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“Thanks, man. How’s Gabby?”

“Still in surgery, but she was doing pretty well before they took her back.”

“Good. Let me know how she is once she’s out.”

“I will,” I promised.

“Tell her not to worry about school. We’re both going to be out for a while, but we can do five or six days a week to make up her hours if we need to,” he said.

“Can I tell you not to worry about her school?”

Patch chuckled, followed by a groan. “Okay, fine. You made your point.”

“She’s asked about you constantly since she got here,” I said quietly. “I’m pretty sure she would have refused to go to surgery if she didn’t have an update on you.”

“I figured as much,” he admitted. “She’s far more advanced than any other nurse practitioner student I’ve worked with. Hell, she knows more than ones I’ve worked with for years. There was no bullshitting her. She knew exactly how bad my injuries were, and she knew what to do until help arrived.”

“She claims she was just following your orders,” I said.

“She was already digging around in my chest to find the bleeder before I ever said a word. Don’t let her sell herself short.”

“I think modesty is in her nature.”

“Yeah, I think you’re right about that,” he agreed.

22

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Iwaited until the day after Gabby was released from the hospital to go to the clubhouse and talk to Phoenix.

“That’s the fifth time you’ve walked past my door in the last hour,” Phoenix said. “Get in here and say whatever you need to say.”

I hesitated for a brief moment before I inhaled deeply and entered his office.

“Well, what is it?” he asked.

“You know Gabby and I are together,” I started.

“Yeah.”

“I don’t see that changing, and I don’t want it to, but I don’t think I can move forward unless I’m honest with her. Completely honest.”

“You want to tell her about your past,” he said knowingly.

“Yes,” I admitted. “I want her to know my name. My real name.”

He leaned back in his chair and rubbed his chin. “Gabby was raised in the club. We’re her family. I’m not concerned about her telling someone she shouldn’t or trying to use the information against you. If you want to tell her, it’s fine with me, on onecondition. You have to tell Ranger, Shaker, and Keegan. You can’t tell Gabby something of that magnitude and ask her to keep it from her family.”

I exhaled in relief. “Thanks, Prez. I don’t have a problem with her family knowing. Actually, I prefer it,” I said and paused before I voiced my other concern.

“But?” he asked.

“I don’t want Shaker and Ranger to think the club was keeping secrets from them.”

“The club wasn’t keeping secrets,” he said firmly. “I was. And I’d do it again in a heartbeat. You were a scared fourteen-year-old boy who needed protection. The only way to help you and protect the club was to keep your secret to myself. My decision isn’t something you should have to explain. How about you tell Gabby, and then we can tell Ranger and Shaker together?”

“I’m not scared of them,” I blurted.

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