Her eyes grew wide as I spoke. I hated the terror I saw in them, but I didn’t hate it so much that I wouldn’t use it to my advantage.
“When this is all over, I’ll give you a ride home in my truck. Or you can sleep in one of the spare rooms. Each of the brothers has a room. Most of us live in town and only use the room here to”—I stopped before I completely stuck my foot in my mouth—“sleep.When they’re too tired to drive home.” While it was true most of the guys used their rooms as fuckpads, I didn’t. To each his own, but messing around with bunnies didn’t appeal to me. I had a few ladies in town that I could call when needed, not that I had any plans to do that now.
“Bear! Let’s go!” Mav shouted from the clubhouse.
Lexie’s eyes filled with tears, her head shaking slightly. “I’m scared.”
My heart broke watching her. “Come here.” I put my arms around her. “No one is going to hurt you while I’m around. Even if you hadn’t just saved Tracker’s life, no one would dare risk hurting the woman who cooked the best meal we’ve had in years. Now come on. I’ll be right beside you the whole time.”
She took a deep breath and nodded. “Yeah, I’m being silly. It’s not like I’m the one that stabbed him. That’s who ought to be scared.”
I nodded, because my woman was abso-fucking-lutely right. Whoever stabbed Tracker had better run fast, because I would find him. And I would make him pay.
10
BEAR
We entered the wood-paneled room where church was held. Unlike the last time I was here, the sixty-four-inch TV mounted on the wall was turned on. Baller was working on his laptop, getting the video feed set up.
With my hand wrapped around Lexie’s, I grabbed a seat near the door and pulled her sideways on my lap. Were there enough chairs that she could have sat by herself? Yes. Did I care? No. And it didn’t seem like she did either. She snuggled into my arms and laid her head against my chest. My heart warmed, and despite the shitty circumstances, I was glad for the excuse to hold her. I pulled her hair free of her ponytail and massaged her scalp, trying to provide some level of comfort before Mav questioned her.
A soft moan spilled from her lips. “That feels so good.”
A shot of lust went straight through me, and I had to think about port-a-johns to keep my dick from raising. Wrong time, but definitely the right woman. As soon as we got this threattaken care of, I’d be all in with her. But it wouldn’t be right to start something now, not when the club was under attack from God knows who.
Baller cleared his throat and looked up from his laptop. “They’re bringing him up, but it’ll be another twenty minutes or so.”
The TV switched to a live feed, although it currently showed a stark room with a concrete wall and an empty chair. Sinner, the man everyone thought was our past club president, was currently locked up doing twenty to life. For all intents and purposes, Maverick was the president, but like the VP before him, he refused to take the president title from Sinner. Mav handled the day to day, but when there was a major decision, or major breach like tonight, Sinner zoomed in from prison. Was he supposed to be doing that? No, but they didn’t pay detention officers enough these days.
Maverick looked at me with Lexie and raised an eyebrow. I shrugged as if I didn’t know what he was referring to. It was unusual to have a woman, or any non-club member for that matter, in church. This was where we conducted business, and if you weren’t a brother, it wasn’t your fucking business.
But it wasn’t unheard of. In times like this, where we needed testimony, it happened. But usually the “guest” was seated in a metal chair up front so that everyone had an eye on them. But fuck that. Lexie was mine to keep an eye on.
Mav rapped his knuckles on the table. “While we wait, let’s have Lexie speak so she can go home and get some rest.”
I had to bite my cheek to keep from yelling at my VP. The thought of Lexie going home alone made me want to punch something. I didn’t want her out of my sight tonight. And maybe not for the next few weeks, or at least until we knew who the attacker was. Whether she saw anything or not, she could be a target.
“Um yeah, sure. Whatever you think.” She sat up straight but didn’t try to move from my lap.Good.“I was carrying the trash to the dumpster when I noticed someone had left a pile of bags in front of the enclosure. I thought that was kind of lazy, but whatever. I hate to leave a mess behind, so I grabbed a few bags from the pile and that’s when I heard a moan. I moved a few more bags and found Tracker. I thought he was drunk and tried to help him up, but that’s when I discovered his head and stomach were bleeding.
“I dragged him under the flood light so I could see his injuries better, and to get him away from all those garbage germs. My phone was in the kitchen, but I did yell for help. I guess no one heard me.” She breathed a loud sigh.
I should have been there. I should have heard her. What if she’d walked up a few minutes earlier and witnessed whoever stabbed Tracker? I squeezed her tight as she continued.
“I remembered hearing to yell fire instead of help, so I tried that. In the meantime, I found where he’d been stabbed and used my first aid training to pack the wound and stop the bleeding.”
Maverick nodded. “Lexie, we can’t thank you enough. Tracker wouldn’t have made it much longer. If you hadn’t been there, hell, if you hadn’t been willing to clean up someone else’s mess, we’d be waking up to a dead brother tomorrow. We’re in your debt. Anything you need, anything at all, don’t hesitate to ask. You’re under Exiled Reapers’ protection now.”
Looking around the room, I saw the other brothers nod in agreement. My heart warmed, liking how my brothers accepted her already.
“Wow, okay, thanks. I’m good right now, although if you could give me some catering referrals, I’d be grateful.”
Maverick smiled. “Absolutely. We have a bar manager position available. Any chance you’d be interested in that?”
Lexie grinned. “Yeah, maybe. Depending on the hours.”
“We’ll work out the details. Before you leave, is there anything else you can remember? Anything at all?”
Lexie’s head cocked to the side and she was silent for a moment. “Oh! He did say one thing. I’d forgotten until now, but I’m not sure if I should say.” She turned her head to look up at me, seeking my approval. I fucking loved it. She leaned in next to my ear. “It might be a little personal for Tracker,” she whispered.
