I nod. “Yeah. A few threats were thrown. He told Anna he’d be picking everyone off until she goes back to him.”
“Right, so we’re going on lockdown right away?” he asks.
“Yeah. Anna doesn’t want to. She’s gonna stay here or run maybe.” I shrug. “I don’t really know, but either way, she doesn’t want to come to the club.”
Cree glares at me and the vein in his forehead pulsates with anger. “Are you shitting me? This war started because of her.” He growls and then storms back into the house.
“Oh, shit,” I mumble, hot on his tail.
Anna looks up when the front door smacks back with force and hits the wall. “Pack your shit up. We’re leaving in ten minutes,” he orders.
“To go where?” asks Anna.
“Somewhere safe. Move.”
“I’m not going to the club. I’ve already told Ri—” she begins but is interrupted as Cree grabs her upper arm and hauls her towards the stairs.
I sigh. “Come on, man, don’t do that,” I mutter in a warning tone. I don’t like the way he’s holding her.
“You realize this is all your fault?” Cree hisses at Anna. “You came into our bar and that made us a target. We don’t have a choice but to go to war with your fucking husband thanks to you because stepping down would make us look weak. You should have stayed on your own side of the tracks. But now you’re here, we have to protect you.” He pulls her to where Eva is sitting. “Look at her. This is what will keep happening if you ignore it. Now, get your shit together and come with us to the club or I will personally dump your ass back where it belongs.” Cree turns to me. “I’m taking Eva to get some things and collect her mom. I’ll see you both back at the club.”
Eva takes Anna by the hand. “They can help you. For once in your life, accept the help.”
Lockdown is not received well, the least happy being Leia. I show Anna and Malia to their room while Leia is on my ass bitching about college. “Why exactly is this guy a threat to us anyway? We came to an arrangement with him years ago. It’s been peace ever since,” she whines.
Anna’s guilty expression tugs at my heart. “Fuck, Leia. Get out of my face. We’re on lockdown. End fucking of.”
“I think it’s bullshit. If dad was here, he’d—”
“He’d put us on lockdown. Go and help Mom with the food,” I yell. She practically stamps her feet before stomping away. “Sorry about her,” I say. Anna smiles weakly. “She wants to become a nurse. She loves college.”
“Can I sleep with Ziggy tonight?” asks Malia. “Like a sleepover?”
I lift her up into my arms. “Ziggy’s room is right across from you and your mommy. Maybe you can lay together for a bedtime story and then go back to your own bed?” I walk across the landing to show her Ziggy’s bedroom. His toys are strewn across his floor and his bed is unmade. On this landing, there are only four bedrooms— Mine, Ziggy’s, and my mom’s, and then the spare room that Anna and Malia will sleep in. Plus, a bathroom at the end of the corridor.
Malia fidgets to get down, so I place her in Ziggy’s room and she immediately goes to his toys. I stand in the doorway to Anna’s room while she sorts through her bags looking for something. “I don’t know why you’re fighting this,” I eventually say. She stills but keeps her back to me. “I can take on Reggie. I can help if you just do what I say.”
“I’m sick of men telling me what to do,” she mutters.
“Anna,” I groan. “I’m not bossing you around. I’m trying to help. I know how to keep you safe from him. Running away won’t work forever. He always takes you back. Listen to me. Let me help.”
I leave Anna to think about that and I go in search of Eva and her mom. Eva was pretty bruised up, but she seems to always have this light about her that allows her to see the good in things. Back at Anna’s, she joked about needing a new purse anyway. I can see why Cree is drawn to her— she can be the light in his eternal darkness.
Cree wanted them on the same floor as him, and I find them standing by Cree’s bedroom door in what looks like a private discussion. Eva nods her head as Cree mutters into her ear. He struggles to talk to girls that he likes. It’s not something many people know, maybe just me and Chains, but even back in our Army days, he hated talking to women he took a fancy to. Looking at his well-built, tatted-up frame, you wouldn’t believe it, so most girls just think he’s being rude.
“I just came to check you were settling okay,” I say.
Cree keeps his face close to Eva. He’s pissed I’ve interrupted. Eva smiles politely and nods. “Thanks, Riggs. I really appreciate you taking us all in like this. Anna will too, she doesn’t know how to accept help.”
“I’ll keep working on her,” I say.
It’s early evening and I’m sitting at the bar when Chains joins me. We have one in the club but usually prefer to go to The Windsor. As that’s not possible right now, we have to make do with bottled beer. “I love it when we’re all together, but man, this place is busy. I think I’ll be spending a lot of time in my room.”
“Yeah,” I agree. “I don’t realize how many of us are out there until we go on lockdown. Leia is pissed. I haven’t seen her all afternoon,” I say.
“Neither have I,” he says quickly. “I don’t know where she is.” I frown.
