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“Promise me,” he commanded in a rough voice.
“I said okay,” I muttered grumpily, trying to hide all the chaos my mind and emotions were in right then.
He sighed, but stepped back. “Sleep, baby. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
Raider turned and left me, locking the door behind him, but I couldn’t seem to move.
This day had been beyond chaotic. It felt like it had lasted a week rather than less than twenty-four hours. Every muscle in my body ached, my head was clouded with everything Raider had just said to me, on top of a million other things.
Sleep, he had said. Sleep was what I so desperately needed. Maybe if I closed my
eyes, I would wake up in the morning and find this had all just been a really bad dream.
Moving slowly, I closed the overnight case Kelli had packed for me then set it on the floor at the end of the bed before pulling down the blankets on the mattress. The sudden urge to pee had me changing directions, and I went into the bathroom to take care of business.
After washing my hands, I took my bra off, pulling it through one of the sleeves before hanging it over the top of the shower. Then I turned off the lights on the way back into the bedroom. Finally, I crawled into Raider’s bed, and as my head hit the pillow, I was already falling asleep.
Chapter 26
Raider
Bash’s office upstairs was overflowing with my MC brothers by the time Colt and I got up there for church. I tried to turn off what had just happened in my room, to focus on what needed to be done with the Italian, but all I could think about was Quinn. The way she had so forcefully refused to believe anything I had tried to tell her told its own story of the damages I had done to her heart over the years.
I could only hope that I could repair them.
Pushing our way into the room, Colt and I found two open spots in front of the pres’s desk and took them. Bash was on his feet, along with Hawk, who was the new VP. He was why Fontana was out for blood, but I couldn’t blame him even for a second for what had happened earlier. If what had happened to Gracie had happened to Quinn, I would have done the exact fucking thing.
“I want everyone’s eyes open, twenty-four seven,” Bash was saying now, his cool, metallic blue eyes scanning over every single MC member. “This is war now. Fontana has declared it loud and clear by shooting up Quinn’s house. He’s trying to hit us where we are the weakest, and that means attacking our women.”
“Let’s let Raven loose on them,” Uncle Chaz said with a rough chuckle, trying to ease some of the tension in the room. “That girl will fuck them up so badly they will be crying for their mommas.”
That had most of the others laughing along, and even Bash was fighting a smile, but I couldn’t find the energy to do, either. My body might have been in there with all my brothers, but my head and my heart were downstairs with Quinn.
“No one goes anywhere without an extra set of eyes,” Hawk instructed us. “And the women only leave if it’s absolutely necessary.”
“Tell that to Gracie,” Uncle Jack grumbled half to himself. “Girl is determined to go to work tomorrow.”
Hawk’s face tightened. “Let me worry about her.”
“Good luck with that, boy.” Uncle Jack snorted. “Girl’s just like me—stubborn to a fault.”
“Believe me when I say I know that.”
Bash shook his head, making his long, dark hair fall forward. He impatiently pushed it back. “Okay, brothers, those motherfucking Italians aren’t the only ones we have to worry about. The DA and the mayor are set on getting us behind bars. Matt has heard that the dickhead mayor is supposedly close to making an arrest. Let’s keep our noses clean for the time being. I don’t want anyone giving them an excuse to take us in.”
“How does Matt know that?” Colt asked from beside me.
I turned my eyes to my friend Matt, who was picking at something on his casted hand.
“Rory’s back.”
Of course she was.
With the mayor’s daughter back in town, it was no wonder the guy was so set to put us in jail. He hated us, but he especially hated Matt. Still, Rory was a good source to have if the local politician was working against us. I trusted what news she would be able to give us about what went on in the mayor’s office.
“Fuck, Matt. Be careful,” Hawk told him, but he didn’t attempt to so much as lecture him about the dangers and complications that could and no doubt would arise if he went down that road with Aroura Michaels again.
“Can’t make any promises,” Matt told him with a smirk.
