CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Noah

Two Days Later

Our time in New York was amazing, and Rhyan and I spent what was left of the weekend walking through Central Park. And I even took her to a Broadway show. But when we weren't taking in the sights, we were practically locked up in our bedroom exploring each other. I stayed true to my word to Dutch, and even though it was hard, I never once fucked Rhyan.

Not completely.

We did everything else, but there was zero penetration. Well, if you don't count the tip. Thank fuck Rhyan kept her wits about her. The feel of her, even just the tease, was enough for me to forget everything.

Fuck knows how I was able to keep myself restrained over the last two days, but I knew I had to, so I could keep a straight face when I got home to talk to Dutch.

I owe him that much.

He's given me this life.

A club to live for.

Brothers who have my back and a woman I don't deserve.

The least I can do is honor his wishes for a couple of days.

Even if I did bend the rules a little.

Okay, maybe a lot.

I'm in Dutch's debt, and I want him to know that I don't forget that.

Maverick and Sadie make their way out of the cab. I reach out for Rhyan, pull her back to me, and gently kiss her lips.

She giggles, kissing me back, then softly pushes my chest away. "He could be watching," she whispers against my lips.

Groaning, I exhale, then nod. "I promise I'll talk to him. Today. While you're at training."

She grins. "Just please wear a bulletproof vest or something when you do. I don't want to be learning about cleaning a crime scene today, then have to come home to clean up your crime scene," she jests.

Honestly, maybe a bulletproof vest is not such a bad idea.

She winks, then ducks out of the car. Sadie and Maverick are already pulling our luggage from the trunk. I slide out of the cab, moving to the rear of the vehicle to help with the bags, when Clover rushes out to greet her brother, slamming into his side. Maverick chuckles, holding her tightly.

"I missed you!" Clover sighs.

Maverick kisses the top of her head. "Missed you too, brat. Your monitor alerted me while I was away. You have another sugar drop?" he asks.

Clover groans, rolling her eyes. "Urgh, that monitor alert is so annoying. It's like you're stalking me."

Sadie chuckles, pulling Clover to her. "Did you tell someone when it happened?"

Clover nods. "Yeah, I was hanging out with Wes, and he saw me go pale. He ran to the fridge and got me juice and some of my gummies."

"You been checking your levels since?" Maverick asks.

Clover glowers at him. "I was excited for you to come home. But now maybe you should jump in that cab and head on back to the airpor—"

"Okay, okay. I'll stop. I'm looking out for you, Clo," Maverick replies, pulling Clover to him again before they start to walk for the clubhouse.

Clover jabs Maverick in the ribs, and he jerks back, making them both laugh while Sadie keeps striding with them.

I turn to Rhyan and smile. "It's good to be home."

She exhales, her hand subtly coming out, her pinky finger touching mine. "Yeah… it is—"

"Rhyan? You're back!" Dutch calls out, storming outside in a huff. Rhyan and I immediately pull away, our hands separating as we quickly step apart.

"Hey, Daddy!" she chimes, rushing forward into his arms. He holds her tightly, his eyes watching me with fierce intent every step I take past them.

I dip my head at him. "Dutch," I mumble as I move past him, heading for the clubhouse front door.

"I had such a good time. This was the best birthday I could have ever had." Rhyan beams, a smile lighting my face as my steps falter, my thoughts wandering over the night of Rhyan's birthday and how my naked body felt against hers. My cock jerks in my jeans at the vivid memory when a breath at my neck stops me.

"Prospect!" Dutch calls against my ear.

I spin around. Dutch is right up in my space, and a look of confusion crosses Rhyan's face as she shrugs behind Dutch's back.

"Yeah, Dutch?" I reply, taking a much-needed step away from his gigantic presence.

"Thanks for bringing her back home safe. You did good, kid." He grips my shoulder, though it's probably a little more forceful than his normal clutch, as the pain radiates through me.

A tentative smile crosses my face, my eyes shifting to Rhyan as she tries to hide her happiness.

I shift my attention back to Dutch. "It was my pleasure."

Literally.

Dutch doesn't say anything else. He turns his back, facing Rhyan. "So tell me, baby girl, what did you get up to?"

I dip my head at Rhyan, and she grins. Then, she focuses her attention back on her father, continuing their conversation. I turn, leaving them to catch up with the luggage wheeled behind me. Once inside the clubhouse, the rest of the guys are going about their general day-to-day shit.

Wes spots me first and walks over to grab Rhyan's luggage. "Hey, brother! Glad you're back. It's been hell with only me and Hayes on prospecting duties. I swear the guy has no clue most of the time."

Snorting out a laugh, I glance over at Hayes as he stands on a stepladder, trying to pin up a sign for a charity raffle, but instead of using the tacks we normally use to pin it to the board, he's using a nail gun. Turning back to Wes, I tilt my head and sigh. "Yeah… I get it. He's not the sharpest tool in the shed—"

Bang.

The nail gun fires, and everyone spins to face him.

Loki darts his head out from behind the bar with a heavy scowl. "Prospect! The fuck are you doing?"

Hayes glances down at Loki, the nail gun hanging in his hand. "Putting up the charity flyer?"

Loki reaches up and yanks the nail gun from Hayes' hand. He wobbles, almost losing his footing on the stepladder, but he reaches out, grabbing hold of the wall.

"Get the fuck down, Prospect. What is everything else held up on the pinboard with?"

Hayes slowly steps down, scrubbing at his face. "Erm… tacks, VP."

Loki smacks Hayes upside the back of the head, placing the nail gun on the bar. "Then use fucking tacks , you incompetent idiot . I should get you to download Bea's ridiculous health and wellness app. Might teach you to center your fucking mind or whatever bullshit crap it's supposed to do, seeing as she has motherfucking criminals signed up on there now . Fucking nail gun! " he mumbles the last part, shaking his head in disbelief. "Honestly, Hayes, you've been here long enough, you shouldn't be doing stupid shit. Sort yourself out, or hand in your damn patch."

My eyes widen as Hayes gasps, stepping toward Loki. "VP, I swear, I'll do bett—"

"Don't fucking tell me, Prospect. Show me . Now get out of my sight before I change my mind."

Hayes nods frantically before spinning like he isn't sure where to go, and then he starts to walk off. To where? Who knows.

But Loki calls out, "Prospect! Forgetting something?"

Hayes turns back to see Loki pointing at the nail gun. Hayes dips his chin, rushes to the nail gun, grabs it, and takes off out the back of the clubhouse as fast as fucking possible.

I glance at Wes, and we nod at each other. "Let's go," I tell him, knowing we have to chat to Hayes and make sure he's okay.

We both walk for the back exit when Loki calls out again, "Prospect!"

Wes and I both stop, turning to face him. He wasn't specific, so it could be either of us. "Yes, VP?" we both reply in unison.

"Pres and I want to see you and Maverick in the Chapel. Wes, you can go check on Hayes," Loki announces.

Wes dips his head, slaps my back, then continues outside for Hayes.

I rub the back of my neck, a rush of nerves running over me. "You want me to find Maverick, VP?"

Loki heads for the Chapel stairs. "Pres has him. Make your way up, Prospect."

I thought I'd have more time to prepare what I would tell Alpha about what happened while we were away. Maverick and I should have discussed the details before we got back. Problem is that both of us were too wrapped up in our women to develop a game plan.

We thought we had time.

We should have known better.

Walking into the Chapel, Maverick sits in his chair at the end of the table opposite Alpha. Alpha sits in his chair, waiting for Loki and me to enter. Loki makes his way around to sit at Alpha's left, and I know I'm not allowed to sit at the table unless they specifically tell me to. So I lean back against the wall, hands crossed over my chest.

Alpha raises his brow at Maverick, tilting his chin back. "So… anything to report? How did the weekend away go?"

Inhaling deeply, I tense before Maverick glances over his shoulder at me, swallows hard, and then turns back to Alpha and scrubs at his forehead.

Alpha sits forward, letting out a low groan. "Jesus Christ! What the fuck happened?"

Maverick raises his hands. "Okay, before I tell you the full story, you need to know that we handled it. The problem fixed itself."

Loki shakes his head, sitting back in his chair. "That's never a good way to start a story, Mav."

I step off the wall, dropping my arms to my sides. "It was my fault," I blurt out.

"Noah!" Maverick grunts, glaring at me, so I step back, leaning against the wall again.

Alpha rests his palms flat on the table. "Honestly, I don't give a shit whose fault it was. I just want to know what happened, and will there be ramifications?"

Maverick rolls his shoulders and starts, "Okay, this is what went down. The girls were out having a morning at the spa for Rhy's birthday. Noah and I were bored. We heard there was a bar downstairs, so we went to check it out."

"I can already tell this is not gonna be good." Loki huffs.

"Anyway, this suit comes up to us while we're in the bar. Asks if we wanna join a no-holds-bar game of poker—"

"Fuck. Me. The answer is no! It's always fucking no. That kind of shit is always fucking shady," Alpha grumbles.

Maverick exhales. "Yeah. Well, we know that now."

Loki groans. "So, you played in this poker game?"

Maverick shrugs. "We did. And I won the first hand. We were going to bail out, but there was this guy, a junkie, Rocco, who thought we were cheating, so he demanded we play another round. The only problem was, the buy-in was doubled."

Alpha and Loki groan before Maverick continues, "It was okay for me because I won the previous round, but Noah didn't have enough cash to get him through. But Rocco said the winner would come to the apartment and take something as compensation if we lost. Sounds crazy because it is crazy. We didn't have a choice. It was becoming unhinged at this point."

Alpha waves his hand through the air. "Fast forward to the problematic part, Mav."

Maverick runs his hand through his hair. "Needless to say, Noah and I both lost. The junkie, Rocco, won the fucking pot, and he wanted to come back to our apartment to check it out. Luckily, the girls were still gone."

Maverick is leaving out one critical piece of information, so I butt in. "Rocco also had a gun aimed at us, Pres. And we weren't carrying at that time."

Loki and Alpha widen their eyes like that was the piece they were missing. "What the fuck did Rocco want from the apartment?"

Maverick turns to me, raising his brow as if asking permission to continue. But this part is mine to tell. So, I step forward. "Atlas sent Rocco to intimidate me. To continue to threaten me."

"Atlas sent a guy to New York to insert himself into a poker game to harass you?" Alpha states.

"Yeah."

Alpha slams his fist on the table, his face turning red in obvious anger as he glares at me. "And you didn't fucking think to call me and tell me about it, Prospect!"

Tensing my muscles, my heart begins to race. "It was handled. We thought we would tell you when we got back so Rhyan could continue to have her birthday weeken—"

"That is not your decision to make. If this guy can track you to New York, then he is far more clever than you give him credit for, Noah. What the fuck happened to Rocco?" Alpha grunts, the anger seeping off him in waves.

Maverick slides his cell across the table. "This is the number of the guy who helped us. His name is Matteo. Say's he's part of the DeLuca Mafia in Tampa, has ties to Tampa Defiance of all things."

Alpha glances at the number on the cell and snorts. "Yeah… I know him. But that wasn't my question, Mav. What happened to Rocco?"

Maverick glances at me, then turns back to Alpha. "Rocco's dead. Noah shot him with Rocco's gun just as the girls were getting back from the spa."

Loki shakes his head while Alpha scrubs at his face.

"So, the girls know about this?" Alpha questions.

My heart beats so hard I hear my pulse in my ears as Maverick lays it all out in the open. "Rhyan helped us clean the scene while Sadie stood as a lookout."

Alpha lets out a small, obnoxious laugh, scrubbing at his chin. "You made Dutch's daughter an accessory to murder?"

Loki sits back in his chair, his hands behind his head, threading into his long blond hair. "What the fuck is it with you prospects at the moment?" Loki grumbles under his breath.

Clearing my throat, I step forward. "I know shooting Rocco was a dick move. Honestly, it happened so fucking fast. He came at me, we wrestled, and the gun went off. I didn't mean to kill him, and I do regret it, but what I regret most of all is having Rhyan and Sadie involved. They never should have been a part of it. They just showed up at the wrong time, and Rhyan insisted on help—"

"Then you should have forced her into not helping, Prospect," Alpha yells, standing from his chair so forcefully that it falls over with a thud.

I drop my chin to my chest as he begins pacing the room. "You have put me and Loki in one hell of a fucking position here."

"Pres, I—"

"I am not fucking done!" Alpha paces the floor of the Chapel like a man possessed. His breaths come hard and fast through his flaring nostrils. "If we inform Dutch that his daughter has been put in jeopardy, he's going to not only call for your patch, but he's gonna want blood. Your blood, Prospect. But my dilemma here is that you've dragged in my motherfucking road captain along with you. And if Dutch knows that Maverick was by your side, allowing Rhyan to be there through all of this, helping you clean this mess up, he's gonna want Maverick's patch and blood too. You see where I'm going with this, Prospect?"

Maverick turns back to face me, clear panic etched in his features.

He has Clover and Sadie to worry about.

I'm the one who fucked up.

I can't let Maverick take the fall for this.

Even though I have just started something with Rhyan.

The thought of not being able to start a life with her is tearing me to shreds.

But I have to do the right thing.

Stepping forward, I walk past Maverick in front of Alpha, puffing out my chest. "I take full responsibility. Maverick has a family he needs to take care of. If you must bring it up to Dutch, so be it. But let me take the hit on my own. Tell him Maverick was out. That he came back and tried to stop me, but by then, it was too late. The damage was done. I don't care what you tell Dutch. Just tell him Maverick had nothing to do with it. If blood must be spilled, make it my own, Pres. As a prospect, I know I have no right to ask for anything, but I ask this of you. Spare my brother, your brother . Please!"

Maverick stands. "Noah—"

"Don't, Mav," I reply, raising my hand to stop him, his head snapping back to Alpha.

He shifts his gaze to Loki, who clears his throat, slides his laptop across in front of him, and begins typing. Furrowing my brows, I wonder what the fuck he's doing in the middle of such a serious conversation.

Alpha huffs, pulling my attention back to him. "Do you know what we look for in a good brother, Noah?" Alpha asks.

Letting out the breath I didn't know I was holding, I shake my head. "Someone who follows the rules—"

"Someone willing to lay down their life, no matter what they will lose. Let me ask you a serious question, and don't fucking lie to me."

Widening my eyes, I nod. "Okay."

Alpha looks me dead in the eyes, staring straight into my soul. "Do you love Rhyan?"