Page 51 of Ride or Die
Tears well up in my eyes, the tightness I felt before in my chest gets worse, my fingers tingle.
"It's Ryan, isn't it," I ask softly. Bull nods his head. The tears fall.
"He was in a car accident," he pauses. "His car flipped over multiple times before catching on fire."
"No," I say, the tears pouring down my face. "No, no, no. This isn't real. He can't be gone."
My whole body shakes as I sob. At some point, Shade picks me up and carries me out of Bull's office. When he sets me down, my nose is assaulted with Ryan's scent, making me cry harder. Gentle hands are rubbing my back.
"Oh, Cali. I'm so sorry," Emma says to me. She lays beside me and wraps an arm around me. I cry myself to sleep.
30
Shade
I honestly wasn’tsure if it would be a good idea to take Cali back to Buster's room. At the same time, I thought being in an already familiar place might be best. Emma must have heard her crying from the main room because she was by her side in a matter of seconds. I'm thankful she came to be with her. I didn't know what to do. He's my best friend, my brother, but she's his girl. He was going to ask her to marry him. I doubt she knew because if she did, she would be in even worse shape than she is now. If that's even possible. I close the door so no one else will bother them. I lean against the door and sigh.
"You okay, brother?" Mouse says as he walks over to me.
"No, but I will be. I need you to stay outside this door until further notice," I tell him. He gives me a questioning look. "Cali and Emma are in there. I don't want anyone else going in there and bothering Cali."
He nods in understanding and I walk back to Bull's office. Clutch and Diesel are still sitting in there.
"I put her in Buster's room. Emma is in there with her and Mouse is standing outside to make sure no one else goes in there," I explain to Bull.
"Good. Let's go round up all the brothers who are here and tell them in Church," he says. The four of us walk out to the main room together. "Church, now."
"Not everyone is here though," Saint says.
"Thank you, Captain Obvious. The others will be filled in when they show up," Bull snaps out. "Now, get to fucking Church."
I walk in and take my seat, watching as everyone else files in. Bull closes the door behind himself and moves to the head of the table.
"The Torres cartel has made themselves known. They had one of their hitmen tailing Buster. Buster flipped his car. An informant told me he didn't make it, due to the car catching fire and exploding," he explains to the room.
"Fuck!" Raze smacks his hand on the table. He and Buster had grown pretty close since Buster had been like a brother to Minx. Minx is going to be almost as torn up as Cali.
"We're gonna go after those mother fuckers, right, Prez?" Saint growls out.
"You're damn right we are, but it needs to be planned and executed with caution. We don't need to go in blind and lose anyone else," Bull tells us. "These fucking assholes don't have any morals. I want everyone on lockdown while we figure this shit out and take these fuckers out. Tech, I need you to do your thing and find where these assholes are staying and how many men they have."
"I'll send out a mass text to anyone not here about the lockdown," Gunner tells Bull. Ranger, our VP, would usually be the one to do it, but he's home with his Ol' Lady right now. He and Thor are the only brothers out of the original five who have Ol' Ladies.
"Tell them to watch their six and to get here as soon as possible," Bull says. "The cartel could be watching more of our guys so they can strike again. Everyone else, if you have family that you need to bring here, get them here as quick and safe as possible."
He bangs the gavel and we all disperse. I walk over to Buster's room to talk to Mouse.
"Have either of them wanted to leave the room," I ask Mouse.
"No. Cali fell asleep not too long ago. Emma is still in there with her," he tells me. "I checked on them when the crying stopped. This might be out of line but what's going on?"
"Buster got into an accident." I take a deep breath. "He didn't make it. Club's on lockdown until further notice. Please keep an eye on her. Let me know if she needs anything."
"You got it," he replies. I walk out to the main room. Raze and Minx are sitting on one of the couches with Rivet, Wren, and Sketch. The girls are all crying. There's a tenseness lingering in the room. Everyone is sorrowful at this moment. Buster got along with everyone. He was a hard guy to hate. Hell, he was a hard guy to ever be mad at. He had the kind of personality he could get along well with anyone and everyone. As soon as Wren sees me, she jumps up and runs over to me, throwing her arms around me.
"Oh, Shade," she says, sobbing into my shirt. I hold her tight, holding back my own tears. After a couple of minutes, she lets go of me. Tears are still falling down her face, but she's calmed a little. "Sketch said we have to be on lockdown. For how long? Where will I sleep?"
"You can sleep in my room," I tell her.
