Chapter Four

Chapter Four

HIGHWAY

Gwen's breathing is even as she sleeps with her head on my chest. Today hasn't gone at all the way I thought it would. The day started with me wondering if I could get her to have a drink with me, and now she's in my bed. Little does she know, but Gwen Fullerton is mine. There will be no date with Justice. If she still wants to go to the swamp, I'll take her. A smile creeps across my face—Justice is going to be pissed when he knows I've beaten him.

A soft knock sounds on my door, and Devil sticks her head inside. "You're wanted." She shuts the door, and I try to scoot out from under Gwen.

"Are you doing a hit and run?"

Sitting up, I shake my head. "No. Club business." Gwen sits up and reaches for her clothes. "You don't have to go. Stay. Maybe we can continue this later?"

"I'm not." She puts on her bra. "I'm coming with you."

"It's not how we do things." Standing, I pull on my jeans and then a T-shirt.

Gwen is silent as she dresses, and then she puts her hands on her hips and stares at me.

"What?"

"What?" She throws her hands in the air. "What?" Gwen shakes her head, holds up a hand, and thumps her chest. "If it weren't for me, you wouldn't even know who shot your president."

"We are grateful for your help."

"Pfft!" Gwen spins around, throws the door open, and strides down the hallway, leaving me behind.

"Gwen!"

"It's fine!"

Fine is the universal word from a woman when everything is far from fine as you can get. Gwen is a spitfire, and watching her walk away should probably piss me off, but a part of me thinks it's as hot as hell. Reaching for her, I wrap my hand around her upper arm and spin her around.

"Stop," I say quietly, but with a small amount of steel in my voice. She opens her mouth to speak, and I place a finger over her lips. "If I'm allowed, I'll share what I find out, but you are not a brother, not one of us. We do things a certain way. It's not only for our protection but also for those we care about. So stop being all pissy and give me a break."

"You care about me?"

"I said all that, and all you heard was that I care about you?"

Gwen's eyes drop to my chest. "Maybe."

Stepping back, I crouch down a little to look her in the eyes. "I've gotta go. Can we talk about this later?"

Gwen nods. "I'm still mad."

With a smirk, I kiss her and say, "I know."

Gwen follows me down the stairs, but when I move into the clubhouse meeting room, she keeps going outside without a backward glance.

Sitting at the table is Creed. He's pale, and Devil is beside him.

He sucks in a breath and gives me a chin lift. "She looked pissed."

"Women," I reply and sit down.

"Pfft!" huffs out Devil. "I'm guessing by the look on her face just now that you did something wrong."

Creed holds up a hand. "Babe, can you give us the room?"

Devil nods once, kisses his cheek, and leaves.

Creed waits until the door is closed before he speaks, "What do we know?"

"It was the Crimson Wheelers MC," states Reaper.

"So that means the Khans are looking to expand." Creed sucks in a breath and holds a hand to his shoulder. "Fuck it all to hell."

Reaper nods. "Yeah, we need to strike back."

Creed nods, then looks at Winchester. "Set up a meet. Somewhere neutral."

Reaper shakes his head several times. "A meet? Fuck that, they need to bleed."

Creed holds up a hand. "If they are behind this, they will." He locks eyes with Winchester. "Set up the meet… take Highway with you." With effort, Creed stands, then places a hand on Reaper's shoulder. "Cooler heads need to prevail, and I need you to make sure we don't go off half-cocked. I need you, brother, to look after things. To make sure our men and club are safe and protected."

"We need a show of force," snarls Reaper.

Creed takes a deep breath and slowly exhales. "Reaper, I'm asking you to wait. Do you honestly think I don't want someone to bleed? A war with the Khans will disrupt all our supply chains."

Reaper stands and faces Creed. "So, money over brotherhood?"

"For fuck's sake, Reaper, that's not what he's saying. The smart move is to confirm who's behind this, and then we make them bleed." I slam my hand on the table, the noise echoing through the room.

"Thanks, Highway." Creed nods at me and shuffles toward the door. "Reaper, once we confirm it's the Khans, the streets of Jacksonville will run red with their blood, but in case it's not them but someone who will profit from a war, I want confirmation."

Reaper casts me a glance. "Is there something I don't know?"

"We will see," replies Creed, then he moves toward the door. Devil opens it and immediately puts her arm around Creed's waist. "I'm fine."

She smiles up at him. "I know. But it's not every day your husband gets shot, so you need to put up with me fussing for a bit. Let's get you to bed."

Creed smiles and winks at me. "This one's always trying to get me into the sack."

"Yeah, yeah, that's me." Devil doesn't look at anyone as she walks with Creed down the hallway and disappears into their room.

"Why's he out of the hospital?" I look at Winchester.

He shrugs. "Because he's a tough bastard."

"And I promised Devil I'd have medical here to take care of him," says Reaper. "Need you two to carry out his orders. Let me know when and where."

"You're doing as he says?" I ask incredulously.

Reaper fixes me with a look. "Until he's dead and buried, he's our president, and I do as I'm told." He slaps me on the shoulder and walks away.

"Something tells me Reaper does what Reaper wants."

Winchester shrugs. "Reaper will keep it locked down until we prove the Khans went after us, then God help them. Come on, we've got shit to do."

He pulls his cell phone out of his pocket and heads for the door. Following close behind, I listen as he puts his phone to his ear.

"Anthony, it's Winchester. We need a meet." He throws a leg over his bike. "How about now… you, me, and one of our boys?" He nods. "Yeah, bring whoever you want." Winchester grins at me. "You know we own that club?" He pauses as he listens. "Okay, cool. See you in a bit. I'll call ahead, so we've got the VIP room."

"Is it weird they picked one of our clubs?"

Winchester tilts his head from side to side. "If you're asking me if they did it? No idea. But the fact he's not worried and wants to meet at one of our clubs either means they don't think we can trace it back to them or they didn't do it. Let's find out."