Chapter 12
As it turned out, everyone was prepared to do what they had to and if Roarke was a sentimental person, he might actually cry at what he saw. Every single member of the gang was waiting for them when they got to the bar, bikes ready. They even had trays of coffee. Hanna, who was hormonal from the baby and tired from a night of restless sleep, actually did cry. Just a little bit. She was never going to admit it, he knew, so he didn’t point it out. But he saw the extra twinkle in her eye and the way she discretely brushed it off.
“Well, shit,” he said because it was all he could say, staring at every single one of his friends coming to his aid when he needed them most.
“Got your back boss,” Rick said with a cigarette balanced between his lips. He took one out and offered it to Roarke, lighting it for him. “So we kicking ass or what?”
“Yes,” Roarke said, taking a long drag of the cigarette to calm his nerves. He stopped smoking in his apartment to make the air safe for Hanna and the baby and it was taking its toll on him. “But the most important thing is that we get this kid. It’s going to be the best leverage we have at getting Isabelle to back off or at least talk to us all civil like.”
“So it’s kidnapping then?” Rick asked. “Never really saw myself becoming a kidnapper.”
“Don’t think of it that way,” Roarke said with a wince. “We’re not stealing him away or locking him up in some underground bunker and making him read some Bible shit. We just need leverage. We need to offer enough of a threat to his life that Isabelle can be reasoned with.”
“Whatever, I can get behind it,” Rick said, putting out his cigarette with a tight twist of his heel into the asphalt.
“Anyone else?” Roarke asked the group. “Questions? Concerns? Grievances? You can still back out on this. No judgement here. We’re doing something we’ve never done before. We lost some good guys back the last time we tried to take the Caracals head-on. So make your choice now and stick to it. Once we ride, there’s no turning back.”
No one moved a muscle and Roarke had never been so grateful for the beautiful parts of found families. His brothers and his sisters were around him. They were committed. Hanna was here, ready to take on whatever they had to. It was about more than just revenge, more than just family ties. It was about making the world safe for their child and all the children they had yet to have, if there were more. He was pretty sure right now he would have five kids with her as long as it meant they both got out of this alive.
“Alright, then. One last thing and then we’re out of here.”
He pulled on Hanna’s hand, leading her off to the side. Her face washed over in confusion, this was not something they’d talked about yet, he wasn’t even sure if she would want it. But hopefully she’d recognize the thought behind it, the meaning there, the heart of it.
He fixed her up her own bike. It matched his in its colors, but it was slightly smaller than his own. But it was undoubtedly Hanna. He turned to look at her. She was back to having that twinkle in his eyes he knew hinted at tears, the good kind.
“You actually like it?” he asked, more self-conscious than he meant to sound. “It’s not just the hormones making you like this?”
“You’re an ass.”
She pulled him into a hug that was better than any heated kiss could've been. Having her in his arms was everything he ever wanted from life and never realized. He didn’t care that his entire gang was watching him practically ready to swoon over a girl.
“Think you can handle it?” he asked.
“Don’t push it,” she said with a raised eyebrow but a smile.
She kissed his cheek one last time and then moved over to the bike. She pulled the helmet off the seat and fastened it onto her head, tightening the strap. She revved up the engine and they listened to it hum as it came to life, buzzing in ideal. He smiled at her and nodded, she winked back. He moved to his own bike and a roar of engines started and moved like a wave as they all started their engines. He considered making some speech like they did in the great action movies, something inspirational and moving, something that said thank you for their sacrifice and loyalty. But he trusted them enough to know that they already knew. That’s why they were here in the first place.
So instead, they rode.
The wind in his face, the hum of the engine between his legs, the massive of bikes behind him. None of it had felt so much like this before. They rode together often. It was part of their social aspect, riding together on the weekends. This was for a goal. They were like the cavalry riding into battle together. If it was a movie, this is when the badass rock and roll or the uplifting, epic instrumental music would swell as they made their way down the road.
He turned to look at Hanna and felt nothing but love. He wasn’t afraid to admit that. He knew people got scared of that four letter word, men having their balls jump back up inside their body out of nervousness and women feeling like they were saying it too early. But it felt so right. He loved her. She was the mother of his child, riding a motorcycle to match his own, down the highway to finish a rivalry that started ages ago.
But all great moments get interrupted with one last fight from the enemy. That’s how it happened in movies. But it didn’t stop Roarke from feeling nothing but his own boiling blood when he saw the dirt kick up in the distance, watched specks of black getting closer and closer on their own rumbling hogs.
“Caracals,” Rick shouted and Roarke nodded.
He looked at Hanna who did not meet his eye, instead watching the approaching gang with nothing but complete concentration. He appreciated it. He fucking loved her. But if she got so much as a scratch on her he’d kill every single Caracal from here to the end of the Earth. That woman and the child she was carrying inside her would be his world, he wouldn’t let anyone or anything take that away.
“They’re gonna flank us,” Roarke shouted back. “Spread out, give them a less concentrated target.”
“Aye, aye, captain.”
They moved to spread out like the roman soldiers of old calling out new formations to confuse and confound their enemies. They spread out and watched as the Caracals moved closer and closer. They would be armed, they might start shooting before they even got near. It was the Caracal way, to try and pick off the enemy from afar, where it was safe. They’d always been cowards. Despite the danger, he refused to shoot first. Roarke wouldn’t be dragged down to their level.
“I’ll distract them,” Rick called. “You guys keep moving.”
Roarke didn’t want to leave a single person behind. But Rick’s plan had merit. Though the Caracals might expect it, it would be hard to keep track of two bikes in a scuffle that large. They were yards away now, moving towards each other. Roarke met Hanna’s eyes and she nodded, they veered off at the last second just as a shot went off and Rick returned fire.
Roarke wanted to make sure his guys were safe, they were his family, sacrificing themselves to help him. Their loyalty came without a price, he knew that. But he wanted them safe. He wanted everyone home that night in their own beds with their girlfriends and dogs and a bottle of Jack warming the inside of their stomachs and throats. But he moved on. He had to. The true betrayal of their sacrifice would be to ignore it. They’d keep the Caracal vanguard occupied and give Roarke and Hanna the chance to move forward and end this. That was the true goal and the only way to get everyone safe.
It was him and Hanna alone, riding across the road, the house not far now. He didn’t doubt there might be more dangers waiting for them, like traps in an Indiana Jones movie. Nothing good ever came easy and Isabelle would likely have something waiting for them. She was three steps ahead, even if she didn’t think he was ballsy enough to come for her at the hole she’d been hiding in, she wouldn’t let it go without some kind insurance.
He was braced for it. He was ready. And he knew that there’s no one else he wanted with him besides her.