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“I already told him no deal.”
“And?”
“He threatened the club.”
“Fuck.” Bear dropped his head. “We are not strong enough to take on the Widows.” I nodded my head in agreement. “I promised these guys less violence when you and I started rebuilding this club. We wouldn’t be just taking on the local chapter if your father made the threat, we’d be taking on the whole damn organization. And then the past four years, all the work we’ve done to end them permanently, would be for nothing.”
I knew everything he was telling me, but it didn’t change anything. “He doesn’t get Maggie.”
“We need to call a meeting. This kind of decision has to go out to the members.”
I lowered my voice and repeated. “He doesn’t get Maggie.”
His gaze hardened, and I knew he was trying to think of a way to keep the club safe without sacrificing anyone, but I could tell he was coming up empty. “Call the boys to church, Gunner.”
My jaw hardened, but he was right. This decision had to go out to the brothers. It was a part of club life, a part of the club life we wanted for our club, so I had no choice.
But no one was laying a finger on Maggie.
Especially not my own father.
I set up the meeting for a time everyone could make, which wasn’t until later that night. I walked back around the car to tell Bear but noticed he wasn’t working. His attention was on the back wall of the garage, his eyes focused on nothing.
“Six tonight is the soonest I can get everyone here.”
Bear nodded and glanced up at the clock hanging on the wall. We only had to wait four hours to sit down and discuss what was potentially the future of our club. He wiped his hands on the rag he was holding and faced me.
I braced, knowing I wasn’t going to like what he wanted to say. I knew I wasn’t wrong when he started to speak. “We shouldn’t have brought her here.”
I clenched my jaw and met his stare. “She came to us.”
“We could’ve handed her off to Luke when we knew it wasn’t safe for her to go back.”
“That wouldn’t have been safe. Luke knew that,” I argued. “They would’ve gotten to her anywhere he put her, that’s why he came to us.”
His intense gaze landed on me. “You wanted her here.”
“Fuck yes, I did.” I admitted.
“But at what risk to the club, to our brothers?”
That was bullshit. He obviously needed reminding that I did not act alone. “We both agreed to bring Maggie here, brother. This was not only my choice.”
He dropped his head and scratched the back of his neck before looking my way again. “I knew you needed this, but I should’ve known better.”
“We made the decision together.”
“I’m the fucking president, Gunner!” he shouted and took a step toward me. “I made a decision to benefit my friend, my best fucking friend, and may have taken down my whole damn club in the process.”
“We needed to take a stand, Bear.” I took a step forward. “We cannot bow to the Widows anymore. We knew that. It didn’t happen like we hoped or planned, but the result will still be the same.” I put my hands on my hips. “And not long ago, I told you this wasn’t your fight. This wasn’t the club’s fight. It was mine. Now this shit is all tangled together because I underestimated my father, but it’s still not your fight if you don’t want it to be.”
He shook his head. “I wasn’t letting you go through this alone, not facing a club as big as the Widows, but I should’ve taken this to church early on, should’ve required a vote on bringing Maggie here.” He pointed at the clubhouse. “Now one woman, one damn choice has the power to end everything we’ve worked for.”
I dropped my hands and narrowed my eyes. “What the fuck happened to destroying them, to not letting anything get in our way?”
His expression hardened. “What the hell happened to our brotherhood, man?” He slapped his hand against his chest. “I did this by allowing her in, knowing that shit could backfire on us, and that’s exactly what’s happening. Now we’re holding the bait for a man who wants you dead and will bring a fucking army to take out anyone who gets in his way.”
“That’s bullshit, and you know it. We brought her here to keep her safe after she sacrificed herself by bringing us information we needed. Information that saved a lot of women and Luke’s ass from their retribution. She took a massive chance by walking her ass into our clubhouse that day, brother, the least we could’ve done was promise her protection.”