Chapter Fifteen
After Jethro had gotten Sable to bed—not as though it was hard, sweet girl was dead on her feet—and he’d gotten himself cleaned up and changed, he went downstairs to spend some time with the dogs and to wait for Eric.
First thing first was to get in touch with Ian because what the hell had happened to the guy? Jethro had been too busy making sure Sable got through being examined in one piece and made it home where she belonged that it slipped his notice that he hadn’t seen his friend since he ran after Trent.
He checked his watch to make sure Eric wasn’t going to be showing up at his door any second but he still had a bit so he rang up Ian.
“Hey, Jethro. How’s Sable?”
A smile tugged up the corner of his mouth. He was glad to have friends like Ian. “She’s doing okay, dead asleep in my bed now.”
Ian let out a low whistle. “Damn you move fast, Del Bosque. Hudson caught me up on what happened after I took off after that piece of shit.”
“Was Hudson mad? He didn’t seem to be, but… I don’t know, he and Sable clearly have some kind of relationship and I—”
“You didn’t step on anything, don’t worry about it. Hud’s fine, and he wants whatever will make Sable happy. That seems to be you. And you know if that changes, it won’t matter that we’re friends. I’ll still have to kill you.”
Jethro laughed, grabbed a beer out of the fridge and then dropped onto the couch, followed quickly by Marigold and Rhodie. They’d been curious when he brought Sable home, but they’d been quiet and kept their distance when he gave them that look.
“Got it. But I have nothing but the best intentions when it comes to this girl, you know that.”
“You think Hud woulda let you leave with her if he didn’t know that were true? Fuck no. I was surprised when he told me, but not worried.”
That was a huge compliment coming from Ian and he let it warm his belly along with the beer.
“You know, I actually called to see how you were, what with being in pursuit of a dickhead who committed assault and all. What happened?”
“Our friend Trent Hall is now barred from Savage forever, and they’re going to contact the other clubs nearby to give them a heads up about him. He also got arrested for assault.”
That was good, of course. The fucker should be arrested and get charged. Jethro sucked his teeth thinking about what that might mean for Sable, though.
She’d have to talk to the cops, retain a lawyer, maybe go to court. He’d stand by her no matter what but if she had to explain in court where she’d been that night…
“I’m sure the police will want to get Sable’s statement but do you know if they can wait until tomorrow? I don’t want to wake her and—”
“Oh, Mr. Hall didn’t get arrested for assaulting Sable. He got arrested for assaulting me.”
Was it possible to hear someone grinning over the phone? Because Ian sounded goddamn delighted for someone who’d apparently been attacked.
“How the hell—”
“It’s possible I may have used my god-given talent to infuriate people to goad Trent until he punched me. I’ll probably have a black eye but aside from that, I’m fine. Guy was piss drunk and you’d already done a number on him so he wasn’t exactly in fighting form. So the short answer is that Sable doesn’t have to do anything. Unless she wants to, of course.”
“Shit, dude. A lotta guys talk a good game about how they’d be willing to take a bullet for someone, but you took a punch. That’s… Thank you.”
He could practically hear Ian shrug.
“Wasn’t a big deal. You know I like a little pain now and then.”
Jethro snorted and rolled his eyes. “Yeah, total pain slut. That’s what people say when they think of Ian Galbraith. I hope Hudson’s making you take it easy for the rest of the night.”
“You know Hud, he’s fussing over me like a mother hen.”
“Glad to hear it. Hey, Eric’s gonna be here any minute so I should go, but again, I really appreciate it. And I’m not going to mention this to Sable until she asks—she’s got a lot on her plate already, but I’m sure she’s thankful too. I owe you big time, let me know when I can pay up.”
“Don’t you worry, I will.”
“And hey, I don’t have Hudson’s cell. Can you make sure he has mine? And let him know Sable’s doing okay and she’s out like a light. I’ll be in touch with an update tomorrow.”