The longer she sat there, the quicker worrisome thoughts flirted through her head. Why would a prospect get a message instead of a patch? Who did it come from? Did they have his family? His family wasn’t from here, but Lilly knew the Moccasins had charters all over the continental US. Her brow creased with worry as she waited patiently for the guys to come out of the damn meeting room. It had been an hour or better since they’d gone in and she was beginning to lose her mind. Raven had been trying to help the best she could, but the only thing that would ease her mind would be confirmation from Cass on just what in the hell was going on.
After another hour of agonizingly waiting, Cass and the guys finally emerged. Cass still bore a look of anger while Linc looked like he had a multitude of emotions in play. Clayton looked like the leader Lilly envisioned he may have once been, confident and strong as he walked out behind the two guys. Brock was at Clayton’s side, making Lilly wonder where he had been all night. She hadn’t seen him since they’d arrived at the clubhouse. He hadn’t even walked in with them.
Behind Brock, the rest of the Sinners made their way out of the room. Cass walked over to where Lilly sat with Linc right behind him. She waited patiently, or at least as patiently as she could, for Cass to say something. The air was thick with tension and the quiet felt like it lasted forever.
“We have to go. They’re retaliating,” he said, pressing his lips to her forehead.
“What’d they do?” she asked, hoping her voice didn’t give away just how concerned she was.
Cass inhaled a deep breath and sighed before he pulled back to look at her.
“I...I can’t tell you.” His words were forced, and she could tell he wanted to tell her exactly what happened but he was trying to protect her.
“What? Why?” she asked.
“I just can’t, alright?” he snapped, turning to Linc.
“Call Shorty and Leo. Have one of them come clean out our rooms and one of them come get Lilly. She’s riding home with one of them tomorrow. Get ready, we’re about to get on the road.”
Linc didn’t say anything, simply nodded and walked off. Lilly was still reeling from the fact that Cass wouldn’t tell her what happened. Now she was getting pissed, but this wasn’t the time or the place to question him. Something felt off, though and she couldn’t put her finger on it.
Everyone cleared out of the room, leaving Cass and Lilly alone at the bar. He sat down next to her and took the drink that sat in front of her. He downed it and set the empty glass back on the bar before he spoke.
“They’re fucking with us. It’s just another dumb stunt and I don’t want you to worry about it.” His voice was low, barely above a whisper.
Lilly thought for a moment before she responded. I have to keep it together. He’s keeping something from me, I can feel it and I’m going to find out what the hell it is, one way or the other. Until then, I don’t want him to know that I doubt the amount of truth in his words.
She nodded and rested her head on his shoulder. “Okay,” she sighed.
“I know you heard me earlier, but Shorty and Leo are going to come get you. I’m sorry if that was a dick move, but shit just sucks right now and I’m already not the best at taking other peoples’ feelings into consideration.”
“It’s okay, just get home and take care of those assholes that call themselves bikers.”
Cass smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes as Linc walked through the front door. “Ready when you are, Prez.”
Cass wrapped his hand around the back of Lilly’s neck, pulling her face to his. His lips collided with hers gently before he pulled back and gave her an apologetic smile. “I love you.”
“I love you, baby. Be safe.” She wrapped her arms around him, hugging him before he turned away to leave.
Lilly sat there, at the bar, unmoving for a moment before she remembered her cell phone was in Cass’s bike. She ran outside just as they were cranking up. Cass was closest to the building, followed by Clayton, Brock, then Linc. She ran to the side of his bike and yelled over the sound of the engines.
“My phone!” She pointed down at the saddlebag as she opened it and grabbed her phone along with her cigarettes and lighter. She gave him one last quick peck on the lips before she turned and headed back inside the club house. She could hear them take off just as the door closed and she was back inside.
Lilly yearned to be with them, going back home to figure out how to get these idiots to understand that they really didn’t want to mess with Lucifer’s Hounds. Instead, she was stuck being treated like some precious gem that couldn’t get scratched and had to stay behind while they went to fuck shit up. She huffed and sat back down at the bar, setting her phone down and pulling a cigarette out to light.
The familiar taste of a menthol assaulted her taste buds as she took a long drag before exhaling. She ran her free hand through her hair before her phone buzzed on the bar, gaining her attention. Two missed calls from her mom, one missed call and voicemail from an unknown number, and a text from Mindy.
She opened the text first. It was sent earlier that night at eight and it was now after midnight.
Mindy: I can’t wait for you to get home! I miss you! And Linc.
Without responding, she went straight to the voicemail from the number she didn’t recognize.
“Miss Summers, this is Alanda with Baton Rouge Medical. I’m calling in regard to Mindy Hollis. You are the only person listed on her emergency contact and she has just been in a horrible car accident. Please return my call as soon as possible.”
Panic. Pure panic coursed through her veins at the words she’d just heard. She should’ve known something had happened to Mindy.
“Fucking shit!” she yelled, unable to form a complete thought. She needed to get home, now. She needed to call the hospital back and she couldn’t do a damn thing from this clubhouse where she had no way out and a room full of club members that weren’t going to let her leave. Raven was her only hope.
Raven sat down beside her, causing her to jump. She hadn’t heard her through her scattered thoughts.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“I need to get home, now. Mindy, the girl that was with me yesterday, is in the hospital. She was in a bad car accident and—” Lilly’s voice broke and hot tears spilled over her eyes.
Raven pulled her into her arms, rubbing up and down on Lilly’s back in that way that people do when they try to comfort others that are hurting. Lilly didn’t need comfort right now, she just needed to get home.
“That motherfucker!” she said in disbelief.
“Who?”
“Cass. He didn’t fucking tell me. He knew! He knew I’d want to go home right away and he didn’t tell me about her being in the fucking hospital!”
“Whoa, Lilly. He probably didn’t tell you because he didn’t want you to go home and be in danger again.” Raven tried to defend Cass, but Lilly wasn’t having it.
“I don’t want to talk about him or his reasons right now. I need to get home.” Her words lacked any emotion as she composed herself, hardening her outer shell to stone the way she had liked to keep it.
“I heard him say that two guys were coming tomorrow to get you,” Raven suggested.
“No, I’m going home now. Not tomorrow. Now.” Lilly was stern and determined. She’d find a way to get home.
Raven sighed. She turned without a word and walked off. When she returned a few minutes later, she had a duffle bag over her shoulder and a set of keys in her hand.
“Going somewhere?” Lilly asked, her mood already getting better.
“Yeah, looks like I’m taking a damn trip to Baton Rouge.”
Lilly ran to Raven, embracing her in a hug. “Thank you!”
“Yeah yeah, just get in the damn car before I change my mind. And hurry, we don’t have much time to get going before we’re spotted.”
“Wait, you didn’t tell Micah?” she asked.
“Nope. Can we finish this conversation in the car though? I mean it, we don’t have much time. Go.” Raven ushered her out the front door of the club house, barely giving her enough time to grab her cigarettes and phone off the bar.
They climbed inside a white Kia Sorento and were out of sight of the clubhouse in minutes. Adrenaline pumped through Lilly at their narrow escape, making her temporarily forget about the reality of the situation and why she was rushing home.
It didn’t take long, though, before thoughts of Mindy hit her like a ton of bricks and she picked her phone up to call the hospital. She had put it off and didn’t call initially because she wasn’t sure what they’d tell or how she’d handle it.
“Baton Rouge Medical, how may I help you?” A sweet voice on the other end of the phone greeted Lilly.
“May I speak with Alanda, please?” she asked.
“Hold, please.” Lilly heard a beeping tone and then ringing commenced.
“This is Alanda,” she answered cheerily.
“Hi Alanda. My name is Lilly Summers. You called me about Mindy Hollis.”
“Hello, Miss Summers. I’m so sorry about Miss Hollis. She was involved in a one-car crash. She’s in ICU, but she is looking good and we think she will be fine. The truck, however, is completely unrecognizable and the insurance company is certainly going to total it.”
“Truck? Mindy doesn’t drive a truck, ma’am.”
“She was tonight. A dark blue, blacked-out Chevy.”
Linc’s truck.
“Is she conscious?” Lilly asked.
“She is, but she’s extremely tired and has been resting a lot. If you’d like, though, I can transfer you to her room.”
“No, that’ll be okay. Thank you, Alanda.”
“Yes ma’am, Miss Summers. I will call you if anything changes, but for now she is stable and doing okay.”
“Thank you. Goodnight.” Lilly hung up the phone and set it in her lap. Raven glanced at her out of the corner of her eye.
“Mindy was in Linc’s truck and they said it was a one-car accident. The truck is totaled, but she’s going to be okay,” Lilly said.
“Oh, thank goodness.”
“I’m still pissed at Cass, though. Hey, do you smoke in here?” she asked, hoping the answer was yes.
“I do, you couldn’t tell? And trust me, I’d be pissed at Micah if he pulled some shit like that. I could see if it was someone you didn’t know, but this is your best fucking friend.”
“Exactly! And he’s gonna get an earful as soon as I see him. And no, I couldn’t tell. It smells pretty damn good in here.”
Lilly lit her cigarette and cracked the window. While they rode down Interstate Ten toward the Mississippi-Louisiana state line, both girls were quiet. Raven had turned the radio up and before they knew it, they were rocking out to nineties country. The drive to Baton Rouge didn’t take as long as Lilly thought, and they were pulling up at the clubhouse before she knew it.
Where there would have normally been a line of motorcycles in front of the clubhouse, the motorcycle parking was empty. Lilly’s car was the only vehicle there aside from Raven’s, which meant it was going to be easy to get in her car and get to the hospital without having to explain herself. She hadn’t checked her phone for the duration of the ride home, though she knew that Cass probably knew by now that she wasn’t in Gulfport anymore.
“Thank you, for everything,” Lilly said.
“Anything for a Hound ol’ lady.” Raven grinned before leaning over the center console to hug Lilly.
“Do you want to stay the night here or are you okay to drive back?” Lilly asked, aware that it was well after three in the morning and Raven had likely been up since early the previous morning.
“I’m good to drive. I took a nap today before I started getting things ready at the clubhouse. Besides, if I don’t show up at home tonight, Micah is going to send a search party after me. He’s already called twice, but he’ll be okay. I’m going to give him a call when I get back on the road. Go take care of your friend, girl.”
“Okay. Let me know when you make it home. Here,” Lilly reached for Raven’s phone and quickly added her number.
“I will. Call me if you need anything, okay?”
“Okay.”
Lilly stepped out of Raven’s Kia and walked the few steps to Betty. The clubhouse was vacant from what Lilly could see. No vehicles were in sight and all the lights were off, too. Lilly slid into the driver’s seat of her car and cranked her up.
She was about to head to Baton Rouge Medical when she checked her phone. One missed call from Cass and one text message.
Lilly: Just call me and let me know you’re okay.
She dialed his number and put the car in drive. It rang twice before the line picked up. All Lilly could hear was the wind that slightly muffled the sound of a motorcycle. Cass was hollering something, but Lilly couldn’t understand him. He was surely on the bike, but he could be anywhere. She hung up the phone and drove to the hospital. He would call her when he stopped.
Lilly hated hospitals. They were so white and sterile and out-right depressing. She associated hospitals with death, probably because that’s the last place she saw her grandmother and her father alive. Losing two people in a year that were close to her heart kind of made her steer clear of these white hell holes.
After she parked in the parking garage and tried to make a mental note of what row she was on, she almost sprinted to the elevators. Once inside, she went straight to the nurse’s station.
“I’m here to see Mindy Hollis,” she told the heavy set, older black lady that sat behind the counter. She had a feel about her that said she was a grandmother. A sweet grandmother who baked cookies and showed up to any and all of her grandchildren’s school functions.
She smiled sweetly at Lilly and nodded her head as she tapped away on the keys of the computer in front of her. After a few seconds, she wrote down a room number on a sticker with the hospital’s logo with “Visitor” underneath it.
“Here. Room 4230. The elevator is down there on the right, when you get to floor four, take a right and follow the signs.” She handed Lilly the sticker and returned her attention to her computer.
Lilly did as she said and went down the hall to the elevator on the right, then took a right on floor four and followed the signs pointing to the different sets of room numbers. As she approached room 4230, a nurse was walking out and she could hear muffled chatter coming from inside. Someone else was here to see Mindy.
Lilly knocked lightly before letting herself in. Linc sat on the side of Mindy’s bed, his hand clutching hers inside his. Mindy was awake and sitting up, tears falling down her cheeks as they spoke. Her eyes snapped toward the door and when they landed on her best friend, she smiled.
Lilly was surprised at how put-together Mindy looked. She was banged up, but her face was nearly without a scratch. The only indications that she had been in a “horrible accident” as the nurse had put it, was the bandage that spanned from her right temple to her ear and the small cuts on her forehead.
“You look like hell,” Lilly said through a half-hearted smile and tears that threatened to spill over her eyes. She approached the side of the bed that was closest to her.
“Thanks, bitch.” Mindy smiled through tears of her own and Lilly threw her arms around Mindy’s shoulders.
“I was so worried about you,” she sighed, squeezing Mindy.
“Ow!” Mindy howled.
“Shit. I’m sorry.” Lilly let go and eased back, still inspecting her.
“It’s alright. Just fucking hurts. What are you doing here? I thought Linc said you were in Gulfport still and hadn’t heard anything about this yet?” she asked, an eyebrow raised as she looked back and forth between Lilly and Linc.
“I’m your fucking emergency contact,” Lilly said it as if she were telling them the temperature outside. Like it was simply common knowledge.
“Oh. Yeah. See, I knew that, but neither one of the guys did when they thought they could keep this kinda stuff from you.”
That made Lilly feel a little better about the whole situation. Mindy knew that they would call Lilly and she didn’t say anything to the guys because Lilly was her best friend and she needed to know. Lilly beamed at the thought and had to resist the urge to squeeze Mindy again.
Speaking of guys…
“Where’s Cass?” she asked, her attention directed at Linc.
“Don’t know. He just left. Said he had some things to take care of.” Linc shrugged and Lilly knew she wasn’t going to get anymore information out of him. She would just have to wait until he called.
“What’s going on with the bar?” Lilly asked.
“We hired a few new girls to work and run it. Cass told me he didn’t want anyone club affiliated working until they got this shit straightened out with the Moccasins. That, and he’s hired a few guys to sit at the bar with the girls and look like they’re just hanging out but they’re really there for protection. He didn’t tell you?”
“No, but I also didn’t ask and it hasn’t come up. I miss it, though. I miss working the bar,” Lilly sighed.
“It’ll still be there when this shit blows over and you’ll jump back in without missing a beat.”
Mindy’s optimism even when she was lying in a hospital bed lifted Lilly’s spirits. Her best friend was the most amazing person she’d ever met. She put her hands on either side of Mindy’s face, inspecting her injuries.
“Damn, it’s good to see you. I was so scared I was going to lose you,” Lilly confessed.
“I’m not going anywhere, but those fuckers that did this…let me get my hands on them,” she shook her fist in the air then flinched and lay it back down on the bed.
Lilly giggled and put her own hand over Mindy’s. She looked up at Linc who had been sitting there, silently, throughout their exchange.
“You’re an ass, you know that?” she asked, accusingly.
He put his hands up in surrender. “Look, I’m just a prospect. I do as I’m told and never in our conversation was I told to let you know what was going on. That, and I was worried as fuck and couldn’t wait to get down here to check on my girl.”
“True. I retract my earlier statement. Cass is an ass.” The smug look on her face said she was satisfied with that. It felt good for her to say it out loud, and slightly ridiculous, but that was irrelevant. She had even crossed her arms for emphasis.
“What happened, Min? The nurse said it was a single-car accident…”
“My car went down on me after I got home from the benefit, so I asked Linc if I could borrow his truck for a few days until I could get my car looked at. I’ve been driving the truck around and earlier tonight, I was followed. If it would’ve been motorcycles, it would have thrown red flags up in my head way before it did, but there weren’t any bikes. Instead, it was just a truck. They followed me for god knows how long before I even realized they were behind me. I was on my way to Baton Rouge for a few things I needed to pick up for the bar before tomorrow when I noticed them behind me on a cut-through road I normally take. It has minimal traffic and before I knew it, there was something in the road in front of me. I swerved, then over-corrected and the truck started flipping.”
“What was in the road?” Linc asked, and Lilly was surprised that Linc hadn’t already gotten the scoop. He must not have been there long before Lilly had gotten there.
“I don’t know. It was huge, though. I didn’t get a good look at it before the truck flipped.”
Lilly and Linc shared a puzzling look and she wanted to pull him aside right now and ask him what he was thinking.
“Then,” Mindy continued, “When the truck finally stopped flipping over itself, the truck that was behind me came to a stop with their headlights shining on me through the bent metal and broken glass. I could hear voices and boots, crunching the shards of glass beneath them. I knew when they were so quiet and calm that they weren’t there to help me. One of them grabbed my arm and pulled me toward him, then dropped my arm and cursed. He said, and I quote, “Fuck! We weren’t supposed to kill a fucking woman, it was supposed to be the prospect. Asher is going to lose his shit,” then they left and that was that.” Mindy shrugged her shoulder indifferently.
“So, you’re going to find these bastards so I can give them a dose of their own medicine, right?” she asked Linc, looking hopeful.
He chuckled and pulled her hand to his lips and kissed it. “No, babe. I’m going to find those bastards so I can give them a dose of their own medicine. Nobody fucks with my girl.”
Linc wasn’t domineering in the same essence that Cass was, but he radiated an energy like no other. He meant every word he said. Mindy’s face lit up at Linc’s response and Lilly realized she hadn’t ever seen Mindy so happy. She had always been happy, in a sense, but nothing like this. This was different. This was that glow that people spoke of. Mindy had it.
“Okay, you two. I’m going to leave you alone and go get some rest. I’m exhausted.” Lilly stood up from her seat on the bed.
“No,” Linc protested.
“What? Why not?” she asked.
“Because, I can’t let you leave here in that damn car that can be spotted from two miles away when they just nearly killed Mindy. Cass wouldn’t only have my prospect patch, which, might I add, I’ve worked my ass off to prove I’m worthy of, but he’d have my head to hang in the clubhouse to make an example of what happens to people who don’t protect their own.”
Lilly huffed in frustration. “I’m really getting tired of these fucktards making my life difficult.”
“You can sleep on the couch right here if you want. I won’t be getting any sleep anyway.” Linc stood up and opened the cabinet at the end of the couch. He pulled out a stiff hospital pillow and a thin, weird-feeling blanket. The plain white ones that were standard to all hospitals, damn near.
Lilly wanted so badly to protest, to tell Linc that she would be fine because she had her gun with her, but she was too tired to argue, and maybe even too tired to drive.
She put the pillow on the end of the couch and curled up with the blanket over her. Linc sat down at the foot of the bed and gently rubbed Mindy’s legs.
“Good night, you damn love birds,” Lilly groaned as she pulled the blanket to her shoulders.
“Good night,” they said in unison.
Before she drifted off, she pulled her phone to her and sent out a text to Cass.
Lilly: I’m at the hospital with Mindy. Will be here all night. Getting some sleep. Please be safe. I love you.
Lilly didn’t sleep much in Mindy’s room between Linc going in and out and the nurses constantly coming in to check Mindy’s vitals. Finally, after the tenth time she got woke up within four hours, she sat up and decided to say fuck it.
She went into the bathroom and splashed cold water on her face and threw her hair up into a messy bun. And not a cute one, either. She walked down the hall to one of the waiting rooms and filled a cup of coffee halfway before putting a ton of sugar and creamer in it.
Coffee never did anything for her, but she had to try something. So, coffee it was. While Lilly sat down in one of the chairs, she took slow sips of the steaming hot coffee. She was shocked that it didn’t taste outdated and disgusting, especially for being hospital coffee.
If she didn’t know any better, Lilly would have thought it was midday judging by all the people walking the halls of the hospital. Doctors and nurses, patients and their families, everyone was going somewhere this morning. Lilly chanced a peek at the clock that told her it was just after seven thirty in the morning.
“Shit, I need to check my phone,” she muttered as she stood up and started back to Mindy’s room. Even with all the people scurrying about, the hospital still made Lilly uncomfortable. Fucking white walled hell hole.
Mindys room was quiet aside from the low volume on the television that came out of the small speakers on her bed. She sat up with a tray of food over her bed while Linc was now curled up on the small, stiff, and highly uncomfortable couch. Mindy raised her finger to her lips and whispered “shh”. Lilly closed the door slowly and tiptoed until she eased onto the bed next to Mindy.
“I need my phone,” Lilly whispered and pointed to the small bedside table that was next to the couch.
“Don’t wake the sleeping bear,” Mindy whispered, fighting back a laugh.
Lilly again tiptoed her way around the bed, grabbed her phone, and tiptoed back to her spot. She unlocked her phone and found nothing. No response from Cass. No phone call. Nothing. Her heart dropped and she wasn’t sure if she felt worried or hurt, or a combination of them both.
He could be hurt. Or dead. Or sleeping. Or…well he could fucking be anything right now and I wouldn’t know it.
She fought back the emotions that so desperately wanted to show through on her face. It was a little easier to breathe, though, when she read a text from Raven saying she had made it home and Micah wasn’t “too upset” with her.
Being a club ol’ lady was beginning to take its toll on Lilly. What more would she have to go through? Why couldn’t she be more involved, especially when this shit was personal for her? She understood it to an extent, but on the other hand, she was almost to the point of tracking down the Moccasin druggies herself and putting a bullet in their heads.
She shook her head to clear the ridiculous thoughts, gaining Mindy’s attention. “What’s going on in that brain of yours? I can feel you thinking hard,” she whispered.
Lilly sighed and lay back in the bed, her head resting near Mindy’s. “All this shit going on. I’m worried about Cass.”
Mindy rubbed Lilly’s arm compassionately as she gave her a sympathetic look.
“I’m sure he’s just fine. He didn’t get to be a club president by being a weak pussy.”
Leave it to my best friend to say something fucked up and still make me feel better.
A light bulb instantly went off in Lilly’s head at the thought of a best friend. She lifted her phone and typed out a text to Scott.
Lilly: Hey, if you’re with Cass, can you just send back some kind of response and at least let me know y’all are okay.
She pressed send and held her breath. She didn’t give two fucks what they were doing, so long as they were okay. Her phone buzzed almost immediately with a text back.
Scott: Safe.
One word. That was all she needed. Confirmation that they were safe. She could now breathe easily. Now it was time to focus on getting Mindy better and figuring out what her part in this messy war was.
Lilly was sleep deprived and began to get antsy the longer she sat cooped up in the hospital room. While Linc catnapped and Mindy dozed off, Lilly took that opportunity to slip out of the room unnoticed. She wasn’t sure where she was going, but she had to get out of that hospital. Now that she knew Mindy was going to be just fine, there wasn’t a need for her there.
Besides, the Moccasins had already kidnapped her. They wouldn’t be stupid enough to do something like that again, especially since Asher made it a point that this wasn’t how they did business. No matter what Cass said, something in Lilly believed that Asher was genuine.
She wound her way through the people in the hospital until she made it to the parking garage. As usual, she forgot which row she parked Betty in. She rolled her eyes at herself and began walking through rows of trucks and cars. Finally, at the end of the third row she looked down, she found Betty. Lilly decided after she got on the road that she was going to the clubhouse first. Maybe some of the guys would be there by now.
Upon her arrival, she realized she was right. There were two motorcycles parked out front. One was Scott’s and the other looked like Old School’s. Lilly walked in and found Old School sitting at the bar alone. Scott was nowhere in sight. Old School’s head whipped around in her direction.
“You better be careful sneaking up on us old men,” he said with a hearty laugh.
“I figured you’d look before you shot,” she countered, pulling up a seat next to him.
“What are you doing here? I thought you were a state away?” he asked.
“I’m sneaky.” She pulled a cigarette out and he lit it for her.
“Thanks, old man.” Lilly winked at him and nudged him with her elbow. He had grown on her since she’d been hanging around.
She checked her phone to find a missed call from Cass. She excused herself and hurried up to her room to return his call. She was anxious to hear about what he had been up to.
Dialing his number, she plopped on the bed and kicked her shoes off. It rang twice before he picked up.
“Hey, baby.”
“Hey.”
“How’s Mindy?”
“She’s good. Better than I thought she was going to be. Thanks for telling me, by the way.” The sarcasm in her voice didn’t go unnoticed.
“I didn’t want you coming home until I took care of shit. Guess that didn’t matter though cause here you are. If something would’ve happened to you again…” he trailed off and Lilly heard him sigh before he continued.
“I’m glad you didn’t get into harm’s way.”
“Where are you?” she asked.
“At the gas station down the street from our clubhouse. I’ll be headed there soon then I’ll come to the hospital to see you.”
Lilly scoffed. “Don’t bother. I’m at the clubhouse, so I’ll see you when you get here.”
“Damn it Lilly.” Cass huffed.
“See you soon,” she said sweetly before hanging up the phone. When he got there, she had questions and she knew he had answers. It was time for her to be in the know about what was going on especially because it was threat to her as well as the club.
Ten minutes later, Lilly heard the door to the clubhouse slam followed by heavy footsteps climbing the stairs. The door to her room slung open then slammed shut once Cass was inside. He looked like hell. His hair was everywhere. His face was covered in road grime. His jeans were nearly black from whatever the hell he had gotten all over them.
Her heart panged at the sight. Above all else, though, was the scowl on his face. He wasn’t happy with her in the least. He un-laced his boots and took them off before walking toward her. The silence was eerie and Lilly almost wished he were screaming instead of not saying anything at all.
“Why are you so fucking hard-headed?” he asked.
“I wasn’t just going to sit in another state while my best friend was in the hospital. If you want a woman that doesn’t give a fuck about people, I suggest you go find someone else, Cass, because that isn’t me.”
“I know you give a fuck about people which is exactly why I didn’t tell you! We didn’t know that they only went after Mindy because they thought she was Linc. We only knew that they went after her. Having you here could’ve meant they would’ve gone after you again, and this time who’s to say we would have been lucky enough to get you back alive?”
“I don’t give a shit about that! I wasn’t going to let her sit in a hospital in a condition that I didn’t know the severity of. What if she was dying and only had the rest of the night last night before she was gone? Then how would you have felt? Because I can tell you how I would’ve felt, Cass. I would’ve lost my fucking mind and I would’ve blamed you!”
Cass shook his head, stood up, and slammed his fist into the wall above the bed. The wall caved easily under the strength of his blow, leaving a gaping hole and an echoing thud. He shook his head again at the damage before walking into the bathroom and shutting the door behind him.
Lilly heard the shower turn on and considered getting into the shower with him, but the bed was too comfortable considering the last place she attempted to sleep. She would talk to him once he got out of the shower since their conversation hadn’t been going that well to begin with.
But the longer she laid there, the heavier her eyes got. She focused on the sound of the water beating down in the shower, letting it lull her to sleep. Her mind, for the first time, was so tired that it was quiet, and she didn’t have a million thoughts before sleep made her its prisoner.