by Jamie Begley
Getting off his bike, he strode toward his dog and Zoey.
“I didn’t steal him. He was here when I opened my door.” She apprehensively watched him as he scooped Hannibal up, tucking him under his arm. “I was going to bring him back.”
Stump turned, giving her his back as he headed to his bike.
“Why do you have such an attitude toward me?”
He turned back to her, finding she was practically on his heels. Her bluntness deserved the same from him.
“You’re trying to steal my dog by being nice to him.”
“That’s ridiculous. Maybe if you were nicer, your dog would stop trying to run away.”
“I’m nice to my dog.”
“Really? A dog needs more than someone to be nice. They need love, affection—”
“Has your hand been in my wallet? Did I pay you to lecture me like Penni and Grace do?”
Zoey’s mouth dropped open like she was a fucking fish.
His eyes wandered down her body, seeing the way she was dressed. The yoga outfit accented the mounds of her breasts, forcing him to grit his teeth to keep from panting like Hannibal was as the dog tried to get away. The curves of her hips were made for his hands to reach out and jerk her to him so he could shut her mouth with his tongue.
“There’s not enough money in the world to pay me for advising you to be a better person. Clearly, your mother failed to teach you manners, and your father failed to teach you to be a gentleman.”
His eyes were drawn from her breasts when she started snapping her fingers in front of his face, forcing him to meet her fiery gaze.
“You going to work dressed like that? I can see how you have so many followers with a rack like yours.” Purposely being rude, he began texting Max, giving him directions to Zoey’s house, while ignoring her glare.
“I can see why you have a dachshund. A Doberman or German Shepherd would tear you apart.”
“Hannibal may be small, but he’s tough.”
She gently reached out to rub his head. “Are you thirsty after running all the way here, baby?”
Her croon to the dog had his dick nearly bulging out of his jeans.
Shifting the dog closer to his chest, he narrowed his eyes at her. “I’ll give him something to drink when I get him back to the club.”
“Let me get my keys. I’ll follow you home with him.”
“Max is on his way here. You can do whatever you were doing. I’ve got it taken care of.”
“Fine,” she snapped, going back inside her house and leaving him staring after her at the abrupt departure.
“You are so being downgraded when I have to go to the pet store again. I’m shopping in the clearance section,” he threatened, going to sit on his bike to wait for Max.
He just sat his ass down when she came out carrying a bottled water and a bowl. Her expression dared him to say anything as she opened the bottle and poured some of the water into the bowl.
“If I don’t talk to him, will you let Hannibal have it?”
“You don’t give up, do you?”
“No.”
“If you don’t tell Grace and Penni that he got away from me, he can have the water.”
“I wasn’t going to tell them anyway.”
“Then go ahead.”
Stump held the dog closer to the water bowl for Hannibal to drink. He had fed and watered the dog before he’d taken off, but he still felt guilty when he finished the water and she had to pour more into the bowl.
Recognizing the car turning down the street, he waved as it approached. When Max pulled alongside him, he got off his bike, then put Hannibal in the back seat.
“Do not let him out of the car until I get there,” he warned Max. “I’m right behind you.”
“I wasn’t going to. Shut the fucking door before he takes off again.”
Max gave him an irritated glance when Hannibal started whining.
Stump closed the door, going to his bike as Max drove away.
“Hannibal likes riding in the front seat.”
At her observation, Stump looked to where she stood on the sidewalk. “When he learns to drive, he can sit wherever he wants to. Until then, he’ll sit wherever the fuck I put him.”
Ignoring her furious glare, he got on his bike and started it. Twisting the throttle, he let out a rev bomb so he wouldn’t be able to hear the words coming out of her mouth.
Smirking, he drove away, leaving her behind, unconcerned about what she was saying. When he got back to the clubhouse, he was going to fix it so that Zoey and Grace knew without a shadow of a doubt who Hannibal belonged to.
8
Mom,
Please call! Please! I don’t want to stay with Dad anymore! He made me leave Bandit behind with Macy. I hate her. She’ll be mean to Bandit. If you won’t come and get me, will you please call Dad and make him give Bandit back to me? He’s my best friend, and he doesn’t like to asleep alone. If you get him back for me, I promise I’ll stop asking you to call and come for a visit. He’s a good dog and gives me lots of kisses, and he will be missing me as much as I miss him. Please, Mommy. I want him back. He’s my best friend. Please, Mom.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxxo
Love,
Zoey
Seeing the door open, Zoey went into Penni’s office. Grace was sitting behind the computer, looking up when she saw her come inside.
“Penni in?”
Grace nodded. “She’s in her office, talking to Ice. Can I help you with something?”
“No, I was just going to have a quick chat with her. I’ll catch her later. How are you doing today?”
“I’m doing great. You want to get lunch this afternoon?”
“I wish I could, but I have too many appointments to take lunch today.”
“I could pick something up for you if you want?”
“No thanks. I had a big breakfast, so I’m good until dinner.”
“Let me know if you change your mind.”
“I will. Thanks, Grace.”
Her first two appointments went smoothly. She began to get hungry for lunch as she took notes while her third appointment talked about his job.
“Should I take the promotion?”
“That’s a question only you can answer. Moving into a higher position wasn’t one of the goals you set and—”
The blaring of the fire alarm had her and Marc rising to their feet.
“The fire escape is outside my door.”
Going into the hallway, Marc turned toward the stairway, holding the door open for her.
“You go ahead. I want to make sure Penni and Grace left.”
“I’ll wait.”
Marc’s frightened face had her shaking her head at him. “No, you go ahead. I won’t be but a moment.”
She didn’t have to tell him again; he rushed out the door.
Zoey heard the sounds of feet and excited voices in the stairwell as the door closed behind him.
Knocking on Penni’s door, she then tried the doorknob. Relieved that the women must be out for lunch, she ran toward the stairwell, slowing down when she reached the now empty steps so she wouldn’t fall down.
Her gaze focused on the steps, she had gone down two flights when she felt a hard shove against her back as she passed a stairway door.
Feeling herself tumbling down the steps, she unconsciously screamed. Her body hit the steps, landing awkwardly on the landing between the two floors. Whimpering at the pain in her knee, she rose onto one forearm to stare up at the landing from where she had fallen. Thinking that she had been knocked down the steps by someone fleeing the fire, she was stunned to see no one was there and no one had gone past her.
Reaching for the handrail, she pulled herself to her feet. Then, forcing the wrenching pain aside, she hobbled down the steps, keeping a firm grip on the handrail.
As she passed the next floor’s door, she kept her eyes on it, making sure no one came at her a second time.
Counting the landings o
ff one by one, she was grateful when she reached the door to the outside.
Shoving the metal bar to open the door, she pushed it twice before she realized it was locked. The fire alarm still going off spurred her into action.
She went to the other door that led into the lobby, hesitant to open it as a silent warning shivered down her spine. She had felt the same way the night in the parking garage when she found the note. Her instincts were screaming not to go into the lobby, while the blaring alarm was creating an urgency to get out.
Backing away from the lobby door, she tried the outside door again, hoping it would open. It didn’t.
Battling back the hysteric urge to pound on the door, she hobbled back up the steps, going to the next landing. She was terrified she was wasting precious minutes.
She shakily reached for the metal doorknob, relief rushing through her when it opened. As fast as she could, her kneecap protesting with every step, she went down the hall to the stairs on the other side of the building.
Fear once again intensified in her stomach when she came to the door that led outside, afraid it wouldn’t open like the other one.
Pressing down on the metal bar, a rush of wind greeted her as it flew open at the strength she used. A crowd of people that she recognized from the building was standing around in small groups, talking, as firemen in their uniforms rushed past them to go inside the building.
“Zoey! Are you okay?” Penni and Grace called out to her, immediately running to take each of her arms.
“I’m fine. I lost my footing on the steps and twisted my knee,” Zoey explained, calming the two upset women.
“We were out to lunch, and when we came back, we saw firetrucks but didn’t see you. We tried to go inside, but the firefighters wouldn’t let us.”
They helped her to a low concrete bench, sitting down next to her and reaching for her hands as if she was about to disappear from their sight.
“You should never go inside a burning building,” Zoey chided them. The thought that they could have been trapped inside while trying to help her filled her with sick dread.
“We would have been okay. One of the firefighters said it was a false alarm. When they find out who it was, I hope they go to jail. Someone could have been seriously hurt.”
Zoey tightened her hand in Penni’s. “No one was hurt. That’s what counts. We’re all safe and sound. You can’t ask for more than that.”
Penni and Grace didn’t agree, but they weren’t able to argue as the sound of motorcycle motors filled the air.
The three women turned to look over their shoulders as a massive wave of motorcycles filled the street.
“Uh…” She was astounded by the multitude of bikes, having stopped counting at thirty. “Grace, how many men belong to your husband’s club?”
Grace took in Ice’s foreboding features as he and the six daunting bikers surrounding him stalked toward them.
“I don’t know. I’ve never asked. Do you know, Penni?”
“A couple hundred, give or take. That’s not counting the ones they could ask for backup from my brother’s MC, the Last Riders. And then there is Hennessy’s club in Arkansas.”
“Are there any motorcycle clubs you don’t have ties to?” Zoey had no idea that the two women’s husbands were in a real motorcycle club.
Grace had told her that she used to be a professor before she moved closer to be with Ice before they married. Each of her words and actions were so gentle and refined with her ladylike mannerisms. And Penni’s sometimes scatterbrained, exuberant personality had never led her to believe that the boys’ club that enjoyed riding motorcycles as a part-time hobby was a real-life MC.
“Grace said Ice worked security for a business in town. And Penni, you said Jackal works as a bouncer at the Purple Pussycat.”
“They do… technically,” Penni answered, sharing an enigmatic gaze with Grace without further explanations as the men came to stand over them.
“What happened?” Ice focused on his wife, waiting for Grace’s reply, while Jackal sat down next to Penni, taking her other hand.
“It was a false alarm. How did you know?”
“Jackal heard it on the police scanner. Do they know who pressed the alarm?”
“Not yet.” Grace’s brow knitted with her frown.
“Jackal.”
Ice’s cold order had Jackal leaving Penni’s side.
Zoey watched as Jackal went to a small group of firefighters who were talking to a police officer.
“Thank God you’re okay!”
A frantic voice had her turning back to see Marc, who knelt down in front of her, taking both of her hands solicitously.
“If anything had happened to you after you told me to go ahead, I would’ve never forgiven myself.”
“Marc, I’m fine.”
“I should have stayed when you wanted to make sure the office across the hall was empty.”
“You were the last one out because you thought we were in our office?” Grace shook her head in dismay.
Zoey flushed under the scrutiny of all the men. “I just wanted to make sure. Marc, you did what you were supposed to do.” Focused on her client, she ignored the troubled gaze of the man behind Ice.
Stump remained silent, as had the rest of the bikers behind Grace’s husband.
Marc stood, releasing her hands. “I should have sent you ahead and checked for you.”
“You were being smart. Don’t ever fault yourself for that,” she reassured him. “I twisted my knee coming down the steps. Would you mind helping me to the ambulance?”
At being asked for his assistance, he eagerly took her arm and helped her to her feet.
Wincing with each excruciating movement, she leaned against him, letting him take her weight.
His whole face lit up, the conscience-stricken expression fading.
“I didn’t want to bother anyone by asking, but I knew I could count on you.” She built his ego as they walked to the ambulance that was getting ready to leave.
When he would have waited until she was checked out, she told him to go ahead and that she would call him later. She just wanted to lay down and his hovering was making her uncomfortable. Plus, the quicker she was treated, the quicker she could go home and soak in a hot bath.
Stifling a moan when the paramedic prodded her tender flesh, she remembered the appointments that were scheduled for the rest of the day. She had forgotten her phone in her office, so she couldn’t cancel them right now. She wished she had asked Marc to retrieve it for her.
She looked over and saw Ice and Grace a few feet away, watching the paramedic work on her.
Zoey cleared her throat at the pain that was clogging it. “Grace? I left my phone in my office. Would you…?”
“I’ll take care of it.” Ice gestured for someone out of her sight.
Zoey leaned back on the gurney, feeling grateful for his help, even if he was sending someone else to get her phone. Her relief was short-lived, however, when she saw Ice talking to Stump. She would rather keep the appointments than ask Stump to do something for her.
“Never mind. It isn’t important,” Zoey raised her voice, stopping Stump before he went on the errand.
The dislikable man ignored her, other than to complain to Grace that he didn’t care if she didn’t want a favor from him; she was stuck letting him.
“Your knee is going to need X-rays,” the paramedic told her as he began strapping her to the gurney.
“Wait. I need to wait for my phone.”
“Take her,” Ice instructed as he moved closer. “I’ll text Stump to leave a note on your door, and Grace can bring your phone to the ER.”
From his stern expression, Zoey could see that any argument would be useless.
“Just ask one of the nurses to give it to me,” she told Grace. “There’s no need for you to have wait around.”
“Would you leave me in an ER without making sure I’m okay?” From the twinkle in her eyes, Grace already
knew the answer.
Giving in to the inevitable, she stared up at the roof of the ambulance. Her optimism kicked in, telling her that everyone in the building had gotten out safely, even the person who caused her injury. Wondering if it was the same person that pulled the alarm, she decided not to tell anyone that she had been pushed.
Whoever had done it would be caught and charged, and she didn’t want to have to take part in the court proceedings.
As the ambulance driver was about to close the door, Penni jumped inside, giving them no choice but to let her go.
“I can go by myself—”
Penni waved Zoey’s argument away as the ambulance began moving. “I need a quick piece of advice.”
Pain was beginning to cloud her mind, but she made the effort to raise her head to listen attentively.
“I have a close friend who doesn’t know how important she is to me, and I want to be with her. Could you tell me a polite way to tell her to shut up?”
Zoey’s head fell back on the gurney. “Point taken.”
“Good.”
When Zoey heard the telltale sound of a picture being taken, she raised her head to see Penni lowering her phone.
“What did you just take a picture of?” she asked suspiciously.
“Of you. Just think about how many likes you’ll get.”
Zoey’s head fell back again, her eyes going to the sympathetic paramedic. “If you turn the lights and sirens on, will we get to the hospital faster?”
“Yes,” he answered.
“Do it.”
9
Stump steered around the crowd as he went inside the building where he noticed two firefighters and a cop inspecting one of the doors in the lobby.
When he rudely used his body to cut through the line at the elevator, several people gave him irritated glances, which he ignored. Then he unapologetically pushed his way inside the elevator when it opened.
Pressing the button, he impatiently waited for the doors to close. Then he continued to wait as the doors glided open and close on each level. It had him drumming his fingers on the side of his jeans.
He got off on Penni’s floor, telling himself he would take the stairs on his way down. It would be quicker than having to go back down in the elevator with the building’s occupants stopping on each floor.