Heading out front, I sit at my desk and look through the appointment book. Today is actually a slow day, which I’m grateful for.
I hear my phone buzz in my purse, remembering Toby’s text message from earlier. Shit, I forgot to text him back. Grabbing my phone, I hear the bell on the front door jingle, but instead of looking up to greet whoever it is, I unlock my phone and say, “I’ll be right with you.”
Whoever walks in doesn’t respond, and that’s fine by me. I really need to let Toby know I wasn’t ignoring him. Just as I’m pulling up my messages, the person speaks, and the voice has me paralyzed with fear. “Hello, Sara. Miss me?”
Looking up, I see Rick leaning against the desk with a cruel smile on his face. The way he’s looking at me, I can tell that he’s trying to act as normal as possible since we’re in a place of business, but I see the danger lurking in his eyes.
I sit back straight in my chair and try to push myself further away from the desk, and from him, without him noticing. I need to distract him. Maybe if I wait long enough, someone will come in and he’ll have no choice but to leave. “W-what are you doing here, Rick?” I stumble over my words, my fear making it hard to talk.
As soon as the words are out of my mouth, he drops the smile. “Why, I’m here to bring you home.” The smile is back, but it’s even crueler now, letting me know what waits for me. I can’t let this happen. I’m not leaving with him. I’m finally getting my life back and have people who care about me. No, I’m not leaving with him; not now, not ever.
Getting my first boost of courage since the moment I realized he was here, I sit taller and look at him defiantly. “I am home. I’m not going anywhere with you, so you need to leave.” I get up and make my way around my desk to walk away from him and into the back of the shop, but I forgot what type of man he is. He wouldn’t show up here and leave without me; he would take me with him, kicking and screaming if he had to.
I barely make it three steps away from him before he rushes me and pulls me back by my hair, which causes me to cry out. “Did you forget who the fuck you were talking to, bitch? I said we were leaving, even if I have to drag you out of here by your hair.” He turns us around and starts pushing me toward the door, but he doesn’t release my hair.
“J-just leave me alone, Rick,” I cry. This cannot be happening! Things were going so well. I can’t let him do this. He cannot get me out of the building because if he does, I’ll never get away from him alive.
He doesn’t answer, he just yanks on my hair even harder. “Shut the fuck up!” He begins pushing me again, when suddenly I hear a gun cocking from behind. Thinking he now has a gun and it’s pointed at me, I stop and close my eyes, praying this isn’t the end.
“Let her go,” Dani says in a low, menacing voice. Oh my God, Dani, no! What if Rick lashes out and hurts her?
I try turning around to plead with Dani to back away. I don’t know what I would do if something happened to her because of me. I only make it halfway around with Rick still holding my hair in his fist, but it’s enough for me to see that Dani has her gun trained on his head and she’s not paying any attention to me. Her sole focus is on Rick.
Rick pauses for only a moment, stunned, before he relaxes, not thinking Dani will shoot. “Why don’t you put that gun away, little girl, before you hurt yourself,” Rick says evenly, then starts to back up slowly, still holding onto my hair. Fuck, my scalp hurts, but there’s nothing I can do. I feel so helpless. I wish now I would’ve kept going to those self-defense classes. Maybe then I would know how to get myself out of this mess.
“I wouldn’t take another step if I were you.” She sounds so commanding and badass right now. If it were any other situation, if we both weren’t in danger right now and I wasn’t so scared, I would hoot and holler that she’s amazing.
Her words make Rick laugh, but it’s quickly cut off when he takes another step back and Dani fires a round at his feet. I look down and see that the bullet landed right in front of his big toe. “Last chance, motherfucker. Let her go or the next shot won’t be a warning, it will be your death shot.” This has Rick pausing. He lets go of my hair, but still has a hard grip on my arm.
Peeking at him through the corner of my eye, he looks like he’s weighing his options, and maybe he’s even a little scared.
Finally, he releases my arm and pushes me forward. “Fuck this,” he says as he gives one last glance toward Dani, probably to make sure she won’t shoot, before walking backwards again. When he gets the door open and is almost outside, he looks at me and what I see makes me shiver in fear; I see a promise in his eyes. A promise of pain.
CHAPTER 9
Toby
I’ve been sitting around for the last hour waiting to hear back from Sara about tonight. It’s not like that’s strange since I know she’s working, though. Sometimes she just gets busy and can’t return my text immediately, but I have a bad feeling. I feel it deep in my gut that something isn’t right, yet I don’t know if it has to do with her not answering me or if it’s something to do with the club. But my gut has never steered me wrong before, so I’ve learned to never dismiss it.
Knowing I won’t be able to calm myself down until I hear from her and will at least be able to rule her out for the reason why I have a bad feeling, I decide to call her. She’s never not answered when I call her phone, even when she’s with a customer because she figures if I’m calling and not texting, it could be something important. It helps that when we first got together, I told her that even though the MC businesses are mainly legit now and we rarely have problems, it’s still very important for her to answer her phone if I ever call, just in case there’s an emergency she needs to be aware of. She’s still new to everything, but I think she’s coping and managing everything pretty well.
Picking up my phone, I dial her number and listen to it ring. It goes to voicemail, so I hang up and dial again, but it goes to voicemail again. The feeling I have in my stomach just got worse. Something is wrong.
Grabbing my keys, I head for my truck, not sure what type of situation I’ll encounter, and start driving toward Sinners Ink.
Pulling into my parking spot out back, I open the door, but before I even get one foot out of the truck, I hear a gunshot ring out. I take my phone out of my pocket as I reach into my glove box to grab my gun. “Yeah?” Mack answers after two rings.
“Gunshot at Sinners Ink and the girls should be working. Not sure if Louie is inside or not. Get the boys and haul ass, I’m going in.” I don’t even wait for him to respond before I’m hanging up and running to the back door.
Opening it as quietly as possible, I step inside and pause, listening for anything that will give me an idea of who’s inside, how many, and where they are located, but it’s quiet. Not really a good sign, but it doesn’t mean it’s bad either.
I move into the break room to clear it when I hear a man’s voice from the front. It sounds like he’s saying “fuck it,” or maybe “fuck you,” I can’t be sure. Stepping into the hallway again, I quietly move towards the front. I wish I knew how many were inside. If I knew what I was dealing with, I wouldn’t have to be so cautious.
I’m almost there when I hear a thump, and then someone crying. Fuck being careful, I’ll just shoot any fucker who isn’t Sara, Dani or Louie. Fuck the consequences. My girl needs me.
Running into the front room, I see Dani on the floor in front of the door with Sara in her arms. I do a quick sweep of the room to make sure no one else is inside and rush over to them. “Are you girls okay? Are you hurt?” I ask, afraid to move them since I have no idea what’s happened.
I spot Dani’s gun lying close beside her, so at least the girls had some sort of protection, but I need answers. I need to know who I’m dealing with, how many, and what they are after. I feel so helpless right now and I fucking hate it.
Kneeling in front of the girls, I reach out my hand to touch Sara’s head but as soon as she feels me, she flinches back and burrows into Dani more. What
the fuck?
“Dani. I need some fucking answers right now.” I grit out through clenched teeth. I’m so far inside my rage, my head is spinning.
Dani looks at me and I see a mixture of pain and anger on her face. “Help me move her to the break room, then we’ll talk.” I nod my head, afraid to say anything else and scare Sara any more than she already is.
I move closer to them so I can grab a hold of Sara to move her. “Sara, honey. Toby’s here and he’s going to pick you up and take you into the break room. You’re safe. Nobody will take you away from us, okay? Everything will be all right, I promise.” Dani speaks firmly, but quietly to Sara. When she looks back up at me and nods her head, I reach out and take Sara into my arms. She comes to me easily now that she knows it’s me, but I feel her shaking in my arms, crying out in fear or pain, I’m not sure which.
When I stand up and move toward the back, I stop and say to Dani, “The boys are on their way. Should be here any second. Flag them down to let them know the coast is clear when they get here and meet us in the back.” She nods and turns toward the front door, keeping a lookout for the guys while I move towards the break room.
Laying Sara down on the couch, I kiss her head, her eyes, her nose, and then her mouth. She doesn’t kiss me back, but I wasn’t expecting her to. “Are you injured, Doll?” I ask, praying she’s just shaken up. It takes her a couple of seconds to register my question, then another moment to do a mental inventory before she shakes her head no. Thank fuck for small favors.
“That’s good. That’s real good. Can you tell me what happened?” The bell above the front door jingles, which tells me the boys are here. I feel Sara stiffen in my arms and see her shaking her head back and forth. “Hey, it’s okay. It’s just Mack and the others. You’re safe. I won’t let anyone hurt you. I’ll kill anyone who tries.”
“She all right?” Mack asks. I nod my head, hoping it’s the right answer.
In the small amount of time she’s been here, she’s become like another daughter to Mack. I know he would do anything for her, as would I, and I know since she means so much to both of us and Dani, the rest of the brothers would go to the ends of the earth for her too. It’s an amazing feeling knowing I have my brothers behind me, and my woman.
I try to step back so Mack can come closer and see for himself that she’s scared, but not hurt. Before I’m out of reaching distance, she grabs for me and pulls me back. We’ve come so far these last couple of weeks, and it feels good that she’s not pushing me away.
I look behind Mack and see that Skinner, Louie, Tom Tom, Blaze, and Dani are all standing back, waiting for Sara to recover enough to talk about what happened. Blaze is holding Dani from behind and rubbing his hands across her stomach. Shit, he must be fucking livid knowing something could’ve happened to Dani and the baby. He’s been even more anal about her safety now that she’s pregnant. Fuck, I wouldn’t be surprised if he locks her away in a safe house after this.
Speaking of Blaze, he’s not patient enough to wait for Sara to speak, so he turns Dani in his arms to look at her. “What happened, Baby Girl?” Wanting to know just as much as him, but not willing to put Sara through more hell than she has to go through right now, I eagerly wait for Dani to speak.
“Sara and I were back here talking. I’m not sure for how long, but when we were done, I told her to go up front and that I’d be up in a bit ‘cause I had to use the restroom. It was only a couple of minutes later I heard Sara and she sounded scared, then I heard her yell, so I grabbed my gun out of my purse and went to the front of the shop. Some guy was pulling Sara towards the door by her hair. She was trying to get away, but he had a tight grip on her. I snuck up behind him, held the gun to his head and told him to let her go. He turned around and saw me, but didn’t see me as a threat until I shot at his foot. He finally let her go and took off. That’s when Toby came in.”
“Do you know who he was?” I ask Dani, thinking it’s someone from a rival club or a new player. She shakes her head and looks at Sara.
Knowing I need her to talk and tell us what she knows, I brush my finger down her face. “Baby, I know you’re scared right now, but I really need you to tell us what you know. Do you know who he was? What he wanted?”
She looks away from me and tries to sit up. Not really wanting to let her go, I try to hold on to her, but she’s not having it. When she’s sitting by herself on the couch, she moves as far away from me as possible. “I know who he was and what he wanted,” she says quietly, looking down at her hands. I try to be patient and wait for her, but I’m all out of patience.
“Sara, tell me who he was.” Before she speaks, she looks to Dani, then Mack, then back to me.
“It was Rick, my ex-boyfriend. The one I left back in New York.”
I look at Mack who seems to have already figured it out. I suddenly get the feeling he knows more about what’s going on than I do. He comes closer and kneels in front of her. Placing his hand over hers, he asks, “Was he here for you?” What the fuck! Why do I not know anything about this ex, besides the fact she left him and they didn’t have a good relationship? God dammit! I knew something happened, but I didn’t get the full story and didn’t want to push her to talk about it. I have no idea what he did to her and had no clue to even watch out for him. Why wouldn’t she tell me this?
“Yes. He said he was here to take me home. I didn’t know what to do or how to get away. I didn’t want to yell out for help because I didn’t want him to know Dani was here and hurt her or the baby, but she saved me.” She pauses and looks at Dani. “You saved me. I can’t thank you enough. I don’t know what would’ve happened if he took me.” Sara starts to shake again, so Dani moves to come closer to comfort her, but Blaze holds her back. That’s when I notice him glaring at Sara. He blames her for putting Dani in danger. I’m going to fuck him up!
I stand up to tell him to stand the fuck down, but what Mack says next stops me cold. “I’ve had an eye out for him, but no one saw him come into town. I have no idea how long he’s been here, but I promise you, sweetheart, he will not get close enough to try and take you again.” And that’s the moment the whole room explodes.
“You fucking knew about this? You knew about him but didn’t think it fucking necessary to tell me?” I yell at Mack. President or not, he fucked up. This is my woman. If there was someone out there looking for her, someone that meant to cause her harm, he should have fucking told me. Fuck, she should have told me.
Mack stands to his full height, now in full president mode. “Calm the fuck down, Toby. It wasn’t your call, it was mine. Sara told me about him, but we weren’t sure if he would come after her or not. I was keeping an eye out for trouble, and if I saw something happening, I would have brought it to the table.” I step closer, wanting to get in his face, but having enough sense to not go that far.
“You were keeping an eye out, were you? Well guess what? The fucker got past you. He was able to sneak in, right under our fucking noses and get to her. He almost fucking succeeded!” Knowing I’m getting close to crossing the line, I back up and try to calm myself. It would not be good to knock out my president, but I sure the fuck want to.
Next, Blaze steps forward and looks even more pissed than I feel. “You son-of-a-bitch.” He moves like he’s going to punch Mack, but before he can get close enough, Louie grabs him and holds him back. Fighting Louie, he continues to scream. “You fucking knew about this and let her,” he points an angry finger at Sara, looking like he wants to choke her, “work next to Dani? You put her and my fucking baby in danger!”
“You better calm yourself, brother, before you say or do something you’ll fucking regret,” I growl at him. Mack should have told us what he knew, but I’ll be fucking damned if I let him take his anger out on Sara.
Dani storms past us all and stands beside Sara. “You all need to shut the fuck up. Sara told Mack what happened and Mack made the call to keep it quiet. You all need to quit acting like whiny fucking bitches and man the
fuck up.” She’s raging fucking mad. Dani pissed is a scary sight to see on any given day, but when you fuck with someone she cares about, like she does Sara, she’s going to rip anyone apart that tries to hurt her―even if it’s one of us.
Blaze must realize this at the same time, because he stops fighting Louie and takes a deep breath. “Baby Girl, you need to understand that this isn’t just about her anymore. Her being near you puts you in danger and I can’t fucking have that. I’m sorry, but until this is resolved, either she won’t work here anymore or you won’t. Either way, she’s not to be around you.” He went there. He should know better than anyone that nobody tells Dani what to do.
Dani literally growls at him, then moves to sit beside Sara. “First of all, fuck you, Blaze. Second, let me tell you what is going to happen. You, Mack, and Toby, are going to go back to the clubhouse and figure out what your next move is going to be. I’ll be staying with Sara upstairs while Louie and one of the prospects stand guard. She and I will both continue to work downstairs during the day. You’ll just have to post more men outside and Louie will just have to deal with his shit and start coming back to fucking work. That is what’s going to happen.” She takes a breath and levels him with a stare that would have even me cowering. “And lastly, if you ever talk to someone I care about like that again, or try and tell me what to do and how to run my business, you will be at the wrong end of my gun, regardless of who you are to me.” With that, she stands up and pulls Sara up beside her. They walk right past us and head upstairs.
When we hear the door close to Sara’s apartment, Blaze grabs a nearby chair and throws it across the room. “FUCK!” Yeah, I don’t think that went the way either of us wanted, but at least we now know what happened and who we need to find. Now I have a fucking target.
Fighting Destiny (Forsaken Sinners MC; Book 2) (Forsaken Sinners MC Series) Page 10