Page 167 of Patching Over

“You make a good point. I suspect with everything your woman has gone through, she’s good at protecting the secrets of others,” Wrecker says. “How about this? If she comes out while we’re still talking, we’ll askherwhat she wants us to do. She needs to feel as though she has control in her life, especially since someone’s been restricting her from that her whole fucking existence.”

I nod as I pull out my phone and call Brick. Once he answers, I say, “Got Wrecker and Dragon with me, Brother. We need to talk.”

“Put me on speaker,” Brick replies.

I hit the button then say, “You’re on speaker, Brick.”

“What the fuck is going on, Dragon?” Brick asks. “Hawg got word that shit happened when y’all returned to your clubhouse.”

Dragon swipes his hand down his face, exhaustion clear in his expression. He quickly and succinctly explains what happened when they got back to Cedar Creek, which is frequently punctuated with ‘motherfuckers’ and ‘assholes’, especially when he says, “We dropped our cuts at their fucking feet and took off to head to y’all. When we found out that Kracken was having some trouble, we stopped to lend a helping hand.”

“They tried the same thing here,” Brick says, his voice hard and unyielding.

“What do you mean ‘tried’?” I growl out.

“Well, you know that Lorelei was indigenous, right?” Brick asks.

“Yeah, hard to miss seeing as both Ban and Ry have the high cheekbones, and both of them can tan like nobody’s business,” I reply.

“Seems that when she and Bonzai hooked up all those years ago, the land belonged to the tribe she was a part of, so to protect her and any future kids she might have, it was put in trust. Apparently, not even the U.S. government can touch us. Our clubhouse and land are safe, Brother.”

“So, Moira and I can head right to y’all?” I question.

I’m slightly disappointed because I know she needs more time to decompress from everything she’s been going through. We need it as well so we can get to know each other better. While I know I want to claim her completely, that’ll be at her pace, notmine. If I have to jack off in the shower every morning, so be it. Her well-being is more important than me getting my dick wet.

“Not yet, Brother. We’re gathering info on the Lynchburg faction and need to deal with them first before it’s safe for Moira.”

I nod then ask, “So, since those fuckers showed up at our house, what does that mean for our chapter? Because these two just informed me they’re planning to try and take downallof the Royal Bastards, Brick.”

“Those motherfuckers! Too much good is being done by the other chapters, that’s not gonna happen on my watch,” he growls out. “Looks like we’re gonna be dropping our cuts at their doorstep as well. Maybe that’ll buy us some time so we can put out the word to our other chapters.”

“We may be able to help with that Lynchburg situation,” Dragon states, a smirk on his face. He looks almost… devious right now.

Moira comes out from the bathroom, her eyes wide and frightened. “Is… is it okay that I come out? I’m done,” she states.

“It’s fine, darlin’, and if you don’t want to hear anything, Dragon can make that happen,” Wrecker replies.

“No, no I need to hear what’s going on. I promise whatever I hear will go no further than this room,” she says, adamantly pointing her finger toward the floor.

Dragon and Wrecker once again communicate with one another without any words, something I can do with my own brothers. At their nod, I motion for her to come to me

, and once she’s closer, I pull her into my arms then settle her on my lap. The desire to keep her close, especially since her parents attempted to snatch her, is somewhat over-the-top, but I’m going with it. She curls close, her hand going to mine, so I lace our fingers together and kiss the top of her head.

She smells fantastic, all flowery and sweet. The clothes we bought earlier fit her far better than anything she’s worn before, but she’s still too thin. Thinking that, I decide we’ll order some pizza once we’re done on the phone strategizing.

“Moira, good to hear your voice,” Brick says.

“Thank you,” she replies, a light blush now covering her cheeks. “I won’t say anything, Brick, I promise.”

“Not worried about it, Moira. You have a vested interest in what’s going on, that’s for damn sure.”

“I’m sorry I brought this to y’all’s doorstep,” she murmurs.

“Nothing to be sorry about, darlin’,” Brick replies. “We had no choice when the Cleveland branch reached out for help to find Belle.”

“So, Brother, what’s the plan now?” I question, anxious to get this done so I can feed Moira and we can get some rest.

“We’re going to be delivering our cuts to the fuckers who are still milling around town, then when Dragon’s crew gets here, we’re going to be tossing around a few ideas,” Brick replies. “We can start over. We’ve done it before, and we’ll do it again. Us mountain folks don’t bend so fucking easy.”

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