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Part of the reason I’m disillusioned with the law is that it’s not always applied fairly or correctly. Yes, in theory I think we have one of the best criminal justice systems in the world. But mistakes happen and innocent people go to prison all the time. I’ll be dammed if Rock’s one of those statistics.
If he’s innocent.
Oh, yes. That thought’s been bothering me the most. Rock’s outright admitted to me that he’s killed rival club members to keep me safe. I don’t know if this Cabo guy is one of them.
Surprisingly, it doesn’t matter to me. From what I’ve gathered from Rock and the things I’ve learned from Trinity, the Vipers are not bikers I would have wanted knocking on my door. Rock is not some monster. He wouldn’t have taken such an extreme measure if he didn’t legitimately believe I was in danger.
I know that deep in my soul.
That’s why I’ll do everything I can to get him out and clear of these charges. Maybe he’s done bad things, but he’s a good man. He brought me back to life after Clay died. He’s been so patient and understanding with me. Accepted all of me—flaws and everything. He fought his brothers’ doubts to give me a place within his family—the club. He’s given me love unlike anything I’ve ever known.
He once put his life and liberty at risk for my safety.
Now it’s my turn.
I pull myself off the floor and stagger over to the bed.
Getting my man home and back in my arms is all that matters.
CHAPTER TEN
It took two days.
Two days before we located Rock. At Slater County Jail.
At his arraignment, the judge refused to grant bail. Not even some ridiculously high number.
We’re requesting a new bail hearing. But it will take time.
More time with Rock being locked up.
And if the next hearing is in front of the same judge, no matter how hard we argue, he’ll probably be denied again.
I’m absolutely hollow inside without Rock.
The club’s in chaos. Not knowing what to expect, we’re all keeping tight to the clubhouse. That means we’re all starting to wear on each other’s nerves. Rock truly is the anchor that keeps everyone grounded. The glue that holds us all together.
Today’s the first day Wrath let me leave the property. Even on the property he and Z are so far up my butt, I taste leather on my tongue.
I can finally see Rock today. Wrath and I may have clashed a few times over the last couple days, but he knew better than to mess with me on this one.
I’m ready to bite his head off when he takes me aside before we walk inside the county jail. Only the concerned look on his face stops me.
“Listen to me, Hope. You ever visited a loved one in lock up before?”
“No.”
“It ain’t pretty. But you need to keep it together.”
My eyes widen while I wait for him to continue. He shakes his head. “I know how much you fuckin’ love him and I swear we are doing everything we can to beat this bullshit and get him out. But you want him to stay whole inside, you need to keep it together while we’re visiting him. He sees you cry or get upset, it’ll fuck with his head.”
Suddenly I’m terrified. I don’t want to do anything to make Rock worry. “Okay.”
He nods once. “You can do it. Pretend you’re seeing a client. Show him that pretty smile he loves so much, okay?”
“Yes.”
“Good girl. Let’s go see your man.”
I’m actually grateful for Wrath’s warning.
“Thank you,” I say when he opens the door for me. I stop inside and tap his chest. “For everything. Thank you.”
He flashes a tight smile, but the hard glint in his eyes softens.
Slater County Jail is a little more intense than the one in Empire I visited a couple years ago to see a client. The twenty-foot high chain-link fence sports rows of barbed wire at the top.
We’re allowed in the front door and immediately ushered to the visitor’s check-in window. We decided to play this like I was part of Rock’s legal team, so I’m dressed in a suit and carrying my briefcase. Wrath’s dressed plainly, but given his size, and angry indifference, he still looks pretty suspicious. The guards go through everything in my briefcase and give me a skeptical look when I say Wrath is my assistant. It’s not really a lie. I don’t know what I’d do without his assistance today.
We’re finally led into a small room with a table and four chairs. The guards bring Rock in but leave him cuffed. He nods at us. I sink my teeth into my bottom lip to stop myself from crying. The guard tells me to tap on the door when we’re through and closes it behind him.
“Hey, baby,” Rock says softly.
“Hey, handsome. You’re pretty sexy in orange. You know that’s the color you were wearing the day we met?”
Rock snorts and one corner of his mouth lifts up in wry sort of smile.
“You okay?” he asks.
I bob my head once, because I can’t open my mouth and lie to him. I’m not okay at all. I won’t be okay until he’s home.
“You all right, brother?” Wrath asks.
“Yeah. County ain’t nothin’. Like a fuckin’ boring vacation, really. Almost got a whole wing to myself.”
Inside I sigh in relief. My biggest fear had been him getting hurt by an enemy of the Lost Kings.
“Good,” Wrath says, echoing my thoughts.
Leaning closer, Rock gets down to business. “Glassman is working on shit. He can’t get a read on the DA though. Hope, I need you to give Tony Cain a courtesy call. Lawyer to lawyer. Are you okay with that?”
My fingertips brush the back of his hand. “I’ll do anything for you, Rock,” I whisper. “Just like chess, the queen always protects her king.”
His throat works for a few seconds before the corners of his mouth twitch up. “Thank you, Baby Doll. Make sure you tell him you’re my fiancée.”
“Okay. Is there anything else I can do?”
“No. I’m sure he already knows but reach out to him for me, okay?”
“Of course.”
He lifts his chin at Wrath. “Talk to U?”
Wrath shoots a look at me and Rock shakes his head. “Doesn’t really matter at this point, brother.”
“Yeah,” Wrath says, “he’s fuckin’ livid. Got no fuckin’ idea how this happened.”
“You buyin’ it?”
Wrath seems to think it over before answering Rock’s question. “Yeah. I do. We’ve known him a long time. He’s got no reason to fuck us like this.”
Rock nods. “Gotta be Viper.”
“Fuckin’ bitch move.”
“Amen.” Rock glances at me again and smiles. “Miss you, Baby Doll.”
My breath catches in my throat, my chest tightens, but I force my mouth to smile. “Miss you too,” I whisper.
“We’re working on putting CB up for bail, so if the judge sets an amount we can get you out right away,” Wrath says, surprising me. I didn’t know they were doing that.
Rock shakes his head. “Don’t. It’s too big an income stream. Besides, they ain’t gonna give me anything less than a couple mil.”
We talk a little longer. The whole visit is killing me.
“I’ll be home soon, Baby Doll. In time for our wedding.”
I almost lose it at that point. I’m trying so hard to follow Wrath’s orders and be strong. But those words are almost my undoing.
“You sticking close to the clubhouse?”
Wrath answers before I even open my mouth. “Don’t worry, Rock. She ain’t going anywhere alone. Either me or Z are with her at all times.”
“Good. Thank you.”
I risk giving Rock a quick hug before we leave, even knowing that the room is being monitored. I don’t care. I need to touch him and reassure myself that he’s okay.
When we finally get outside, the sunlight stabs me in the eyes and the thin veneer of calm I’d been hanging on to vanishes. Deep, ragged sobs tear out
of me and my knees go weak. Wrath catches me with an arm around my waist and pulls me to him. Wrapping me in his big arms, he rubs my back and makes shhhh noises at me.
“It’s okay, sweetheart. You did real good.”
Still keeping me close, he walks us to his truck and helps me inside. Hugging my knees, I press my face into my lap and sob so hard it hurts.
I don’t even hear Wrath get in, but suddenly he’s right next to me, rubbing my back and reassuring me.
“Let it out. You did good, Hope. You did good. That’s what he needed. I know it was hard.”
“I hate seeing him like that.”
“I know. Me too.”
“It’s not fair.”
He snorts. “No, it’s really not.”
Something about his words make my head snap up and I pin him with a hard stare. “Tell me the truth. Don’t hide behind club business, now. Did he do it?”
Wrath doesn’t hesitate. “No. I’m not going to lie and say we ain’t done plenty of bad shit. But this, he had no part of.”
“You know who did do it though, don’t you?”
“I can take a guess.”
“Someone outside of LOKI?”
He seems to sense where I’m going with this. “Yes. But we don’t snitch. We’ll figure out another way, I promise.”
“Wrath, it could be years until he goes to trial.”
“Babe, it’s not going to go that far, I promise. We’re gonna figure it out. You need to do your part and call Tony when we get back to the house, okay?”
“Of course I will. I just don’t understand. Rock’s always saying because of his club role, he has connections and—”
“Honey, it’s one thing to look away when we’re moving a truckload of weed through Empire county. An entirely different thing to look the other way on murder when they’ve been offered manufactured evidence up on a silver platter.”
I can’t argue with that logic. “Let’s go.”
I’m torn. Struggling to stay fuckin’ sane. Seeing my best friend behind bars has me ready to fuckin’ murder.
Poor Hope. Knowing I need to keep her from falling apart is oddly the only thing keeping me together.
Never woulda thought she could survive this shit when I first met her. And that’s why I think we’ve been rubbing each other raw the last few days.
But she’s stayed strong. She’s stayed focused. Heard what I said to her before we went in and took it to heart.
I’m not dumb enough to think Rock was fooled for a second. But the fact that she kept it together for his sake means something.
“You gonna be able to call Tony?” I ask her once we’re on the road. She’s stopped crying and put herself together.
“Yeah.”
I glance over at her, but she’s busy staring out the window.
This is awkward, because I’m not touchy-feely. Hope knows that. I don’t think she expects different from me.
Even so, I reach out and pat her leg. “It’s gonna be okay, sugar. I promise.”
She sniffles. “I know.”
Good.
She’s quiet the rest of the drive, but there’re no more tears. When we get to the clubhouse, she’s slow to get out of the truck. I help her down and she shuffles into the house.
Z greets us at the door. “How’d it go?” He directs his question to me, but holds out his hand to stop Hope.
“Fine. He looks good.”
Z puts his hand on Hope’s shoulder. “You okay, sweetheart?”
“Yeah.”
“She did good,” I tell Z.
He grins and pulls Hope in for a hug. “Of course she did.” Over her shoulder he quirks an eyebrow at me and I shrug. Yeah, she did better than I expected.
Drawing back from Z, she glances at me. “I better make that call.”
Z looks at me for an explanation.
“Rock wants her to reach out to Tony Cain.” Since Tony has held a number of important government jobs, he and Rock keep their connection quiet. None of us have ever spoken to the guy.
With a hand on her back, Z ushers Hope into the office we share with Rock. “Take Rock’s desk.”
I shoot him a dirty look and he shrugs.
Hope doesn’t seem to mind. She drops into his chair and her demeanor completely changes.
“Do you want us to leave?” I ask.
She seems startled by the question. “No. Of course not. But you can both stop hovering over me.”
Z and I both burst out laughing. Some of the tension eases for all of us. She flashes a quick smile and fires up Rock’s computer. It’s doubtful there’s anything top secret on it and as Rock said, it doesn’t really matter at this point.
She looks up a few things, jots down a bunch of notes and stares at the phone for a few seconds before picking it up.
Z and I end up staring at each other, so we’re not making her nervous while she’s on the phone. I’ve got to give the girl credit, she’s brisk, business-like and unemotional the entire time she’s speaking to Tony. Lawyer-like. Seeing her so soft around Rock all the time has made me forget she can be a hard-ass in her own world when she needs to be.
“Yes, I can arrange that. How do you want me to get you the number?” She pauses. “No. That’s not a problem. Is tomorrow afternoon okay?” She jots down more notes and taps the pen against desk.
When she hangs up, she spins the chair around to face us. Her eyes narrow as she seems to be thinking how to word what she has to tell us. “Can you guys obtain a burner phone for me?”
Z’s quick to answer. “Yeah, no problem.”
“Good. He wants me to email him the number tomorrow.” She rolls her eyes and shrugs. “Is that weird? I have no idea, so I just said it was fine.”
“No. He’s cagey. It makes sense,” Z says. “Anything else?”
She shakes her head. “He’s upset. Said he’ll do whatever he can to help Rock. He says he has some connections in Slater County.” Cocking her head to the side, her gaze slides between the two of us. “What exactly is their connection? Rock told me once they grew up near each other.”
Z takes her question. “As far as I know, they lived in the same neighborhood and were real tight. When Rock had to get out of his dad’s house, I think he lived with Tony for a while. Then they sort of went in opposite directions.”
Hope snorts. Opposite directions is an understatement. She raises an eyebrow for Z to finish.
“That’s about all I know. They stay in touch. Tony feels like he owes Rock, but Rock doesn’t ever impose on him unless he really needs to.”
She seems to think that over, but before she gets out any follow-up questions, Trinity stops by. “Hey,” she says from the doorway. “How’d it go?”
I motion for her to come in and she wraps her arm around Hope’s shoulders. “Is Rock okay?”
Hope squeezes Trinty back and nods. “I think so.”
Trinity meets my eyes. I give her a subtle signal and she turns back to Hope. “Want to come help me with a project?”
“Sure.” Hope looks to us. “Do you guys need me?”
“Nah, go ahead.”
Hope shuts the door behind them and Z throws himself back against his chair, stretching his legs out, crossing them at the ankles. “Tell me straight.”
“It was fine. She was chin-up while we were visiting him. Broke down afterward in the parking lot.” I shrug.
“She gonna be able to make it through this?”
I give it some serious thought before answering. “After today? Yeah, I think so. She’s tougher than we give her credit for.”
“Yeah, okay. Long term though? Think she’ll stick it out?”
“Why’re you going worst-case-scenario?”
“You were there, brother. That shit Carla pulled was hard for him to swallow. I don’t think he felt a tenth of what he’s got for Hope, for that bitch. Hope leaves, I think it would break him.”
“Rock doesn’t break. He would be a miserable bastard though.”
/>
Z snorts and sits up. “Yeah.”
“Let’s stay positive, bro.”
Z smirks. “You dishing out feel-good advice is fucking unnatural.”
“Fuck off.”
“That’s more like it.”
Despite the joking around, now I’ve got another thing to worry about.
The guard who leads me back to my cell is a decent guy. I don’t think he’s been a guard for very long. He follows all the protocols to the letter, but he doesn’t improvise or get creative. He’s not a sadistic fuck, like the guard who comes in on the next shift.
Izzard. Hank Izzard. In my head he’s Lizard ‘cause he looks and acts like one. I haven’t exactly decided on the right course of payback for this fuck yet.
If you think sitting in jail would have me re-examining my life choices and deciding to take the high road, you’d be wrong.
I’m on my back staring up at the ceiling. Picturing Hope. Felt so fucking good to see her.
Felt unbelievably fucking awful to watch her go.
At least I know Wrath and the rest of my brothers are taking good care of her. My girl didn’t fool me one bit. Her glossy eyes and trembling bottom lip gave her away. But she held it together and I know she did that for me. I’m fuckin’ proud of her.
I hate myself for puttin’ her through this shit. We’ve talked about what my lifestyle means. I know she’s come to understand and accept the club. Doesn’t make it any easier to know she’s suffering over this bullshit.
There’re a lot of people who are owed some payback over this bit of fuckery.
Ulfric. Known that fuck a long time. But he’s gotten damn sloppy lately. Don’t give a fuck when it affects his MC. When it interferes with my life. Takes my freedom away?
No. Something needs to be done about him too.
Maybe I’m rehashing all the people I need to get even with over this because there’s one thought I keep pushing away. After seeing Hope, I can’t help dwelling on it. As whatever this is drags on, can she hang in there? Is it even fair for me to expect her to?
Inside, I’m jittery as fuck. I work hard to control my breathing. In my head I’m pacing back and forth. I’m ripping the bars off the windows. And escaping. Outside, I’m calm. If it wasn’t for my eyes staring up at the ceiling, you’d think I was asleep.
