Page 86 of Rook
Avery watched as he returned to the table, slipping seamlessly back into VP mode. His voice was steady, his posture strong, his presence commanding.
He wasn’t just Noah anymore. He was Rook. And the club moved around him like a well-oiled machine.
Stone assigned roles. Grim and Havoc would be the muscle. Ledger would run surveillance. Fish would take the rear flank – silent, steady, eyes on every exit. Stone and Rook would lead the strike team. Prospects would secure the perimeter.
Everyone had a job. Everyone trusted each other. Everyone trusted Rook. Avery felt something shift inside her.
This wasn’t just a club. This was a family. A dangerous one. A loyal one. A family that had taken her in without hesitation.
And Rook… Noah was at the center of it.
Stone clapped his hands once. “We move at sundown.”
Chairs scraped. Weapons clicked. Plans solidified.
Rook walked back to Avery, his expression softening the moment he reached her.
“You okay?” he asked.
She nodded. “I think so.”
He brushed a thumb across her cheek. “Stay in the clubhouse. I’ll come back as soon as it’s done.”
She swallowed. “Promise?”
He leaned in, his voice a low whisper against her ear. “I don’t break promises to you.”
Her heart clenched.
He kissed her forehead, then stepped away, joining the others as they prepared for the first strike.
Avery watched him go, her chest tight with fear and love.
Chapter 27
Rook
Rook stood beside his bike at the edge of the abandoned industrial park, helmet in one hand, the weight of the club at his back. The Saints weren’t loud. They weren’t restless. They weren’t posturing.
They were focused.
A quiet, lethal kind of focus that only came when the club moved as one.
Stone stepped up beside him, the glow of the streetlamp catching the edge of his cut. “Warehouse is ahead. Two guards outside. Three inside. Maybe four.”
Rook nodded once. “We take them clean. No noise unless necessary.”
Grim cracked his neck, the sound echoing in the cold air. “Necessary happens fast.”
Havoc grinned like he’d been waiting for this all week. “Hope so.”
Ledger adjusted his earpiece, fingers flying over the tablet in his hands. “I’ll guide you from the van. Cameras are live. Motion sensors too.”
Fish stood a few paces back, half in shadow, checking the slide on his weapon with quiet precision. He didn’t speak, but his presence steadied the group like a silent anchor.
Rook pulled on his helmet, the world narrowing to the mission, the target, the threat. But beneath it all, one thought pulsed steady and fierce:
Avery is waiting for me.
