Page 48 of Tripp

“Bending over in front of you,” I offered, letting out a startled shriek when he grabbed me and pulled me on his lap.

“That’s my girl.” He laughed, nuzzling my neck before sucking on my earlobe.

I heard Carla laugh, not even realizing she was paying attention to us. I should have known better, though, as she had become protective over me, warning Tripp that if he ever hurt me he’d have to deal with her.

I’d decided to tell her everything pertaining to Rick, from my history with him up until what had just happened at the club. She was my one true friend, even though there were times when she was more like a mother figure.

Tripp

Lost to my own thoughts about Reece and everything that’d just happened with that shitbag husband of hers, I nearly ran right into Stone when I walked into the common room at the clubhouse.

“We finally got ’em,” he hurriedly announced, completely disregarding the fact that I’d almost knocked him over.

“The results?”

He nodded.

The last thing I wanted to deal with was this shit, but I knew it was of the utmost importance, the future of our club, and our president, basically hanging in the balance.

“Where’s Marek?” I glanced around the room, trying to locate our downtrodden leader.

“He just went to piss.”

“Is he drunk?”

“What do you think?”

Ryder waltzed out of the kitchen with a half-eaten sandwich in hand, stopping and looking at us standing together. “What?” he mumbled as he shoved the rest of the food in his mouth. Once he swallowed, he asked, “What’s goin’ on?”

“We got the results back,” Stone offered, glancing down at his watch.

“Fuck,” Ryder grumbled, looking between the two of us. “Wait, is that good news or bad?”

“Let’s wait for everyone to get here first, and then we’ll tell him together.”

As soon as Stone stopped talking he looked uncomfortable, which immediately made me uneasy. I’d known Marek for years, and without sounding too much like a pussy, the first time I’d seen him really come alive was when he met Sully. Well, more like ‘took.’ Or ‘saved’ was more the honest truth. Over the time they’d been together, married for all of it because he’d initially forced her into it, I’d seen his eyes light up with life. Again, not wanting to sound all pussified and shit, but he’d changed.

While he’d become more on edge where his wife was concerned, constantly fretting about her safety knowing her father had still been out there, he smiled more. Okay, so I wouldn’t go so far as to say he smiled, per se, but the corners of his mouth curved up more than ever before. And the way he looked at Sully, watched her when she wasn’t looking, told me he’d fallen head over heels in love with her. Their beginning had certainly been the furthest from ideal, but they were meant to be together.

For all the happiness Sully brought into our president’s life, she also brought him a ton of worry. Waiting for the other shoe to drop where her father was concerned, the constant fear she’d be taken from him, it all weighed heavy on him, showing in the deepened lines around his eyes. Then when he found out about what Rico Yanez had done to her, which unfortunately was the same thing Vex, her ex-man of sorts, and her father had done, he started to slowly unravel.

We’d all witnessed his slow descent into hell, his main focus not on club business but instead on making Vex, Yanez and Psych pay for what they’d made Sully endure, even though all that shit happened before Marek had even met her. It didn’t matter, though, and I now understood his need for justice where she was concerned. I knew without a doubt that I’d snatch Rick’s life if he ever came near Reece again.

To add something like this to the mix after everything Marek had been through, I feared he’d dive off the cliff of sanity and never resurface. I only prayed the results would be the ones he needed. The ones we all needed them to be if we wished to keep our president. Our leader. Our friend.

Ten minutes later the rumble of bikes sliced through the growing tension, my unease heightening with the thought that we were about to possibly deliver the worst news of Marek’s life.

The door to the clubhouse swung open and in walked Trigger and Jagger. Thankfully no one else was with them. Marek had made us swear not to tell anyone else what was going on until he figured out what to do, which he never did. Instead, he chose to shut out his wife and drink himself half to death. The other guys had questioned the change in Marek, and we all chalked it up to his dealings with Psych. And by dealings, I meant Psych’s torture and death. Cutter wasn’t buying it, though, insisting Marek would have taken great pleasure in exacting revenge on the Savage Reapers’ leader and not shut down afterward. Even though he was suspicious, he stopped trying to get any of us to talk after the third time we didn’t give him anything.

“Hey,” Jagger called out, coming to stand by my side, looking as reserved as the rest of us. Trigger mirrored our expression but remained silent, feeding off the palpable strain surrounding all of us.

We chatted amongst ourselves about the upcoming meeting when the man of the hour stumbled down the hallway and into the common room.

“What the fuck?” he growled, heading straight for us, albeit slowly so as not to fall on his face. “Is this a fu . . . fucking irrevention?” He looked haggard, but that was nothing new.

“No,” Stone answered, striding the few feet until he stood directly in front of his best friend. “This ain’t no intervention. We got the results.” It took but a few seconds before understanding crossed Marek’s face, and just when I thought he’d be relieved to finally find out whether or not Sully was actually his half-sister, he almost crumbled. Holding on to Stone’s shoulder for support, Marek’s eyes became glassy, unshed anguish pooling behind his blue orbs.

“I don’t think I can do this,” he garbled.

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