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Chapter Twenty-Three
She was mine.
For now.
I knew she was freaking out. She’d been ready to give up her life to try and protect me, and Macy, and the club. She’d no doubt spent half the night preparing for the idea of walking out of here today and not looking back.
Maybe in that time she’d convinced herself that we couldn’t work. That it was too soon to be feeling these ridiculous emotions that I knew were surging through the both of us, but that we’d both been tiptoeing around for the last week or so.
But I’d thrown a spanner in the works, and suddenly, we were forced to deal with them.
I’d been honest when I told her I hadn’t felt anything like this since I was with Kim. I think that was why I was so freaked out about the whole situation. I thought Kim would be the only woman I’d ever love, or even care for. It didn’t seem like it was possible to feel that way about more than one person.
She’d owned my thoughts and heart for so long now, letting someone else in was a challenge. But for Hadley, it was one I was willing to accept.
Talking to Op about removing Hadley as a club girl had been an idea I was considering. Having to watch her fucking my brothers while I pined after her, wasn’t my idea of fun, but I knew what the only other option was if I expected to keep her safe too.
It wasn’t the ideal circumstances, but I knew inside that, I wasn’t ready to lose her. I’d already lost Kim, and if what I was feeling for Hadley was real and I let her walk out that door, I don’t think my heart would survive this time around.
“You ready for this?” I asked her, slipping my hand into hers as my brothers filed back into the room.
She looked down at where our hands connected, wetting her lips with her tongue before looking back up at me. “Nope.”
I smirked. “Come on.”
I pulled her over to my chair, sitting down before pulling her onto my lap.
She eased into me, twisting her body sideways so her legs lay over the arm of the chair and her head dropped onto my shoulder.
It felt good to have her there, knowing that all my brothers would see how I’d claimed her.
Op called for silence in the room before turning to me with a smirk. “Guess congratulations are in order.”
I looked around at my brothers. Some smiled, some seemed indifferent. When my eyes met with Slider’s, I expected a witty retort. He always had something smart to say when another brother lost his shit to a woman, him being the kind of guy who was determined to fuck his way through life. But instead of catching him laughing or making a smart remark, his eyes were hard. And they weren’t focused on me, they were on Hadley.
I felt her huddle closer against me.
I wanted to ask him if he had a problem, but Optimus was quick to cut through the tension that had obviously settled over the room. “Okay, let’s get this shit sorted, so we can start working on a solid plan,” he ordered, his eyes narrowing on me.
“So, what it basically comes down to…” Blizzard started, taking over and putting us back on task, “… is Simon needing Hadley in order for him to keep his place in the Syndicate.”
Optimus nodded. “I talked to Skins a minute ago. He said they have the option to put Hadley in a safe house, but with Simon’s connections in the bureau, they can’t be sure it would protect her.”
“She ain’t going in a safe house,” I said simply. That was not an option. I wasn’t about to put her safety in the hands of the people Simon works for. Who knows where his connections are and how far he could reach.
“If he doesn’t make his deadline and get her there, or show proof that she’s dead, he loses his title,” Kit explained. “The Syndicate will see it as an insult to their laws.”
“So then, either the Bureau will take him out because he’s fucked up, or the Syndicate will,” I stated, the pieces of the puzzle falling into place.
“We just need to keep her out of reach until the time is up,” Op offers, his fingers tapping on the table.
I frowned. “How do we know how much time we have?”
“The flowers coming in already have half their petals, and it’s been about four weeks since the packages started,” Hadley said, speaking up for the first time. “Simon likes patterns. He’s meticulous when it comes to that kind of thing. But I haven’t seen any packages come for…” Her voice trailed off as she looked around the room. “They have been coming haven’t they?”
“Couple more, yeah.” Blizzard nodded.
“Okay, so say we have four weeks,” Op interrupted. “He’s gonna want her some time before his deadline hits. Who knows when or what kind of backing he will bring with him. We can’t lock the club down for a month, that’s too long.”
