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Steal – One Week Later

I tap my thigh as I eye the hospital's double doors, where the staff leave after their shift and where Cass has been coming to grab her lunch from her car before disappearing somewhere inside the massive hospital. Normally, she’d go through the locked doors so that I couldn’t follow.

Dr. Cassidy Brody is a resident doctor who has surpassed her peers and is due to be employed as a full-time E.R. doctor a year early, while being mentored by Dr. Carmichael. It turns out he was also her professor at New York Medical School.

She quit her job at the grocery store to make it look like she had left her old life, but started working nights at a care facility five miles from her apartment, which is also under Cassidy Brody, along with her student information.

I fucking love that she has my last name, but I hate that it's not because she married me but because she knew she could hide using it.

I sigh, rubbing my hand over my stubbled jaw. Piston has managed to find a full file on Cassidy Brody, but I can’t seem to access some things, like her medical records, though he is still trying.

“Come on, Trouble,” I mutter impatiently.

All week she’s avoided me and the club, and each time one of my brothers has tried to speak to her, some blonde-haired fucker has intervened, giving her time to walk away, the same fucker that’s nearly always around her, with his arm over her shoulder or touching her.

She fucking moved on from me, I know it, and I can see it, but if she thinks that will make me back off, then she has another think coming.

She’s fucking mine, she always has been, and this guy is just a blip.

Seeing her for the first time in years, fuck, I thought I was seeing a ghost, especially after seeing Natalie’s body thrown over Brooklyn Bridge by the Killers, after they rammed into her car when she was leaving the clubhouse.

That day, my head was all over the place; our prospect, a really fucking good one, Adam, was dead, killed trying to save Nat during a shootout, and Piston was ready to fall apart after jumping in after Natalie, and then having to give her CPR. And we all knew it was Acid and Piston’s father that ordered the hit to get to his sons because the fucker wants my club and territory, but is hiding behind the scenes like a weasel. All of that happening, right after the other, only to see my girl, the love of my fucking life, is Natalie’s doctor.

Fuck, I’m proud of her, so fucking proud.

Don’t get me wrong, I hate that I wasn’t there to see her complete med school, to see her graduate—again, but I’m proud of what she’s accomplished to make her dreams come true, that she’s finally put herself first. And when she finally talks to me again, I’m taking her to the Hamptons to see the stars and, as I promised her dad, I’ll treat her like a fucking queen….

“Treat her like you’d expect your father to treat your mother, son. Treat her like the queen she is,” John states as he hands me a beer, and I sigh.

“I know I fucked up, John. I love your daughter, I fucking do, but at the moment, the old generation doesn’t want to see me take over, and I can’t have my father’s legacy, my grandfather's, to be brought down. If she’d just accept my cut, things would be different.”

John nods before taking a sip of his beer. He replies, “Cass wants to make me and her sister proud. Her focus is school, and once she’s finished, she’ll take your cut, Steal, I promise you. Just keep the brothers at bay until then.”

I nod, taking a sip of my beer, hoping he’s right.

I let him down, I let his daughter down. I never fucking treated her like a queen because the club always came first. Bull and Brute wanted their nephew ‘Skinny’ as president and tried to convince my father to make Skinny his heir.

Funny enough, Skinny is now dead, tortured, and killed by the Killers after he gave up some of our decoy gun smuggling drop locations, and Bull hasn’t brought him up again, knowing full fucking well that he’d be kicked out of the club if he opened his mouth to stick up for the weasel.

The fucker was never trusted and was only patched in the club because of his uncles, which is why I gave him the decoy information and not the real ones.

The hospital doors open, and my body relaxes, seeing Cassidy walk out in her own little world. She’s still in her scrubs and white coat, her hair up in a messy bun.

She’s fucking beautiful, and the fact she has some more curves that I want to grab hold of makes my dick twitch.

“Dr. Brody,” I say loudly to get her attention, loving how it sounds on my lips.

Cassidy’s head shoots up in surprise, and I smile at her as she stops in shock.

“You know my car’s quite old and can’t take much weight,” she says as she tries to get her bearings, and continues to walk my way.

I grin from where I’m leaning against the hood of her car, and accuse playfully, “You saying I’m fat, Trouble?”

She flinches at the old nickname, and I lock my jaw, hating her reaction; she consumes me.

I sigh. “I just want to talk, Cassy.”

She opens her car door and grabs her bag before shutting and locking the door, then faces me and asks, “If it’s about Natalie, I’m not sure when she’ll wake up. Technically, she has no reason to be in a coma; all her tests are showing normal cerebral function.”

“I already know about Nat, Cass, and you know that. All I want is to talk, Trouble, please…” I beg, but she shakes her head and states, “The time for talking was four years ago before you held a gun to my head.”

I flinch and snap, “I had no choice, Cass, otherwise Bull would have shot you!”

She looks at me with sad eyes. “You did have a choice, Steal,” she says, and I flinch again as she continues, “You could have seen the situation for what it was, but instead, you jumped the gun, quite literally.”

I push off her hood and crowd her, forcing her back into the car door. Her eyes widen, and I growl, “I saw exactly what the situation was, Cassidy. For four fucking years, I was with you, and for four fucking years, I have been without you but trying my hardest to fucking find you!” I heave a sigh. “I know you inside and fucking out. I know you wouldn’t have killed him unless you didn’t see any other fucking way, but I did what I had to do until I could find proof, so I didn’t have a shootout inside my clubhouse, proof we still can’t find.”

She scoffs and tries pushing me back, but I don’t budge, and she finally snaps, “So what, you want me to tell you how he tried to rape me like he did with Heaven? That your precious fuck buddy stood back and kept watch like a good little guard dog, all while I was trapped with my chest against the counter where he shoved me?”

My heart pounds at her words, and I admit, “That’s exactly what I want you to tell me, so Piston knows exactly what to look for on the other cameras.”

She shakes her head. “It doesn’t matter anymore, Steal. I’ve moved on with my life, and I’m finally happy despite the pain you put me through. Just move on….”

Anger like no other fills me, and I can’t control my actions as I snap, “There is no moving on, because you are mine ; you have been for eight years!” I slam my lips down on hers, making her gasp in shock, giving me the opportunity to shove my tongue down her throat. Everything settles deep inside me.

The feeling of home takes over, and not just for me; Cassidy melts against me and kisses me back. I’m not taking the reaction for granted as I wrap my arms around her and deepen the kiss, her taste exploding on my tastebuds after being deprived for four years. All too soon, it ends when my phone rings, and she pulls back, her eyes wide.

My eyes race between hers as our breaths mingle, and I rasp, “If that fucker touches you again, then what you did to Brute will be child’s play. I love you, Cassy, I always have; I was just trying to protect you when you refused to accept my cut.” I place another hard kiss against her plump lips as I breathe in her raspberry scent. “You’ll be seeing more of me, Trouble, because I’m not losing you, and if it means handing in my patch—my father’s legacy—then I fucking will.”

That said, I push away and head to my bike. I start my bike and rev it just as I feel something hard hit my back. I grin, knowing it is probably her lunch.

I fucking love her feistiness.

Lifting my hand to her, I spin away from her car, and out of the parking lot.

I get halfway down the road from the hospital before I pull over, open my phone, and narrow my eyes, seeing a missed call from Faith and a text message.

Faith: Steal, baby, my car broke down again xx

Broke down, my ass.

Shaking my head, I press call on Anchor's name. It rings a few times before he answers.

“Prez?” he answers, and I sigh heavily.

“She’s basically admitted to Brute trying to rape her. I don’t know the full story, but Faith stood guard,” I admit, and he growls loudly.

“I’ll get Piston to work on the cameras, but it won’t be his main focus; Nat will be, not that we can blame him, to be fair,” Anchor replies, and I nod, even though he can’t see me.

Piston’s main focus has to be Natalie.

“Faith messaged; her car apparently broke down again. Have a prospect call her, and if she puts up a stink, tell her to find her own way back because, let’s face it, she’s probably just removed a spark plug again to get my attention.”

Anchor laughs gleefully, and I hang up before lifting my head to the sky, allowing the sun to shine down on me.

I finally have some fucking heat in my veins, and my blood is pumping faster.

Having Cassy’s lips against mine…fuck me, it’s everything, and I’m going to ensure that isn’t the last time I get to taste her.