Page 8 of Reaper's Ride
The V.P. was the biggest man I’d ever met. Huge. Nearly six and a half feet tall and with shoulders almost too broad to fit through the doors. He was one of the sweetest guys in the bunch —a big teddy bear —but also fiercely protective of the club, its members, and their families.
I never slept with Mammoth. Never wanted to, and he never approached me. But the V.P. never slept with the club girls either. He found pussy outside the club when he wanted it. It didn’t matter now because he’d met Rowen and had two boys, one with her since they’d had the baby recently.
“Nylah mentioned it,” Rael informed us.
Grim cleared his throat. “He wrecked his bike, didn’t he?”
“A hit and run. It’s totaled. I think it would be a nice gesture to get it out of the impound lot and bring it to the shop. I’ll help pay for the repairs. Pagan is a nomad, Grim, but he’s still a Graven Bastard.”
Grim nodded. “Agreed.” He turned to Mammoth. “Get the bike and bring it in. See that the repairs are done.”
“You got it, Pres.”
Grim ticked his chin at Rael. “Go with her to the hospital. Find out what you can about Pagan. I wanna know why he’s here. Why haven’t we seen him before now?”
Rael nodded. “Done. We met him before, Pres. The name is familiar.”
“Yeah, I thought so too. Check it out.”
“I’m on it,” Rael promised.
Grim dismissed us, and I watched Mammoth leave through the bar, heading out to pick up Pagan’s bike.
Rael walked beside me as we approached the exit, leaving the clubhouse. It was already bright out, and I slipped on my sunglasses.
“You’ve been visiting him every day.”
“I have,” I answered, wondering why that was the first thing he said to me.
“It’s two hours away.”
So? “I’m a nice person.”
He turned to me, searching my eyes as if the sunglasses shielded nothing from him. “He hurts you, and I will fucking end him.”
I blinked, taken aback by his fierce declaration. “I’m not your ol’ lady.”
“I know,” he growled.
“And?”
“I feel a responsibility for you. You’re important to the club.”
The club. No to him. It wasn’t a sexual thing at all. I didn’t feel that way toward him, but we’d had a friendship since I arrived at The Crossroads. He was the first member to make me feel special, cared for, and accepted. Thishurt.
He must have noticed. “Fuck.” Rael scrubbed a hand down his face and over his whiskered jaw. “I didn’t mean it the way you took it.”
“And how’s that?” I asked with attitude.
“Damn, Snooki. Don’t bust my balls. What we had in the past,” he paused, looking uncomfortable. “The Reaper cares about you. All the Reapers do. You look after us all. We respect you.”
“I’m glad you can acknowledge it.”
“Shit. You know how amazing you are,” he laughed, some of the tension easing from his shoulders.
Not enough, though. No member had ever wanted me for an ol’ lady. I didn’t say it, but I think he felt it because a long sigh escaped his lips.
“You ridin’ in a cage?”
