No Second Thoughts (Seven Devils MC Book 2)

by Candice Owen

  In her sketchy consciousness, Blanche knew she was helped up and into the hospital. She remembered that she kept saying she could pay cash for everything, but they said not to worry; it was covered. It was all a haze, but slowly her memory was coming back to her. Her biggest complaint was that her head hurt and she was just plain tired. The hospital ran her through scans and EEGs and determined she just had a concussion. She would be over it in about a week, but they said she could go home anytime.

  Home.

  For Blanche, that was one of those ever-vague notions she wished she could peg once and for all. It was really clear to her that, no matter how the mess with Jason, Dana, and Norte Mexicali worked out, she wanted to find a home and settle down.

  One of the nurses took the time to sit with her once she was fully wide awake. She told Blanche that when she was in and out of it and called for Jason. The nurse figured that since Blanche told her she was from Gold Creek, the 'Jason' she was talking about had to be the captain of the Motorcycle Club. The nurse knew Jason through the hospital since he had been a fireman, now retired. Since Blanche was unable to report a next of kin to notify, the nurse called him. He was on his way to come see her.

  But Jason didn't come alone. He brought with him a man he said was the deputy district attorney, Tim Paisley. It was reassuring to her that when she saw the two men, she knew them and remembered them clearly. Even though she was aware that she and Jason had a relationship, that it had been intense and she thought she loved him, something was different.

  She couldn't quite connect with those feelings. Jason Fowler was an extraordinarily handsome man -- breathtaking and tall, with a perfectly proportioned, powerful physique with muscles that seemed to want to burst through his clothes. His hair whispered in rugged waves, sort of longish, like a grown out version of a shorter style. It was very becoming and framed his symmetrical features romantically. He looked like he could be a hero in a movie. He was pretty, but she just couldn't muster a thrill to see him. Whatever there had been between them, Blanche couldn't feel it.

  Jason smiled at her and kissed her on the forehead before sitting next to her. "What is it with us?" he kidded her warmly. "So much drama. From the first time we met when I had to rescue off of that bridge, it seems like we are always in the midst of or recovering from something. It might be kind of nice to see how we do in a calm, serene situation."

  Blanche felt uneasy. She might have welcomed his affection at one time. She was sure that was the case, because he looked at her like he was ga-ga for her. She remembered, with graphic detail, the sex they had. She remembered she really liked it, but she couldn't remember the feelings she had for him. In fact, it was agitating her to have him near. And he must have picked up on that.

  He cocked his head, "Baby? Are you okay?"

  "Yes," she answered stiffly.

  "I didn't mean to joke about what you've been through. We will be brief. You've been gone for quite a while," he began, but Blanche quickly cut him off.

  "'Gone for quite a while'? You make it sound like I was on vacation. I was abducted," she protested indignantly.

  Jason hushed her. "Yes, baby," he agreed very softly. "I didn't mean to suggest anything, but I was just trying to be gentle in my approach. I didn't mean to upset you. I was just trying to find out whether you are able to tell us what happened."

  "I am not sure," she replied and proceeded to fill them in. She was getting worn out. She turned her head away from him.

  Tim Paisley interjected. He thanked her for her help and assured her of her safety. He promised her that Dana wouldn't be a threat to her. Blanche shook her head but said nothing.

  "Baby," Jason said again. Reluctantly she looked at him, "You don't love me anymore?"

  Blanche didn't say anything but she felt herself sulking.

  "Hmm?" he gently brushed her hair back across her head. "I was going to bring you home with me, but if you don't like me anymore," his voice was soft and seductive, but still she couldn't be stirred.

  "I don't know what it is," she said, her voice breaking a little.

  "That's okay," he said patiently. "If you aren't comfortable coming home with me, I guess we'll keep you here. Tim, here, has you under police guard, so you will be safe."

  "That's right," Tim stepped up. "All you have to do from here on out is get better. We need your help to get the Norte Mexicali."

  Blanche hesitated. "Blanche," Jason asked her frankly. "Something is going through your mind. We need to know what it is."

  "I'm tired," Blanche replied. She just wanted to forget about everything. Forget she ever stepped foot in Gold Creek. She wished she felt differently, but that was the best she could do.

  The police guard knocked on the door and stepped in before being asked, "Mr. Paisley?"

  "Yes," Tim answered.

  "County cops have been called to back up a situation over in El Monte. It's all hands on deck except for a small skeleton crew. We aren't available for guard duty," the cop said and closed the door.

  Jason knitted his eyebrows and remarked to Tim, "That's weird."

  "Very," said Tim.

  "Think our friends, the Norte Mexicali, have deep pockets and have folks in County on the dole?" Jason asked.

  Tim raked his fingers through his hair. "I think we need some help with this thing. One thing is for sure, if she is medically able, I think she ought to move."

  The nurse entered the room next to check Blanche's vitals. Blanche pushed her away. "I am fine," she protested bluntly. She felt like she was going to burst from the whole situation.

  "Hey," Jason scolded gently, "she's just trying to do her job. It's for your own good."

  “I really need you to mind your own business. I’m fine. In fact, all of you leave.” Blanche's mood had officially soured. "Can you please go? I need a break from all this before she can get an accurate reading. I am liable to break the meter."

  “I need to check your eyes and listen to your heart, not just take your blood pressure,” the nurse said. She was stymied and Jason was clearly frustrated.

  In a bold move, he took the stethoscope from the nurse and put it on. He pressed Blanche down firmly with one hand while with the other, he fished the disc end of the stethoscope on the inside of her gown.

  “I think I hate you,” Blanche blurted out, not realizing she was going to do that.

  Jason squinted at her and then looked to the nurse for an answer. The nurse picked up on his question right away. "Sometimes people have a little personality change with head injuries. Could be just from being injured. Cranky."

  "I have a head injury, but I am not deaf," said Blanche. "Don't talk to him like my health is his business or like I am not here."

  Tim Paisley leaned over her, "Listen here," he said. "I've given you a considerable break because this guy here convinced me that you were just a poor kid mixed up with the wrong people and you were trying to make good. These people you worked for have people everywhere. They had our own sheriff doing their dirty work. You are not safe. I'm ordering you to go with Jason so he can keep an eye on you.

  The nurse interjected, “She isn’t moving anywhere until the doctor says so.”

  Jason replied, “I thought you said she was fine.”

  “The doctor has to do a final exam and sign the papers. It’s a formality. And that will be in a little while.”

  “Fine,” he said to Blanche very sternly. “But I am coming back for you and you are coming with me. Aside from the fact that Norte Mexicali regards you as a traitor, I won’t sleep a wink unless I know you are being cared for.”

  “Oh,” said Blanche. “My recovery here is about you. Maybe we should switch places.” She began to get out of bed, but Jason stopped her.

  “Knock it off,” he said as though he was going to add “Or I will put you over my knee.” He shook his head and then looked to the ceiling. “Come on, Tim. Let’s go.”

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  The room was cleared. Even though her sudde
n rush of anger towards Jason worked her up, she was wiped out and so she nodded off. The next visitor was, indeed the doctor. She was going to find out whether or not she had to be in care after she was released, or whether she could be on her own. She was going to move on from the little town of Gold Creek.

  With the doctor, Blanche was cooperative. That aggressive drive she experienced when she remembered she had been an assassin for the Norte Mexicali had come back. She felt charged with darkness. She did have a few questions for him now that her mind felt clearer. “So, how can just a small knock on the head throw me like it has?” Blanche asked him.

  “Head injuries are crap shoots. We never know what can come of them, but, from what I know about your case, you were choking, lost consciousness, and slammed onto the concrete with dead weight. It was a serious accident.”

  “Oh,“ replied Blanche. She thought the doctor was handsome. He was a tall Hispanic man, built like a football player. When he grazed her lightly to flash a penlight in her eyes, she liked the faint smell of his cologne. “Cual es tu nombre?” she asked him. He was concerned.

  He pointed to his badge and replied in Spanish, “Are you able to read”

  “Yes,” she flushed. “I can…I just.”

  He put his instruments aside. He hovered into her and spoke so that only the two of them could hear. “So I know that you are El Salvador…Or were.”

  What might have made her blood run cold made her smile. “You know about the Norte Mexicali?”

  “Who do you think put me through school?” he replied coolly. Blanche sat up, attentively. “Why have you turned your back on such a generous brotherhood? They took you in when you were a little orphan, gave you a good income, and worldliness beyond your comprehension. You turned on them and for what? An uptight white boy who is sitting on a pile of gold somewhere. I understand why Gold Creek doesn’t like you very much.”

  Blanche laughed, “Well I was supposed to kill their motorcycle captain. He is like their mayor.”

  The doctor’s face darkened. “Do you think this is funny, woman?”

  “No I don’t,” Blanche answered feeling completely shamed.

  “You threw all of that opportunity away for what? Lust?”

  Blanche was beginning to get nervous. He could kill her right now and probably get away with it. She had a head injury that was way more complicated than she thought it should be. It perplexed her, despite his explanation, how a simple fall can cause so much trouble. Either way, she was in a vulnerable position. She wasn’t physically together and she was lying prone. She was at his mercy. “What if I atone for the error of my ways?” she suggested.

  “Such as? Not that I can make any promises,” he said.

  “Well I came to town to kill someone. Let me kill someone,” she said.

  The doctor regarded her, “I can take the message back to base but –”

  Blanche didn’t trust him at all. “I can do the same. I don’t need to trouble you. But I do appreciate the wake-up call.”

  “I am not entirely convinced,” the burly physician said. He stood up and Blanche was aware at just how formidable of a person he was. He was positively huge. “But it does sound as though that injury knocked some sense into you.”

  It occurred to Blanche that she could make any deal with Norte Mexicali and there was no guarantee that she would live much beyond that. Her only option was to stick by the one person whom she knew cared about her, even though whatever she felt for him seemed to be lost to the past. Vanished in time. She could hardly stand the guy now, but right as rain, just even thinking about him, he appeared at the door. It might not be recognizable to just anyone, because it looked like the doctor was vaguely smiling at Jason, but Blanche could see the doctor regard him with hatred.

  Jason shook his hand. Blanche could see he was an honorable man through and through.

  “So you’ve decided?” the physician asked her. “I am to release you to him?”

  “Only if you think it’s okay,” Jason said. He genuinely cared about her.

  “Say, listen. In a perfect world, she would be in bed, not moving around until she was a hundred percent mended, but from what I understand, she should be moved. So, go. Be well and take care. I would not let her go if I didn’t think it was in her best interest. Ms. Herrera, you have my contact information and I have yours. We have a few minor lab results pending, merely routine and none of which will interfere with my decision here today. I am obligated to discuss them with you and so I will give you a call later in the week.”

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Once they were alone together in the room Jason remarked, “Nice guy. Sounds like you had a great doctor.”

  A pang of guilt actually sank within her. One minute she was a cold-blooded killer and the next she had a conscience. It was very confusing to her. The one thing she was sure of, whether she could kill him or not, he was her best bet. “I have to get dressed still. If you would go get the nurse,” she said, thinking she was being cooperative.

  “Nurse?” he asked as though he were baffled. A barrage of memories of the two of them naked many times started to play through her mind. A blush that took her off guard consumed her. “I’ll get her if you want me to, but I can help you.”

  If she was going to use him for her personal safety, she might as well force herself to tolerate him. “Sure. I don’t know what I was thinking.”

  “Seriously, Blanche, I can’t pretend I like what’s happened here. I miss you like crazy and you’re standing right in front of me, but I am not trying to pressure you, so if you feel more comfortable with the nurse helping you with your clothes on…”

  “Do I even have clothes?” she asked.

  “Yes,” he said. “I brought them earlier.” He pulled opened a drawer from dresser in the room. “See?” There they were. Clothes for her, neatly folded and put away. He cared for her. He cleared out the drawers and put all but one set in a bag. He motioned for her to raise her arms. That was really hard to do. She had to move super slowly. She did need his help she admitted to herself, though she wouldn’t say so out loud.

  The first thing she noted was that his touch was healing. Soothing wands of electricity radiated through her, caressing her whole body. It was perhaps the best medicine she had experienced yet. His touch was like none other. Even the doctor, whom Blanche found attractive, didn’t have this kind of energy.

  She was confused. It seemed like in her present condition, she was impressionable. If she was around the doctor, she was pro Norte Mexicali and, given long enough time alone with Jason, she wasn’t so sure. She had to remember, whatever her choice, it was just about her. And that way, there would be no confusion.

  Unless he made her weak.

  The strands of her hair, mercifully spared in the head injury ordeal – there was talk of surgery at one point – got caught in her shirt; he gently loosened them for her. The warmth of his fingers at her neck combined with the soft tickling of her hair climbing up and out of her clothing was overwhelmingly sensual. She wondered if he was doing it on purpose.

  He guided her off the bed and carried all of her bags. He opened the door to let the nurse know that they were ready to leave. The nurse brought over a wheelchair for her.

  Once again, Blanche felt very vulnerable being in a position lower than everyone else. As though he had nothing else to do, the doctor appeared to escort her to the exit. Now Blanche was nervous.

  To everyone else, it looked like he was the caring, attentive physician, but she knew otherwise. He was reminding her to behave. Jason was a big and powerful man, himself, with not an ounce of fat on him. Whereas the doctor was built more like a bulldozer…a football player and he did carry extra weight.

  Blanche could not estimate which of the two would best the other, except that she had a feeling it would be the doctor. She also realized there was an inkling of protectiveness for Jason. Surprising to both Blanche and the doctor, there was a squad of motorcycle club members, The Seven De
vils, waiting for them, though there were even more waiting to ride along-side Jason and Blanche as they went to their destination, which she assumed was his house.

  Jason shook the doctor’s hand and said goodbye to him. He helped Blanche get into his car, a Porsche 911. It would not have been the car she would have picked for him. That made her have to admit that somewhere inside of her, she knew she cared. She just couldn’t quite connect to it.

  He leaned over her from the driver’s side and buckled her in. He didn’t ask; he just did it. Blanche knew Jason was a big guy, but sitting beside him the sports car made it even more obvious. His back and shoulders filled the backrest of the seat. He didn’t say much to her as they pulled out of the lot, leading the swarm of bikers.

  About fifteen miles away from the hospital, Jason veered off and the bikers kept going. Blanche was alarmed, but curious, and she remained silent as she waited to see if she could figure him out. He pulled up to a curve, shrouded with shrubs where a car was there waiting for them. The driver of that car helped him help her out of the Porche into a white Ford pickup. A lone Seven Devils biker zoomed around the bend to pick up the guy who had been driving the truck. He stripped off his club coat and tossed it into the truck.