Treats Aren't Always Sweet

by Harley McRide

  “Yes?” he asked.

  “I don’t know these people, why are you talking to them like they are in charge of something?” her father demanded.

  The doctor frowned deeper and then pulled out the patient file of Jilly and opened it and then said, “I am sorry, sir, you will need to take it up with these two men. Their names are Beau Freeman and Jarrik LaDrea, they have been appointed by Jilly Thompson as her legal representatives, along with her sister, Brooke Thompson, as next of kin in regards to her stay here. If you need any information you can ask these people,” the doctor said and then turned and walked away.

  Treat frowned now too, what the fuck did that mean ‘legal representatives’? They weren’t lawyers, they were ex-Marine pilots. But she didn’t say a word, she listened, especially when Match tightened his arm warningly when she went to step forward.

  “Now listen here,” her father said softly and menacingly. Damn when his voice went like that, someone was going to get a beating.

  “No, sir,” Stone said and stepped closer to her father. “You listen. At eight a.m. this morning, court documents were filed in the State of California, by my partner and me. In them our client, one, Jillian Thompson, indicated she was in fear for her life and her son’s life. A restraining order is in place for her and her son against you, your wife, and Lane Drick, who you and I both know is not her legal husband. So, I will inform you now that at no time can you be within five hundred feet of our client. Now, you would have been served had you answered your door today when my associates came knocking.”

  Her father sputtered. “We were not going to answer the door to that bunch of biker roughnecks who were knocking on our door. We called the police because we were frightened.”

  “At which time you were informed they were there to serve papers and you should answer the door. You refused,” Stone said quietly.

  Treat was holding her breath; she had no idea what the fuck was going on, everything seemed to be moving around her.

  “My daughter needs me, and you are not going to stop me from seeing her,” Chet bellowed loudly and then turned and pointed at Treat. “And that little whore has no business being here. She hasn’t seen Jilly in years, did you tell the court that?”

  Treat saw War’s eyes follow her father’s hand and land on her. He practically growled when he saw Match had his arm around her like that. Stone was looking at her father through narrowed eyes. It was her mother who actually said something. Treat had no doubt that later she would pay for it as well.

  “Maybe we should call Lane…” she whispered and Chet ignored her.

  “You can’t come in here and order us around. I know you, you and your friends. You can’t run everyone in this town, not everyone is afraid of you,” Chet yelled.

  Stone sneered at him and held out the papers he had pulled out of his pocket and pushed them into her father’s chest. Treat knew this was like waving a red flag in front of her father; he hated anyone to touch him like that.

  “Fuck you,” Chet said and knocked the hand holding the papers to his chest. “We will be back, you can’t hold our daughter and grandson hostage. And you,” he said, turning to Treat. “You and all your fucking friends are not going to stop Lane from getting his family back. You would do well to tell these people to back off, and you know why too. I don’t need to remind you, but trust me I will.”

  War pushed her father aside and faced him down. “Not a wise thing to do. She doesn’t exist for you, old man, at all, remember that.”

  Treat shivered at War’s tone, and Match whispered in her ear, “Come on, sweetheart, go see your sister. There is nothing else here.”

  Treat nodded, turned, and leaned close to the man who had been supporting her quietly and kissed his cheek innocently. She liked Match, not sexually, but as a friend, he had always been good to her.

  “Thanks,” she whispered and he nodded and opened the door behind him and pushed her in gently. She didn’t look over her shoulder, she just walked in, missing the look War and Stone both gave Match who was grinning and shrugged.

  Jilly looked so small lying in the hospital bed. She had seen her yesterday for the first time in years, and she didn’t even recognize her because of the blood. Although she knew it was her, when they were children, Jilly had the most perfect golden blond hair. It was silky and soft, Treat loved to brush it, it was sad her hair was how she recognized her.

  Tears gathered in her eyes as she stepped closer. She took in the injuries the doctor had given her over the phone. Her arm was in a cast from being broken in half. Her ribs were wrapped, one of her legs was in a soft cast because of torn tendons in her ankle. And her face, her poor face, she was unrecognizable, the whole area was one big bruise, from her forehead to her chin. Swollen and grossly distorted, her cheeks looked painful. Shit, the motherfucker was going to fucking pay for this, every single cut, bruise, and broken bone.

  “Brooke?” Jilly whispered and her eyes went to her sister’s face.

  “Oh, Jilly,” Treat sniffed and went to her side, afraid to touch her anywhere.

  “I need to get out of here, he will find me. Even those lawyers can’t stop him,” Jilly cried.

  “Honey, I am not sure—” Treat said.

  “Beau and Jarrik, I mean they are nice and everything but Lane will kill them if he has too,” Jilly said.

  “Honey, they are not lawyers,” Treat said softly.

  “Yes they are,” Jilly argued and Treat smiled at her gently.

  “They are members of the MC club I belong to,” Treat said.

  “Yeah I know,” Jilly said and rolled her eyes. “Ummm, Match? Told me. But seriously, lawyers in an MC? I am pretty sure weekend warriors can’t stop Lane.”

  Treat laughed and shook her head. “They can explain when they come in, I promise. Damn, honey, you don’t look good.”

  “I look like shit I know.” Jilly laughed a little then moaned. “Yeah, note to self—laughing is not good right now.”

  “I am so sorry,” Treat said. “I should have come back for you.”

  Jilly shook her head and grimaced. “No you shouldn’t have. You wouldn’t have stopped it; they would have sucked you in then. Trust me, you got out when you could and I would never hold that against you.”

  Treat bit her lip, she still felt guilty. “Well, you and Buddy don’t have to deal with that crap anymore.”

  “Buddy?” Jilly whispered.

  “Oh sorry, your son, we didn’t know his name, and I refused to ask the fuckrents, so we nicknamed him.” Treat grinned.

  “His name is River,” she whispered and Treat’s eyes filled again. It was the name Treat always said that she would name her kid, boy or girl, if she had any. “I didn’t mean to take your name, but when I found out I was pregnant I couldn’t help myself. I wanted to be able to tell you about your nephew, but Lane told me if I talked to you, he would kill me. He said you made your choice when you left, that you were supposed to be his wife, but he settled for me.”

  Treat’s eyes widened. “What the fuck?”

  “He told me over and over that I was a second choice. How I should be thankful he let me take care of him. It was my duty to the family,” Jilly said quietly.

  Treat swore aloud and then took her sister’s hand carefully. “You never have to go back there again.”

  Jilly sobbed a little and nodded. “I know, those two lawyers told me that. I can never thank you enough for hiring them for me. I can’t loose River too, he is everything to me. I couldn’t leave until I had something to fall back on. He doesn’t give me money for anything. Even River, if he needs something Lane gets it. I have been searching his pockets when I do wash, I have only gotten a few hundred together.”

  Treat sniffed. “You don’t need to worry about money.”

  And she didn’t, Treat made good money in the last few years, invested it, took the bonuses and bought some stock in the mine from the Warriors. She had a nest egg, and it would only get bigger. She had more than en
ough to get her sister started and on her own.

  “I can get a job,” she cried. “When I get better.”

  “Jilly,” Treat whispered. “Seriously, you do not need to worry about money. I got this; I have enough for you and me. Don’t worry about it. All you need to do is get better, and then I can get you home, our new home for now. Buddy is already there, staying with the President of our club and his old lady. He is safe, and Lane will never find him.”

  The door opened and Treat looked over, War and Stone stood there in their leather chaps, and leather vest with the patches on them. They so didn’t look like lawyers, she thought and looked at her sister who was staring at them wide eyed. Shit, let them explain why they lied to the doctors and everyone.

  “Jilly?” Stone said softly and her sister looked at her in panic.

  “This is War and Stone, um, Beau and Jarrik I mean. They are the men from the club I was telling you about,” Treat said softly.

  “But,” Jilly said worriedly. “That other man said you were lawyers.”

  War smiled and stepped forward. “We are.”

  Treat frowned; she was so kicking their ass for lying to her sister. Dammit.

  “Seriously,” Stone said and looked right at her when he was talking. “We both went to law school while we were in the military, made rank, wanted to have something to fall back on when we got out. Then we joined the club, they needed lawyers, and so we are it. Not many people know that, everyone assumes we don’t have degrees and are idiots.”

  “The members of the club though? They all know?” Treat said tightly, thinking they had kept something from her.

  “The men know, we just passed the bar a few months ago. Fish helped us, which is why we went back and forth so much. So, Jilly, we are real lawyers, and we have a real protective order for you,” Stone said and Jilly started to sob.

  “Finally,” she whispered and closed her eyes and appeared to be praying. Treat’s eyes prickled with tears when she saw her sister had been brought so low. Beaten and battered, and grateful someone had helped her and her son out. Shit, she should kick her own ass for not thinking about her. The guilt was overwhelming; she leaned over and kissed her sister’s cheek.

  “We have some things we need to talk to Jilly about,” War said gently, Treat nodded and sniffed, she needed air.

  “I will be back in a while,” Treat said and Stone opened his mouth to protest but she shook her head. She was barely holding it together, and didn’t need her sister to see her break. Reluctantly they let her walk to the door and leave. She could see the conflict in their eyes, but she couldn’t deal with this all right now, she needed air.

  She didn’t look at anything but the floor; the only thing she could think of was getting outside. She heard Match call her name but she ignore it, she couldn’t stop or she was going to lose it in the hallway. So she just moved with a purpose, her only thought was to make it outside.

  Treat didn’t take the elevator, it would take too long so she took the stairs. She felt the weight of what happened to her sister closing in, the anger, the pain she endured, all because she hadn’t kept in touch with her sister.

  Dammit all to fucking hell, she wanted to freaking forget, she wanted a do-over. When she left, she was young, helpless, and broke. It sucked, and it pissed her off even more.

  When she hit the main floor and saw the outside, Treat had no thought other than to get to her bike and ride. She needed to feel the wind, the freedom…fuck, she needed to forget. If she would’ve been paying attention, she would have seen the car pull out behind her, following at a distance.

  Chapter Eight

  Lane wasn’t stupid, he knew for a fact Chet and his idiot wife would never be able to get to Jilly. Stupid fuckers had no clue how to get what they wanted, probably why they were in debt in the first place.

  He needed information, because he didn’t give a shit about that idiotic woman, he wanted his son. No one was going to take his flesh and blood from him. And the added bonus was going to be the new bride he was going to gain. He wasn’t stupid, with only a few phone calls he learned all about Brooke ‘Treat’ Thompson, and what she had been up to. The woman wasn’t stupid, he knew that when she was younger, he just hadn’t had a chance to get her.

  Lane picked up the phone and made a few calls as he followed Brooke, he grinned as he looked at her ass. Yeah, she was supposed to be his, he could almost feel the satisfaction of bringing her to heel. The fucking whore, wearing those tight clothes, flaunting her body, yeah, he was totally going to bring that bitch to heel. She was his; she could raise her sister’s kid when he got rid of her. Stupid bitch was worthless anyway, the only good thing she did was fucking give him a son, other than that, nothing.

  “Yeah, I am gonna need some help, I have a change of plans.” Lane smiled into the phone.

  “Change of plans? This is gonna cost you,” the man said and Lane grimaced, he had called in a debt to help him get his son back.

  “Whatever, I have the money, or I will have the money. Turns out my bitch’s sister is loaded. That’s right, loaded. So I need to get rid of Jilly fast. Then I need somewhere to relocate myself and my new family.” Lane smiled.

  He hung up the phone and followed. Hell yeah, things were looking up, he just had to follow her, get the tracking device on her bike, then sit back and wait. He already had a connection to the group of people the bitch was apparently hanging out with. He didn’t know until right now how useful that was going to be. One phone call and he would have someone on the inside. All those biker types hung around together, Lane thought of the rumors he had heard about where they hung out.

  Chapter Nine

  Treat pulled back into the hospital parking lot two hours later. War’s and Stone’s bikes were still there, she noticed with a grimace, but still parked next to them. Shit, she had needed that, the ugly thoughts running through her head threatened to overtake her. It didn’t happen often, but it did happen. When she was riding, she finally admitted to herself that was why she had left in the first place. If she hadn’t she would have slit her wrists, she knew it because of the overwhelming sense of hopelessness she had felt growing up.

  She felt bad her sister had to endure what she did, and yes, she felt guilty she hadn’t come back for her. However, she needed to get the fuck over it, because there was no way she had been equipped to handle another person when she left, it took a long time for her to be able to deal, and then, Treat had just been fucking happy she was out of it.

  She lifted her leg over the seat and was ready to go inside when she saw War and Stone walking toward her.

  Treat turned her head and looked out into the street, focusing on the traffic instead of them, because she couldn’t do this, she was so over them being here. “Yeah, needed to clear my head a little. What are you still doing here?”

  “Waiting for you,” War snapped. “Where did you go?”

  Treat frowned and then she just snapped, seriously she could not take this shit anymore. “What the fuck do you care? And who the fuck do you think you are? You have no right to ask me where I was, going, or fucking thinking.”

  “The hell we don’t!” Stone snapped back. “You are ours.”

  “I am yours? Is that what you said, yours? Yeah, well keep telling yourself that, then roll over and wake the fuck up ‘cause you are dreaming. You don’t get to have a claim on me, you gave that up when you stuck your dicks in my best friend,” Treat yelled and began to walk to the hospital.

  “Oh hell no you don’t. Your sister is fine, and we are going to get some things straight right the fuck now,” War roared back at her, grabbed her arm, and pulled her toward his bike.

  “What are you doing? I am not going anywhere with you,” she screamed.

  Stone laughed coldly and followed glaring at her. “Yeah you are, we are done with your bullshit. It is time to settle this crap once and for all.”

  “What the hell are you talking about? There is nothing to settle. If you think
I am ever going to let your rabid dicks anywhere near me… You probably have a disease, go to the doctor and get some antibiotics and then fucking call a whore who cares,” Treat yelled and kicked out her booted foot.

  War stopped, turned her suddenly, and spanked, yes spanked her ass. “Knock it off, you are getting on this bike, and if you fight me, I will strip your pants down right here and now and redden that ass in front of anyone who wants to see.”

  Treat opened and closed her mouth several times while glaring at him. Then she crossed her arms and tapped her foot.

  “Try it and you will be a fucking eunuch,” she snapped.

  Stone shook his head. “Way wrong answer, babe.”

  Treat opened her mouth and War shook his head and pointed. “Get your ass on the back of that bike now.”

  She could have argued but a security car pulled into the lot and she wasn’t going to fucking have them call the cops. Damn them. Silently she went to War’s bike and got on. Both men got on their bikes and they took off.

  By the time they got back to their house, both men were pissed. They were sick and tired of her throwing Trick in their face and using it as a shield not to deal with them. They fucked up, but damn, she needed to get the fuck over that. They knew she was theirs, had from the moment they fucked up but dammit, they didn’t fix it then, they had waited.

  Stone went and held to the door and waited. Both men knew Treat was going to put up a fight, and they weren’t let down. When War pulled into the driveway, she waited just long enough for War to stop before she hopped off the bike and began walking to their President’s house. Of course, Bic had to be sitting out there smoking when they pulled up.

  The woman smiled and stood and put a hand up to shade her eyes.

  “Hey, Treat, I met your new friend a little bit ago. Uh, Free is showing him around the showers in the clubhouse right now. He is interesting. Buddy is down for a nap, how is your sister?”

  Treat smiled stiffly and opened her mouth to tell Bic she needed a place to stay when an arm wrapped around her waist and she was suddenly off her feet and moving away from Bic, who looked shocked but began laughing.