As they walked towards the clubhouse, she could hear Drew laying into his dad and hoped by the time they were back that was over. “I’m going to go use the restroom real quick,” Charity told the two of them.
“It’s down the hall and on your right, unless you want to go use the one in Drew’s dorm, but I’m telling you right now, that thing probably hasn’t been cleaned in months.” Tatum shook her head. “I don’t go in there.”
Charity laughed. “Then I’ll use the one down the hall and on the right. Be right back.”
She breathed easier as she walked down the dark corridor. This was much better than having Liam’s watchful eyes on her. She wasn’t an idiot; she knew she’d hurt Drew back then, but she’d hurt too. If only her mom had cared as much as Liam seemed to.
She came to the door she thought was the bathroom, and opened it only to realize she’d opened the wrong door when she saw Mandy and Dalton in a passionate embrace, lying on the bed. Neither one of them noticed her as they kissed feverishly, and she quietly shut the door.
Looks like they’ve worked things out. She laughed to herself. Testing out the next door, she found the bathroom and breathed a sigh of relief as she went in.
Chapter Twenty-Five
She quickly did her business and flushed before walking over to the sink. Turning the water on, she soaped her hands before looking up into the mirror. The woman staring back at her wasn’t someone she recognized. There was life in her eyes and redness in her cheeks.
Back in North Carolina, it had been about doing anything she could to get ahead and stay ahead. Here, she realized, she was taking things easier. Even though she was working on the case, she was finding time, like now, to live. That was something she had been missing there. She knew the reason for that was Drew.
Smiling to herself, she finished up and wiped her hands off before walking out and back towards the kitchen. As soon as she got there, she was met head-on with Tatum.
“So you knew my brother back when he was my age?” she asked as she loaded the fixings for s’mores into a basket.
“Tatum,” Denise reprimanded. “I told you to leave her alone.”
“No.” Charity shook her head. “It’s okay. I did know your brother back when he was a few years older than you, and I knew you too, but you probably don’t remember any of it. You were really little.”
“There’s a picture Drew has of me with you and him. That’s how I’ve always known who you are.” Tatum dropped that bomb and then walked out of the kitchen, leaving Charity staring after her, mouth open.
“She gets it from her dad.” Denise wrinkled her nose. “They have about the same amount of tact.”
Charity wasn’t sure where this was going, but she also knew she didn’t want to screw it up. Drew loved his family and his club more than anything. If she wanted them to have any kind of future together, she would need to break through the tough exterior that was trying to keep her out. Mom and Dad.
“I know I wasn’t Liam’s favorite person when I left.” She bit her lip. “In all honesty, I didn’t want to leave. I fought with Drew that entire night and the next day about going. I tried to convince him we could make it work. No matter how much it tore him up, I can guarantee you that it tore me up just as bad, if not worse.”
“He had his family and his friends. You had nobody.” Denise came over and put her arm around the other woman. “I loved you back then, and I hope you know that. I hope you realize what a good influence you have been on my son. Do I think you can still be that good influence? Yes, but I have some questions.”
Having dealt with her share of hostile witnesses, Charity took this for what it was. A mother making sure her only son wasn’t going to get hurt again. “I’d be more than happy to answer them for you.”
Pulling out a chair, Denise had a seat at the table, motioning for Charity to do the same. “I don’t want you to think that I don’t want you together, because I do, but what are your intentions? Are you staying here? Because from where I’m sitting, if Meredith hadn’t called for your help, you’d still be thousands of miles away in another state.”
Charity answered the question the only way she could—truthfully. “I want to stay, believe me when I say that, but there are demons of my own that I’m going to have to face here. I haven’t talked to my mom yet. As far as I know, she doesn’t even know I’m back in town.”
“Oh, Charity.” Denise reached over. “Jasmine would love to see you.”
“For what? So she can show me off to her newest boyfriend, or so she can ask me for money?”
Denise sighed. “Doesn’t mean she’s not proud of you and doesn’t love you. She expresses her feelings differently.”
Charity had heard it all before. She knew her mom was a bit of an odd duck, and together they were an odd family, but that didn’t mean she wanted to subject herself to it yet.
“Anyway, to answer your question, I want to stay, but I’m not concrete in my plans yet.”
“Fair enough.” Denise twined her fingers together, putting them in front of her on the table. “I only have one other question, and this one will tell me if you’ll stay or not.”
Swallowing hard, Charity hoped that she could get out of this and soon. She was getting hot and she couldn’t breathe.
“Do you love Drew?”
How did she answer that? “I don’t think I should discuss that with you until I discuss it with him. Believe me when I say I have fond memories of you, your family, and the things you did for me when I was a teenager, but what you’ve just asked me is very personal. I don’t want to hurt Drew, and I will do everything in my power to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
She stood up and grabbed the rest of the stuff they’d come in for. “If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to take this outside.”
Denise watched as Charity left, her heart sinking.
“Oh, baby boy, that girl might not be done running just yet. She’s still got some fear in her.”
Denise knew that fear well. The fear that she’d never be able to make herself more than what she’d been in her past. She hoped somehow they would make it work.
Chapter Twenty-Six
“We’ve got company.”
Drew heard the shouted words coming from Jagger and lifted himself up from where he’d been bent over a car checking the spark plugs. Those words hardly ever garnered a reaction in him, but today, his blood started pumping, his heart started pounding.
Walking around from behind the hood, he saw two older model pickups pulling into the lot. He wasn’t sure who he expected to step out of the driver’s seat of one of them, but it sure as fuck wasn’t Dixon McCall.
“Which one of you boys was over at my place the other day?” he asked as he spat out a stream of tobacco juice, standing tall as he faced off against the members of Heaven Hill.
Drew and Dalton looked at each other, wondering how he’d found out, but neither one of them were scared.
“That was me.” Drew stepped forward. Purposely he stood with his booted feet apart, lazily wiping his hands on a rag.
Dixon tilted his head to the side, appearing to size him up before he strolled over to Drew. When he was within talking distance, he got in the younger man’s face. “You don’t come into my house and expect me not to make some sort of move back. You need to leave this alone, boy, because you have no idea who you’re messing with.”
Drew held the tic in his jaw that wanted to move. He held the temper back he wanted to let explode. “You’re a real tough guy, aren’t you? Doing home invasions on poor, unsuspecting people, just because they don’t have the right color of skin for you.”
“We all have our weaknesses—yours seems to be that hot-ass attorney whose mom was a stripper. I bet she’s dynamite in the sack; I’d like to try her out.”
To hell with keeping his temper under control. Drew grabbed him by the shirt and pushed him so that his back hit the grill of the truck. “If you so much as hurt one hair on her head, I
will end you. Fucking end you. They won’t know where to look for the pieces of your body to put them back together. You understand me?”
Dixon laughed, a smirk on his face. “You think she can keep me from my wife and daughter? She was hot as a teenager; I can only imagine what she looks and feels like now.”
Drew let it fly, feeling the knuckles of his left hand connecting with the bone of the man’s jaw. Dixon hadn’t been prepared, and his head swiveled on his neck like it would come off his shoulders. Getting purchase on the asphalt, Drew picked the other man up by his thighs and slammed him down, feeling satisfied as he heard Dixon’s head hit the ground.
“Drew!” He felt strong arms around him as he made another lunge for the piece of shit lying at his feet. He fought against those arms, but he saw the tattoos on them around his chest and knew Tyler wouldn’t let him go. “Easy, it’s just me.”
Watching as the men Dixon had come with gathered him up off the pavement, Drew leaned against the grasp Tyler had around him. “You tell him if he wants a fight, he’s motherfucking got it. He won’t win this one. I promise you that. I’ll fuck him up worse next time,” he yelled as they got him in the truck and took off.
Turning around, he did his best to regulate his breathing. “We’ve got to move Maggie and Skylar. He knows Charity is representing them, so chances are he knows where they are.”
“How did he find out?” Liam asked as he came to stand beside his son and best friend, putting his hand on Drew’s back. “Do we have a leak?”
“I don’t think so.” Drew shook his head.
Liam was quiet for a few minutes as he put his hands on his hips to think. Finally, he ran a hand over his chin and looked at the two of them. “Call Meredith and tell her to move Maggie and Skylar to the clubhouse. Drew, make sure Charity’s moved into your house. Dalton, make sure you stay with Mandy or bring her home. I have a feeling this is about to blow up.”
“Yeah,” Jagger agreed as he walked up to the group, cell phone in hand. “Any of you seen the news from last night?”
When no one answered, he went on. “Another home invasion, this one was a younger African-American couple. They chased a white man out of their home and into a truck that matches the description of the one Dixon was in today.”
Drew knew that he had to get Charity, Maggie, and Skylar out of the middle of it as soon as possible. They had to do something, and they had to do it fast. “I’m going to go get Charity; she’s at work.” He ran for his bike.
“I’ll go make sure Maggie and Skylar are taken to the clubhouse,” Tyler said, grabbing the keys to the SUV he and Meredith shared with one another.
The fuse that was the Heaven Hill MC had been lit. Drew hoped Dixon knew how to put it out.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Drew had never been so scared in his life as he raced across town towards Charity’s office. He thought about calling her, but then he was afraid she would leave on her own. Right now, he knew at least where she was, and there was help around the corner at the sheriff’s office if she needed it.
Racing down Louisville Road and blowing through a red light, he thought about all the things that could happen to her if he didn’t make it there in time. He worried about what kind of man Dixon was and the things that he’d done to the people he’d supposedly cared about. Dixon didn’t give a shit about Charity; she was expendable.
Horns honked and people yelled at him as he sped through the streets, but he didn’t care; he had one goal, and that was to get to her, get her out of her office, and make sure she came home with him. As he turned onto the quiet town square, he breathed a sigh of relief as he saw her car parked out in front of her building. Parking the bike, he took his helmet off and walked inside.
“Hey, didn’t expect to see you today.” She gave him a heart-stopping grin as she came out of her office.
“This isn’t a social call, honey. Get your stuff, we’re gettin’ out of here.”
Her face showed her immediate fear, but she didn’t question him as she grabbed her briefcase, laptop case, and purse. “Where are we going?”
“My house.” He looked out of the blinds at the square. “Make sure you have anything pertaining to Dixon and that case. The fucker paid me a little visit this morning. If he’s woken up from where I knocked him out, he could be on his way here. Hurry up,” he had a feeling in his gut, one that he had never ignored before.
“Why did he pay you a visit?” she asked, as she walked through the office, locking her door and making sure the desk and computer Mandy normally used was locked. Mandy had the day off; she was thankful she didn’t have to worry about her.
“Between the two of us and the club, we’re getting too close for his comfort. He felt the need to make a small show of force. He said something that pissed me off.”
She could only imagine what that was.
Drew breathed deeply through his nose. “What you have to do, sweet cheeks, is put all this shit together so that we can give it to Rooster, who can give it to his contacts still at the sheriff’s office and we can get this guy off the streets. If we did this the way we normally do things, the public wouldn’t have their justice. He’s terrorized and victimized portions of this county and city. They need to see him be punished. This has to be done by the book.”
That was a lot of pressure. She still had questions, and while there were things she did know, there were other things that were unknowns. Like who all else was involved, and if they got rid of Dixon, would these things continue to happen? It was an immense amount of pressure, and she was struggling under the weight of it. But with him by her side, she knew she’d be able to stand tall. “I’m doing my best.”
“I know you are. You got everything?”
She checked what she was carrying one more time before nodding her head. “I have everything I need.”
“Good, when we leave here, I’m going to follow you. Do your best not to stop at red lights, and let’s get the fuck out of town. The faster we can get out of town, the better off we’ll be.”
She nodded, grasping the things she held in her hands. They heard another bike pull up as they exited the office. The person on the bike took his helmet off and waved to the two of them.
“Hey, Remy.” Drew stretched his hand out to someone who was apparently a friend.
“I heard you might need some help.”
Drew looked back at Charity. “We need to get her out of town. If you could take front, I’ll take back. We’d consider it a favor for Heaven Hill.”
“You know Heaven Hill is family.” He shook his head. “It’d be my privilege.”
She watched as he parked his bike in front of her car and waited on the two of them. “I’ll be right behind you.” Drew kissed her on the forehead. “He’ll be right in front of you. You’ll be perfectly safe.”
Charity nodded, afraid to speak. She trusted this man with every part of her, but even she could see the toll it was taking on him, could see how worried he was. It was in the pinch of his lips, the fear in his eyes, and the way he held her against him. “I know you aren’t going to let anything happen to me.”
“No, I’m not,” he agreed. “If something happens and you don’t see me behind you anymore, don’t stop until you get to my house.” He thrust a key ring into her hands. “Remy will stay with you until I can get there or he’ll get someone else out there.”
“Drew.” The tears she had in her eyes she couldn’t hold back.
“This is all precautionary.” He cupped her face with his hands. He leaned down, smashing their lips together, kissing her with everything he felt but hadn’t told her. “We’re all going to be fine.”
She nodded and got into her car. As she looked in her rearview, her heart was in her throat and she prayed to a God she hadn’t prayed to in a long time that all of them made it through this.
As the trio peeled off the square, she heard a loud pop, and the driver’s side back window shattered. She knew a gunshot when she heard i
t, and without a second thought, she hit the gas, following Remy through a maze of streets she hadn’t been on in years. She wanted to get the hell out of Dodge.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Drew trusted that Remy knew these streets like the back of his hand. Having grown up inside the city and having worked at his sister-in-law’s shop on the square, Drew knew Remy had more experience than the rest of them.
He dared not look behind them or to the side to see who might be giving chase or taking a shot. As soon as he’d seen Charity’s back window explode, he’d known they had to move, and they had to move fast.
In a burst of speed, Remy took them around cars that were stopped at a light, and suddenly they were back on Louisville Road. This Drew could deal with. He knew how to get them to safety from here.
Charity gripped her steering wheel with knuckles that had turned white as she followed the path Remy cut through traffic for her. Not ever having been one who pushed the boundaries of speed, this made her nervous. She wasn’t on the back of Drew’s bike, and she could hear the wind rushing through her broken window.
That was something else she didn’t want to think about. Who had done that? She was pretty sure they all knew exactly who had done it, but the question now was why. Was she now a target? Was she getting too close?
Her hands shook as she gripped the wheel tighter, risking a look in her rearview mirror, seeing Drew on her bumper. True to his word, he hadn’t left her, he’d made sure to stay with her through every turn, every slow down, and every acceleration she’d made.
Back at her office, she’d figured they were going to Drew’s house, but now she thought maybe the clubhouse. She wasn’t sure if an attempt had been made on her life, but she knew if she hadn’t put the SUV in drive and hit the gas at that moment, someone would most likely have gotten her in the head.
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