Chapter 13
Maverick
I’d been sitting at the bar for over an hour, watching Henley and Cassidy carry out an endless line of garbage bags from her room. She’d slowly lost that adorable smile she was wearing last night, and now she was pouting. Each time she walked past me, her look of irritation grew. I wanted to stop her and pull her close to me, so I could feel her lips against mine. I wanted to feel her go limp in my arms and make her smile like she did last night. Before I could call out to her, Guardrail came and sat down beside me.
“Are you enjoying yourself?” Guardrail asked as he watched them walk out the back door.
“Not as much as I thought I would,” I confessed.
“You could’ve had the prospects help her,” he suggested.
“Yeah, but where is the fun in that?” I asked as my eyes involuntarily wandered to the back door, waiting for her to come back in.
“Ahhh, brother… she’s getting to you,” he told me with a knowing smile.
“She’s a pain in the ass.” Even as I said the words, I knew I didn’t mean it. I couldn’t even look at her without thinking of her lips on mine. That one moment of being with her made the hell I had been going through just seem to fade into a distant memory.
“Been awhile since I’ve seen you like this, brother. Pain in the ass or not… she’s been good for you,” he stated. He stood, resting his hand on my shoulder, and said, “Get the prospects to finish cleaning up that mess you made.”
Knowing that I had put it off long enough, I picked up my phone and ordered Cooter to get it done. “Cooter’s on it.”
“Big Mike has been in contact with other clubs in the area. So far, we’re the only target, but that isn’t really a surprise. We all know we are the only ones capable of trafficking on a large scale. There has to be a connection we’re missing,” he explained.
“I think we’ve been looking at this all wrong. I don’t think this is about some pissed-off club trying to get back at us,” I told him. “These motherfuckers don’t give a damn about us or our club. These guys are after our territory.”
“And?” Guardrail questioned.
“It’s time for us to figure out who is looking to take over our claim on Clallam County. It’s a prime location for illegal distribution with all the different ports along the coast. Any idiot could look at a map and see that. We just need to find out who is looking for a new place to move their product.”
“I’ll talk to Cotton. We’ll get Big Mike to do some digging and see what he can come up with,” he said as he stood to leave.
After talking with Guardrail, Cotton called us all into church. It didn’t take long for him to explain everything to the guys. They all agreed that the chances of someone trying to take over our territory was a real possibility, but finding out who wasn’t going to be easy. Cotton planned to get Nitro to look into things on his end to see if he could find any leads.
I was on my way to find Henley when my phone vibrated in my pocket. I was surprised to see that it was Lily calling. I hadn’t heard from her in a few weeks, making me worried that something might be wrong.
“Lily?” I asked.
“Hey, Maverick. How are you?”
“I’m fine. Is everything okay with John Warren?” I asked, unable to hide the panic in my voice.
“Yes, he’s fine. He’s doing great… growing like a weed. He’s practically taken over the place—walking, climbing, running. He never stays put,” she said, laughing. I could hear the love in her voice when she spoke of him, reassuring me once again that he was exactly where he needed to be.
“Good.” My chest tightened at the thought of seeing him again. There was so much I’d missed, and I hated myself for not checking on him more. I should’ve wanted to know everything about him. I should have, but I couldn’t. Instead, I pushed it to the back of my mind, trying to forget, trying to pretend that none of it ever happened. It was just easier that way, easier not to think about what an asshole I really was. “Is there a reason you called, Lily?”
“You know how I told you a few weeks ago that we’re trying to get everything finalized with the adoption? Well, now they’re really pushing for a DNA test. I thought the birth certificate would be enough, but they want to be sure. Would you mind…” she started.
“When?”
“If it’s okay with you, I was thinking you could come here to do it. Then you could spend some time with John Warren. They said we could get the results within twenty-four hours, so you could sign the papers while you were still here,” she explained. “I know that’s asking a lot, but…”
“I’ll come as soon as I can. If I can work it out, I’ll leave tonight,” I told her.
“That would be great. I know John Warren would love to see you, and maybe you could spend some time with Gavin while you are here.”
I hadn’t seen Gavin since the day he left for Tennessee. We’d spoken on the phone a few times, and the way he talked about working in the garage and prospecting for their club let me know he’d made the right decision about moving. That didn’t mean I didn’t miss having him around.
“I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
“Maverick?”
“Yeah?”
“Thank you. For everything,” she whispered.
“See you soon, Lily,” I told her as I hung up the phone and headed straight for Cotton’s office.
Cotton and Guardrail were standing in his doorway talking when I walked up. They both turned their attention to me when I said, “I need to go to Tennessee for a few days.”
“What’s going on?” Cotton asked.
“I’ve just got some things I need to take care of. I won’t be long,” I clipped. I wasn’t in the mood for a lecture tonight, and I knew I’d get one if Cotton knew I was going to sign those adoption papers. He’d given me his blessing, but I knew he’d always hoped I’d change my mind about it.
“And Henley?” Cotton inquired.
“Fuck,” I mumbled. “I guess she’ll have to go with me.”
“Yeah, she will,” Guardrail smirked, but I wasn’t in the mood to debate with either of them. I ignored that fucking grin on his face as I headed for the door.
“She isn’t going to be happy about it,” I called out as I walked out into the hall.
I hadn’t noticed that Guardrail followed me until he said, “I’ll talk to her. You go get packed.”
I didn’t have time to argue, so I nodded and headed to my room to pack. As I threw my clothes into my duffle bag, my mind drifted to Henley. I wanted to think that having her there with me would make things easier, but I wasn’t really sure how she’d feel about me signing those papers. Would she truly be able to understand why I was doing this? Could she come away from this without hating me? Fuck. How could I expect her to do something that I wasn’t able to do myself?