you been? When something like this goes down, the President is always the first to know about it. And yet, you’re the last one here. Why? What was more important than a potential morning time meeting with the President of our enemy club?”
Chops grinned. “None of your fucking business.”
The hairs on the nape of my neck stood on end. As the two men faced off, standing toe-to-toe with one another, I slowly gazed around the room. Archer crossed his arms over his chest, putting up a physical barrier between him and Chops. Finn took a couple of steps back, seeking solace within the shadows. Tanner followed him in stride, almost connected at the hip. And when all of them looked in my general direction, there was something in their eyes I’d never seen before.
Fear.
These men were now afraid of Chops.