Page 37 of Bolt (Iron Thunder MC 1)
“Just wait. Stay close to Sophie, she’ll look after you. It’s all you can do.”
She nodded.
I kissed her forehead and she leaned herself against me.
“Just promise me there’s a chance of us having something close to normal. Whatever normal means in this world.”
I hooked a finger under her chin, lifting her face up toward me. Everything was happening so fast. I didn’t think I’d have a woman. Not Cassie. I didn’t think I could ever tame her, but here she was, in my arms with her shining golden hair.
“We will have our chance,” I said. “But right now, I have to go.”
She nodded.
We walked to the door together. Outside the room, I could hear the sounds of footsteps hurrying up and down, loud voices. The guys were getting ready for the raid, and I needed to join them.
As much as I wanted to, I couldn’t spend all my time with her. I had a job to do.
“Come with me to the bar, I’ll leave you with Sophie,” I said.
We went out together, walking at some distance from each other. I didn’t know how to break the news to the rest of the MC. I didn’t know how they would take the news. I’d just claimed the sister of the guy who betrayed us. It wouldn’t be an easy pill to swallow.14CassieThis time, when Bolt left me with Sophie, the Clubhouse was nearly empty. The bar wasn’t busy at all. Other than a few regulars who didn’t officially ride with the MC, everyone else was preparing to go to the raid. So it wasn’t like Sophie and I were going to have our hands full, or have much to do at all.
The other girls who usually hung around the MC members and the bar were missing too. Clearly, they had no intention of hanging around here when the guys were gone.
Bolt walked me up to the bar where Sophie was filing her nails, and then without another word, he walked away. I stared after him, my heart leaping out of my chest. I wished I could follow him, wished he would just hug me before he left—but he couldn’t. He wouldn’t.
We hadn’t made it official to the Club, and now wasn’t the time to do it either. There were other, more important things to worry about.
“You okay?” Sophie asked when I sat down on a stool beside her. Maybe she’d seen the look of worry and fear in my eyes.
“I guess I am…I’m just…worried. For Bolt and the others. This is all my brother’s fault and I wish he hadn’t put their lives in danger.”
Sophie stopped filing her nails and looked up at me. “It is what it is. There is no point in you blaming yourself. Those boys know how to look after themselves.”
“But Bolt couldn’t guarantee that he’d return safely tonight.”
“No, there are no guarantees,” Sophie added. I stared at her, eyes wide with fear. I was fearful of losing Bolt, knew I was falling in love with him, and now he admitted that he wanted to be with me too.
Was it too good to be true? Was the Universe going to screw me over just when I thought I’d finally found someone I connected with?
“I didn’t think you would actually care what happened to Bolt and the others. When you got here first, you were pretty mad at everyone. You wanted to get your brother out of this place.”
I nodded. Even though it was just a few days ago, it felt like a long time. A different life. Now, I was someone else.
“Yeah, that was when I still believed my brother couldn’t possibly do something like this. It was before I actually got to know the people here.”
Sophie smiled.
“So what do you think of us now?”
“This is a brotherhood. It’s a way of life. A circle of trust and friendship and living by the rules. I can see now why it was so devastating that Chip would do something like this.”
“He must’ve been pretty desperate,” Sophie said.
“He was an idiot. There were many other ways around the problem. He was just being stubborn and egotistical.”
I had to look away. I didn’t want her to see the pure dismay I had in my eyes for my own brother. I’d only spent a few days here and I already felt the power of the brotherhood. How could Chip betray that? What was wrong with him?
I could feel Sophie’s eyes on me.
“Is there something else?” she asked.
I blinked as I stared at her.
“What do you mean?”
“Is there some other reason why you’re worried about Bolt coming back safely tonight?”
My cheeks flushed immediately. I couldn’t stop that from happening. Sophie didn’t miss it either.
“I knew something was going to happen between the two of you! I knew it from the first moment I saw you two together.” She laughed and then reached for a bottle of vodka.
