“No one is perfect, brother,” Aries replies, shrugging. “And it’s not fair to put that expectation on her. She has her own shit, just like we all do, and she’s a strong woman who is going to do what she wants. You can’t control how she does things. You either accept her and that fact, or you don’t.”
A muscle in my jaw ticks. No, I can’t control her, but when shit goes down like this, if she wasn’t there for the Wind Dragons, how is she going to be there for me? For the Knights? Maybe she won’t. Maybe she’d be better off with a banker or another lawyer after all.
The thought hurts.
I don’t know where we go from here.
“I can’t accept it if she decides to still represent him and be his lawyer,” I state.
If she does that, that’s her drawing a line in the sand and saying her job comes before her family. I’m not okay with that, not in this instance. It sucks that this is happening so early in her career, but life is about difficult decisions. And this is going to be one of them for her.
“Why don’t you go and speak to her properly about it, see where her head is at?” Aries suggests, crossing his arms over his chest and studying me. “She might have decided to drop him as a client.”
“Or she’s decided to keep him.”
“You won’t know until you find out.”
He’s right, and I don’t like us being angry at each other. I feel like shit. But like I said, if she’s going to still represent him after this, I don’t know if I can forgive her. I decide to send her a message.
Atlas: I’m sorry that I just left like that. Can we talk tomorrow when we’ve both cooled down?
Natalie: Marko’s bail was set. He will be out tomorrow, and then I’m going to visit my mom.
Great, so she’s running. And she got Marko out on bail, but I guess she would have had to do that. Now that we know, we can have someone tailing him.
Atlas: Will you message me when you get back?
She doesn’t reply. I know she must be as frustrated and as confused as I am, and I hate leaving us like this. Maybe a little space is a good idea, even though it doesn’t feel that way. I can focus on putting an end to this Marko situation once and for all.
“He’s out on bail tomorrow,” I tell Aries, pushing my chair back and standing up. “We need to have a plan, because without one he’s going to hit us before we can see it.”
My phone rings, Rhett’s name popping up. He must be having the same thought as I.
“Hey, Rhett.”
“Atlas, you heard the news?”
“Yeah, I heard. We need to meet up and make a plan.”
“Tonight?”
“I’ll call Temper and confirm, will text and let you know.”
“Okay.”
“Natalie said she’s heading that way now...”
He sighs. “Yeah, I know. I’ll speak to her.”
He knows. Without me even having to tell him. Every biker right now would be feeling my fucking pain.
“Thanks.” We end the call, and I look over at my brother. “Shit’s about to get real.”
His green eyes flash. “I’ve been ready and waiting.”
Go time.
Temper agrees to the meet and we decide to do it halfway between our clubhouses at a biker bar. We leave Diesel watching the police station so we’ll know when Marko is released and have someone with eyes on him at all times. Cole and Natalie are still at the station with him, and it makes my skin crawl to think of my woman in the same room as him and Cole. If she even still is my woman.