Waverly
Two nights later, I climbed into bed, my mind still spinning after getting off the phone with the Denver District Attorney. He’d called with the news that ’Cupid’ had a trial date, and that Fisk had been mutilated. Of course, I’d rather ungraciously inford him the information was too little too late. I an, Fisk had been emasculated weeks ago, and Cupid’s arrest happened years ago. What happened to a speedy trial? In my opinion, this bastard should have been on the phone with a hell of a lot sooner than two days ago.
In the end, his apologies fell on deaf ears because I was just over all of it, but I gave him a hollow thank you and ended the call. Now, I was sitting in bed, rehashing the conversation and wishing I wasn’t alone.
It didn’t matter that Cupid was in jail. I still didn’t feel safe.
I’m not sure how long I stared at my phone charging on my nightstand, but after the third ti the wind slamd a tree branch into the side of my house, I grabbed it and made the dumbest call ever.
"Hello?"
"Um, Gio? Hi. It’s Waverly."
"Hey. You okay?"
I sighed. "Honestly? Not really."
"What’s goin’ on?"
"I just feel a little unsettled. It’s dumb. I should feel great after this guy got arrested, but I don’t."
"Okay, what changed?"
I filled him in on my conversation with the DA, and Gio let out a quiet hum.
"What does that an?" I asked.
"The guy sounds like a typical overworked, underpaid governnt employee," he said.
I sighed. "Well, there is that."
"It’s good he’s got you on his radar now, though, right?" he said. "He’ll make sure to keep you updated if shit goes down."
I nodded.
"You’re still tweaked though, huh?"
"Yes," I rasped. "I wish every biker in every one of these gangs could be eliminated."
"Not every biker’s like them," Gio said.
"Please don’t start spouting that crap," I breathed out. "My best friend fell in love with so biker in Colorado, and I nearly cut ties with her. I’m just hoping she’ll dump him eventually, because I’ll never, ever et him or have anything to do with him and his stupid Howlers." I huffed. "What a dumb na for a club. Primal Howlers. God! So original."
Gio started to cough, and I frowned. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, yeah, I’m good."
"Are you sure?" I asked.
"Yeah, I’m good. Water down the wrong pipe," he said.
"Oh, okay."
"You want to co over?"
I let out a snort. "Even if you could walk, I’d say no."
He chuckled. "Liar."
"Well, I’d want to say no."
"Lying again, beautiful."
"Okay, I should want to say no."
"Why?"
"I’m not going down that rabbit hole again." I smiled. "How are you feeling?"
"Pretty good. Maisie made take so pain ds, so it’s helping with the pain."
"Good. You’re in the clinic on Monday, right?"
"Yeah," he confird. "Long ti to wait to see you. You wanna co here tomorrow for dinner?"
"Um, I don’t know if that would be a good idea."
"Can’t get to know each other if we don’t see each other."
"Are Connor and Maisie okay with coming over?"
"Yeah."
"Did you ask them?"
He chuckled again. "I don’t need to ask them. They’re good."
"I don’t want to intrude."
"Six?"
"Gio, I want you to ask them and then I will let you know," I stressed.
"Hold on." I heard him swear, then the phone went silent for a few seconds.
I thought he might have hung up on , but I glanced at the screen, and we were still connected, so I deduced he must have muted .
"I’m back," he said. "Maisie said you’re welco for dinner."
"You didn’t wake her to ask her that, did you?"
"No. She and, ah, Connor are night owls."
I bit my lip. "Okay, that sounds really nice. I’m not off until five, though, so is six-thirty okay?"
"Yeah, that’ll be fine."
"What am I going to do with you?" I wondered out loud.
"You’re gonna get to know and have a blast doin’ it," he retorted.
"I hope you’re right."
"I’m always right."
I laughed. "Oh, really?"
"Absolutely. The sooner you figure that out, the happier you’ll be."
"Good to know."
"You feelin’ better?"
I grinned. "I am, actually."
"Glad to hear it."
"Is it okay that I called?" I asked.
"Yeah, of course. If you need to call back, you call back, okay?"
"Maybe."
"Don’t play hard to get now, beautiful. Just call if you’re feelin’ scared."
"I’m not playing hard to get, Gio. I am hard to get."
He chuckled. "Okay, that’s fair. As you should be. But, still. Call if you’re feelin’ off. Got it?"
"Okay, I’ll call you if I’m feeling off."
"Good. I’m gonna let you go."
"Okay. Thank you."
"Anyti."
We rang off and I slid under the blankets feeling a hell of a lot more settled than I had in weeks.
Razor
After disconnecting with Waverly, I called Brian. He was young, barely eighteen, and our newest prospect. He was a good kid, and Hatch had taken him on the second he graduated high school.
"Hey, Razor."
"Hey, brother, everything good over there?" I asked.
Brian was the recruit we had keeping an eye on Waverly, and he was currently parked outside her building, making sure she was safe.
"Yeah, man, she just shut off all her lights, and no one has co in or out. All quiet."
"Great. Thanks. I think Hatch has soone relieving you in an hour."
"Yeah, he told ."
"Okay, let us know if you see anything concerning," I said.
"Will do."
After hanging up with him, I couldn’t fight the muscle relaxers and pain killers anymore and let sleep take .
Razor
"Fuck," Hatch hissed. "Her best friend’s a Howler old lady?"
We were currently sitting in the great room, beers in hand, while Maisie prepped dinner.
I nodded. "Yeah. I’m not sure if she’s an old lady but it sounded like more than just shackin’ up. Waverly didn’t give any nas, so I have no fuckin’ idea which one of them she’s with, or what her friend’s na is, but yeah, Waverly’s fuckin’ tweaked about the whole thing. Maybe Sundance would know more."
Hatch frowned. "Not sure we wanna get a club president too involved in your love life."
"Okay, but maybe he knows more about this Cupid asshole. You could ask him. You know, president to president."
"To what end, Razor? The cops have this guy in custody. What exactly do you expect him to do?"
"Just ’cause he’s locked up now doesn’t an he’s gonna stay that way. You know how easy it is for lawyers to get these guys back on the streets."
"Let’s suppose this guy makes bail. What are you gonna do? Pop him on the jailhouse steps? Are you forgetting you can’t fuckin’ walk, nor can you maneuver an airport in order to get on a plane to Colorado? Not to ntion the fact you’ll need to go on the run from the law. Which is what you’d end up having to do. ’Cause the club ain’t backin’ you in an unsanctioned hit."
I threw my good arm in the air. "So what the fuck am I supposed to do? Trust the system? Trust that these animals aren’t gonna find Waverly and fuck with her again?"
"She’s not your responsibility, brother. I think you’re fucked up from what the Spiders did to you and that your attraction to her is sohow mixed up in all of that trauma."
"This isn’t so kind of fucked up trauma bond, Hatch," I growled. "I think I’m falling in love with her, man. I want to make sure nothing bad ever happens to her again."
Hatch dragged his hands down his face. "You can’t do that. None of us can fully protect the ones we love. It’s a hard fuckin’ fact of life that every man has to face, once he finds soone he cares about more than himself."
"I’ll cool my jets if you make a promise."
"What?"
"Should Cupid hit the streets, we have eyes on him at all tis. And if he steps within a fifty-mile radius of Waverly, we take him out."
Hatch sighed. "I can’t promise you that, but the Dogs will keep Waverly safe until we know Cupid’s put away for a long ti. Good enough?"
I nodded. "Good enough."
"But you gotta promise you’re gonna downshift before your burn out."
"I’m workin’ on it."
"Good." He rose to his feet. "Now, I need to help my woman with dinner, but first I need to cover my bike because apparently, we have to erase all evidence of club life."
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