Total pages in book: 39
Estimated words: 36070 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 180(@200wpm)___ 144(@250wpm)___ 120(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 36070 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 180(@200wpm)___ 144(@250wpm)___ 120(@300wpm)
“This is on you, brother!” I yelled at him, shoving him off of me. He narrowed his eyes at me. “You pulled the fucking protection on her, Scorpion! And the goddamn moment you did, she was attacked! Beaten! Fucking raped!” I roared.
“Chase—”
“No!” I barked at him. “Get the fuck out, do you goddamn hear me? GET OUT!” I roared.
Sophia crashed into me, knocking me back against the wall again. I circled my arms around her, my body trembling with rage as I glared at my president over her head. He shook his head and stormed out of the room, slamming my door shut behind him so hard, I heard something crack.
I squeezed her to me, dropping my face into her hair. My chest was being crushed under the weight of my guilt. “I’m sorry, cupcake,” I rasped. “I’m so goddamn sorry I failed you.”
She just sobbed into my chest.
Doc left shortly after finishing Sophia’s examination. The guys that attacked her didn’t leave any semen in her body, so there wasn’t a chance of a pregnancy, though Doc gave her a morning-after pill anyway just to be on the safe side. Then, he gave her some pain medication, which put her to sleep almost immediately after she took it.
I hadn’t been asleep yet. I’d just been sitting in a chair beside my bed, staring at her as she slept.
I’d fucking failed her.
Because this shit didn’t just lie with Scorpion, though that was where I wanted to put all the blame. It lied with me, too. I could have protected her store—protected her. Kept watch overnight instead of giving her the space she needed.
She might have been pissed with me, never talked to me again, but goddammit, at least she would have been safe.
The door quietly opened, and I glowered up at Scorpion. “What?” I muttered. “Knockin’ ain’t a fuckin’ thing anymore?” I was tired, and my southern drawl was more prominent because of it.
He sighed and held out a cup of coffee to me. I grunted and took it from him. I took it for what I knew it was—a peace offering. Neither of us was going to say sorry, but the apology was in the gesture.
“We need to talk. Halo and Gidget have information.”
That was all it took for me to get up and follow him down the stairs. I was still in only a pair of sweats and a t-shirt, which I’d changed into after Doc had finished his examination of Sophia. Normally, I was dressed before I went into the chapel, but I wasn’t leaving this clubhouse today.
I took my seat at the table, and Scorpion took his at the head, nodding once at Gidget and Halo to take the floor. Gidget cleared his throat.
“Rival club—Ghosts of Chaos—” I cursed, “has moved their targets to us, too. I talked to Trigger this morning.” Trigger was Johnston’s Sergeant at Arms, and he and Gidget often worked together when it came to shit like this since they wore the same officer patch. “That’s who they’re having problems with. And he called me this morning to let me know that word on the street is they got their hands on Chase’s new bitch. Their words—not mine.”
Chase’s new bitch.
I wanted to fucking slaughter someone.
Scorpion gripped my shoulder. “Level head,” he reminded me. I grunted and swallowed a mouthful of coffee, the scalding liquid clearing my head of the rage a bit.
“So, this shit is because of Johnston?” I muttered.
Scorpion nodded once. “Both charters are going to be in this war. I warned you all it might come to this.” Scorpion looked at me. “And I’m sorry your girl took the brunt of the first attack. Nothing I do can ever make that up to either of you. I shouldn’t have pulled the protection.”
I shook my head. “Nothing we can do about that now,” I muttered. And dwelling on all the what-ifs and different moves we could’ve made would just drive me insane. “I’m doing what I can for her.” Everyone at the table grunted or nodded in acknowledgment. “What we need to do is work on properly protecting the other businesses in the area that are attached to us because of their security. I know they’re claiming they targeted her because they think she’s mine, but we don’t know what their next move is.”
Scorpion nodded once. “Mark and Elias are already on it,” he told me. “In the meantime, everyone sticks close together. No one rides alone. Clear?”
“Clear,” we all murmured.
Scorpion banged his gavel on the table, officially bringing us into Johnston’s war.
6
Chase
I quietly slipped back into my apartment, shutting the door behind me with a soft click once I was inside. Sophia was still asleep, the blankets tucked tightly around her body, and she was curled into a ball, like she was trying to protect herself from the monsters she now knew lurked within her world.