The Biker's Fate Chapter 416

Flea

The combination of boredom and worry had me crawling out of my skin. I tried to let thoughts of Grace distract me, but somehow it felt shitty to use her that way. I didn't want the most perfect person I'd ever known to be connected to all this club shit, even if it was only in my mind.

It felt strange to think this way, but maybe that's what being in love was. Wanting to protect your loved ones from every kind of evil, even the imagined kind. The problem here was, not all the evils were imagined. Some of them were very real, and I couldn't shake the feeling that this new element our club was running with would somehow put her in danger. Before I could worry any further, the sound of a pack of bikes pulling up to the compound brought everyone to their feet.

"Hatch is back!" Finch shouted, looking through the window.

Hatch walked in, looking like he'd lost a little weight, but otherwise okay. Maisie was tucked protectively under his arm and she looked wrecked. Her eyes were red and her hair wasn't perfectly styled like it typically was.

Keeping a tight hold on his woman, Hatch moved through the room, hugging the brothers, and accepting shots until Maisie cut him off.

"The man needs to eat," she said. "You can get him wasted later."

The room erupted in laughs and I made my way to the bar.

"Flea."

I turned to see Crow extending his hand as he walked up to me. "Sorry I had to yank on your leash earlier."

I accepted his handshake. "I was out of line. I shouldn't have questioned you in front of everyone like that. It won't happen again."

"You're a good guy, Flea. I know you were just worried about Hatch. We all were." Crow smiled wide and patted me on the back, our conversation ended by the roar of pipes. More bikes had pulled up to the compound gates.

"It's the Saints!" Booker called out after checking the security monitors.

"Let 'em in." Crow said, and the motor on the rolling bay doors activated. A group of five Burning Saints rode up, parked and got off their bikes. I recognized Minus and his Sgt at Arms, Clutch, but the other two members were strangers to me. I say the other two, because the last man with them was not a Burning Saint at all. In fact, it was Kitty. His mammoth frame looked perfectly intact, and his face didn't have a scratch on it, so if the Burning Saints had just handed him a beating, he certainly hid it.

It took the same amount of time for Hatch to recognize Kitty as it did for me, and he wasted no time at advancing toward the man that had almost sent him to a Federally funded dark hole for the rest of his life.

"What the fuck is he doing here!" he growled as he charged forward.

"Whoa, hold on just one minute, Hatch. Lemme explain," Minus said, blocking Hatch's path… a brave and some (including myself) would say, dumbass move on his part.

"Fuck you, Minus, step aside or I'll make sure you're separated from Cricket for good this time around."

Minus's jaw stiffened, and his fists balled at his side. "I'm gonna let that go, but you need to stop and let me explain why he's here."

Hatch continued his advance. "I mean it, Minus, there's gonna be six feet of fresh soil between you and my sister if you don't get out of my way right fucking now."

"Hatch!" Crow yelled, causing him to stop in place, but his eyes remained locked on Kitty's massive frame, which now stood only three feet from Hatch. "What the hell is going on here, Minus? You'd better have a really good explanation as to why this giant sack of shit is stinking up my clubhouse, and why you brought it here."

"Kitty's the reason Hatch is out of jail," Minus said.

"Bullshit. He's the reason he was there in the first place," Booker snapped.

"That was Scorpion, and Los Psychos," Kitty said, causing Crow's face to twist in anger at the very sound of it.

"You shut your fucking mouth, Ben," Crow spat out, possessed by far more anger than I'd ever seen from him. "You have no right to be here, and I swear there'll be nothing but a stain where you're standing if you don't leave." He turned to Minus. "I don't know what the fuck you think you're pulling here, but you need to go with him, and I'll think about whether or not our clubs have any kind of future together."

"Crow, please. That's what this is all about. That's why Kitty is here with me."

"You don't know shit about Kitty or his history with my club," Crow snapped. "My club, Minus. My club that I kicked him out of years ago. The guy that I just found out was trying to frame my Sergeant. A man I asked you to deal with to settle up your debt to me."

"I did deal with it. I got you every shred of information you needed and then some as a matter of fact. I held up my end of the deal, lock stock and fucking barrel, Crow."

"He looks no worse for the wear, I notice."

"I told you the Burning Saints are out of the hurt business. I got you what you needed, my own way, without violence," Minus said calmly.

"By cutting some sort of deal with him? By agreeing to bring him here in exchange for the information he planted?" Crow growled.

"Yes and no. If you'd just hear him out, he can explain everything," Minus said.

"I don't want an explanation from him. I want an exodus from all of you. Get the fuck out, or I'll put you out."

Clutch took a step forward and moved his hand towards his inside cut pocket, but Minus saw him, and motioned for him to stand down.

"It's cool, I'm not here to cause trouble Crow. You know the kind of future I'm trying to build for my club, and you know how much I respect your council. You also know the intel we gave you was solid, and that we're gonna help you until this Los Psychos shit is resolved, but right now I need you to trust me. Give us five minutes and if you don't like what you hear, you'll never hear from Kitty again."

"I shouldn't have heard from him at all, and it's your future presence around here that you should be worried about."

"I understand. Five minutes, that's all I ask."

"You've got three." He crossed his arms. "Start talking."

Grace

I pulled open the front door and wrapped my bestie in a hug. "Oh my god, I miss you!"

Poppy grinned hugging me back. "Me too. Mum dropped the boys at Payton's so she could try to get back in to see Sid, and Dev's at the club. This whole thing is a shit show, and I didn't want to be alone."

"I hear ya." I closed the door. "Grams is chomping at the bit to hug you."

"Girly, you better get your cute butt in here!" Grams bellowed.

"See?" I said.

Poppy laughed, rushing into the family room and hugging her. "You really need to stop stripping, Grams," Poppy warned. "You'll break a leg."

Grams laughed, shaking her head. "What can I say? I'm an addict."

"Oh my god, Grams, you're insane," I complained.

"The pipes are rusty, sweetpea. Gotta get me some somehow."

I shook my head. "Oh, lord."

Poppy howled with laughter.

As Grams continued to get more and more ridiculous with her sexual prowess accomplishments, Poppy's phone pinged… as did mine. I snagged it off the kitchen counter and focused on Poppy.

"Hatch is home," we said in unison.