I shook my head.
“Well come on then, let’s get you introduced.” He cocked his head toward the door with a brow raise toward Cal. “That all right with you, Jackson?”
“Fine.” Cal nodded tersely. “But she’s not out of my sight—not for the rest of the night.” His hand flexed on my hip as he pulled me in close.
“Got it,” Henry agreed, biting back a smile. “Jealous looks good on you, Jackson,” he jibed.
“Fuck off,” Cal muttered without malice.
“Got your hands full don’t you, darlin’?” Henry chuckled to me.
He didn’t know the half of it.
“Then your man here punched that asshole right in the face!” Henry laughed as he finished recounting a story about Cal as a young president years ago, taking on the much more experienced, much older president of another club. “This kid starting his own club from the ground up—had balls the size of coconuts.” Henry shook his head with a grin toward Cal.
Cal sat on my right, his hand gripping my thigh as the fire pit blazed in front of us. Some of the Sinners, Cole and Scarlet, Axel and Sophie, and Tag had all gathered to recount stories from the club’s past. I loved hearing about Cal, couldn’t get enough.
“Fucker deserved it,” Cal muttered with a grin, taking a sip of his beer.
“Then what did he do? After you punched him?” I asked.
“Not much, he was passed out.” Cal shrugged as everyone around the fire laughed. “Didn’t get any shit from him or his club after that.”
“Pop knows how to throw a punch,” Cole put in, his arm around Scarlet as she sat nuzzled into his side. “Made sure I did too as soon as I was old enough to make a fist.”
“Hoped you didn’t have to fight much but wanted you to fight smart when you had to,” Cal replied, his tone warm as he regarded his son.
Cole nodded, holding his father’s gaze across the flames before he turned to kiss Scarlet’s temple.
Tag’s phone chimed with a text and I watched his eyes narrow as he read the message. “Prez.” Tag cocked his head to the side in a silent bid for Cal’s time.
That can’t be good.
“A minute, baby,” Cal murmured as he rose to follow Tag inside the club.
Sophie shot me a “don’t freak” look from across the pit.
Right.
By the time Cal returned, Sophie, Scarlet, and I were sitting side by side by the fire. Everyone else had wandered off.
I looked up at him. “Everything okay?”
He appeared to deliberate for a minute.
“We’ll just…,” Sophie began as she and Scarlet stood up. “We’ll just go,” she finished, apparently not able to come up with a good enough excuse.
I was too distracted to tease her.
“Cal,” I pressed, worried now.
“Could be nothing, baby. Ram called in a sedan that could be casing the neighborhood. Requested another of our guys to back him up. Tag already rode out.”
My hands flew to my mouth. “Oh God. We have to go. I need to get to Mason,” I replied urgently.
He nodded, no doubt expecting that reaction. “Babe, he’s safe. Promise. But we’ll go.” He took my hand, leading me out through the crowd. He had a brief word with Cole and Axel before leading us toward the garage bay.
After a night that had been far more fun than I’d expected, this threat was a jolt to the system.
