Mac’s old lady, a curvy brunette, snorted contemptuously. “What makes you think we would listen to a damn word you said?” Standing toe-to-toe with me, she then spat in my face. “Fucking traitor!”
Without taking my eyes from hers, I brought my hand up to wipe my face. Part of me wanted to deck her for having the nerve to do something so degrading, but I had to remember where she was coming from. Her husband was behind bars facing gun trafficking charges.
I drew in a deep breath as I surveyed the women I had once considered myself friends with. “Each and every one of you has a right to hate me. At one time, I was a traitor to the club. I admit that I had ulterior motives in getting to know Bishop. But if you would just give me a few minutes to explain—”
“You want to explain how you played Bishop for a fool and then sent our men away?” Kim demanded over the roar of the women spewing hate-filled rants at me again.
“Just give me five minutes. I’m here to help, I swear.”
Annabel stepped forward. She held up her hand to silence them. “Let her speak.”
At her action, the angry roar became a low grumble. When it became quiet, I started to talk. I told them about my father’s murder, about my feelings when I was first assigned the case, how I felt after Gavin’s murder, and then finally how I had come to feel about Bishop and the Raiders. Throughout it all, I held their rapt attention.
“What happened today was not because of anything I did or any information I gave my superiors. Yeah, I should have relayed to my superiors what I learned about the club going legitimate. I can’t change any of that now, but I have the opportunity to clear their names—to ensure that your men are freed. But to do that, I’m going to need their help.”
Alexandra shifted Wyatt on her hip. “Let me guess. To ensure that they cooperate, you need us to talk to them.”
I nodded. “You can imagine that whatever I say to them is going to fall on deaf ears. I figured they might actually listen to their wives and girlfriends.”
Eyeing me curiously, Alex asked, “Who talks to Bishop?”
“I will.”
Kim snorted. “You really think after what happened, you’re going to get anywhere with him? The most important thing in the Raiders creed is loyalty. You trampled all over his loyalty.”
“I realize that. I hope to be able to apologize to him—to get him to see why I did what I did.”
Alex sighed. “Don’t be naive, Sam. We’re a lot more forgiving than he’ll ever be because we’re women and we understand what it’s like to be desperately in love.”
“Who the hell says we’re forgiving?” Kim growled.
Alexandra gazed around the group. “I think it’s safe to say every one of us here has done something desperate and crazy when it comes to our men. I know I certainly did. What Sam did was completely wrong, but she’s trying to make it right—”
“And just why are you doing that? Did you suddenly grow a conscience?” Boone’s wife, Annie, demanded.
“Because it’s the right thing to do. Your husbands were framed. I would never uphold having innocent men pay for crimes they didn’t commit. There’s also the fact that the club has turned themselves around. The whole point of our undercover case was to bust them for guns. That’s not an issue anymore.”
“There’s another reason that motivates you even more than setting our men free,” Annabel said with a smile. “You love Bishop.”
I blinked back the tears that stung my eyes. “Yes. I do. I love him very much.”
My declaration sent a hush over the group. Kim made a tsking noise. “I gotta tell you, honey, that you sure have a way of fucking things up.”
With a pained bark of a laugh, I replied, “Trust me. I’m aware of it.” I swiped away the tears that had fallen down my cheeks. “Everything just happened so fast. I never intended to fall for Bishop, and when I did, I didn’t want to be an agent investigating him. I just wanted to be a woman in love with him.”
Annabel swept her hand to her chest. “Oh, you poor thing.”
Kim gave an exasperated sigh. “Well, the only way you have a chance with Bishop is to see to freeing him and the others. Once he’s out, then we can all work on getting him to give you another chance.”
My eyebrows shot up in surprise. “You want to give me another chance?”
Kim smiled. “Yeah, I guess I do. At the end of the day, we all fuck up from time to time. Now that you’ve explained yourself, I can see things differently.”
I couldn’t help exhaling a huge, relieved breath. “So you all will help me?” A resounding chorus of yeses came back at me. “Great. I can’t thank you enough.”
“No. Thank you for doing so much to see that our men are freed,” Alexandra said.
“Damn straight,” Kim said. She then smacked me on the back. “How about a drink before you go?”
I grinned. “I sure as hell could use one.”
Shaking her head, Kim said, “Honey, you’re going to need more than one if you plan on talking to Bishop.”
TWENTY
BISHOP
As I lay back on my jailhouse bunk, I stared up at the ceiling. Counting the many cracks within the plaster was one way I tried to pass the time. It had been thirty-six hours since the ATF busted into the clubhouse and sent my world careening out of control. While I’d had a few misdemeanors in my day, I’d never spent a night in jail. I’d always been bailed out the day I had come in. But now I was facing gun and drug charges, and if the ATF got their way, I wouldn’t be getting out for a long time.