“Della, you made it.” She smiles as she shifts her gaze from the baby to me. “Come and sit by me.”
My feet carry me over to her side and I sink down next to her on the sofa. Without a word, she shifts the baby into my arms and my swollen heart bursts at the sight of this baby in front of me. She’s absolutely gorgeous.
“I’m glad you’re both okay,” I whisper.
Presley clears her throat and I’m forced to tear my eyes from the bundle to look over to her. “Thank you. I know that you left with Eagle’s dad to save us.”
“Nobody knows if he had anyone on you guys or not. I didn’t really do anything,” I say with a shrug of my shoulder.
Presley places her hand on my forearm and curls her fingers around to give me a gentle squeeze. Her eyes are filled with unshed tears and I’m unable to keep mine from doing the same.
“Nobody knows. Which makes you a hero to me, to her,” she says, dipping her chin to the baby in my arms.
Clearing my throat, I attempt to gather myself before I turn into a blubbering mess right here on the couch. “What did you name her?” I ask.
“Gray, after my maiden name. I don’t know, it just suited her. We had a different name picked out, but then she was born and I just knew that she was a Gray.”
“I love it,” I say and I mean that.
I love it and she’s right, it does fit this little princess.
Without warning, Silver and Taz run into the room. Presley makes a noise in the back of her throat, but me, I stay stoic and still. I know something is wrong, really fucking wrong, judging by the looks of matching panic and sorrow on their faces.
“Give Presley the baby,” Silver barks. It isn’t an angry tone, it’s a little more gruff and full of some kind of emotion that I can’t read.
Immediately, I turn to Presley and shift the baby over into her protective arms. Lifting my hand to my chest, I feel it tightening and try to rub the center, pinching my eyes closed, I wait for whatever they’re about to tell me.
“It’s Eagle,” Silver begins. “He’s been shot, babe.”
My eyes fly open and my breath hitches as I stare at Silver. Taz immediately steps in front of me and sinks down to his haunches. My gaze shifts from Silver to him and I search his face for answers.
He takes my hand in his and squeezes my fingers. “He’s been transported to Panama City. He’s in a hospital there.”
Inhaling a deep breath, I focus on his eyes, on his face, then I nod once.
“Take me to him.”
JAGUAR
I should feel guilty as fuck.
I don’t.
He didn’t feel guilty when he stole my woman, my baby, my fucking family from right underneath my nose. The shot was an easy one to take. He wasn’t expecting it. I watched from a distance as all hell broke loose.
They all thought that it was the Columbians. They all thought that they’d found out about them. I planted this shit before I even left.
Contacting the next in line to Santiago’s father’s cartel was easy as shit. The man has been treated like royalty and I found him in less than an hour of Charm’s internet searching.
Now, I wait.
I’d hoped that I hit something fatal when I made my shot. I don’t think that I did and that kind of pisses me off.
Hopefully, he bleeds out by the time he makes it to get help. At the very least, I hope that he gets some kind of infection if he makes it to a hospital at all.
Walking away, I vow to never fall for a woman again. Never allow another person to have the kind of hold on me that Della had.
“Ready?” Charm asks from the piece of shit car we stole when we arrived.
Jerking my chin, I grin as I reach for her. Wrapping my hand around the back of her neck, I tug her against me.
“Tell me the truth, how’d you find Santiago’s brother so fast?”
Her lips turn into a sly smile, one where I know she thinks she’s pulled a fast one. I may be using her as a fucktoy, but I can read her like a goddamn book. It doesn’t take a genius to know that she’s one of those bitches who has had a plan since she walked into the clubhouse.
At first, I thought it was just to get a brother to brand her, but I’m not so sure anymore. Charm takes a step toward me, placing her hand in the center of my chest and tilts her head back.
“I’m Santiago’s sister. Half-sister. Your club and my brother’s organization are going to work beautifully together, Jaguar.”
“Oh yeah, how’s that?” I ask, my hand shifting slowly to the knife at my belt.
She licks her lips, rising to her toes and presses her mouth against mine before she speaks. “You and me, Jaguar. Together we’re going to rule. It’s going to be fucking beautiful. Fucking and killing. Fucking and ruling the goddamn world,” she breathes against my lips.
I grunt. She’s insane. Although, I can’t deny that I may miss all of the fucking. The bitch is wild.
Without a second thought, I jerk my hand forward and bury the knife in her gut. She cries out, attempting to pull away from me, but I use my other hand to wrap around her shoulder and keep her close.
“Don’t fuck with the Savage Beasts. I’ll see you in hell, bitch,” I growl against the shell of her ear.
Gritting her teeth, she lifts her eyes to me and smiles. “You’re nothing but a backstabbing Judas,” she sneers.
I shrug a shoulder, twisting the knife and causing her to gasp. “Yeah, I know. I’m a hypocrite. It’s one thing for me to fuck with my brothers, it’s another for some cunt to do it.”
Watching her, I wait for her breath to leave her body before I turn my back on her and walk away. Then, I climb in the shit car and drive toward the port to get the fuck out and go back to Arizona.
Epilogue
ONE WEEK LATER
DELLA
I haven’t let go of his hand. I refuse. He looks pale, sick, weak and I hate that. He’s lost color, his normal rich tan toned skin is almost gray.
I hate it.
I hate everything about this place. I shouldn’t even be thinking that though. The Savage Beast MC is paying a hefty price for Santi to stay and be treated in a private hospital, I just wish that he would wake up.
Thankfully, I was able to fly here, but it’s been over a week and even after two surgeries, he’s not awake. He’s breathing on his own, the only drugs he’s on are pain medications, but he still hasn’t opened his eyes.
I need him to wake up. I just plain need him. I’d convinced myself that I was strong just moments before I found out about him being shot. I was wrong. I’m not strong, not unless he’s at my side, at my back.
“Babe, you gotta eat and sleep. This shit ain’t good for the baby,” a deep voice murmurs.
Keeping my hand wrapped around Santiago’s, I turn to look back over my shoulder to see Mountain standing behind me. He jerks his head toward Santi, then dips his chin and points his gaze directly at me.
“He won’t know if you go and get some real fuckin’ food. I’ll stay with him,” he offers.
Shaking my head, I open my mouth to decline his offer when Taz appears with a bag of food. “Don’t even bother. Been tryin’ to get her out of this room for days. I’m surprised she ain’t asked for a catheter yet.”
Wrinkling my nose, I let out a small gagging sound. “Don’t be gross,” I say.
Taz winks at the same time Mountain snorts. Taz hands me my standard burger with fries before he walks over to the couch and sinks down. Mountain takes the only other chair in the room and leans back with a groan.
“Why are you here?” I chance asking him after popping a fry into my mouth.
He shrugs a shoulder, then his gaze flicks to Taz before coming back to me. “Needed to chat with Taz for a few.”
“So you flew from Columbia for a chat? What happened?” I demand.
He clears his throat before he leans forward and places his elbows on his knees. “Dragon called me. Jag has gone rogue. We were lookin’ for him w
hen we did a headcount after Eagle was shot. He was supposed to be in Tijuana on a run but never showed up to leave with the guys, so they just left on their own. Tracked his phone, but it’s in his room at the clubhouse. We can’t find him, he’s fuckin’ dust,” he explains.
Opening my mouth, I snap it closed before I decide to speak. “You don’t think? Not his own brother, not because of something so stupid, because of me, because of a woman?” I whisper.
Taz and Mountain share a look before they both settle their gazes on me. I shake my head a couple of times, trying to comprehend what they’re saying and still unable to believe any of it. Jaguar is all about his club. The Beasts are his life. No way would he betray them this way.
“Where’s that bitch?” I ask.
Mountain blinks. “Who?”
“Charm,” a voice croaks beside me.
My heart pounds against my chest and I whip my head around, my neck aching instantly, but I don’t care. Santiago’s dark eyes are open, though only slightly and he’s staring right at me.
“Call the doctor,” I demand, not taking my eyes off of him.
He’s alive. He’s awake. He is beautiful.
“Don’t you ever scare me like that again,” I snap.
His lips twitch, and he tries to laugh, but it turns into a grunt of pain. “I’ll try not to, mi corazon.”
My eyelids instantly close at the words that I thought I would never hear pass his lips again, mi corazon.
“Santi,” I breathe.
The door closes behind us, but I don’t care, they can watch me cry for all I care. They’ve seen me at my absolute worst. I haven’t been a delight the past week, and thankfully Taz has stuck by my side and attempted to take care of me, even when I was a screaming bitch.
“Don’t,” he chokes. “Fuckin’ don’t.”
I shake my head, crawling onto the bed, sitting by his side. I reach out, careful not to touch any part of him as I cup his cheeks and lean down. “I thought that I lost you,” I exhale.
“Don’t,” he rumbles and shakes his head slightly.
Touching my mouth to his, I inhale his scent. He smells like hospital and sickness, but underneath all of that, I can smell him and I can’t wait until he can hold me again. Until I can hold him, too.
Until we can go home, together.
TWO WEEKS LATER
EAGLE
“You’re shittin’ me,” I grunt.
I hobbled my broken-down ass to the clubhouse for this meeting, demanding Dragon meet me here to talk about what the fuck happened to me in Columbia. I was not under the impression that this was something that just happened.
Now that I’m sitting in front of Dragon, he’s just told me that Jaguar is completely MIA. I shake my head. I knew that Charm was gone and Jag had been missing, but they had kept the extent of it all from me.
“Why are you just now telling me this?” I demand.
“You’ve been a little fuckin’ busy and I didn’t think that you needed to know,” he states.
Growling, I lean forward and narrow my eyes on his. “Fuck you, man. Fuck. You. Who is watching my wife? Who is watching my back? He’s fuck knows where and you all hid that shit, what the fuck is wrong with you?” I ask.
Dragon slowly stands to his feet. I watch as he places his palms on the desk and leans forward.
His voice is low, almost scary, if I were scared of him, which I’m not. “I got men on your place twenty-four-seven, brother. You are protected, every minute of every day. Don’t you dare insinuate that I wouldn’t take care of one of my own,” he barks.
“Yeah? Where’s Jag? Where’s his whore?”
Dragon shakes his head. “We’re trying to find him, but he hasn’t used his credit cards, his phone is here, and he doesn’t have any family. So fuckin’ forgive me if we can’t produce him outta goddamn thin air,” he shouts.
Standing to my feet, I take a step toward the desk and rest my hands down on the warm, worn wood, leaning over so that our noses are only inches apart from one another.
“If I find him, I’ll kill him,” I state.
Dragon nods, his nostrils flaring. “You would be within the rules and your rights.”
His words don’t make me feel any better, at all. Yeah, I know I would be within my rights, but I don’t want to have to kill a man that I’ve thought of as a brother.
We betrayed one another. Though, I didn’t try to kill the fucker. Shaking my head, I straighten my back and take a step to the side.
“Go home to your wife. Rest.” Turning my head, I look over at Dragon and he dips his chin before he continues. “I want it to be clear that I am fucking pissed off at the turn of these events. But there’s nothing that I can do about it until we find him. We won’t stop looking for him, not until justice is served. But you need to live your life, you need to heal and be there for your wife and new baby. Don’t fuck up your future because of this.”
Without a word, I hobble out of Dragon’s office and head toward my woman.
Della is sitting on the couch, her head tilted down as she talks to Pinkie who is sitting next to her. The rest of the room disappears the closer that I get to her. Dragon is right. I can’t fuck up my future because of Jaguar, that would make the fucker all too happy if I did, anyway.
The best revenge for that douchebag will be to live my life to the fullest. To plant a dozen babies inside Della and be so goddamn happy that we make the rest of the world sick.
So, that’s what I plan on doing.
“Nena,” I call.
She stops speaking and slowly turns her attention over to me, her lips turning up into a blindingly beautiful fucking smile. I watch as she slowly stands to her feet, waves to Pinkie and makes her way toward me.
“Ready to go home?” she asks.
Dipping my chin, I touch my lips to hers. “Yeah, I’m fuckin’ ready, mi corazon.”
Lifting my arm, I slide it around her shoulders, not just because I want her near but also because I need her body to stabilize my own. Fuck, who knew walking from the car to Dragon’s office would exhaust the fucking shit out of me, but here I am—exhausted.
Together we walk out of the clubhouse, my arm wrapped around my wife’s shoulders, tugging her against my side. Closing my eyes, I hiss out in pain and know that I’ll be no fuckin’ good to her tonight or tomorrow. But I also know that she’ll take care of me regardless.
Because according to her, that’s what you do when you love someone. And I couldn’t be any luckier that she chooses me to love.
UnHide Me
A Savage Beast Short Story
Prologue
TWO MONTHS AGO
COYOTE
I watch her from across the street. I always watch her. Always have. She lives in the same house she grew up in. Although, after her parents died, she’s lived there alone. She doesn’t leave unless she has to. Now that the grocery store does deliveries, she hasn’t left that I can tell in at least two months.
She intrigues me. Not because it’s obvious that she’s a recluse, but because she’s so young and so goddamn breathtakingly beautiful. Why she locks herself away, I’m not sure. I’ve been watching her, waiting for my opportunity to speak to her, to see her, to have her.
Leaning back in my porch chair, I snort to myself. It’s fucking ironic. My own mother was a recluse, hardcore. Now, here I am, watching and wanting one for myself.
Something catches my attention out of the corner of my eye and I sit up a little straighter. Leaning forward, I place my elbows on my knees as I watch a man make his way down the street. He’s on the younger side, looks like he’s about ten years younger than me or so.
He has a little bounce to his step as he walks up Gisele’s front pathway. I only know her name because I got some of her mail a couple weeks ago, before that she was just ‘cute-little-thing-across-the-street.’
I watch as he lifts his hand and bangs his fist against the door. I smirk, knowing for damn sure that unless she’s expecting
someone, she won’t answer that door. I know because I tried when I delivered her mail.
To my surprise, the door slowly opens and I catch a glimpse of her. She’s wearing a pair of shorts and a tank top, showing off her petite lean body. Her auburn hair is pulled up into a ponytail, and I watch as her body shifts from side to side.
I watch as she tries to close the door, but the man shoves his hand against it and holds it open. Shaking my head, I know that this is my time to get in there, and it sucks that this douche has to scare her for it to happen. But, I smirk, knowing that this is probably the only opportunity I’m going to get.
Jogging across the street, I hurry as quickly as I can, down her front path and reach for the shoulder of the man who is already two steps into her house, two fucking steps too many. Clamping my fingers down on his shoulder, I squeeze and jerk his body back.
He sputters and he cries out and looks over his shoulder and up at me. Ignoring him, I shift my gaze over to Gisele. Fuck. She’s even prettier up close than she is from a distance.
“He botherin’ you, Gisele?” I ask, keeping my voice low and even.
I don’t want to scare the shit out of her, and I know from experience with my mother that recluses can frighten easily.
She jerks her head, her gaze lifting to mine and I watch as she licks her lips before they part. Fuck me, I want nothing more than to slide my cock between those sweet lips.
GISELE
My knees shake and I feel like the world can hear them knocking together. The sexy stranger across the street is looking at me. He asked me a question. Oh shit, I need to answer him. What did he ask me, again? Oh, yeah. He asked me if Mark was bothering me.
Snapping my lips closed, I wrinkle my nose. I can’t believe I was willing to have some stranger come to my house from the internet, that I was going to allow him to take my virginity just because I wanted that done and over with before I became so old that it was awkward.
UNLEASH ME: SAVAGE BEAST MC 4 Page 27