I can feel her body going tense and I give her hand a little squeeze of reassurance. Whatever happens, happens. I’ve been through my share of shit in my life and I can’t speak for Alfie but I won’t let this woman slip through our fingers. And deep down I know she’s honest and telling the truth.
The way I see Alfie place his hand on her knee underneath the table tells me we’re all fully in this together. My heart skips a beat. This is really it, something we have desired for years now and finally things have fallen into place. Well, we do have some bumps in the road to hobble over.
“I’m not lying,” Greta says with a firm tone.
She might have been all tears and open emotions when it was just the three of us in our bedroom, but now she’s the strong person she is, fighting for justice in her own way.
“He wanted me to plant evidence. He blackmailed me. Hell, he even mentioned he’s done it before with another chapter of Iron Hot Blood.” The whole room falls silent when she voices the last sentence.
Weston narrows his eyes and says in utter calmness, “Mind expanding a little about the last fact you threw on the table?”
“I don’t know all the details of that case. He only mentioned he had a woman plant evidence before and how it was easy enough since bikers only think with their dicks. Videos of dog fights. No. Wolf fights, I think he mentioned wolf fights. And he made another threat on top of it. Well, I think he did because he said the woman who planted the evidence for him turned up dead. It made me feel as if he had a hand in it instead of the bikers she was betraying. Either way he put me on the spot, he thought I didn’t have a choice. If I didn’t plant the evidence, he would spread the picture of me naked with two men along with some of the pictures and details of the lingerie shoot, and with it ruining my career and my life. Or I’ll end up dead.”
She clears her throat and before my eyes she grows a little taller as she says, “I’ve been deep in debt. I’ve put every ounce of dignity into a box and endured what I had to do for me to be able to crawl out of debt and kept my head high while doing my job. I might not be able to keep my apartment if he ruins my career but I refuse to fall to my knees for a man who justifies actions for selfish reasons and drags good men into the dirt to step on their backs to get there.”
Again, only silence fills the room, until Weston breaks it with the words, “Roper, get Figor on the phone and ask him to come down here.”
Roper stands, grabs his phone and stalks out of church to make the call.
“You just gave us vital information and with it, confirmation. I now know with a hundred percent certainty you’re not lying. I know what you’re talking about with the mention of wolf fights and the setup along with it. The woman in question, the one who planted the evidence? She did indeed turn up dead. But I fucking swear no chapter of Iron Hot Blood would harm animals in any way. But they do own a special breed that looks ferocious, though they are highly trained and for sure as fuck don’t participate in any dog fights. The president was arrested for the murder but it didn’t stick since he had a solid alibi, not to mention he was innocent and like you mentioned…he was set up, both with planting the evidence and trying to pin a murder on him he didn’t do. We need him here to talk this through because if it is the same fucker we’re dealing with? We will need the backup and all the information we can find since he got away with it once, and I’ll be damned if he taints me, you, or any one of our MCs.” Weston stands at the same time Roper strolls back into the room.
“He’ll be here in about two or three days,” Roper states. “He and his VP are getting on their bikes as we speak but it’s quite the distance he needs to cover to get here from his ranch to ours.”
I lean in and tell Greta, “Nevada and Texas aren’t right next to each other.”
Greta nods and turns her head in Weston’s direction. “Do you need me to do anything? I might have hit Matt and he punched me back, then I left. I don’t know…he might have already sent the pictures like he said he would.”
Alfie shakes his head. “He wouldn’t. If he’s done this before he’d wait to see what you would do before taking action.”
“Alfie’s right. He’s done it before and feels confident and superior. I think you should send him a text. Somewhere in the lines of asking him not to send those pictures and what he expects you to do. He might not reply over texts, maybe he will if he’s that stupid. Anyway, it’s a first move to keep this warm before we can burn this fucker,” Weston growls out those last words in anger.
Greta takes out her phone, types what Weston just said and turns it to show him. He nods and a second later Greta presses send. It only takes a handful of minutes before her phone vibrates.
“He replied back. He says he’ll meet me at the same time and place in a few days and to wait for him to text me.”
Weston and Decker both give her a tight nod.
“This gives us time to plan. We might not even need a few days to wrap this shit up. But we do need Figor, and not just for backup. This man smells trouble from miles away and he’s dealt with this asshole before.”
“Is she okay to roam around till then?” Alfie questions, and I’m sure he’s referring to the previous order where Weston explicitly told him to keep Greta in our house and away from the rest of the ranch and the old ladies.
Weston rubs a hand over his face. “Why the fuck do all of you need to claim a woman wrapped in trouble?”
“Hey,” Roper snaps. “I resent that. My woman wasn’t in any trouble when I claimed her. In fact, she was the one who recognized trouble heading our way instead.”
“Whatever,” Weston grumbles and glances at Alfie. “She’s shown loyalty, you claimed her, it’s your responsibility.” His gaze slides to Greta. “You do understand our dynamics and what it entails for Alfie if you betray us, right?”
Greta places her hand over Alfie’s and gives our linked fingers a little squeeze. “I understand very well. And I would never turn my back on the men who welcomed me into their lives, even if I walked into theirs under false pretenses. Acceptance might be a word in the dictionary and for some a mutual agreement, but for me? These two who I now realize complete me, and who have a family surrounding them, who don’t judge and stand strong? I will never walk away into loneliness and solitary emptiness after being wrapped with warmth and adoration they gave me. They showed a glimpse of a possible future and I have accepted them, and all of you along with it.”
“A simple yes would have done the trick,” Weston grumbles.
Roper chuckles and slaps his chest while I quickly wipe away a tear leaking from my eye.
I lean in to kiss her cheek, Alfie treating the other side of her face with his lips while I murmur, “Thank you for touching my heart.”
Waving my hand, I try to steer my emotions back on track. Gosh, I can be such an emotional mess. But it’s worth it. Like Weston said, a simple yes would have done the trick but she opened her heart and gave us a look inside.
“Okay, that’s it. Joaquin is about to spread the waterworks. We’re done here and I’ll call church once Figor arrives.” Weston turns on his heel and heads out the door, Roper and Decker slide out of the room too, leaving only the three of us behind.