Page 70 of Jack

I feel like a jerk for not answering her. I almost lost her today. She’s not talking me out of this.

“Rodeo, let’s go.” I’m out the door and down the steps.

“You got a weapon?” Rodeo asks Kayla.

“Duh.” Kayla pulls a handgun from behind her back and waves it at him. “You really are an idiot,” she says before slamming the door in his face.

“Brother, if your woman breaks my door, and I have to replace it, guess who’s paying for it?” I jab my finger toward him over the hood of my truck. “Now, get in.”

Reluctantly, Rodeo stomps down the steps and gets into the passenger seat. We could walk to the clubhouse. The cool night air might help settle my nerves before Church. Driving’s faster. It takes maybe five whole minutes.

The Viking Den is packed tonight. Two of our prospects are here, while the four closest to patching in pack up Lily’s things. I ordered them not to touch her clothes or her stuff in the bathroom. Bankz’s mother volunteered for the job. Around here, Darlene Banks is better known as Lil Mama. It makes sense since her husband, Jerry, is Big Papa. I call her Psycho Crazy. She is crazy, but in a good way. Most of the time, anyway. A better way of putting it is I’m glad she’s on our side. I hear she’s taken over supervising the prospect packing up the guest house, and she’s already threatened to kill two of them. She’s freaking amazing.

When Rodeo and I walk into the Den, our patched members start walking toward Church without being summoned. Pops and Granddad join us this time. Three bunnies hang out around the pool tables. Of course, Jenny would be one of them. The bunnies won’t be here tomorrow. They aren’t allowed at family events unless Nana says so. Nana doesn’t say so with the group we have now.

Jay and I walk down front and sit with Granddad. Rodeo’s sitting behind me. He’ll stay at my house with us as an extra layer of protection until we find Lily’s ex.

“Vikings! Time for Church!” Dad slams the gavel and gets straight to business. “Until we catch Joel Clark and figure outwhat the Mavericks are up to, I’ve ordered the club into the first stage of lockdown.”

Whispers go around the room. I look over my shoulder to Rodeo. He shrugs and shakes his head. He didn’t know about this, either. One look at Jay confirms he did.

Stage one means no one goes anywhere alone or stays by themselves. It’s actually a good idea right now with two forces coming at us. The threat I thought would be the worst has turned out to be a joke.

“Nick has the footage from the library cameras. There’s no sound, but we can clearly see what happens.” Dad’s eyes land on me, and his jaw tightens. He’s already seen it. “Nick, if you will.”

Nick clicks around on his laptop until a video pops up on the TV mounted on the wall behind the club officers.

Like Dad, Nick’s eyes meet mine. “This might not be easy to watch.”

I dip my chin. I understand, but I need to see it. Nick presses the play button. No one makes a sound as the video plays. When Clark’s fist slams into Lily’s face, I roar and spring from my chair.

“I’m going to kill him!” I fully intend to find him tonight.

I don’t make it far, though. On Dad’s order, Jay slams my body to the wall first before pinning me on the floor.

Chapter 31

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Lily

Jack ignores me and walks out. Unbelievable. Come to think of it, my life is unbelievable. Outside of the ladies I work with, Kayla’s really the only friend I’ve made here. I toss my hands up and pace across Jack’s living room while Kayla has some weird argument with Rodeo. When she slams the door shut, I whirl around on her.

“Did you know about this?”

“I guess I knew before you did, but not until after the decision was made. There’s coffee. I’ll make us a cup.”

I follow her to the kitchen. I don’t tell her that Rodeo made the coffee. “He can’t do this.”

She looks back, tilts her head, and smiles. “Actually, he can.”

“What? That’s insane. He can’t go around telling people where they can live.”

“Well, yes and no.”

“That makes no sense.” It doesn’t explain anything. I don’t tell her that, either.

“He can’t go to town and tell the citizens of Willow Creek what to do unless they’re a club member. That changes things. Granddad was one of the founding members of the Viking Warriors MC, and he was the first club President. Mack, Jack’s dad, is the president now. Jack is expected to be the next one. If their last name is McLeod, they have a lot of say about everything that goes on in the club. The President’s word and decisions are final. Oh, and all patched members have a say in what happens in their families.”

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