“Yeah, it was. I lost concentration for a second, and that was all they needed to shoot him,” Scott said.

“I’m not with you on that, brother,” Blade said.

“I agree. You can never predict how this shit will go down,” I said.

Scott scowled and began pacing while we waited.

“Harlow rang. She’s been trying to reach you,” I told him, and he nodded.

Pulling out his phone, he headed outside to call her back.

Eyeing Blade, I said, “He won’t let go of the blame if Wilder doesn’t pull through.”

Blade nodded. “Yeah, I know,” he said quietly.

We sat in silence in the bar as we waited for the doctor. Scott joined us at some point, but I hardly noticed. A tense cloud hung over the clubhouse, and I felt responsible for it.

If it hadn’t been for me, none of this would be happening.

28

Griff

The doctor was with Wilder for a long time. When he finally stepped out to talk with us, I couldn’t read his face.

“He was in a bad way,” he said, his voice holding no trace of positive news, and my gut twisted with fear.

“Fuck,” Scott muttered, his face holding the same fear I felt.

“I’ve removed the bullet, and I’m hopeful he’ll make a full recovery,” the doctor said, and I realised that even when he gave good news, his voice still held no trace of positivity.

Relief washed over Scott’s face. “Jesus, Doc, you had us worried there for a moment.”

“He’s not out of the woods yet, Scott. You’re going to have to keep an eye on him, and call me if he deteriorates.”

“We will,” Scott promised, and he walked the Doc out.

When he returned, he sorted out a roster for who was going to look after Wilder while he recovered, and I took the opportunity to call Sophia.

“Hey, you,” she answered the phone, and I could hear the smile in her voice.

“You having a good day?” I asked.

“Yeah, but I’m ready to go home. I’ve had enough of work today.”

“Meet me at my house, sweetheart,” I said, feeling the need to be there tonight. I had security on my place that she didn’t have on hers, and with this one guy still on the loose, I needed to know she was safe.

“Okay, handsome, you’re on, but I get to watch my show tonight.” Christ, she had an unnatural interest in reality fucking television.

“The TV stays off tonight,” I said firmly. “I’ve got other plans for you.”

“Oh…well, that’s good, too,” she said, and I caught the desire in her voice.

“I’ve gotta go. I’ll see you later,” I said, and hung up.

Scott walked back in at that moment and jerked his head at me to follow him into the office. When we were inside with the door shut, he said, “We need to call Church again, Griff. Some of the guys aren’t happy that I didn’t call a vote on your membership today. I’m going to wait a day or so because I want Wilder to be able to vote, but I wanted to give you a head’s up. I don’t think there’s enough numbers to vote you out from what I’ve heard, but fuck, you just never know. Obviously, it’s not what I want to happen.” The hard expression he normally wore had been replaced with torment. It was clear to me he was torn by this – torn by loyalty to his club versus loyalty to me.

“I appreciate the head’s up, brother,” I said, and he nodded.

When I’d joined Storm, I was made well aware of the only way a member left the club, and it didn’t involve walking away drawing breath. That had never bothered me before because I had nothing in my life worth living for. Now, I did. And fuck, to even think about leaving her behind - that sliced pain through me.

* * *

I found Sophia waiting for me on my couch. She looked up and smiled as I came through the front door. And then she frowned. Moving off the couch, she came to me and asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” I lied, not wanting to get into this with her tonight.

Her hand came to my cheek and she pulled my face down so we were close. “Griff, I can tell there is something wrong. I don’t need for you to tell me, but I want you to know I am here for you if you do need to talk about it.”

I held her gaze for a beat, nodded, and kept on walking. “I’ll be back in a minute,” I said as I headed into my bedroom to get changed. I’d already changed out of my bloodied clothes at the clubhouse, but the grime of the day felt glued to me.

Fuck it. I decided to have a shower and headed in there, stripping as I walked. A moment later, the hot water ran over my body, helping to ease some of the tension in me.

I was lost in thought when Sophia startled me. My gaze shot to her when she placed her hand on my shoulder. Dropping my eyes, I took in her naked body, and my dick jerked.

Fuck, she’s beautiful.

“What are you doing, Sophia?” I demanded, not sure if I wanted to be interrupted. I had thoughts running around in my head that I needed to work through. Alone.

She stepped into the shower with me and closed the shower door after her. Having her this close to me made it hard to say no to her.

I curled my hand around her neck, and moved her back up against the tiled wall in my shower. My eyes searched hers. “Do you want me to fuck you?” I growled as I ground my dick against her.

“Yes,” she replied, her eyes meeting mine and not letting go.