Page 69 of Taming the Bear
She places her hand on my arm and then leans in to kiss my shoulder. “Everything’s going to be okay, Joe. No matter what, you got me.”
“Joe, we’re ready for you,” Bic says at the door.
Since I know that I can’t bring my cut inside, I slip it off my shoulders and hand it over to Chantal. She grabs it greedily and sniffs the collar of it to smell my cologne. I look at her holding my cut and the realization that this could be the last time that I see my cut kicks in. My panic level starts to rise.
I can’t show my fear to my girl so I just turn and walk in with Bic. If I look at her any longer, I’m going to crack and I could possibly start cryin’ like a little bitch.
The minute I walk into the room, I feel as if I’m in court again. Fuck, this is court.
It’s been a week since we put down Q Ball and Smokey. For the past week I have been on probation and given little to do. It’s weird not being the acting president but at least they didn’t kick me out of my room. Chantal and I have been staying in my place away from here in order to get her away from everyone that stares at her.
Val is just plain nasty to my girl and that’s what kills me more than anything. Chantal didn’t do anything that I didn’t ask her to do. She did what she was paid to do and that’s it. Nothing more.
“Brothers,” Bic says as he stands in front of everyone. “We are here to discuss the actions of our president of our club. Since we don’t need a recap of what was done, I want you all to listen to what The Bear has to say and then cast your vote.”
I take a deep breath and rub my hands down the front of my jeans. “I know what I did was fucked up beyond repair and you all have every right to be mad at me. I did what I thought was best and I didn’t want everyone to get as paranoid as me. After everything that I have seen in this club and with clubs around, it freaks me out because I don’t want to see our brotherhood go up in flames. You might not agree with me, but I hope that none of you have to feel the fear that I felt when I didn’t know who was trying to kill me or take over this club. I’m sorry that I didn’t go about this a different way and I understand if you want me out. What I ask is that you remember that I’m your brother, too. I have bled for this club, I have killed for this club and I have done it all beside you.”
I don’t say anything else and I let my words sink in.
Chantal
Have you ever felt as if your life was up in flames? Yeah, I feel that way right now. Joe is in there and he’s discussing everything that he has done and there’s not a damn thing that I can do to protect him. I can’t throw myself in the middle and tell them it was all my fault. I can’t do anything.
So I just wait.
The past week, Joe and I have spent every minute together making love and enjoying each other’s company. It has been nice but there was a storm cloud that followed us everywhere we went.
His worrying about what is happening with the club has rubbed off on me and I’m scared shitless about what is going to happen.
It’s been ten minutes and I have paced this whole hallway waiting for something. I need something to let me know what happened. If we’re going to be okay. Anything.
Just when I’m about to go crazy, the door opens and Joe’s standing in front of me with a weird look on his face. I rush over to him and throw my arms around his shoulders. He doesn’t move as I do so and I fight the urge to shield him with my body.
“Joe, what happened?” I ask him. I’m holding his cut in my hands still and it’s dangling down his back.
“Baby… Ah, fuck.”
My eyes begin to flood with tears and I can’t help but hold onto him tighter. “It’s okay, everything is going to be fine,” I soothe.
“They didn’t kick me out. I’m still the president.”
I jump up out of his arms and scream out loud. “Holy shit! That’s amazing!”
“Chantal, I know we’ve had a bumpy start and things haven’t been easy. Thank you for standing by me the whole time.”
“It’s okay-”
He cuts me off and places his finger over my mouth. “Will you be my ol’ lady? I asked the club and they said they already consider you part of the family. But you can’t hack into their shit anymore.”
“What does that mean?” I ask and furrow my brow. Is he telling me that he loves me? Is that what that means?
Fuck. I need to stop being a girl.
“It means that you’ll be my girl and that’s all that matters.”
I smile and nod my head at him.
The door opens again and Mack Truck is standing there with a big smile on his face. “I don’t like what you did, but thanks for finding out who did it.”
