Page 38 of The Paths We Cross
Grayson, Axel and I decided to call in help from one of our close charters. We didn’t feel right leaving the girls here with little to no protection, and this way our club can handle businesswithout putting our families in jeopardy. It also makes sure the club doesn’t go unprotected.
I climb the stairs and walk down the hallway to my suite, punching in the code and pushing the door open. I find Everly pacing with Hazel swaddled in her arms. Her eyes find mine when she hears me entering and she stops in her tracks.
“So?”
I walk over and stop in front of her, reaching out to pull the material away from Hazel’s face so I can see her properly. “We leave in a few minutes,” I tell her. “I just came up to check on you two.”
I can feel the anxious energy radiating from Everly. “Just be careful,” she whispers. “I don’t know what I would do if anything happened to you.”
I pull her closer and plant a kiss on her forehead. “Nothing is going to happen to me, baby,” I murmur into her hair. “I promise. You, Sophie and the kids are going to hang out with my dad and Chef and we’ll be home before you even miss us.”
“Fat chance of that,” she mutters against my chest.
I snort. “The guys from the Tennessee charter are here to keep you guys safe. They won’t let anything happen while we’re gone.”
The Tennessee charter had a little restructuring done after their president betrayed the club last year. Now their president is one of my good friends, Kyle Monroe. He and a few of the other good members weeded through their club and have selected some damn good men to be members. It’s a huge difference from the club when James ran it.
I grab Hazel’s diaper bag and lead them out of the room down to the main area where Sophie, Asher, Paisley, and my mom andsister are already waiting. My dad and Chef sit off to the side talking with four of the members from our Tennessee charter. When things like this go down, we make sure everyone we care about is at the clubhouse. If things were really dangerous, we would be locked down. Luckily, that’s only happened a few times in my lifetime.
“I’ll take her,” Ella says as she rushes over to us.
Everly chuckles at my sister’s eagerness but hands Hazel over to her regardless. When her arms are free, I pull her into my embrace and hug her tight.
Grayson walks out of his office and clears his throat. “Let’s go fuck up some Devil’s Knights!”
Cheers ring out in the clubhouse as we make our way outside and to our bikes. I hop on my matte black Harley Road King and start the engine. It roars to life alongside my brothers’ bikes and then we fall into formation.
My brother leads us out of the clubhouse parking lot, and I fall in on his right, Axel on his left. Cane and Atlas line up after us. We’re the only ones leaving the clubhouse right now, in case anyone from the Devil’s Knights are watching us. We don’t want them to know that we have backup coming if they try to go against our agreement. Which I’m sure they will.
We follow Grayson out of town and to the area we’ve agreed to meet. The area is secluded with trees surrounding it. There’s only one house that is remotely close and they are far enough away so that they shouldn’t hear anything.
We had our prospects come and check the place out a little bit ago, to make sure that there wasn’t anyone staking the place out. They said it was clear. We pull onto the property and park by a line of trees. As soon as we get off our bikes, we hear the roar of theirs.
We wait beside our bikes until they park in a line across from us. There are five men in their ranks, which is what we agreed to, but I don’t trust them not to fuck us over yet. They hop off their bikes and walk toward us. I crack my neck and shake out my arms as they approach.
“Let’s not fucking waste anyone’s time,” Grayson grits out before he strides forward and punches the vice president in the face.
All hell breaks loose.
We all jump into the chaos. My eyes are locked on Drew, and he knows it. He smirks as I reach him. He tries to land a punch, but I deflect it and land one of my own. We circle each other as he wipes the blood from his lips.
“I can’t wait to taste her,” he goads me. “I bet she’s fucking sweet.”
I grit my teeth and hit him with a jab as he lands a blow to my brow. I follow up with an uppercut, tossing him back on his ass. I tower over him and start to rain down blows. His attempts to block them are futile.
I’m vaguely aware of sirens sounding in the distance, but I’m in a trance until two of my brothers pull me off Drew. I try to fight them off as Drew scrambles back to his bike, along with the other four members from his club. They tear out of the meeting area just as the cops pull in.
I shake Cane and Axel off me and adjust my cut as the cops park their vehicles by our bikes, effectively blocking us in.
Our police chief, Tony Benning, walks over to us with a stern expression. “Why the fuck would you do this in our town, Grayson?”
I can feel my brother stiffen beside me. “How did you even know we were out here, Benning?”
“That doesn’t matter,” Tony huffs. “This shit isn’t supposed to touch our town. So, why the fuck did I get a call telling me that your club was going to be fighting?”
“Who the fuck do you think you are?” Grayson’s voice booms. “You don’t get a fucking say in what we do or how we do it for this town!”
Tony’s jaw clenches. “I could haul all your asses to jail!”
