Page 9

Saylor

Later that night, after dinner and hanging out with the girls most of the day, I was absolutely wrecked. My body was sore, my head was fuzzy from all the conversations, and my stomach was blissfully full.

What surprised me most wasn’t how tired I was—but the fact that Pirate hadn’t kicked everyone out of the room after church. I’d expected him to come back in, throw a nod toward the girls, and start rounding them up like cattle. But instead, he’d just... joined us. Like it was normal. Like a dozen people piling into his room wasn’t anything new.

And then the guys started showing up in waves. Not all at once but in little rotations. Smoke came in with Dice and stayed long enough to tell a ridiculous story that had Poppy crying from laughter. Fade brought in beers, though I stuck with water. Even Drew and Mark, who didn’t usually hang around, stopped in to say hi and watch some TV before disappearing again.

Adalee had outdone herself on dinner. Pork chops, mashed potatoes, green beans with bacon, and a lemon meringue pie that tasted like it came from a five-star bakery.

By the time everyone finally filtered out, I was camped out on the couch with a blanket over my legs and a pillow jammed behind my back. Pirate was lying on the bed with his hands tucked behind his head, one leg stretched long, the other bent. The TV was on, but I wasn’t even paying attention to what we were watching. It was just noise in the background. Something to fill the quiet.

“I don’t think I’ve watched this much TV in years,” I sighed, rubbing my eyes.

Pirate glanced over at me with the faintest smirk on his face. “That’s probably because you watch it happen in real-time, baby.”

I shrugged. “Yeah, probably. That’s for sure why I don’t want to watch reality TV.” I shook my head slowly. “No, thank you.”

He chuckled low. “You think our show’s gonna do well?”

I tilted my head and quirked my lips. “I mean… you guys have some good things in your favor.” I wasn’t an expert or anything, but I had a decent grasp on what drew attention. And these guys? They weren’t exactly forgettable.

“What things?” he asked and glanced at me again with a curious look.

I held up a finger. “One, everyone is good-looking. That’s going to get people watching from the start. A pretty face always sells.” I grinned. “Some of you guys are going to have a serious fan base.”

“Yeah?” Pirate asked, clearly amused.

“Yarder for sure,” I said. “Though that probably has more to do with him being president. But his looks won’t hurt.” I tipped my head to the side and pretended to study him. “Honestly, all of you guys are going to be eye candy. I’ve seen some of the promos Don’s putting together, and trust me—he’s leaning hard into everyone’s looks.”

Pirate turned his gaze back to the TV, but I saw the small twitch of his lips. “That’s good.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if they want to do another season,” I admitted and adjusted the blanket over my lap. “The club might’ve been a pain to work around sometimes, but Don’s got a ton of good footage.”

Pirate scoffed, his voice lower now. “I wouldn’t be too sure that’s gonna happen. It seemed like shit hit the fan the second filming started. None of us want to go through this shit again.”

That got my attention. My eyes narrowed slightly as I sat up a little straighter.

This was the opening I’d been waiting for.

“What shit was that?” I asked casually, though the air between us shifted. It felt heavier now. Real.

He turned his head to look at me, and his dark eyes studied my face like he was trying to decide how much I could handle. How much I should know?

“I asked Poppy to tell me,” I added and hoped that would push him just a little further, “and she said I needed to ask you.”

Pirate laughed, short and surprised. “Now that is surprising. Yarder will be glad to know she didn’t spill the beans to you.”

“But you can spill the beans?”

He nodded, and his expression softened. “Yeah. I can give you the condensed version of what’s going on. It’s the least you deserve after what happened to you.”

Ten minutes later, my jaw was practically on the floor, and I didn’t think I’d ever recover from the sheer shock of what Pirate had just laid on me.

“You guys have the Texas State Attorney General and the U.S. Attorney General on your asses? And they’re trying to kill everyone around you?”

Pirate nodded, calm as you please. Like he hadn’t just casually dropped a nuclear bomb on my understanding of reality.

“Yeah, baby. Dove’s dad got us messed up in all of this. He thought it’d just land us in prison for a few years. Something we’d ride out. But this shit was bigger than him. Way bigger. He’s on the run now, too. The last we heard from him was when the bakery space we were looking to rent got blown up.”

I blinked. “Holy cow,” I breathed. “No wonder you were trying to keep this away from the cameras. It’s insane. It’s crazy that Boone and Gibbs are doing this to you.”

“Yeah,” Pirate said and let out a humorless laugh. “No one would believe it.”

“Don just has it looking like you guys are having beef with a rival club.” I shook my head, stunned. “That’s all the producers see. That’s all the audience will see.”

Pirate chuckled. “That’s good, honestly. The less anyone outside knows, the better.”

I nodded slowly as my thoughts spun faster than I could track. “Why did they go after me, though? I mean, sure, I’m at the clubhouse a lot filming, but I had zero other connection to you guys. It’s almost like Boone and Gibbs don’t have as much information as they think they do.”

“Yeah,” he agreed. “It doesn’t make sense either. I mean—not that I’m trying to give them advice—but if they were gonna go after someone close to the club, Dani would’ve made more sense. Smoke’s all over her. It was obvious.”

I swallowed hard, still trying to process everything. Multiple explosions. Mysterious notes. Missing club members. Dead people connected to the club. And now me being attacked.

I was sure there were other things he wasn’t telling me, but even just the little I knew now was mind-blowing.

“So what are you guys going to do?” I asked.

Going to the police felt like the logical thing. But Pirate had already made it clear—that wasn’t an option. Boone and Gibbs were too embedded. Too protected. No cop was going to take the word of a motorcycle club over a pair of clean-cut sociopaths in suits.

“Our solution should be here next Thursday,” he said, voice low. “We managed to find a connection to some heavy hitters. The kind of people who can blow Boone and Gibbs out of the water.”

I didn’t know if I wanted to ask who those heavy hitters were. Something told me that the more I knew, the deeper I got. And I wasn’t sure I’d ever climb out of it.

“And then this is all over?” I asked instead.

He nodded. “That’s the plan, baby. And I have to say—it’s the best one we’ve had yet. Stretch going off on his own didn’t help anything. He thought he could fix it, but he’s only made things messier.”

“Do you know where he is?”

Pirate shook his head and rubbed his hands over his thighs. “No clue. He’s gotta be close to Boone and Gibbs, though. They know he’s digging around. Which means he’s making waves—but that also means he’s in danger.”

I exhaled slowly. “This all feels like some movie plot.”

“Yeah,” Pirate said with a wry smile. “It’s pretty insane. But it’s going to be over soon.”

“And then you guys go back to normal?”

He shrugged. “Not so sure about normal. But at least we won’t have to look over our shoulders every time we leave the clubhouse.”

I nodded, my eyes suddenly stinging. Not with tears, just fatigue. Everything he’d told me, everything I’d learned—it was exhausting to even think about. I let out a slow yawn and lifted my hand to cover it.

Pirate glanced over at me and raised a brow. “Alright, that’s your cue. Come to bed, baby.”

I wanted to protest. I wanted to pretend I could stay up and keep processing it all. But I couldn’t. I was worn out.

I stood up and stretched carefully as sore muscles pulled and ached. “I’m just gonna change.”

I walked into the bathroom and closed the door behind me. It was quiet in there except for the white noise of the small fan humming above. I peeled out of my clothes and pulled on a pair of black sleep shorts and a fitted black tank top. I brushed my teeth slowly and watched myself in the mirror. I looked… tired. But a little lighter, somehow. Knowing the truth, even if it was terrifying, gave me some kind of strange peace.

I ran the brush through my hair, then turned off the light and padded back into the bedroom.

The lights were out. The TV was off. Pirate was under the covers.

“No movie?” I asked and paused near the edge of the mattress.

“Nah,” he said, his voice thick with sleep. “Sick of hearing it.”

I smiled, even though he couldn’t see it. “Fair.”

I slid under the covers and sighed. The sheets were warm. The room was quiet.

“This is nice,” I whispered once I was settled.

I was on my side, facing him. He was lying flat on his back, and his breathing was steady. The faintest glow from outside the window filtered into the room, just enough for me to see the outline of his chest. I could make out pieces of the tattoos that inked across his skin.

“Sometimes peace and quiet is all you need,” he murmured.

My eyelids were heavy. I shut my eyes and exhaled slowly. “I have to agree. It was nice having everyone in the room today, but I was glad when they all left.”

Pirate chuckled softly. The low rumble of it was like thunder far off in the distance.

“Couldn’t have said it better myself, baby.”

I smiled into the dark and let the sound of his breathing lull me.

In. Out. In. Out.

Soft and even.

Warm and steady.

The room faded, and I let the quiet wrap around me like a blanket.