Snake (The Road Rebels MC Book 3)

by Savannah Rylan

  Her and our child.

  The idea filled my chest with pride. Harper’s beautiful body would grow with curves I could enjoy every night for the rest of my fucking life. Her pussy would drip for me as her stomach grew and I would be able to drink her like a fine wine every morning. I was about to start a family with the most beautiful woman I had ever set eyes on, and I knew I would do everything in my power to make her happy and keep her safe. It would be hard. Especially with the dick I was sure her father was. I saw the real her that weekend. The wild side that craved the open road and the wind whipping through her hair. Her father stifled that in her. That much was apparent on that stage a couple of days ago.

  I wasn’t going to let him do that to her anymore.

  I walked over to the fridge to get me a drink when a loud crash caught my attention. I heard Harper shriek as the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. I pulled my gun from my back as I cocked it, then dashed for the stairs. Taking them three at a time, I turned and barreled down the hallway as every single terrible thought came to mind. Was it them? Were they here? Did they have Harper? Were they trying to take her? I’d kill whoever it was I found. I would blow away anyone who stood between the woman that was carrying my child and me.

  No one scared her and fucking got away with it.

  I threw open her door just as her parents stumbled out of their rooms and I saw Harper shaking on the bed. I panned my gun around my room, training my eyes on the busted window. I walked over the glass, crunching it into the carpet as I stepped over the brick. I surveyed the scene, sticking my head out the window to see if I could see anyone dashing off or standing there to look at their handiwork.

  But there was no one. Nothing except a fucking brick on the damn floor.

  Glass was everywhere. Shards of it had rained down upon the bed as Harper stayed in her spot. I dashed over to her and slowly peeled the covers back, wrapping up the glass shards as her parents stood there in horror. Her mother was crying, and Ryan Thomas had his gaze held on the brick. Neither of them was making any efforts to come and make sure their daughter was all right.

  And that fact made my blood boil.

  If it were my child, I’d walk through fire to get to them. If it were my daughter screaming and crying on a bed, I’d walk over rusted nails tainted with tetanus just to get to her. But there they stood, like trembling cowards in the presence of something that threatened their perfect existence. Their daughter who was pregnant with their grandchild was sobbing on her bed, and they made no move towards her.

  I needed to get her away from them.

  They were fucking toxic.

  I wrapped up Harper’s comforter and tied off the glass. I tossed it to the side before I made my way to the brick as she curled her legs up to her chest. I saw a note attached to the brick, fluttering in the cold breeze that was pouring from her window. I could hear Harper shivering, her teeth clattering together as I turned my head back towards her.

  “Harper. Are you hurt?” I asked.

  As if my voice ripped him from a trance, Ryan started leaping over the shards of glass. He jumped onto his daughter’s bed and cradled her, but I watched as she tried to pull away. She was a crying, pregnant daughter whose window had just been busted by a brick… but she didn’t want her father.

  Whatever they were doing to her, it was obvious she wasn’t comfortable here.

  Her mother continued to sob at the door as I untied the note. I tossed the brick into an empty chair as I unfolded it, my eyes scanning the words on the page. I sighed with relief when I saw there were no pictures, especially given what Harper and I had just done in her backyard.

  But the note still delivered a looming threat that set my alerts on ‘high.’

  “What does it say?” Ryan asked.

  Harper’s eyes watched me carefully as she tried to lean away from her father again.

  “It says, ‘we told your father he should stop running. He didn’t listen… so we are coming for you.’ And I can only assume they mean your daughter, Mr. Thomas since it was thrown through her window,” I said.

  “Oh, my gosh,” her mother said with a whimper.

  “It’s going to be all right, girls. I promise. This is why I hired The Black Angels. They’re better equipped to deal with this type of thing. Right?”

  Ryan’s eyes whipped up towards mine, and I nodded with a tight-lipped smile. The last thing I wanted to do was piss this man off, but everything inside of me wanted to rip him away from Harper. She was uncomfortable, and her eyes were wide with fear. I wanted to wrap my arms around her and kiss the top of her head. I wanted to hold her until she stopped trembling. I wanted to run my hands over her body and check to make sure she wasn’t bleeding.

  But I had to tread a fine line so Ryan wouldn’t rip me away from the house. From the only lifeline, I had to Harper and my unborn child.

  “Cade.”

  Ryan’s voice pulled me from my thoughts as our eyes connected again.

  “You do whatever the hell you have to in order to protect my daughter. If that means following her wherever she goes, then so be it.”

  My eyes flicked over to Harper, who seemed to visibly relax. Her father placed a chaste kiss on her forehead before letting her go, and I watched her sigh with relief. There it was. The one thing I was after. Around the clock detail for just Harper. A shadow of a grin twitched my cheek as Ryan slid from her bed, his bedroom slippers crunching over the thick shards of glass still shining on the floor.

  “I’ll get the vacuum,” the mother said.

  “I’ll take her comforter downstairs and toss it. We’ve got more blankets in the closet. Harper, we can get you another one tomorrow,” Ryan said.

  “Okay,” Harper said breathlessly.

  “Mr. Thomas?” I asked.

  “Yes?”

  “We’ll need to discuss different terms if I’m going to be with Harper around the clock. That’s what it’ll take to catch someone like this, and I want to make sure I don’t breach any personal boundaries,” I said.

  “Personal boundaries?” he asked.

  “Yes, sir.”

  “You gonna follow her into the bathroom?”

  “No, sir,” I said as I shook my head.

  “You gonna watch her sleep?”

  “No, sir.”

  “You gonna follow her into a changing room or something?” he asked.

  “Not in the slightest, sir,” I said.

  “Then you’re hired. Harper, sweetie? I’ll be back with more blankets.”

  I tossed a grin over to Harper as her beautiful aquamarine eyes found mine. I could tell she was still fearful of sleeping in her own room, especially with the window just being broken. She sighed and went to slip from her bed, but I dashed to her side before I scooped her up into my arms.

  “Don’t worry. They’re both downstairs,” I said.

  I carried her into the spare bedroom of their home and laid her down. She wasn’t fucking sleeping in a room with a busted window. Her parents must be insane. It was like they didn’t give a shit at all what happened to her, as long as it didn’t affect them in any way. I set Harper on the edge of the bed before I peeled back the covers, helping her climb underneath them. I scanned what parts of her body I could to make sure she wasn’t hurt, then I bent down to kiss her forehead. She smiled up at me with her sweet little smiles, and I watched as the freckles that dusted her nose crinkled with delight.

  Then, I turned off the light and shut the door behind me.

  “What’s going on?” Ryan asked.

  I looked up at him with hard eyes as he held blankets in his hands.

  “Your daughter’s window is busted. Her floor is covered in glass. She’s not sleeping in there. It’s not safe.”

  Then I stood with my back to her door as I clasped my hands in front of me. I hung my gun between my legs, readying it in case another threat came our way. Ryan’s eyes were casing me, studying my body and the way I held myself. I watched as Harper’s mot
her made her way to the room so she could begin vacuuming up the glass.

  There was something unnerving about the way Harper’s father was staring at me. And it only solidified what I knew I had to do.

  I had to find out who was threatening Harper, then I had to get her the fuck out of this house.

  Chapter 17

  Harper

  Within the span of ten minutes, there were motorcycles rumbling down the road. I peeked out into the backyard from the guest bedroom as people clad in Black Angels leather cuts were casing the house. Some were in the backyard, walking around where Cade and I had experienced one another. Had he told them about us? Was that why they were looking around?

  Some of them were searching the front yard while others were driving around the block. I was shaking with fear as they came in and out of the house. Some came upstairs and took a look around in my room. Some were climbing the outside of the house, trying to figure out the angle of trajectory to figure out where the brick was thrown from. I had my bedroom door closed so I wouldn’t have to see any of them. Every time one of them looked up and caught me in the window it frightened me even more.

  They searched and cased and patrolled for two hours, but came up empty-handed. My mother was a fucking wreck, and my father was secretly seething. He wanted to sleep. My father was a damn diva when it came to his sleep. He was probably cursing himself for even hiring them. They were keeping him up, and I knew all of us would pay for it in the morning.

  “Ryan, please just call the police.”

  “No, Patrice. The police are just going to go to the media.”

  “No, they won’t. That’s not what they do,” my mother said.

  “I’m not taking the chance. We’re too close, Patrice. Too close to the election to blow it over some shit like this.”

  “That ‘shit’ is a threat to our daughter, Ryan.”

  “She wouldn’t be a threat if she was pregnant, Patrice.”

  “It is not her fault,” my mother said. “Not by a long shot. Now you call the police or I’ll-”

  “What?” my father asked. “I would like to hear what you would do if I didn’t call the police. Having this leak in the media is what they want. Whoever this is, they want to ruin my campaign. But they’re not going to. I’m going to win this. If anything, to shove it in their face.”

  “Funny. I thought your campaign was supposed to be family-oriented,” my mother said.

  I heard a loud crack before my mother started to cry. I sat on the edge of my bed, listening to their conversation as I pulled the covers up over my face. My father was losing control. He was spiraling in his anger. Neither of them cared that they were standing outside my damn door, but I was shocked as to what I just heard. Maybe they forgot I was in here or maybe my father really didn’t care that much.

  Either way, it showed me exactly how much of a shit my father gave about me. And it was only a matter of time before he treated my son with the same amount of disregard. My heart hurt listening to them talk about me, but my heart was riddled with fear when I heard him hit my mother. My father had been many things, but I’d never once seen or heard him hit anyone.

  Until now.

  I hunkered down into the covers and pulled them over my head. I heard motorcycles riding off into the distance, leaving me here with the likes of a man who was on a rampage. I tried to blink my tears away as I sniffled, trying my best to keep myself grounded. Everything I experienced my child would experience as well, and I wanted to be strong for them.

  For him.

  The house quieted down, and soon my parent’s snores were filling the house. I could hear someone walking around downstairs, and it comforted me to know Cade was there. I thought about how he would perch himself outside my door. Or maybe he would come in and sit in the chair across from me. Maybe he would take another chance and slip underneath the covers and hold me close to him.

  I was able to close my eyes and slip off to sleep, blocking out the thunderous crack that kept echoing off the corners of my mind. I dreamt of Cade and how we would ride off into the sunset. How we would stuff my things into the cargo container of his motorcycle so he could whisk me away from this place. I thought about his body. How good it felt to be against his warmth again. I thought about how his hands gripped tightly onto me and how those same hands cupped my stomach with a gentle, protective nature.

  But I was startled awake again by a sound I couldn’t quite describe. A sliding sound, like wood on wood. My eyes fluttered open as my heart began to slam against my chest, my hands gripped the covers tightly to my body.

  “Cade?” I asked.

  “Who’s Cade?”

  The rough voice hit my ears before an arm clamped around my neck. I struggled against the grasp as they choked my windpipe. I tried to cry out for help as my legs kicked the bed, trying to make any sound I could to signal that I was in trouble.

  That, someone, had me.

  That they were going to kill me.

  “Night night,” the voice said.

  Then, a cloth came down around my face.

  Chapter 18

  Cade

  I met with the guys in the garden to see if they’d found anything. This shit had gone on long enough. Even though I told a lie to get us in here, there was obviously a threat directed at Harper. And that shit wasn’t gonna fly.

  “She’s fucking pregnant, you guys. This is serious,” I said.

  “I agree. Fucking around with pregnant chicks isn’t good,” Blade said.

  “I didn’t find a damn thing on the casing of the neighborhood,” Doc said.

  “Nothing in the garden,” Vex said.

  “And with the hole where it in the glass of the window, that brick had to come from from the street. Which means we’re dealing with a dude,” Ink said.

  “Or a very strong fucking woman. But my bet’s on a guy,” Blade said.

  “We gotta figure out what’s going on and who this person could possibly be. Which means we need to speak with Ryan,” I said.

  “I’ll go get him,” Doc said.

  I looked back up at the guest bedroom window that Harper was now in. She wasn’t at the window, but I knew he was scared. She had to be, with everything going on. We were stomping around her house and flooding her neighborhood with the loud sound of motorcycles. She was already on edge from our talk, and then a damn brick came through her fucking window.

  I honestly wanted to get her a doctor, but I knew I had to keep my distance for now.

  “What is it?” Ryan asked.

  “We gotta know everyone you’ve pissed off,” I said.

  “You mean besides people who aren’t voting for me?” he asked.

  “This is serious. Someone is after your daughter because of something you’ve said or done. Now be straight with us. Who have you pissed off?” Doc asked.

  “Do you know how many death threats I get a day?” he asked. “I’m not trying to be difficult. It’s just that I’d literally be handing you over three hundred emails. And that’s just over the past four months. They pour in. People who think they can threaten my family and I and get me to stop with this election.”

  “Well, it’s getting personal,” Ink said. “We gotta have a place to start. Can you get us those emails?”

  “I’ve deleted them,” Ryan said.

  “Then go into your trash bin in your email, pull them out, and forward them,” I said.

  Ryan’s eyes pierced mine, but I wasn’t backing down on this. He was acting like this was just some fucking charade. We were going to go at this the same way the police did. Except we weren’t gonna fucking talk to the media.

  “Help us save your daughter, Mr. Thomas,” Vex said. “Otherwise, her blood’s on your hands.”

  “Her and that grandson of yours,” Blade said.

  My anger rose to high precipices hearing them talk like that. I balled my fists up at my sides as I loomed over Ryan. He wasn’t such a fucking hot-shot when he wasn’t behind his damn podium. He wa
s a coward. An abusive, bullshit coward.

  “Where do you want the emails forwarded?” Ryan asked.

  “Print them out and hand them off to Cade,” Doc said. “He’ll get them to us.”

  “Print them off?” Ryan asked.

  “Is he serious with this shit?” Vex asked.

  “Fine, fine. I’ll print them off and get them to Cade tomorrow. Will you be around tomorrow? To protect Harper?” Ryan asked.

  “If you want me to be the one doing it, someone else needs to stay here and watch the house so I can get some rest. If you want me here, I can sleep on the couch,” I said.

  “I’ll stay behind,” Blade said. “I can perch on the roof and keep an eye out.”

  “The roof?” Ryan asked.

  “Just let us do what we do,” Doc asked.

  “Whatever, I’m going inside.”

  “That man’s a real piece of work,” Ink said.

  “He’s a dick,” I said.

  “We don’t have much to go on until we can get those emails. A brick and a letter, and none of it helps us. We don’t have handwriting or anything of that bullshit to go on. The only thing we can do right now is guard them with the family in the house,” Doc said.

  “You thinking of cooping them up?” Vex asked.

  “That won’t work with a pregnant woman. She’ll have doctor’s appointments and shit,” Blade said.

  “That’s what Cade’s for. Blade, you’ll do night shifts with Cade. Vex, Ink, you guys’ll be with me during the day,” Doc said.

  “Sounds good to me,” I said. “I’m gonna go check on Harper.”

  “Who?” Blade asked.

  “The fucking pregnant daughter, man. Learn some names,” I said.

  “Sensitive Susan over here,” Ink said, grinning.

  “Going inside now,” I said.

  The guys began to drive off, and I heard Blade scrambling for the roof. I walked up the stairs and heard Ryan talking with his wife, but it wasn’t long before I heard a mighty crack. I rushed up the stairs and stood at the end of the hallway, my eyes taking in the scene before me.

  Ryan was hovering over his wife as she held her cheek.