Page 68 of Sweet Pea

“It’s four A.M. You told me to wake you in an hour. Do you want to go back to sleep?”

“No, I’m glad you woke me,” I said, sitting up.

“How’s Pea?”

“Still in surgery.” I dragged my hands down my face. “It’s a miracle he’s alive, Cricket.”

Sweet Pea had a brain bleed, which could have been much worse had he not been wearing a helmet, but it was enough of a concern that they’d put him in a medically induced coma for a few days. Two broken ribs, aortic aneurysm, collapsed right lung, deep right thigh puncture, broken left femur, broken tibia and fibula, broken left and right ankles and his pelvis was broken in three places.

“Spiders?” she asked.

“It had to be. The timing and location were just too perfect for it to be a random accident.”

“No sign of the truck that hit him?”

“That area of town is poorly lit and there are no surveillance or traffic cameras anywhere. It’s all residential and there are rarely pedestrians out at this time of night. Besides, if it was the Spiders, that truck is long gone by now.”

“You think they were stalking him?”

“Sweet Pea told me Wolf killing Doozer was some sort of message. That Wolf meant it as a personal attack on him.”

“And you think he’s right?”

“I didn’t at the time. I figured he was feeling guilty about Doozer, but what if he was?”

“It makes sense,” Cricket said. “Sweet Pea was Wolf’s protégé and now Doozer is his. Sweet Pea not only rejected, but humiliated Wolf when he asked him to go with him to the Spiders.”

“I always knew Wolf was a sonofabitch, but this...”

“This is exactly the kind of thing you’ve been trying to avoid. It’s why you’ve been working so hard to build a new future for the club,” Cricket said.

“Yeah, but now it’s bleeding into friendlies.”

“Like?”

“Doc said they’ve been messing with them in Savannah.”

Doc was the chapter president of the Dogs of Fire MC in Savannah, and the Spiders had already bombed the VP’s home. Doc and I had been friends for years, long before I’d patched into the Saints, and I felt responsible that my shit was bleeding onto his.

I sighed. “What we view as positive change, our enemies see as weakness. A reason to come after us.”

Cricket stroked my cheek. “You knew they would.”

“True, but now we have one Saint in the ICU and another inside a cooler in Eldie’s fridge.”

“And that changes how you should run the club?”

“Of course it does. My number one job is to keep every club member safe.”

“Is it?” Cricket challenged. “I’m not sure your brothers would agree with you about that. They’re grown-ass men that can protect themselves. You’re the President of an MC, not a fucking den mother.”

Cricket was adorable when she got fired up, and truth be told, her motivational speech was helping.

“You’re the best co-captain I could ask for,” I said leaning in for a kiss.

“Cutter knew what he was doing,” she said smiling.

“I think he’d be rip fuckin’ roaring pissed if he knew the club was riding heavy again .”

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