White Heat (Lost Kings MC #5) (25 page)

I’m fuming by the time we leave the courtroom. Glassman takes my elbow and leads me to a corner across from where Wrath and Z are waiting. I hold up one finger, asking them to wait.

“What the fuck was that?” I snap at Glassman.

“I don’t know. I’ve never seen anything like it. I’m sorry.” He glances over his shoulder at Wrath and Z. Admittedly they’re a scary combo. But as mean as Wrath’s been to me in the past, he’s never once made me feel as small as Judge Holier-Than-Thou just did. “Are you okay, Hope?” Glassman asks.

“No. I want my fiancé home. This is crap! He’s got no right keeping—”

“Hope, calm down. I’m asking if
you’re
okay?”

“I’m fine.”

He sighs and throws another glance at Wrath and Z. “I’ve seen how much you two care for each other, but the judge might be right. You’re definitely risking your career—”

I hold up my hand to stop whatever else he’s about to say. “I don’t give a flying fuck about my career at the moment. I love Rock. I’d choose him over this,” I wave my hand in front of his face, indicating the whole legal process, “in a heartbeat.”

“I understand.”

I don’t think he actually does understand, nor do I care what he thinks.

I wave the guys over so they can ask Glassman their questions. He explains things in his overpriced-lawyerly way, which amounts to “wait a few days.”

After Glassman leaves, Z puts his arm around my shoulder. “You look really shaken, Hope. What happened?”

“I don’t want to talk about it here.” I point at the security camera above us and Z nods.

Wrath pulls me in for a quick, brotherly hug before we head outside.

I feel like I left a piece of my heart in the building, except I know my heart is on his way back to the county jail.

Whatever happened in that courtroom was bad. Hope’s a mess when she walks out with Glassman. Her cheeks are red, eyes glassy. I think I see steam shooting out of her ears though, so that’s a good sign. Z and I glance at each other and I know he’s thinking the same thing.

When we finally get her in the car, Z and I both turn around to face her. “Spill,” I demand.

“Before I tell you about the hearing. We’ve got a problem. Rock had a black eye.” She chokes on the last sentence, but I make out her words. Rage pounds through me.

“I don’t know if it’s that guard or someone else. He tried to hide it from me and they took him away so fast, we couldn’t talk—”

“Did Glassman say anything?”

“No. I don’t know if he even noticed.”

That’s fine. The suit won’t fix this. The club will.

“Was he okay otherwise, sweetheart,” Z asks as I turn the engine over and head home.

“I think so.”

“We’ll take care of it.”

“I know,” she says softly.

Once we get on the highway, soft Hope vanishes. Ballsy Hope is a lot easier for me to deal with. As she unleashes her pent up fury from the hearing, my hands tighten on the steering wheel. No way should some asshole talk to her like that. Judge or not, I don’t give a fuck. Maybe we stop by his house after we fuck up Izzard and rip his damn tongue out.

Z doesn’t even have to call any of the brothers in for church. They’re all waiting at the clubhouse when we return. Hope holds her head up and calmly explains the judge pussied out and won’t make a decision for a few days. She’s honest that Rock’s chances of getting out are shit and doesn’t sugarcoat one tiny detail. What she doesn’t mention is Rock’s black eye. She trusts that I’ll take care of that. And I will.

When she’s finished, Trinity hugs her and the girls head upstairs. I tip my head at the war room. “Everyone at the table in five.”

They don’t need five.

Z’s the last one to the table. He holds up a piece of paper and nods at me on his way in.

There’s no reason to fuck around, so I get right to the point. “Hope didn’t mention it, but Rock came to court with a black eye. She couldn’t get any information out of him or figure out if he has any other injuries.” Angry voices fill the room, and I whistle to shut everyone the fuck up. Christ, I miss Rock.

“We don’t know if it’s the guard or if he got into it with another inmate, but we should move on Izzard now. I doubt Rock’s the only person he’s fucked with, so there’ll be plenty of suspects.”

Everyone agrees. Never been prouder of every single one of my bloodthirsty brothers.

Z taps the table and I sit so he can speak. “He’s a perverted fucker. Likes finding his “dates” on Craigslist. Roughed up more than one girl. I didn’t have enough time to figure out if he’s connected to one of the crews in the area, but we gotta assume he might be.”

“Set up a date,” Sparky says. He almost never says anything in church, unless it’s about his plants.

“Yeah, that’s what I was thinking,” Z answers. His gaze shifts to me.

“Don’t even suggest—”

“Swan will do it,” Dex says and we all turn to him for further explanation. “She loves the club, she’s been upset she can’t do more to help out.”

I nod, warming up to the idea. “We need to make sure she’s protected and nothing happens to her.”

Dex signals me. “I’ll be responsible for getting her out. Who’s giving the beatdown?”

I’ve given this a lot of thought since our last sit down and mask or not, silent or not, there aren’t many guys my size running around. It’ll be obvious as fuck where this payback’s coming from if I’m there. We’re doing this for Rock and for the club, not my ego. As much as it burns my fuckin’ ass, I can’t go. “I think, Teller, Murphy, and Z should deliver the message. I’d like a fourth guy there to keep the engine running.”

Ravage raises his hand. “I’ll do it.”

I jerk my thumb at the door. “Go grab Swan.”

Swan’s more than agreeable to the plan. Well the part of the plan we actually tell her about. Do we tell her the guy’s a CO at Rock’s jail? Fuck no. All she knows is the club needs to lure some fuckface to a remote location and we need her help to do it. Does she ask any follow-up questions? Nope.

She has one request. “Let me know when, so I can get my shift at CB covered.”

“I’ll handle it,” Dex says.

We make the arrangements for Saturday night. We’ll all be on edge until then, so I tell the guys to go smoke up or do whatever the fuck they want—within reason—for now.

I’m not expecting Sway and two of his guys to show up a few hours later with an offer to “help” us out while Rock’s away. The last fucking thing I feel like doing is entertaining his drunk ass.

Sway’s a hard motherfucker—you don’t earn that president’s patch by being a pussy—but we’ve sparred enough in the past for him to know fucking with me won’t end well for him.

He slaps my hand and pulls me to him for a hug. “Sorry, I couldn’t get up here sooner. We got shit going down in our territory.”

“It’s okay, brother. Appreciate your support. Letting Steer stay with us and help out at CB for a while was a big help,” Z says after he gets the same greeting.

“Mind if we crash here tonight?”

“Not at all,” I answer with as much hospitality as I’m capable of.

Setting my personal irritation over how Sway’s treated Trinity in the past aside, I don’t like him sniffing around our clubhouse at a time when he probably assumes we’re weak. Lot of guys in our organization would love to have a piece of our grow operation.

Not that we couldn’t use the extra muscle, but having him here annoys me. Rock wouldn’t like it and neither do I.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

I’m so thankful Trinity’s here for me to vent to. She listens and asks questions. After I’m finished calling the judge every foul name in the book, she bites her lip and puts her hand on my arm.

“Some clubs, you know, when a member’s inside, there’s an exception for ol’ ladies to sleep with other brothers while her man’s doing time for the club,” Trinity rambles out.

“That’s gross,” I say without thinking.

Her eyes meet mine then dart away and she shrugs. “I don’t know. It’s a way to take care of her while her man’s inside.”

A heavy uneasiness spreads through my stomach. What’s Trinity trying to hint at? “Well, the last thing on my mind right now is sex.”

She opens her mouth to say something else, but I place my hand on her arm. “Please, Trinity. As bad as today was, I can’t think about him being locked-up long term. I have to keep believing something will go in our favor and he’ll be home soon. I’ll go crazy otherwise.”

Her throat works for a second before she nods. “I know. I just thought, well Wra—”

“Ew, ew, ew. Do
not
finish that sentence.”
Ew.

Her cheeks turn pink and I realize she wasn’t just teasing me. Forced laughter spills from her. “No,
my
man’s not available.” She stops for a second then eyes me thoughtfully. “Although, given how much time you guys have been spending together lately—”

“Ew! I think that would be horrifying for all parties involved. That would be like banging my brother.” My face twists into an exaggerated yuck expression. She finally smiles and shakes her head.

“Well, at least I made you laugh,” she says.

“Yes, you did. Thank you.”

As soon as the door closes behind Trinity, I have to lie down. Not to sleep, but to stare at the ceiling and figure out how to fix this. I’m so out of my mind scared and worried about Rock. I know I’ve been leaning on Wrath more than I should. And I know he’s been working hard to look after me, because it’s what Rock asked him to do. But I wish it had occurred to me how much this is affecting everyone. Especially Trinity. It’s been clear since the day I met her, she adores Rock and looks up to him. She’s probably having a hard time with everything and it’s not fair that I’m taking up so much of Wrath’s time.

Rolling over, I grab my phone off the nightstand and send Wrath a text.

He’s at my door a few seconds later. “You okay?” he asks, pushing the door open. “Sway and his crew just showed up. Unless you really need something, I want you to stay up here.”

Christ, just what we need. “Is Tawny with him?”

“No.”

Thank God.

Scooting off the bed, I meet him at the open door and shut it behind him. He raises an eyebrow. “What’s going on, Hope?”

“I need to talk to you about Trinity.”

His eyebrows draw down. “Why? What’s wrong?”

Crap. I don’t know what to say. I feel like I’m tattling on her, but that comment about Wrath and I spending so much time together came from somewhere. I focus my gaze on my bookshelf. “Nothing. I think…she’s probably having a hard time with everything.” I take a chance and look him in the eye. “I know she and Rock have a special…bond and I don’t know. You’ve been spending so much time worrying over me. Just make sure you’re taking some time for her.”

“What happened, Hope?” he asks softly. At least he’s not mad.

“Nothing.”

He waits quietly. God damn, he’s a pain in the ass.

“Nothing. She mentioned that some clubs have like, a prison clause or something, so when a guy’s inside, the ol’ lady can—”

“Jesus Christ.”

“I thought she was joking at first.”

He pins me with a hard look. “What else are you not telling me?”

“Nothing.”

“Hope. If you say ‘nothing’ one more time, I’m going to pick you up and shake it out of you.”

Okay, the image that conjures up makes me laugh. Wrath does not laugh.

“Nothing, but she made a joke about how much time we’ve been spending together—”

“Ew.”

My mouth twists into a sour smile. “Yeah, that’s what I said.”

He looks so upset, I’m at a loss. “Wrath, I appreciate everything you’ve been doing for me. I’m sorry I’ve been leaning on you so much—”

“It’s my job, Hope.” He glances away. “Besides, you know I’d do anything for him.”

“I know. And I was there. I heard what Rock asked you to do. But I’m fine. I promise not to go anywhere unprotected. Or leave without letting you know. I understand how serious this is and I won’t do anything to make it harder on you.”

“Hope—”

“I’m doing okay. Today sucked, but I have faith he’s going to be home soon. Please, take care of Trinity. Rock would want that too.”

“Shit. She’s been so quiet. I know she’s upset, but, I’m sorry.”