Page 104 of Hunter

I escaped out the door and turned back to see his face before I left.

He was smiling.

Chapter Thirty-Five

Hunter

Walkinginto Church after sending off my girl, I felt a little more at ease.

“Personally, I’m glad the bastard’s gone,” Pretty announced, leaning back in his chair.

Polo ran his hand through his long, gray beard, giving Pretty a look that reminded me of the large age gap between the oldest and youngest members.

Polo was fifty-eight, making him the oldest active member, while Pretty was only twenty-three, and Mint, although our newest recruit, was already twenty-five. So, when Polo gave Pretty that look Hunter had often seen as a prospect and recruit, he recognized it.

Brat.

“The bastard’s not the problem,” Polo wisely said. “It’s who took him out.”

“Polo’s right,” Wolf stated. “My guess is that it was the men in black who managed to save his ass from Charon.”

“The Grim Reaper’s are gonna be pissed,” Lamb added. “Charon looked like he really wanted to be the one to end the bastard.”

“He’s got his hands full with the Hell’s Runners,” Wolf responded. “He’ll be pissed, but since he’s unofficially taking them over, he’s gonna be busy straightening them out.”

“I’m not sure how I feel with our neighboring club being taken over by the silent killers of the West Coast,” Jax said as he leaned back, looking completely at ease. However, his hands gave him away as he cracked each knuckle one by one.

“Know thy enemy,” I said. “We know the Grim Reapers, and since they have no beef with us and we don’t have anything they want, they won’t pay us any interest. What we don’t know is who this guy is with the hired mercenaries.”

“Well, we need to find out who the bastard is, and as soon as possible,” Wolf growled. “I don’t want him getting involved with our club, because a man with enough money to hire so many mercenaries and firepower probably only rescued Spider so we wouldn’t get to him first. Whoever owned the mercenaries probably doesn’t want his identity getting out.”

“It explains why the guy we caught at the house was so loose-lipped about being hired by the Hell’s Runners.” Jax added, casting his gaze to Wolf. “Shame Prez put a bullet in him before we knew otherwise.”

After Wolf had made the guy confess to being hired by the Hell’s Runner, telling us he was there to kidnap Mallory on the Spider’s orders, we’d figured Spider hadn’t told him anything more than what he needed to know, and Wolf had put a bullet in him once his use had ended. We hadn’t even questioned the information.

“What’s done is done.” Wolf growled, looking irritated at Jax before turning to his vice president. “What we need to do now is get as much information as possible. Lamb—”

“I’m already looking into it,” Lamb replied.

People talked about Anna being connected, but Lamb was on another level. No doubt he would have everything on the guy by tomorrow morning.

“So, what are we thinking? Mafia?” Jasper asked. “Those are mean sons of bitches.”

“We’re not thinking anything until we know more,” Wolf said, slamming the gavel down with good measure to show that the meeting was adjourned for now. “Now,” he said, setting it aside and rising from his seat at the end of the table. “Hunter’s getting hitched tomorrow, the women are gone, and I’ve got some ladies from the new strip club we’ve taken over in town to come give us a little show. Let’s forget about business tonight and give our brother a night to remember on his last night of freedom!”

I looked at my brothers with caution as we all rose from our chairs, feeling a slither of fear.

Lamb and Pretty clamped me on either shoulder and gave a wicked grin.

“Let’s get this party started!” Jax hooted.

* * *

“What? She’s not here?” I hissed.

Jax stood next to me at the end of the aisle as the pews filled. The whole club had turned up, even some old retirees I hadn’t seen in years, as well as Mallory’s relatives. I recognized a few from Janine, Mallory’s mother, who had introduced them to me. There were some cousins, uncles, and aunts. Mallory had been an only child, so there were no siblings, and her father had passed away.

They were all looking at the rest of the brothers with slight fear and speculation, but they didn’t openly show any dislike. They had all had the same reactions when they had met me. Then again, they were all highly religious, and bikers were against nearly everything they believed in.

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