The Biker's Fate Chapter 654

Teagan

DAISY AND I were setting platters of food out on the giant table in the great room when Cash walked in with our Dads. I let out a squeak and dropped what I was doing, making a run for him.

He caught me, wrapping his arms around me and lifting me off my feet. "Hey, Turtle."

"Are you okay?" I asked, cupping his face and checking for any sign of injury.

"I'm good, baby. They didn't do anything to me. Razor got the brunt of it."

He set me down and Dani laid her hand on my back gently. "Need to hug my baby, honey."

"Oh, of course!" I said, and stepped aside so Dani could get her arms around him.

Daisy was next and then the rest of the brothers who'd waited for his arrival gathered around him as Daisy and I were pushed further outside the group.

And that's when I saw her.

Gloria.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" I snapped, only, I didn't give her a chance to answer.

I pounced.

Like, literally pounced.

I grabbed her hair and dragged her to the ground. And whilst I was on top of her, I beat the shit out of her.

"You fucking bitch!" I screamed as I let my fists fly.

I wasn't sure how long I was allowed to give into my rage, but eventually, I was lifted off the unconscious body of the whore by Cash, who carried me to the mouth of the hallway. "Okay, slugger, that's enough."

"Is she dead?" I screamed.

"I don't think so."

"Then it's not enough."

"She's out cold, baby." He stood in front of me and cupped my face, blocking Gloria from my view. "Look at me."

I let out a huff, taking a second to meet his eyes but the second I saw all the love in them, I melted, gripping his cut and burying my face in his chest.

"There she is."

"Why the hell is she here, Cash?"

"She was dumped with me, honey, and we couldn't leave her alone in the middle of nowhere with a broken jaw."

"Yes, you could. After what she did to you and Razor? I'll give her two broken jaws," I challenged. "You shoulda left her to rot."

"Couldn't do that to a woman, Turtle." He gave me a squeeze. "It wouldn't be right. Doesn't matter who she is or what she did."

"Well, if I see or hear her, I'm gonna do more of what I just did," I warned.

"I'll make sure you don't."

I peeked around him and saw she was gone. "Where is she?"

"Not telling you."

I tapped my temple. "Smart man."

"I need to meet with Hatch. You gonna be okay for a few?"

I reached behind my neck and undid his chain. "Put this back on."

He frowned. "Baby, I'm right here."

"Do. Not. Argue. With. Me." I shoved it at him. "Put it on."

"Okay, okay, I'm putting it on." He smiled, securing his chain to his neck, then kissing me. "I won't be long."

I nodded, and he moved to walk away, but I grabbed his arm before he could.

"I'm really glad you're home safe."

"Me too, baby." He gave me one more kiss, then slipped into Hatch's room.

Katie walked out and we headed into the great room to eat.

Cash

Stepping into Hatch's room, I smiled to see Razor grinning like an idiot, despite missing one of his front teeth. "Hey, brother."

"Here's the prodigal son now," Razor said on a laugh, then groaned and coughed as he doubled over in pain.

"Careful," Hatch warned. "Those ribs are busted to shit."

Also in the room were my father, Mack, Hawk, Flea, Ace, Knight, Harm, Train, Maverick, Archer, Ruin, and Finch.

As my brothers joked with Razor, I pulled Hatch aside, and said, "Hey, I thought you should know that I wasn't the Spiders' first choice. Warlock had originally planned to take one of your kids."

Hatch placed his hands on my shoulders and met my eyes. "They did take one of my kids, Cash. If anything had happened to you, I don't know what I would have done."

I'd always had the greatest admiration for Hatch, but I'd never known until that moment exactly what I meant to him. He wasn't just my president, he was more of a second father. For Hatch, club wasn't like family, it was family.

I nodded, and Hatch patted my cheek before grabbing a laptop and opening it to reveal Flash and Sparky, Poppy's man, on video. He set the computer on the bureau, positioning it so they could see the room and vice-versa. Hatch's youngest, Jamie, wasn't a patched member yet, so he wasn't included in the meeting, which made sense.

"Not happy we're not there, Pop," Flash said.

"If I coulda got all the Wolfpack outta the country, I would have. Next time, I'll plan a little further in advance. We gotta get everyone updated passports."

"But we could be helping," Sparky pointed out.

"Or you could be dead," Hatch snapped. "Okay, fill us in, Cash."

I walked them through the events of the early morning and my conversation with Warlock and then, subsequently, Sundance.

"What was this shit with Lando and Eddie something?" Hatch asked.

I chuckled. "Sundance is a world history buff as well as a huge sci-fi fan, so I figured if I referenced Eddie Chapman who was a British spy during WWII, Lando from Star Wars, and the birthplace of Benedict Arnold, he'd pick up on the double agent references without tipping off Warlock."

"Yeah, he confirmed that with me," Hatch said. "But it was a risky move, son."

"I know," I said. "And I hope I haven't made things worse, I just needed to buy more time."

"Every time we think we've squashed the Spiders, they spin another web," my dad muttered.

"Yeah, but your kid made a smart play," Hatch said.

"Except we have less than forty-eight hours to rally support and Warlock is gonna figure out sooner than later we're not goin' along with his plan," Mack said.

"Plenty of time," Hatch said. "What are you worried about?"

The room gave a nervous chuckle.

"I want everybody's powder kept dry and your heads on a swivel. No one, and I mean, no one, rides without at least three members and family is on lockdown. This is a code red, boys, the Howlers are on their way, and I'm about to reach out to my brother-in-law and see if we can get the Burning Saints' support as well."

"Jesus, you're goin' to Minus for help?" Finch breathed out. "We must be in deep shit."

"I wouldn't plan on wearing your good boots for a while," Hatch said.

So there it was. We were going to war.

We filed out of the room, and I made my way to Teagan, taking her hand and leading her up to our room.

"Is everything okay?" she asked once I'd closed the door.

I sat in the recliner and pulled her onto my lap. "We're going on lockdown. This means, you don't leave unless you're with me or your dad, or someone we trust, got it?"

"Yes, no problem." She frowned. "What's going on, Cash?"

"I can't tell you all of it, but it's gonna be a rough couple of weeks, honey, so I just need you to trust me. The Spiders are trying to fuck with our grow operation, so the Howlers and Saints are comin'."

"Oh my god, it's war."

I stroked her back. "It's leaning that way, yes."

She buried her face in my neck. "I need you to be okay."

"I will be. And nothing, absolutely fuckin' nothing, is gonna happen to you. You will be protected above all else."

She sat up to meet my eyes. "Me being safe means nothing if you're not safe too. So you need to promise me you're gonna protect your own damn self."

"Well, that's just a given."

"Cash," she admonished. "You just got taken because you walked out that front door to help a cunt—no, let me rephrase." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "I can't call her a cunt because there's nothing warm or deep about her."

"Brutal."

"It's the truth." She opened her eyes and scowled. "So, don't sit here and tell me that I'm going to be protected unless you're going to promise me that protection applies to you as well. And it better fuckin' start with you not doing something so unbelievably stupid like that again." She gripped my chin. "Capisce?"

I grinned. "Yeah, Turtle. Capisce."

"Will this really take a couple of weeks?"

"Max."

"Well, if I'm locked down, I'm going to plan our wedding."

"First, we're gonna eat, then I'm gonna fuck you, then we're gonna sleep."

She grinned, leaning down to kiss me. "Then we'll plan our wedding."

"Yeah, then we'll plan our wedding."

"Okay."

I kissed her one more time, then with our world finally back on its axis, I took her downstairs to commune with our family.

I may have had a habit of carrying the weight of the world on my shoulders, but Teagan took all that from me and I was the luckiest man alive.