Chapter 9

Gwen

Isat down at the kitchen table with a sigh and pulled my hair back into a low ponytail. I”d just finished getting Grace back to sleep after another round of puking. It broke my heart to see my babies sick. I hated days like this and would happily switch places with them so they never had a single day of illness.

A soft knock on the door made me frown. Toxic and Butcher had already stopped by earlier to return my keys and I wasn”t really expecting anyone. Most of the girls were home and had already dropped off enough food to feed us for a week. I got up and opened the door, a tired smile forming when I saw Static standing there. ”Hi.” I looked him up and down. ”Looks like you showered.”

He chuckled and nodded. ”Yeah, as soon as I left your apartment.” He narrowed his eyes when I opened my mouth. ”Don”t you dare apologize again.”

I closed it with an audible click of my teeth. My smile turned guilty because I was about to do exactly that. ”The kids are sleeping,” I told him.

”I was hoping you could help me with something?”

Turning to look over my shoulder at the bedrooms where my babies were resting, I hesitated. ”Oh, I don”t know.” I wanted to, because Static helped us so much, but I hated to leave them.

”It won”t take long,” he urged, then motioned for someone.

Sylvia walked up. ”Hey, Mama,” she said, voice as low as ours. ”I heard our little ones aren”t feeling well.”

Relief swelled in my chest. If I had to leave my kids when they were feeling crummy, I didn”t mind as long as she, or one of the other old ladies, was willing to watch them. ”Probably just a twenty-four-hour bug.”

”Poor kiddos,” she said. ”I don”t mind watching them for a little bit.”

Static raised his brows at me. ”I”ll understand if you say no.”

”It”s okay,” I told him, ”but not for long.”

He held out his hand and I hesitated before taking it. He led me downstairs and into the back hallway of the club that led to their back office, meeting room, and the gym. I looked up at him. ”Where are we going?”

”Church.”

I stopped in my tracks, hissing as he nearly yanked my arm from the socket when he kept going. ”What? I can”t go into church.”

”Lock okayed it,” he reassured me.

Pulling my hand from his, I motioned to myself. ”Look at me. I”m not going in there with everyone.”

His eyes roamed slowly over me from head to toe, causing a shiver to race over me. ”You look good.”

I swallowed thanks to a suddenly dry mouth. The way he was looking at me was sinful. I was in jeans, a ratty old t-shirt from my college days, and my hair was a mess swept back in a ponytail. I didn”t look good, but he just grabbed my hand and I had little choice but to follow him into the room. Looking around, I studied the space. It was a large room, with a small cabinet for liquor and a huge wooden table in the middle. There was a TV on the wall, but it was silent and dark.

”Gwen,” Lockout greeted. ”Come on in.”

I gave all the men a weak smile. They were all staring at me, looking curious. Ricochet raised his eyebrows, silently asking me if I knew what was going on. I gave a little shrug of my shoulders as Static”s hand on my lower back gently nudged me all the way into the room. The door shut behind us, making me jump and look at him over my shoulder.

”It”s okay,” he said in a low voice. ”You can sit there.” He pointed to an empty seat near Butcher.

”Hey, Peaches,” Butcher said as I sat down.

”Hi.” I smiled at him as Toxic dropped his arm over the back of my chair from my other side. Strangely, between being sandwiched between them, and Static watching me with that intense look, I felt less nervous. It was like Static was trying to reassure me even though he was pacing back and forth near the door.

Every eye was now on him.

”I think Gwen has the solution to our problem.”

Oops. No, now every eye was on me. I wanted to sink into the floorboards. ”M-me?” I asked. Static nodded. ”What problem?”

He looked over at Lockout and when his president nodded, Static started speaking. He was talking to me, watching me as he explained. ”In order to force Fremont into doing something stupid, we want to cut him off from his money. To do that we need to convince his...business...partners to stop laundering his money for him.”

Between Static, Ricochet, and the other old ladies keeping me updated, I was in the loop of the club”s business so none of this was brand new to me. ”Okay,” I said hesitating. I was following, but still didn”t know how I fit into all this.

”We”re assumin”,” Hush told me, giving me a patient smile, ”that his partners aren”t goin” to play ball.”

”Which means,” Static continued, ”that we need a way to force them to quit working with Fremont.” He turned and looked at his brothers. ”Gwen made a friend yesterday. And I think that friend can help us.”

My eyes widened as I realized he was talking about David. ”Oh, but I hardly even know him-”

”He”s a cop,” Static cut in. ”And I think he”s exactly the kind of guy that could help with this.”

I opened my mouth, then narrowed my eyes on him. ”Why would you think that?”

”Because he”s gotten three accommodations in the last two years for exemplary conduct,” Riptide answered. ”And a couple more awards for assisting detectives with closing some higher profile cases.”

I glared at them both. ”And how do you know that?” I asked.

”I asked Rip to look into him,” Static told me.

Sighing, I shook my head. ”I told you he doesn”t mean anything to me-” I broke off and looked around. All the men were smirking, but they were mostly looking at Static. ”I don”t really know him,” I amended. ”It sounds like you know him better than I do.”

Static shrugged. ”I just wanted to see who he was.”

”Why”s that, Brother?” Idaho chimed in.

Static shot him a dark look. ”We could plant evidence in the businesses of Fremont”s partners, send an anonymous tip to this guy, and he could put them out of commission for us. Sounds like he”s a real go-getter.” He shot me a look with that last statement.

Even though I”d promised him nothing had happened between me and David, and that I wouldn”t see him again, Static had still looked into him. I was irritated, but it wasn”t like there was anything I could do about it now. Especially not here. Not in front of everyone. A heavy arm dropped onto my shoulders again and Toxic pulled me in close. If it wasn”t for Static, I could get lost in his dark brown eyes.

It didn”t surprise me in the least that he had an ever revolving door as the ladies came and left. The only one he hadn”t touched, and she wished he would, was Scarlett. The poor girl was half in love with the man and he never even spared her a glance. In fact, he never looked at any of the club girls. I wasn”t sure if it was because he didn”t like to share, or what.

”You don”t need to hang around some cop if you”re lonely,” Toxic said in a low voice.

I glanced Static”s way and found him glowering at us. Toxic”s fingers gently grasped my chin and he pulled my face back toward him.

”Eyes on me, Sweetheart, or you”ll hurt my feelings.”

”You”re ridiculous,” I whispered.

He grinned. ”Caught onto my game, huh?”

”You”re trying to make Static mad.” I didn”t push his hand off, because in a way, I liked the way Static was watching me. It didn”t matter that I wasn”t ready for anything serious with a man. It was nice to feel like a desirable woman. Especially after a day of dealing with sick children. And the way Static was watching me told me he wanted to do naughty things to me. And punch Toxic. I had to fight to keep the smile off my face.

”Bingo. Though,” he said, letting his eyes trail down my body, ”if you wanted something more, I wouldn”t say no.”

I rolled my eyes. ”Do you ever say no?”

”Believe it or not? Yeah,” he grinned, ”I do. I can be discerning.”

Snorting in disbelief, I gently tugged my jaw from his grasp. Static was already halfway across the room, murder written all over his face. He slowed to a stop when I turned to him again. I didn”t have a chance to say anything before Lock broke the tense silence.

”What kind of evidence?” Lock asked.

”Drugs would be easiest,” Butcher answered. He shook his head as he looked over at Toxic. ”Quit fucking with the prospect.”

”Why do you give a fuck?” Toxic asked.

”Because we might have the chance to cause some shit. And we”re not going to get to play if he kills you. Prez will make us stay behind.”

”That”s right, I will,” Lock said, his eyes on Static. ”So fucking behave for five damn minutes so we can get through this and Gwen can get back to her kids.” He rubbed his forehead, as though he had a headache.

”Do you have a way to contact him?” Ricochet asked me.

”I have his card,” I admitted, refusing to look at angry blue eyes. I never had a chance to throw it away after my promise to Static.

”Why don”t we just use the Sheriff Seek knows?” Smoke asked.

”Because we don”t want to be tied to this at all. In any way, if we can help it,” Static answered. ”It needs to come from someone who isn”t connected to the club.”

”Seek is too close with Tommy,” Hush replied. ”And technically he shouldn”t be doin” anythin” inside city limits.”

”But no one is going to suspect the woman this guy asked out once,” Static added. ”Especially since it will be one of us giving the tips.”

”We should still send the tips from a burner phone,” Rip suggested.

”Exactly what I planned,” Static answered. ”That way it doesn”t connect back to Gwen either.”

”What if he doesn”t trust some random tip texted to him by a number he doesn”t know?” Gwen asked the room. She cringed when everyone looked her way. ”Sorry. Not my business.”

”We brought you into this,” Static replied.

”And that”s a good point,” Lock added. ”If that happens, we”ll send someone in to talk to him. But hopefully it won”t go down that way. Static is right. We want to stay out of it as much as possible. Fremont will suspect it was us and that will draw him out, but we don”t want to be dealing with this shit once he”s gone for good.”

”If this guy is as much a do-gooder as you think he is,” Hell said, looking at Static, ”he should end up checking out any tip given, even if he doesn”t know who”s giving it.”

”That”s what I”m hoping,” Static said with a nod. He leaned over the back of Idaho”s chair, his hands on the top as though he was too agitated to sit.

”If you do have to send someone in for David to listen to, I could do it,” I offered.

”Or I could,” Static growled. ”I could tell him that as a lawyer, I have information, but it would be a conflict of interest for me to formally get involved.”

Toxic leaned over again, malice in his eyes and whispered into my ear. My eyes opened wide. ”Thank you Toxic, you”re absolutely correct.” I turned to Static. ”You should be the one to approach him. But only after you apologize to him.”

”What does he have to apologize for?” Idaho asked, sounding thrilled and curious. He wanted the gossip on his friend.

”He wasn”t very nice to David this morning when they met.”

”Maybe because you keep calling him David,” my brother offered as an explanation.

”That”s his name,” I replied with exasperation.

”And why were you with him?” Priest asked, face an innocent mask. Everyone was staring at me again.

I looked at Lock for help, but even he looked amused. I had a feeling this was more about them needling Static than trying to dig at me, but it was uncomfortable. ”He asked me out, and-”

”Oh, ho, ho!” Idaho crowed out. ”Really? Are you going to go out with him?”

”No,” Static snapped, shoving Idaho”s chair forward until the front of his friend”s ribcage hit the table. ”She isn”t.”

I opened my mouth to speak, but Static was already stalking over to me. He stopped next to my chair, but he didn”t grab me, which I appreciated. It was almost as if he could tell that grabbing me and manhandling me made my nerves worse. It often put me right back to that night with Trent. He held out his large hand, palm up.

”I could kick his ass for you,” Toxic offered, giving Static a malicious smirk.

”That”s okay,” I said with a shake of my head. These men liked to get on each other”s nerves in a way I didn”t understand, but they loved each other deeply. Their weird bonding practices had nothing to do with me. I took Static”s hand and stood, following him toward the door.

”Gwen.”

We stopped and I looked over at Lockout. ”We appreciate your help with this.”

”Of course. I”m happy to help. I appreciate you letting me and my children live here. And you protecting us.” I smiled at him. Lockout was a good, caring man.

”How are they feeling?”

It didn”t surprise me to find that he knew my babies were sick. ”I think they”re starting to feel better.”

”Good. Let us know if you need anything. If they need anything.”

I nodded and followed Static out of the room. He dropped me back off upstairs at my apartment.

”I have to get back down there,” he said.

Grabbing his arm as he started to turn away, I searched his eyes. He looked irritated. ”Are you mad at me?” I hated how painfully insecure I sounded, but this was the result of being with a man for years who played mind games and manipulated my emotions. It was going to take time for me to get over that.

His eyes softened. ”Of course not, Sugar.” He sighed. ”Look. I can be a real asshole. I don”t like the idea of bringing David into this because of his connection to you, however insignificant. But it”s the easiest way to go about things.”

”I”m not going to see him again,” I told him. ”Unless the club needs me to in order for him to help.”

He reached out and cupped my cheek, his thumb swiping over my skin. It took everything in me not to lean into the caress. ”I know. I appreciate that. You and I will talk later, okay?”

”Okay,” I whispered. He flashed me that devastating smile and I watched as he walked away.

What are you doing? This is going to end badly, and you”re the one who always gets hurt when it does.

It didn”t seem to matter to my heart that my inner voice was right. She was already pining, and had been for some time. Sighing, I turned and went to go take care of my children.