With a grin he pulled out the drawer on the desk, he took them everywhere he went, it made it easier to remember Francesca when he was not with her. Twelve thumb drives. He put the oldest one in and then copied it to a blank one. Pulling out an envelope, he put her name on it in bold letters.
With a sigh, he leaned back and smiled, closing his eyes, unzipping his pants, and remembering every second on the drive. Videos of them together, she had been perfect.
Chapter Six
Shit, she was tired. Dancing tonight had taken a lot out of her. It was weird, usually it helped her moods, but tonight it hadn’t. She felt the same heavy feeling of dread in her stomach that she had before she had gone to work. The only bright side to her afternoon had been Cajun.
When he saw her Beauty, he had flipped. She loved showing off her baby, especially to someone who appreciates it. She stared at him when he was looking around her room, she was attracted to him, who wouldn’t be. He had blond hair that was long and shaggy, it curled a little on the ends. He also had blue eyes, and there were piercings. And his body, damn, Slider and him looked like linebacker bookends.
“Holy shit,” Cajun had whispered when they walked out of the house to take the bike to the shop before she went to work.
“What?” Shady asked confused.
“It is the bike in the picture on your wall,” Cajun said.
“Uh yeah, it’s my bike,” Shady had laughed.
“Fucking cool ass bike,” he muttered as he walked by and looked at the tank. It was pretty cool; she loved it when people asked her about the design. And the color looked black; however, it also had a special paint job to it. So at times it looked like it changed colors. Shady had paid a mint for the paint; it was awesome. So far, she had seen it look black, dark purple, dark navy blue, and dark green. It was impressive the flakes they put into the paint to allow it to change when the sun's reflection hit it just right.
Cajun inspected every inch of her bike, exclaiming over every feature he liked. Then he pulled his around, it was awesome as well. Shady did the same with him, and for a brief moment, she completely forgot her troubles, it was fun, and by that, she meant talking about bikes was a way for her to completely forget.
Then they had taken hers into the shop where Cajun decided he wanted to get his bike detailed from riding on the road for so long. She had waited patiently while he explained exactly what he wanted done and also asked one of the guys to get something drawn up for his tank, wanting a repaint with the Ops signet on it.
After being in the shop for two hours, they walked to the club accompanied by two of the Prospects. Tiny and Hammer, apparently Creed was taking the whole guarding thing a bit far, because Cajun was in charge of making sure she was safe, and the others were in charge of making sure they had backup in case something went down.
At the club, Shady had tried to tell Cajun that he couldn’t come back to the changing area, they had a new stripper named Sahara. That did not fly at all, and she spent more time arguing with Cajun about the situation than actually getting ready, she lost the argument, then was rushed to get ready for her first set. It sucked when she wasn’t completely in the zone to let herself go. Instead, she was irritated and it probably showed in her dancing.
During her dance, she realized it was because having the guards made the situation right up in her face, which meant she thought about Dom a lot. She hated to think about him, because she didn’t want to imagine actually seeing him again. It made her tense, because she knew it wouldn't be pleasant.
Now she was home, in the safety of her room and she was trying to relax. It was hard considering the thoughts flowing through her head. The one in the forefront was what the fuck was she going to do about Dom. She knew she didn’t have a lot of time, because seriously, he had been here for months and Dom wasn’t a patient man—and neither was his father. So she knew this was going to come to a head sooner rather than later, and she didn’t want any of the club to be hurt. It would suck and she would be devastated because it would be her fault. Damn it, why couldn’t they fucking just die.
Shady fell into a light sleep and was having one of those dreams where you are half awake and half asleep. They sucked because she wanted to wake up but couldn’t pull herself out so it played out. She was in her room here at the compound, Dom was whispering in her ear. She moaned a little as she felt him grasp her arm and try to pull her. She wasn’t going down easily and so she fought. She saw his gun and she groaned, he was going to kill her this time, she could see it in his eyes.
The only thought she had was she needed to get to Harmony, she was in danger. Trying to pull away, she tangled herself in the sheets, she felt like they were arms holding her and struggled even more.
“No,” she screamed, pulled, and then finally woke herself up enough for her to realize it was a dream, or was it. Listening carefully, she heard something, maybe that was why she was dreaming. Shit, someone was here. Dom had finally come for her.
Shady heard a loud bump in the room next to her and her eyes popped open and she froze, what the fuck, it was one of her spare rooms on the floor and although it was furnished there was no one in there. This was her floor, it was part of the deal with Creed, Fork, and Harmony. Harmony. She wasn't going to let that bastard get to her.
Fuck, how had someone gotten in, pulling her Desert Eagle out from under her pillow, she stood as quietly as possible. Slowly she crept toward the door making sure she didn’t step on any of the loose floorboards she knew were there that would alert whoever was in the next room she was awake. Her only intent was to keep her family safe, they would not be hurt by her past, no one would. She was gonna deal with this once and for all.
Shady’s head still felt a little muffled from the dream and she tried to shake herself awake. Damn it, she hated that shit, it creeped her out. What was real and what was not? Was she still dreaming? Shady couldn’t tell, fuck, it didn’t matter, she needed to protect.
When she reached the door, she paused and put her ear to it, she could hear soft murmurs but didn’t recognize the voices, they were too low to hear, but Creed and Fork wouldn’t come on her floor without Harmony, and her friend would have already announced her presence by coming into her room. Fuck, she was going to do this. She had too.
Shady put her hand on the doorknob and turning it silently and slowly. When it was finally unlatched, she pulled the door open enough for her too look out in the hallway. She couldn’t see anything other than shadows moving in her two spare bedrooms, the lights were turned on dim so they didn’t help. She slid into the hallway and held the gun at her side, shit, she really hoped it was Creed and Fork.
As she tiptoed closer to the rooms she heard rustling, like someone was looking for something, what the fuck would anyone be looking for in her empty rooms. She raised the gun as she heard soft footsteps coming toward the hallway. There was no light out here yet, the old one had blown, and she hadn’t cared enough to change it. One of the first things the guys said would be replaced in the whole house. They just hadn’t had the time—looking back later, they should have realized how important it was.
“The fuck?” She heard a deep sexy voice she should have known by heart. Although the adrenaline wasn’t letting her brain process, her brain said DANGER! So she turned and pointed the gun right at Slider's heart. He was frowning at her but didn’t move.
Then she felt someone at her elbow and she turned quickly backing herself into a corner with the gun held out. Her heart was beating wildly and she was breathing shallowly at Cajun, still her brain would not function, it was only telling her to protect herself.
“Back,” she barked loudly.
Both men froze and held up their hands, noticing the glazed look in her eyes. She wasn’t seeing them clearly, they could both tell. Cajun knew what this was, he had PTSD as well, although hers wasn’t from seeing military action, hers was from abuse, looking at her right now, he wasn’t sure which was worse. Neither really, both left scars so deep, the
y would relive that shit day in and day out.
Slider took a deep breath and softly said, “Shay, it is us. Cajun and Slider.”
Shady moved the weapon back and forth between the two men. She still wasn’t focusing and they could hear her breaths still coming shallowly and then she made a small noise that sounded like a growl. “Get the fuck out of here. You will not get us,” she screamed loudly.
They heard who they hoped were Creed and Fork pounding down the stairs behind them. Shady frowned and made a noise of frustration at their lack of movement. Her hands were shaking, but neither man moved.
“Shady?” Creed said but she didn’t acknowledge his presence. It was like she wasn’t allowing herself to think, only react.
“I said get the fuck out of here. You can’t have them,” Shady screamed.
“Baby,” Slider said softly. “It is us, Slider, Cajun, Fork, and Creed.”
“No, they have to be safe. I have to keep them safe. Harmony will never have to deal with this. No one should have to deal with you, motherfucker,” Shady screamed.
Fork eased his way to the side and whispered, “Shay, we are here, it is us, we would never let anything happen to Harmony. You know that.”
“No, stop tricking me. I know it’s you. I know what you want, and what you will do to her. I SAW YOU!!” Shady cried, and the men frowned. They shook their heads at each other, not sure what she is talking about.
“Shay, baby, you need to hear me,” Slider said and Shady hissed at him.
“DO NOT CALL ME THAT! YOU DO NOT KNOW ME! Shady is strong, Francesca is weak,” she screeched.
“Shit,” Creed whispered. “We need the fucking lights turned on. We need to get her to wake up completely.”
“Sweetie,” Harmony called from behind all of them softly. “Shay sweetie, I am here, I am safe.”
Shady frowned and moved her head trying to see over the tall men but, she couldn’t. “Let her go. Let her the fuck go now,” she growled to the men in front of her.
“Harm, get your ass back upstairs,” Creed snapped.
“Harmony, do not go back upstairs,” Shady yelled loudly and then narrowed her eyes, “you can’t, they will hurt you. I know—I SAW!”
“Shady,” Creed said softly. “I would never hurt Harmony, you know that. Fork and I love her. You have seen us with her, you know we wouldn’t do anything but protect her, that is why she is going back up to our room.”
“Christ,” Harmony said and walked through the men. They didn’t move to grab her because Shady was staring intently at her friend as she came to her. “Shady, honey, you are scaring the guys. Put the gun down now,” she said softly as she reached her friend.
“No,” Shady growled and tried to push Harmony behind her.
“Shady,” Harmony said sharply and made her friend look at her. “Look at me.” Shady looked at her and then kinda backed up a little. “Gimme the gun,” Harmony said firmly.
Shady blinked a few times and then shook her head, “No, I can’t. I need it for protection.”
“The guys have this, babe,” Harmony said softly. “They will not let anything happen to you or me.”
“Someone is here.” Shady frowned. “I heard them. They want to hurt you, they will do the same thing to you they did to the other girls. I saw them, Harm. I. Saw. Them. I can’t let it happen to you.”
“Baby, you heard us, we were moving our shit in,” Cajun said gruffly.
Shady frowned and looked at the guys standing in the hallway and she seemed to be looking more focused than before. She appeared to struggle with something before she lowered her gun to her side. With a deep breath, she turned to Harmony. “What the fuck is wrong with me?”
Harmony gathered her friend in her arms and whispered into her ear quietly, “We will find out, sweetie.”
“I could have killed someone. I swear I could have pulled the trigger,” Shady whispered back.
“It's okay, we will deal with this shit,” Harmony said and then led her back to her room and said over her shoulder, “Guys, get this light fucking working.”
They waited until she was in the room before looking at each other. Creed and Fork ran their hands down their faces, relieved that nothing bad had happened. But Cajun and Slider were staring at each other intently.
“She has PTSD,” Cajun said quietly with a haunted voice. “I used to wake up the same way. If I was startled, I would not react well. She needs to talk to someone.”
“You know that and I know that. Shady will not agree with it. She doesn’t talk about shit. She buries it,” Creed said.
“Yeah, well, not this time,” Slider replied. “This time, I am gonna drag it outta her if I have to fuckin' be in her grill constantly. Not gonna let her go down that road, man, it sucks.”
“She has been down that road. I just don’t think we noticed it. I mean all these years and there were times even I wondered a few things. We just didn’t dig deep enough,” Fork said warily.
“Well, we got this shit now,” Cajun said. “Lost too many of us to this shit, it eats you inside until you go nuts. Hell, I almost lost that battle, still have it all the time but I can deal. Shady needs to deal as well.”
“You two concentrate on Shay, we will concentrate on that motherfucker,” Creed said and looked at the door his woman disappeared behind. “Harmony will help her tonight. You need to get some sleep, I bet tomorrow will bring the ball-busting Shady back. She hates feeling like she is giving shit away, so she will be a bitch to drive you away.”
“Yeah, I know the pattern,” Slider laughed.
“Just don’t let her,” Fork said and the two men nodded in agreement.
Chapter Seven
Harmony sat on the bottom of the bed while Shady leaned against her headboard staring at the wall. Neither woman talked, Shady knew Harmony was waiting for her to start but she had no idea what the hell to say. She had freaked out. Even sitting here knowing that it was Cajun and Slider in the other rooms, she still felt like something was going to hurt her. Fuck, she hadn’t felt like this in a long time, ever since she left her mother. Damn him to hell, Dom was still stealing shit from her life, now it was her sanity. Ever since she had seen him again, she had the feeling of dread.
“Shay,” Harmony whispered and drew her gaze. She saw her friend trying to think of what to say in order not to freak her the fuck out, like that was gonna happen.
“Harm, don’t. I am sitting here trying to figure out in my head how I could have fucked up the reality of what was going on tonight so bad that I almost shot Slider and Cajun. I mean who the fuck does that? I remember dreaming,” Shady whispered.
“What were you dreaming about?” Harmony asked and Shady once again turned her gaze to the window. She couldn’t look anyone in the eyes when she talked about this shit. It made her feel so dirty. She hated it.
“Dom,” Shady said. “I was dreaming that Dom was here and he was trying to take me back. It was so fucking real, and then I heard a noise and I thought, he is here. I panicked. All I could think of was making sure he didn’t get to you. I don’t know why, I just keep thinking about the day we were in the parking lot. I mean, shit, he could have killed you.”
“But he didn’t, and you are okay. He is not here and he is not going to get near you again. You need to let the guys handle this, Shay, I know you want your vengeance, and I think you can have it, just let them catch him and give you your shot,” Harmony whispered.
“He needs to be gone. He needs to be in the ground. I have to know he can’t touch me again. You don’t know. No one does,” Shady muttered and Harmony looked at her closely. She was thinking back, something she hadn’t told anyone and they needed to know what it was.
“Shady, honey, I don’t know what you’re talking about. You need to explain so I can understand,” Harmony said softly.
Shady looked at her friend and shook her head. “You don’t need to know, no one can know.”
Harmony frowned. “Because it was you.”
“No, because if you know, he will come for you too, he wants to make sure I will never talk,” Shady said seriously. Harmony saw her eyes blaze in anger. No, this needed to be talked about.
“You need to get it out, honey, it can't fester. I am telling you that you have carried this load long enough, it is time to let someone else help you shoulder this,” Harmony said.
“I can’t,” Shady said.
“You can, you need to trust us.”
There was movement in the hallway and the door creaked open. Harmony turned and saw Creed and Fork there with Cajun and Slider behind them. Shady was still staring out the window and Harmony could tell her friend knew they were there, she felt her tense, but she didn’t acknowledge them. Instead, she finally began to talk. As she did, the guys stepped into the room to listen.
“I was twelve, and you know when you are that age everything is about sneaking around and trying to learn how to get away with things. I wasn’t allowed to have friends over but I listened to all their antics, and even though I knew in my heart my home life was different, I still tried, you know. I would sneak to the kitchen to find junk food. I would talk on the phone late at night with my friends. All innocent fun,” Shady said quietly. “I admit I was a bit of a terror.”
Slider snorted, “Baby, you are still a terror.”
The guys smiled at Harmony who was frowning. They were trying to lighten the atmosphere. “Yeah, but I was Francesca then, and Francesca didn’t act out or she was punished. I just wanted to be normal for once. Of course, that never worked because my life was not normal, my family was so not fucking normal. I take that back, my mother was normal, before she met Dominic, maybe a little neurotic but normal. One night a friend and I were whispering on the phone, she told me to go and get some ice cream and we could have a slumber party on the phone together. Of course, I was excited, I was never allowed to have a slumber party or attend one. I hung up and told her I would call her back when I got my stash. There was a back stairway the maids used to take the laundry and cleaning supplies up and down. It was the servant’s staircase but it went directly to the kitchen. I slid down the stairs, giggling. I never thought anyone was awake or I would have never gone downstairs.”
Shady: Ops Warriors MC Page 6