Page 79 of On The Rocks

“Thank you, Pagan,” I whispered. “You’ve been sweet and kind to me, and I appreciate it.”

His eyes drifted to me, and it struck me how handsome he was in his own kind of tough-guy way. “You don’t need to thank me, doll. I’m sorry that prick’s son touched you in my club. In my line of work, I have to deal with the dregs of humanity, and there’s nobody lower than a dirty cop. Unfortunately, I don’t have a choice. If we were in a big city, I could avoid the law altogether. I don’t have the same luxury in a small town. I have to co-exist with them. The best way to keep my eye on them is to bring them into the fold, at least to a certain point.” Pagan’s gazewent to Callum. “You were never in any danger. I had to make him think I was on his side. He knows how I feel about women being abused, so the second that shit came into the open in a way nobody could dispute it, I could act, but I had to bide my time.”

Callum’s arm went around my shoulder, and he pulled me close. “Can I take my wife home now?”

Pagan gave him a tight-lipped smile. “Yeah.” Then, his smile widened. “I’ve been tryin’a get a couple of tickets for your bash next weekend. Seems it’s easier to find fucking gold dust. Anything you can do to help me out with that?”

Callum barked a laugh. “Places are limited, but I can leave three with your name on at the door. That enough?”

Pagan grinned full-on, and it lit his face up, making him beautiful. “I can make it work.” His stare shifted to Kennedy. “I like your style. Think we could be useful to each other. Can you leave a card?”

She smirked. “I think I can arrange that.”

He chuckled. “The way my boys are, we’ll keep you busy.” He jerked his chin toward the door. “Atlas, Breaker, and the others are with my VP, Castle. Bootneck will take you to them.” He got to his feet and rubbed his hands together gleefully. “I’ve got a party to get back to. It’s not every day I get to sucker punch a cop. It’s time to find a celebratory bottle of JD and a couple of women to help take the edge off.” He gave us a loose salute with his index finger. “A few of my boys will escort you outta town. I don’t trust that rat cop and his hangers-on. Drive carefully, and safe travels.” After giving us all fist bumps, Pagan kissed mine and Ned’s cheeks and disappeared back to his party, clasping the shoulder of the brother, who I assumed was Bootneck, as he passed him at the door.

“I’ll take you back to your cars,” the SAA, Bootneck, informed us, ushering us from the room. “Huntley’s a rat bastard, and so are his men. Me and five brothers will surround you with ourhogs. Stay under the speed limit; we don’t want to give the pigs any lame excuses to haul you in.”

“You think they’ll try somethin’?” Cash asked.

He shrugged. “It’s my job to make sure they don’t. Huntley won’t go against Pagan, so you’ll be protected if we’re backing you up.”

“Much obliged,” Cash muttered. “Makes me feel more at ease.”

“The pissant Callum beat is a mean little fucker. He ain’t nothin’ on his own, and neither are his boys. That’s why they run in a crowd. If they’ve regrouped, I wouldn’t put it past them to get in their cop cars and lie in wait. It’s exactly the kind of sneaky shit they’d do.” Bootneck glanced at Callum. “Had no intention of shooting you, but I had to keep the pretense up; those idiots are supposed to be allied with us. Had to put up a public show of unity.” His stare lowered to me. “I got to you too late. Sorry. I didn’t factor the crowds into my men’s response times. I fucked up.”

“It’s okay,” I assured him. “The only person to blame is the guy who did it.”

“Yo!” Atlas’s familiar voice clipped out.

I looked down the corridor to see Donny, Tristan, Atlas, Breaker, Sophie, and Cara waiting by the doors. “Let’s get gone,” Breaker called, walking toward us and holding his hand out for Kennedy.

We filtered into the parking lot, where a group of KOA men were already waiting for us on their bikes. Bootneck walked toward a big, black Harley, lifting the helmet from the handlebars. “Remember, whatever happens, stay with us,” he ordered before pulling the protective gear over his head, zipping up his thick jacket, and pulling on some warm-looking leather gloves.

We all hit our vehicles, and within minutes, we were driving out of the compound and hitting the main road out of town.

Callum’s hand immediately hit my knee. “You okay?” he asked.

I pulled my knees up and turned my body to face him in the seat. I still had his leather jacket, so I pulled it over my shoulders to keep warm and declared, “I think tonight was one of the best nights of my life.”

Donny barked a laugh from the back seat.

Tristan chuckled.

“I just love Pagan,” I went on. “I think we should fix him up.”

Callum’s chest heaved with the strength of his sigh, and he muttered, “Jesus.”

“Everybody needs somebody,” I insisted. “And Pagan probably needs somebody more than anyone else I know.”

“We’re not fixing Pagan up,” Callum cut out.

Tristan leaned forward. “Girlfriend. That boy had more women trying to get his attention than Chris Hemsworth after a naked photoshoot.”

“Doesn’t mean a thing,” I pointed out gently. “You can be in a room full of people all vying for your attention and still feel like the loneliest person on the planet. Being the one everybody wants a piece of is good for the ego but bad for the soul because none of it’s real. He knows it’s the MC president they want, not the man underneath.”

Tristan’s hand squeezed my shoulder.

Callum glanced at me again. “I get it, and I love that you care so much, but we’re not setting Pagan up. If that shit goes wrong, I’ll be in the firing line, and after already being in all of tonight’s damned firing lines, it’s not a place I wanna be again.”

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