Stitch: Satan's Fury MC(12)

“You got it, Mav,” Cass answered smiling. She walked over to me and asked, “What can I get ya?”

“A water would be great,” I told her.

“You look like you could use something stronger,” she teased me with a smile. “You sure you don’t want a beer or something?”

“Tempting, but I better stick to water.”

She reached into one of the coolers and pulled out two bottles of water, placing one of them on the counter in front of me and opening the other for herself. “So, you’re a friend of Stitch’s?” she asked.

“Not exactly,” I told her. “Honestly, I don’t really know him at all. He helped me out a few weeks ago, and I haven’t had a chance to thank him.” When I turned my head towards the other end of the bar, I noticed several of the men looking at me. I tried to avoid their stares by taking a drink of my water, but they weren’t easy to ignore.

Cass must have noticed my uneasiness, because she said, “Don’t let them get to you. They’re harmless.”

“Easier said than done. I’ve never been in a club like this before,” I admitted.

“Don’t take this the wrong way, but I knew that the minute you walked in. The expression on your face said it all,” she laughed.

“That bad, huh?” I smiled.

“Deer in headlights,” she teased. “But it takes balls to come into a place like this without knowing what you’re getting into.”

“Either that or I’m totally insane. My name is Wren, by the way.”

Just as Cass was about to respond, her attention was diverted to the side door where Maverick was walking in with Griffin. His eyebrows furrowed into an almost angry glare when he saw me sitting at the bar. I instantly began to feel nervous. The last thing I wanted to do was piss him off, but I needed some answers… and help if he was willing to give it.

Maverick stopped at the doorway and watched as Griffin approached me. “Did something happen to Wyatt?” he asked. Tension radiated off of him as he stood there waiting for me to respond. My mind went blank. I didn’t know how to answer him.

“Umm… Wyatt’s fine.”

“Then, what are you doing here?” he questioned. I couldn’t tell if he was mad that I was there, or if he was just worried. Either way, my heart couldn’t stop pounding.

“I’d like to talk to you for a minute, if that’s okay?”

“About?”

Damn. One word… that’s all I got. Embarrassment washed over me and I couldn’t stop my eyes from roaming back to the men at the end of the bar. They’d stopped talking among themselves and were now totally focused on us, a couple of them were getting a kick out of our little show. I instantly questioned coming to him for help, and the thought of being wrong about him, made me feel hopeless.

Feeling overwhelmed and scared, I stuttered, “I don’t know. Maybe I’d like to know why you’ve found it necessary to follow my son around and give him a phone without even telling me about it.”

Before I had time to register what was happening, he took a hold of my hand and pulled me out of the bar towards the parking lot. When the door slammed behind us, I started in on him again, “It’s just not right. You can’t just do that without asking me first, or at least having the common courtesy to tell me what the hell is going on. I don’t even know you!”

His fierce expression faded when he asked, “He didn’t tell you?”

“Uhhh… No!” I answered sarcastically. “That’s why I’m here. I have no idea what the hell is going on between you two, and any time I ask Wyatt about it, he says, ‘it’s in the vault!’” The corners of his mouth slowly curved into a sexy grin, and the tension he was carrying in his shoulders seemed to instantly melt away.

“Your boy did good; he keeps his word,” he said sounding pleased. “I told him to keep the phone in the vault… no talking about it, but I meant to his father. Not you,” he explained.

“He said that he’s supposed to call you if he needs help?”

“Yeah… that’s why I gave him the phone.”

“You didn’t think that maybe you should talk to me about that first?” I asked.

“Not at the time. Wanted him to be able to reach me if he needed me and knew that giving him that phone would be the easiest way to do it. That’s why I told him I was giving it to him… so I could be there… make sure nothing else happens to him or you.”

“What? Why would you do that? You don’t even know us! You can’t make promises like that to a boy like Wyatt. He’ll think you meant what you said.”

“I did mean it,” he clipped. “Meant every word.”

I was lost for words and stood there stunned with disbelief. I looked up at him, studying the determined look on his face, and for some strange reason, I believed him. “But why? Why are you doing all of this?”

“I’ve seen the police reports… your medical records. I know what your ex did to you. I know you were able to fight your way out, but you couldn’t do the same for Wyatt. I can see the fear in your eyes. I know you’re worried that he’ll hurt him like he hurt you. I’m going to make sure that he doesn’t.”

There was a storm raging behind those beautiful gray eyes – a storm I could see myself being pulled into, even though part of me thought I should fight it. I stared at him in awe, realizing that I knew nothing about him, but there was something that drew me to him. Why was he so touched by Wyatt? What had happened to him to make him want to protect a little boy and his mother? I wanted to ask, but I was afraid. All I knew was I needed help, and for some inexplicable reason… I trusted him. I don’t know what came over me, but I suddenly had an all-consuming need to touch him. His eyes widened with surprise when I placed my hands on his shoulders, standing high on my tiptoes, and pressed my lips against his cheek.





Chapter 8




Stitch




I’m not one to be taken by surprise – ever – but seeing Wyatt’s mother sitting in my bar… that got me. I should’ve seen it coming. I saw the way she looked at me at that movie theatre, all wide-eyed and totally freaked out. There was no way she was going to let that shit go and that was on me. If I was going to keep my promise to Wyatt, then I’d have to remember that he had a mother that actually gave a damn about him, and she’d do whatever it took to protect him – even if that meant coming to my clubhouse to bust my balls for trying to help.

I hadn’t realized just how beautiful she was, though. Maybe it was the way she looked at me… I don’t know. I just knew she was a knock-out in a totally out of my league, untouchable sort of way. Her hair was pulled up away from her face, exposing the soft curves of her face, and her clothes were classy, but sexy at the same time. With her hands on her hips, she stood there staring at me with those coal black eyes, giving me hell for trailing her kid. I liked that she didn’t back down from me. I couldn’t think of a time that a woman had gotten to me the way she did, and I was finding it more and more difficult to ignore the strange pull I felt towards her. The woman was tough, but there was a delicate, almost fragile side to her – a side I felt an overwhelming need to protect. It’d been three days since she’d paid her little visit to the club. Three days since she pressed her beautiful full lips against my cheek, and I still couldn’t stop thinking about her.

Emerson stepped out into the hall, blocking my path to the backdoor and asked, “Where are you running off to now?”

She’d only been at the clubhouse for a couple of days, but she was already adjusting. She’d finally gotten the chance to meet Cass and Henley, and she spent most of her time hanging out with them. She seemed to be getting along pretty well, but that didn’t mean she was happy about how little I’d been around. Unfortunately, it couldn’t be helped. When I wasn’t busy handling club business, I was gone seeing about Wyatt and his mom. My time was limited and that wasn’t going to change anytime soon.

“I’ll be back in a couple of hours,” I responded without really giving her an answer. Discussions about the club or Wyatt were off limits. Period.

“Look… I know you’ve got shit to do and all that, but I’d like to spend some time with my brother.”

“I hear ya.”

“So, tomorrow? Can you spare some time to hang with your sis for a little while?” she asked with more than a hint of sarcasm.

“Yeah. I can do that,” I promised. “You settling in okay?”

“Yeah. It’s actually pretty cool here. Everyone has been really nice, and Cassidy and Henley have been really great. I see why you love it here so much,” she smiled. “I’m really happy that you have this – the club, your brothers. It’s good to see you doing so well.”

“You got something to keep you busy while I’m gone?” I asked her.

Emerson looked over her shoulder towards the back of the bar and smiled when she saw Henley playing that old Pac-Man arcade game. She was wearing one of her classic, old t-shirts and jeans with her hair pulled back into a pony tail, and we both smiled as we watched her body jolt from side to side as she tried to beat the game.