"I'm not sure I want to eat anything she's had a hand in," Raven murmured worriedly.
"That was epic!" Annie whisper yelled when Bobbie returned. "Even though we couldn't hear what was being said."
Bobbie sat down, a satisfied smirk on her beautiful face. "That one's trouble."
"I think we can all agree on that." Ava was giving me signs that she was getting hungry by trying to stuff her fist into her mouth. "I think I'll take Ava upstairs and feed her, give her a bath."
"You'll be back down for dinner?"
I nodded at Raven. "I have nowhere else to go." I got to my feet, pulling Ava up with me, and sighed. "Can't wait for lockdown to be over."
Three days later, I got my wish. By the time Tuesday rolled around, lockdown was over and I was on my way home.
Sax hadn't taken up my offer to share his bed, and the knowledge that he was pulling away from me was crushing. But what had I expected? He was a prideful, alpha male who'd been wronged by someone that he'd trusted. He’d been gone from the club more than he was there, as were most of his brothers, and if any of the old ladies knew what they'd been up to, they'd kept it to themselves. I only knew how the men looked when they returned, their eyes dead their faces haggard.
They hadn't been out there having fun.
I carried Ava through the front door of our little house, took one look, and then released a breath of relief. Apart from for the dust, everything looked the same, as if we'd left long enough to go shopping and had come right back home. I set her down in the playpen and returned to the car to retrieve our bags. As I went to close the trunk I happened to glance across the road, and nearly had heart failure.
There on the shoulder was a man leaning casually against his bike, arms crossed, and legs crossed at the angles. He was watching me, a slight smile on his clean-shaven jaw.
Who was he?
How had I not heard his approach?
Had he been there all along, and I just hadn't seen him when I’d pulled in?
My gaze flickered over his attire. His cut revealed that he was in a club, but I wasn't close enough to make out which one. For the first time I felt the isolation of where I lived, the fear of being all alone out here. My eyes darted to the door as I wondered if I could outrun him if I had to. So far, he hadn't made a move.
And then he did.
Chapter 25
Sax
The first thing out of Bull's mouth when I answered my phone was, "Got eyes on Holly, Brother."
A breath of relief escaped me as I realized I wouldn’t have to worry about her and Ava now that they'd left the clubhouse. "Thanks, Brother. Who?"
"Frenchie. Been a prospect for a year. Good man."
I didn't like the sound of his name, considering how some of us got our road names. "Frenchie?" I frowned. "Do I want to know?"
Bull snorted. The fucker. "Doubt it."
"You trust him?"
"Wouldn't put him on her if I didn't."
The background noise I heard revealed that he wasn't at the clubhouse. "Where the fuck are you?"
"Morning Glory. My uncle's nursing home."
"Thought he was in Wells."
Bull snorted. "I moved him to Vegas when I became enforcer for LD, Brother."
That made sense. I knew his uncle was the only family that Bull had. The man had been in poor health for years. Heart problems, if memory served me correctly. I had to give Bull credit for seeing to his care.
"How's he doing?"
"Good. Now. Had a heart attack a few months ago, almost lost him. Was in intensive care for a week. Hates being in a wheelchair, but it doesn't keep him from getting around and hitting on all the nurses." There was a smile in his voice.
I'd never met his uncle, but I could picture the old coot riding up and down the hallways with a leering grin on his whiskered face, bothering anyone he came across just because he was cantankerous and lonely.
"Glad to hear it, Brother."
"Frenchie will be on Holly days. Jolly and Morton nights."
I frowned. "Why two?"
"Hell, you been out to her place? It's isolated as shit, and pitch black out there at night. Don't want a brother falling asleep, so LD suggested two."
If LD had ordered it I wasn't going to question it. He knew what Holly meant to me. Now that he had an old lady, something none of us had ever expected would happen, he was in a more understanding place with regard to brothers and their women. He was protective as fuck over Jolene.
"How long you and Holly gonna keep this shit up?"
"'Till it's over, Brother." I kept my answer short, my tone making it clear that I really didn't want to discuss it. Hell, we could talk all day about fighting, fucking, and killing, but none of us wanted to talk about our personal feelings involving our women.
Bull snorted, but was smart enough to let it drop. "What are we telling her when she asks why she has a prospect on her?"
"Nothing. She's been with the club long enough to figure shit out on her own. She knows we've been involved in some shit lately, big enough to go on lockdown. She'll figure out that there are still loose ends that need taking care of."
“Loose ends,” meaning Radar, the last remaining Dunlap brother who was a club member and still out there. We knew that we hadn't taken out all the fucking Knights, but all of the key players making the decisions were gone. After the shit that had gone down with Toledo, the Knights had fallen like dominoes. Between Vegas Watchdogs and us, we'd ambushed two more meetings they'd set up with their suppliers in flesh and weapons, letting their contacts live with the warning that they there would be consequences if they chose to do any more business with the Knights.
Word in our world spread fast.
"Got church, Bro. I'll check in with Frenchie later to make sure introductions went smoothly."
"Thanks." I slipped my phone back in my pocket and followed my brothers as we headed toward the meeting room for our own church.
Demon was already at the head of the table with a huge ass cup of coffee sitting in front of him. Our president looked strained and dog-tired. Long nights and longer days had taken a toll on all of us, but at least now we could breathe a little better knowing that our sacrifices had not been for nothing. Unfortunately, we'd lost three soldiers during the shootouts that had occurred, but every single one of us understood that we could forfeit our lives on any given day.
We took our places at the table, and the last brother into the room closed the door. Someone let out a long groan. Mental exhaustion was just as draining as physical, and it was obvious from the expressions on some of my brothers’ faces that they'd been pushed to their limit. I felt it too, but none of us would complain. We'd done what we had to to take care of our MC and our families.
Demon cut right to the chase, swinging his eyes to where Cole was sitting beside him. "Anything on Radar?"
Cole's mouth took on an unpleasant twist as he shook his head. "Nothing."
"Fuck!" Demon swore, pounding the table with his fist. "I want that fucker found!"
"Know it, Prez," Cole growled back. "Got eyes on the house now."