He brought Bulldog to the hospital and texted me to let me know that he broke two ribs, but he’ll be all right.
One by one, the guys arrive, each looking shocked and then pissed when they come in and see the damage.
“We can’t let this go,” Killian says with an incensed look on his face.
“We’re not,” Troy hisses back. “Get the boys around the table. Club meeting. Now!”
“We better get some beers ready,” Cat says as Killian gathers the guys.
I open the freezer and start pulling out frosted mugs. Luckily, the assholes missed these and the taps. They still work.
“What’s going to happen?” Cat whispers as I hand her the mugs while she fills them up.
I glance at T-Bone who’s in the kitchen cleaning up. He’s a tough old son of a bitch who never misses work.
“I don’t know,” I whisper back. “Bulldog said we’re going to be at war.”
“I hope not,” she says with a shiver.
I know what she’s thinking. She’s thinking of her man, Saint, getting hurt or worse…
Even at a time like this, my heart twists, wishing I had a man to worry about.
“What is that…” she says, trailing off as she narrows in on my right eye. “Is that make-up? Did you get hit?”
I sigh as I hand her another glass. “Just once. I’m fine.”
She grits her teeth as she yanks down the handle of the tap with more force than necessary. “Those fuckers. Now I really hope we go to war.”
“Really,” I say with a heavy breath. “I’m fine.”
I have a nice little black eye to commemorate the night, but I covered it up pretty nicely with make-up. Thank God for YouTube instructional videos.
The guys start sitting down around the huge table as Troy paces at the head of it. He’s not in his suit today and he’s looking good in jeans and his leather vest with the Heartlands logo on the back. The club has been trying to go clean lately, but something tells me it’s about to get a lot dirtier after this.
Cat and I perk up our ears as we walk over to the table and start handing out the beers.
“Are you okay, Stella?”
The deep voice catches me off-guard and I nearly drop my tray. Troy is looking right at me. So are the other boys. My cheeks start to heat up.
We’re all family, but the boys are a brotherhood. They don’t usually talk to us girls during the club meetings.
“I’m fine, Troy,” I squeak out. “A little shaken up, but okay. Thanks.”
He nods at me as he sighs. “Just know we’re going to get these guys back for this. No one touches my family and gets away with it.”
They start their meeting and we’re not asked to leave, which is new. I guess I stepped up a spot in their eyes now that I’ve survived my first biker brawl. And Cat, well, Cat is Saint’s girl so she’s as good as in too.
“It wasn’t just the bar,” Troy says as he twirls an unlit cigarette through his fingers. “They hit our storehouse too.”
The table explodes with angry shouts and slams of fists that nearly topple over the beers.
“What?!” Buzz barks as he bursts to his feet. “Fuck this! I’m going to go slice these fuckers up.” He barely looks recognizable with his swollen black eye and cracked lip. Poor Buzz got it pretty bad last night.
But it’s not done for him yet.
Gage grabs a hold of Buzz’s vest and shoves him back down into his seat. “You’re going to do what the boss tells you to do and nothing more,” he shouts into his face.
“Dad,” Killian says. “The AR-15’s?”
Troy sighs. “All gone.”
Cat shoots me a worried look. From what I’ve gathered from overhearing snippets of conversations while I worked, the storehouse was full of guns and money, basically everything that keeps the club safe from thugs like The Outlaws.
“They stole the keys from my office,” Troy goes on. “Ten of our guys are in the hospital. Our weapons are gone and our clubhouse is smashed.”
“This is not good,” Killian says as he slumps back into his chair. “With our stash gone, it will be open season on The Heartlands.”
“I got it covered,” Troy says as he takes a sip of his beer. “We need some firepower and the California division is going to deliver.”
“They’re bringing us guns?” Saint asks as he rubs his chin.
“Guns and reinforcements,” Troy says.
The table goes silent.
Me and Cat shoot each other a look.
“Jaxon and Beckham are