Chapter Twenty-Three

SHAY

"I was just about to call you. Was it busy? You left like an hour ago," I commented as Bishop walked into the kitchen carrying a stack of pizza boxes.

It was Sunday, and the club would be descending on the house for lunch at any minute. Since Frank's party had been Friday night, and Bishop and I spent Saturday in our own bubble recovering, neither of us had the energy to get up in time to cook for fifteen to twenty people.

Which was also why I was sitting at the kitchen table, stirring a jug full of cold brew. We probably weren't the only ones who would need copious cups of coffee. Not to mention I was heading back to work on Wednesday, and my body was still fighting to get back into a normal sleeping rhythm since it had all been thrown out when shit hit the fan.

"Had to stop by the clubhouse and grab something," he said as he carefully slid the pizzas onto the counter before walking over and pulling an envelope from his back pocket. I frowned as he placed it on the table and slid it toward me. "This is yours."

I stared at it for a second, confused about what was happening.

"It's not going to bite you, Shay," Bishop encouraged, turning away and busying himself with a stack of paper plates. "Just open it."

Screwing up my nose, I finally reached for the envelope, slipping my finger in under the flap and tearing it open.

There was a single piece of paper inside.

A check.

"What is…" I started to ask, but as I pulled it out and took note of the dollar amount written on it, every brain cell I had seemed to explode. "How… where… what…"

Fifty thousand dollars.

It was a check for fifty thousand dollars.

I held it pinched between my fingers as I looked up at Bishop. His expression hadn't changed. He just continued pulling the plastic off the stack of plates like he hadn't just handed me almost more money than I saw from a year of working at the hospital.

"You're gonna have to give me something here," I pleaded with him, flapping the paper in the air. "Bishop, seriously…"

He let out a heavy sigh. "When Evan Hersh came to me and asked the club to find his daughter, he promised to pay for her safe return. He paid up, and the club decided since it was actually you who put your ass on the line to make sure she was safe, then the money was all yours."

"No, no, no," I replied, shaking my head as I placed the check back on the table and slid it away. "I did that because it was the right thing to do. I don't want to take any money for it."

Bishop rolled his eyes dramatically. "It's not like the man is hurting for it. He's a multimillion-dollar businessman who was only too happy to pay whatever the hell the price was to get his daughter back. You got her back."

I had.

And I'd paid for it myself with some bruises and a little bit of my sanity.

But I still didn't want the money.

"I'm not taking it. The club needs to keep it. Buy all the boys a round."

"A round…" he repeated, clearly amused.

"Bishop. I don't need the money." Lie. Who didn't need fifty grand? "I just… I don't want it."

I understood the club being paid for the man hours and the risks they faced while they searched for Alice, but I literally stumbled over her by chance.

I didn't deserve that money.

"I'm sure it would do so much more good if the club used it for something," I insisted when he didn't reply, continuing to busy himself as if we were having a casual conversation about the weather or what we watched on television last night. "Aren't you thinking about opening another bar soon? I'm sure it would help with that."

"Hawk told me the other week you were looking for extra hours at the bar, needing to make some extra money."

I shifted uncomfortably. I'd been hoping to ignore any conversations about Ali until I could figure out how to talk to him about getting the hell away from that toxic asshole, Jason. "It was for my brother. He asked if he could borrow some money because Jason was going to give him a job, but seems like all he's done is just get Ali addicted to the drugs he's selling." I curled my hand into a fist, frustrated with myself for thinking Jason could do anything but fuck up people's lives. "I just wanted to get it to him as fast as possible without leaving myself short."

I had a little money in the bank. If there was one thing I'd learned from my past, it was always to have something put away for emergencies. I lived pretty comfortably on what I made from work and didn't touch my emergency fund unless there was no other option.

"Jason's the one who slipped those pills in your bag." The way his voice tightened let me know that wasn't a question. He remembered, and honestly, I was glad I wasn't the only one who felt pure rage now anytime I heard that asshole's name. "Anything else you wanna tell me about him?"

I leaned back in my chair, releasing a weak laugh. "Other than I'd like him out of mine and my brother's lives forever, there's not much to say. Ali can be an idiot, and I get frustrated with him, but when push came to shove, he did step up for me. It's hard to watch him slowly be destroyed by someone who he thinks is his friend." I noted the way Bishop's eyes darkened and seemed to float away from me as if he was lost in his thoughts.

That wasn't unusual.

He was a man of few words, and often, the ones he didn't say were the most important.

Which was why I suddenly found myself on my feet and in front of him, tugging on his hand. "That was not me asking you to step in and do something."

His eyes fell to meet mine.

They were light that day, the color almost like a fog or mist on a winter morning—soft and airy around the edges but also somewhat ominous.

"Bishop… I swea—"

His lips descended on mine, his arm circling my waist and pulling me against him, swallowing my protests. My body instantly relaxed into his, and I got so lost in the kiss that I didn't notice the door open until I heard a soft giggle from behind us.

I tried to pull back, but Bishop held me tight. Obviously, he'd decided to let the rest of the club in on our secret.

"Y'all are cute," Missy commented, and I pressed my forehead to Bishop's chest and took in a breath before finally turning in his arms with a smile. Missy stood in the archway to the kitchen, a wide grin on her face. "I'm so glad you both stopped tiptoeing around."

I rolled my eyes. "You knew, huh?"

Hawk strolled in, slipping by her and plucking a pizza box off the tower. "Well, Bishop doesn't tiptoe. He tends to stomp, so I'm sorry to tell you, neither of you were as subtle as you thought, especially not since Calli left."

The mention of her name made my body slump, and Bishop was quick to give my hip a gentle, supportive squeeze. "Speaking of Calli…" he announced, "… I think it's best we talk to her about this in person. She said she'd hopefully have a weekend soon where she could fly home to visit," Bishop explained, but my stomach was already twisting.

"I'm going to put some of this stuff outside for the boys." I forced a smile and slipped from Bishop's arms, grabbing the large jug of cold brew and the plastic cups, balancing them precariously as I headed out through the back to the porch.

A pair of footsteps hurried after me, but they weren't his.

Bishop walked with purpose and confidence, his strong, intimidating energy following him.

These footsteps were softer, lighter—motherly.

"You're scared to tell her," Missy commented as she stepped onto the porch behind me. "But you gotta trust that she'll understand, Shay."

I put down the jug I was carrying on the table we'd set up for the food before turning around. "Calli has given me so much. Not just her friendship, but she opened her life to me, shared her family with me, and gave me people. We were always on the run, my mom too scared to keep us in one place for too long. I never made friends. I never had people."

Calli had been my best friend for so long that I'd almost forgotten what it was like before, how lonely I was, how I was just moving through life on autopilot, hoping to find something that made me happy.

Calli made me happy.

Being with Bishop made me so fucking happy.

With them both in my life, I felt on top of the world. But if Calli couldn't understand what Bishop and I had, or if she refused to accept it, I could so easily end up with neither of them in my life.

I'd like to think my best friend would understand.

But there were just no guarantees.

I groaned, pressing my palm to my temple. "Geez, the past few days have been the craziest rollercoaster ride."

Missy's smile was warm. "I'm hoping today is an up day, given I saw a certain check on the table inside. I'm guessing Bishop finally handed it over."

My mouth dropped open. "Is there anything you don't know?"

She threw back her head and laughed. "Very little. What I've learned about being an Old Lady within the club is that you're often used as a sounding board. Sometimes that just means sitting and listening while they rattle on about their day, but other times it's helping to offer solutions to problems."

I wanted to be that for Bishop, the person who could support him like he supported me. "But what if I am the problem?"

Missy grinned. "What if you're the solution?"