Page 157 of Patching Over

“Sounds like we’re fixing to cause a blood bath,” I state, cracking my knuckles in anticipation of getting my hands on a weapon to make that happen.

“Wasn’t that what was going to happen in the first place?” Scythe questions. “As far as I was aware, we weren't going to leave any of those assholes alive when we blew up their operation.”

“Yeah. I was of the like mind that no man was going to be left standing,” Butcher adds.

“Well, if they have Hannah, Moira, and my brother, I’ll carry the grenades and pass them out to you men,” Selah supplies.

“You’re not going,” Wrecker argues.

“I’m not doing this with you, Wrecker. There’s a reason I’m coming, and you know exactly what that is,” Selah contends.

“It doesn't have to be you!” Wrecker roars.

I can tell he’s frustrated by his body posture, and I can’t say that I blame him. We don’t ever put ol’ ladies in the line of fire. The problem is, Selahknowstheir inner workings and has been an integral part of setting up their programs.

“It does,” Selah whispers. “There’s nobody else who can get the upper hand on a system I invented. Put away the Neanderthal, Wrecker. I’m going, end of story.”

“That’s not the end of it! Back me up here, Butcher,” Wrecker demands, throwing his attention toward Butcher whose arms are now wrapped around Selah.

“Wish I could, brother. I’m as much against her being there as you are. But she has some valid points, and it’ll be us burying our brothers if we don’t let her go and do her thing,” Butcher states. “Trust me, she and I have already gone through this, and the scenarios of what will happen if she’s not there isn’t in our favor.”

“Fuck!” Wrecker shouts, kicking the gravel beneath his boots. “We don’t put our women in danger! Ever!”

“No. We don’t. Unfuckingfortunately, we’re at a standstill and are left with no other options as far as I’m aware of. What other alternative do we have here, Wrecker?” Butcher asks.

I want to know the same thing; as far as I can tell, there’s no other way we’ll have the element of surprise if Selah doesn’t go with us. Rather, we’ll end up burying most of the brothers who come along, because I’m sure as devious as these fuckers are, their muscle is likely capable of firing a weapon. In fact, they probably have automatic ones at that, not the Glocks and Sig Sauers we generally carry.

Maybe a flamethrower isn’t such a far-fetched idea after all. I make a mental note to bring it up when we have church. Because I’m positive that we’ll be doing that relatively soon. While I continue with my line of thinking, Dragon speaks up.

“Why don’t we come inside and cool our heads for a minute before we hash this out,” Dragon suggests.

“I need to go see my girls, then I’ll jump on my laptop and see what I can find. Don’t kill each other,” Selah says, shaking her finger at Butcher and Wrecker. “I mean it, you two. If one ofyou hurts the other, I’ll be the one who kicks your ass. Don’t test me, I’m not in the mood to deal with either one of y’all’s macho bullshit.”

“Go on, little mama. Give our girls a kiss and I’ll meet up with you later,” Butcher replies, kissing her. “Hug them for me.”

“What about Nitro? Aren’t you going to go see him before the meeting?” Lah asks Butcher.

“He’ll be coming to stay with us tonight, baby girl. It’s our first night under the same roof as a family, I don’t want him to miss out on that. Soon, Hannah will be joining us, completing our family,” he replies.

“She will,” she agrees, vehemently bobbing her head. “Wrecker?”

“Yeah, sis,” Wrecker replies.

“Where are our girls?” she queries, eyes never leaving Butcher’s as she talks to her sibling.

I watch Wrecker smirk before he replies, “They're at our house. Something about doing a girl’s day. Painting nails and other girly shit they’ve missed out on. Harper swears that it’s the best remedy for keeping girls occupied. They’ve been a little restless the past twenty-four hours or so.”

Selah smiles as she smacks Butcher’s ass, steps away from him and says, “See you around, biker man. Never had the chance to do that with my girls, it sounds fun.”

“Have fun with that,” Wrecker mumbles. “I was getting lightheaded from the contact high infecting the air from the fumes and had to get the fuck outta there before I ended up falling down on my ass.”

Selah rolls her eyes at Butcher, lifts up on the tips of her toes and kisses him, then orders, “Go make plans to conquer the world. Love you.”

“Love you too, Lah. Go paint your nails and shit.”

“You really going to let her go with us?” Wrecker asks as he moves closer to Butcher.

“If there was any other choice, I’d be tying her to the bed and facing her wrath later. The one thing I have to remind myself of, is that she knows what she’s talking about, and if she says that she’s the only one who can disassemble their defenses, then I have to believe her,” Butcher replies.

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