Rocket (Hell's Handlers MC 5)

And that, right there, was the reason Copper had the respect of every man in the club. Rocket had fucked up. He’d missed church a few weeks ago which was a sin worse than murder, and he’d been unreachable when his president was abducted. While Copper was being tortured by a psychopath, Rocket had his phone shut down and was off the grid. Yet as pissed off as he was, Copper’s first thought was to go to battle for his men.

There wasn’t a man in the club who would balk at an order issued by their prez. Cop already knew all about Rocket’s past, though he was the only one. The club had an unofficial full disclosure policy. Copper’s policy, really. If a guy patched in, the club would have his back in any situation, no matter what. Something from a man’s past came creeping back around? The MC would be all over it, no questions asked. But that meant full honesty about the skeletons in the closet.

Copper wasn’t afraid of a fight, but he fucking hated surprises. As long as he knew what a man brought to his club from the get go, he’d take it on. So would any of the brothers.

Keeping shit from the prez was the ultimate no-no. “Esposito,” he said.

Copper’s shoulders heaved “Well, fuck,” he said.

“Been hounding me. I turned off my phone, and that’s why Z couldn’t reach me when the club was looking for you.”

Nodding, Copper rubbed his red-bearded chin. His signature I’m thinking move. “Much as I was hoping that fucker got killed in the field, I figured it was something like that. Ain’t like you to flake on the club.”

His laser gaze came back to Rocket’s. Copper didn’t say shit, just to say it. He knew something else was going on. Fuck.

“That’s not why I missed church though.” Rocket cleared his throat.

“It’s the woman, ain’t it?”

He couldn’t help it. Rocket laughed though nothing about this situation was funny. Leave it to Copper to figure out exactly what was going on with his men even when they were trying to be stealthy. And Rocket could do stealth. Copper was just that in tune to the pulse of his club.

“It is.”

“Hmm.” There went the chin stroking again. Lasted about thirty seconds before Copper rested his beefy forearms on the desk and leaned forward. “Ain’t gonna happen again, right?”

Missing church? Fuck no it wouldn’t happen again. He felt shitty enough about it. “No, Cop.”

“And I trust you aren’t doing shit that would endanger the club?”

Rocket swallowed. Did fucking her count? She didn’t have a clue who he really was. “No, prez. I’d never risk the club.” And that was the truth. Chloe would never learn who he was.

“Okay. I’m trusting you on this. I know finding that woman in the violated state she was in fucked with your head. You’re a stand-up guy, Rocket, figures you’d want to make sure she was handling shit.”

Rocket snorted. He was about as far from a stand-up guy as one could get. A stand-up guy wouldn’t lie to a woman to get her to fuck him. No, he was an obsessed guy, not a good one.

“You don’t agree?” Copper raised an eyebrow, a small grin visible through his beard.

A shrug was all Rocket could come up with as an answer to that question.

“You’re a protector. Have been from the moment I met you. Why do you think I made you Sergeant at Arms?”

What the fuck? “A protector?” Rocket nearly choked on the word. “I’m a killer.”

Now Copper was chuckling. Laughing at him. “Yeah, you’ve killed, to protect. Fuck, Rocket, how do you not see this about yourself? When we freed Mav, you were in on it. When we rescued the girls Lefty was selling, who drove them to the shelter? I swear I’d have had a fight on my hands if I told someone else to get the woman from the hotel room.”

Rocket shifted in his chair. This meeting wasn’t exactly going as expected. Receiving the praise and lesson in insight was almost worse than having his ass handed to him.

“You know what it stems from, right?”

Oh, no. Copper wasn’t going to bring up…yeah, he was. Couldn’t the ground just open up and swallow him whole?

“Yeah,” Copper said. “You know. Goes back to Elena.”

“Cop…”

The president shook his head. “Can’t believe I’m telling you this, but shut up. When that buddy of yours from the Marines died in your arms, you took it upon yourself to look after his wife, right?”

That was a time in his life Rocket never revisited, even on his worst days. Damn Copper for exposing that festering wound. His friend’s name had been Evan and they’d been closer than brothers. Even with his death being nearly a decade ago, thinking about him brought a fresh wave of agony.