by Addison Jane
“Leo, let’s go. Let Ham do what he thinks is best for his woman,” Op ordered, meeting my gaze and nodding, letting me know he’d heard me. “Church in one hour.”
“Yeah, I’ll be there.”
Things were about to be very different.
Meyah was mine. I wasn’t sure if at that moment she understood exactly what that meant, but soon she would. For now, my priority was to make sure she was all right and safe. Then, I’d find out who was responsible, and there would be hell to fucking pay.
Because one more bonus about claiming the woman I loved as my own—I got first fucking shot at the motherfucker.
Skins did pretty well working around the two of us given that Meyah refused to let me leave. And even if she’d wanted me to, there would have been no way I was walking away from her for a second. I managed to get her to my bedroom, and she was cuddled up against my chest, her ear pressed to my heart as Skins worked on the cut to her neck.
“I’m not going to stitch it,” he announced. Meyah’s body tensed as Skins moved the skin with his fingers. “It’s not deep enough, and I think it will heal well with some butterfly stitches and a bandage.”
“What are butterfly stitches?” I asked, wanting to know every little detail about what he was doing, and things she would need over the next few days as her body recovered.
He held up a small white thing that looked like a Band-Aid but was skinny in the middle and wide at the sides, like a butterfly I guess. “It will stretch over and hold the skin together so it can heal naturally. It should only take a few days before it starts to look a little better.”
“There’s gonna be a scar,” Meyah murmured softly. Her fingers traced the edges of my patches on the front of my club cut.
My eyes met with Skins over her head. I could see the rage burning in his eyes which he was trying to keep concealed for Meyah’s sake. I could imagine he saw something similar in mine, although I was managing to keep that shit on lockdown. And the only reason was because right now, I had her in my arms and could convince myself that nothing could touch her anymore.
God forbid the things that could get broken when the boys pulled me away from here, and we have to rehash what happened. I hope the old ladies had the drinks ready. The entire club was protective of Meyah. There were a lot of reasons, and it wasn’t just because Leo was her uncle. No. They’d already seen her hurt. After how Nick treated her, and the times she’d show up here in tears because of him, well, they were more times than I’d like to fucking count.
Slowly, she became more immune, and I was almost sure it was because of the time she started spending at the club. Hadley was teaching her how to shoot which made her feel more confident, self-assured. And fuck, was she a good shot.
She grew, developed, became stronger and blossomed into something fucking amazing.
But the boys in the club still saw her as that girl who showed up a year ago, after the guy she gave her virginity to dumped her and told anyone who would listen.
“I’ll try to make the scar as pretty as possible, babe,” Skins attempted to assure her.
“Will I be able to see it in the mirror?” she asked, this time her voice a little stronger.
“No,” I replied confidently. “It’s behind your ear. So you won’t be able to see it if you look directly into the mirror.”
She pressed her lips together and moved her fingers from the patches on my cut down to my forearm where she started to trace the lines of my tattoos. Skins took that as the go ahead and made quick work of placing around ten butterfly stitches across it and bandaging it up for now.
“I’ve got some pain relie—”
“I don’t want it,” she cut him off, and then after a couple of beats, she finally sat up and turned toward him, shaking her head and screwing up her nose. “Christ. I’m being a real bitch, aren’t I? I’m sorry, Skins. Thanks for looking after me. I just… I’m already feeling a little fuzzy. I don’t want to add something else to the mix.”
Skins dipped his head and moved back from the bed. “I hear you. Just come find me if you decide you want something,” he assured her with a gentle smile before adding, “No one would question why.”
She dropped her head and leaned back into me as Skins ducked out the door. I could tell she was blaming herself. She kept trying to look away as if she was embarrassed. While she hadn’t said the words yet, Levi had brought Emma back to the club just before I’d ushered Meyah upstairs to my room.
A sheriff.
He’d asked to speak to Meyah in private, so they’d gotten in his car while Emma had followed her gut instincts, and the second she rounded the corner, she called Eagle to come, not entirely explaining what was happening but letting him know she was feeling a little off about the interaction.
Eagle was there within minutes, but it was too late.
“I’m so stupid,” Meyah confessed after a few moments in the silent room. “Emma knew something was off about him right away. How did I not see it? I’m such an idiot.”
“Stop,” I admonished, hooking my finger under her chin and forcing her to turn toward me. When her gaze met mine, it was different. I couldn’t quite figure it out. Maybe she was scared or still a little confused. But she was nervous for sure. “Your brain told you the police are meant to protect you, not cause you pain. Emma hasn’t had that ingrained in her since she was a baby. She’s far more jaded. When you’ve seen evil as much as she has, you just know.”
“He…” she started to talk, but her voice broke, and she stopped, shaking her head with a frown. “He said he had a message.
I inhaled slowly through my nose, blowing out the long breath before I managed to ask, “What was the message?”
“He wants Romeo to go back to Las Vegas… that he has a week to go back… or else.”
Her words stole my breath, and I felt fucking sick. We knew that Romeo’s past might follow him to us, and that we’d have to be vigilant, but it’d only been a few days. We were expecting fucking criminals, drug addicts, some assholes that the world wouldn’t fucking miss, not a county sheriff with God only knows fucking who in his back pocket, and the law on his side.
Shit just went to the next level.
I took her hand in mine realizing we both still had hands covered in blood.
“Come on.” I took her hand, and we both shuffled to the edge of the bed. Pulling her off, I walked her slowly toward the bathroom and moved her body in front of mine as we stood at the vanity. Reaching around her, I twisted the hot water on before grabbing the hand soap and squirting a couple of dollops into each of our hands.
I didn’t want her to know the crazy and dark thoughts swirling through me at that moment, I just needed to focus on making sure she was okay. And then, when I was with my brothers, we would make another plan. One that involved me getting my hands on this asshole who I knew now hadn’t just hurt the beautiful soul I fell in love with, but who’d been tormenting my little brother for God knows how fucking long.
Meyah’s eyes were fixed on her hands, while she shuffled nervously on her feet. “I didn’t think it had bled that much,” she whispered, her eyes flicking between her hands and mine which were only slightly better off.
“It doesn’t matter now.” I covered her hands with mine, and together we rubbed at the dried blood, and the straight tie-dye like patterns that had stained on our skin. The soap suds formed into a pinkish hue, bubbles rising and covering both our hands. She rubbed mine, her thumbs finding a particularly dark dried part in the center of my palm and going over and over it like she was performing some kind of massage. Only I could see the relief on her face when it was finally gone, her body relaxing. Blood stained soap and water swirled down the plughole creating straight patterns in the water. She’d bled more than I would have expected, and I was planning on talking to Skins later about why.
When we’d finally watched the last drop disappear down the drain, I led her back into the bedroom and helped her undress down to her underwear,
and she climbed into the bed. I felt like someone had ripped away the woman I loved, and instead left this shell.
This wasn’t my Meyah.
She was broken.
She’d been protected for so long, kept wrapped in bubble wrap which was so tight she’d barely been able to breathe. Just when I thought she was finally breaking through, taking risks, showing those beautiful colors to the world and seeing it out there for what it was, I was now starting to wonder whether it was all just too much. Was she strong enough to bounce back from what would be the most traumatizing thing that’s ever touched her?
This would be a test, one I knew she could pass.
I saw her.
I knew her better than I think she knew herself.
And I needed her to fight back. Not to let this bury itself inside and poison her. She was stronger than she gave herself credit for.
Every single one of the old ladies here had been through hell and back more than once. Chelsea almost died on the floor of a dirty basement. Rose was forced into a drug induced coma and was a few hours from overdosing. Hadley had to watch one of the brothers lose his life to protect her.
This life wasn’t for the faint of heart.
People got hurt. People got killed. And not for one second did any one of my brothers or their old ladies use the word regret. They would stand in front of the people they cared for in the blink of an eye and take a bullet if they meant those they loved would walk away to live the rest of their lives.
I didn’t want to live without Meyah.
She was everything I fucking wanted.
She was more than this. She wouldn’t let it win or define her.
“She’s gonna be okay,” a soft voice assured the silent thoughts in my head, and I looked up to see Hadley standing in the doorway with a gentle smile on her face. Looking down, I realized Meyah had finally given in and was letting her body and mind rest.
She was exhausted.
Mentally, physically, just completely fucking shattered.
“How do you know?” I asked, hoping Hadley would have some great explanation which would make me feel better about claiming Meyah. I didn’t want to drag her into a life that forced her to feel like she was continually looking over her shoulder.
Fuck, it made me almost just as bad as that little asshole Nick.
I needed to know Meyah could handle this. That it wasn’t going to end up breaking her. That I wouldn’t lose her because the life and family I chose was one that pushed the boundaries and stood up for what they believed in and protected the people they cared about at whatever cost necessary.
“I’m not saying it will happen today, or tomorrow, but I see in her eyes what the club means to her. What the club has done for her and given her. She loves the club,” Hadley explained so surely as she looked down at the young girl who’d become more than just her old man’s niece, but almost like a daughter. “She loves you.”
Her words reassured me, but I had to wonder whether love was going to be enough if that asshole had gotten far enough into her head to really scare her.
“Go,” Hadley urged quietly, walking into the room with a book in her hand. “I’ll sit with her while you’re in church.”
I detangled myself from Meyah’s arms without jostling her too much. “How did the boys ever handle seeing you girls get caught in the middle of wars without losing their shit? Because right now, all I want to do is pull out my shotgun, go down to the Sheriff’s Office, and blow a hole through his fucking head.”
Hadley grinned and shook her head. “That’s something you’re gonna have to ask them.”
I fucking planned on it.
But first, I needed to find my little brother.
As I walked into the room and closed the door behind me, my brothers were already there waiting for me.
“How is she?” Blizzard asked genuinely.
I moved to take my seat at the table dropping like a heavyweight into the comfortable leather chair. “She’s fucking petrified,” I answered honestly, hanging my head. “She finally fell asleep, even though she fought it with every ounce of her being. Mentally and emotionally she is completely torn to shreds.”
I didn’t sugarcoat it.
I couldn’t if I tried.
Anyone of them could take one look at Meyah right now and see the pure fear in her eyes. It was unmistakable, and I so desperately wanted to take it away, but I couldn’t. She was the only one able to get past this, and the only thing we could do was show her we had her back as she fought these new demons.
“I thought you weren’t supposed to go to sleep after a concussion,” Leo challenged, looking worried.
“Myth,” Skins responded with a shake of his head from down the table. “If the person is able to hold a conversation and walk, amongst other things, then there’s no reason why they can’t go to sleep. It’s actually the best way for them to recover. Their brain has just had a major injury, and it needs rest. Meyah’s concussion’s only mild. She’s very aware of what’s going on around her.”
“Good, because I’m ready to hear what the fuck happened,” Leo snapped, leaning forward and placing his hands on the table. “Some asshole tried to slice her up. Who, and fucking why?”
Inhaling deeply through my nose, I sat a little taller, and all eyes turned to me.
“Meyah said it was the sheriff,” I announced. “Same motherfucker that pulled me over by the sound of her description.”
Wrench pulled out a file sliding it across the table to Optimus as he explained what he’d found. “Deacon said he showed up out of nowhere. Took over the Madison County Sheriff’s Office over in Huntsville with no real purpose.”
“Athens is in Limestone County, not Madison, so the boys over at the Limestone Sheriff’s Office sound like they’re getting a little testy that he doesn’t know his place and won’t stick to his jurisdiction,” Blizzard added.
The club had been here for fucking years. While we weren’t exactly best friends with the local law, they left us alone because they knew, for the most part, we weren’t hurting anyone.
“Nobody has any idea why he just showed up in the blink of an eye and took over.”
“So tell me, what’s the connection here?” Leo asked, sitting back and taking in this information.
“Romeo,” I replied, gritting my teeth. “Romeo’s the connection.”
Everyone looked at me like I’d grown two heads.
This wasn’t what we were expecting.
Shoot first, we were used to.
But if we pushed this guy, he was going to arrest first and ask questions later. And then, we’d all be fucking screwed. We can’t protect our family from behind the bars of a prison cell.
“Of course, this is the motherfucker with a boner for your little brother,” Optimus all but groaned, rolling his eyes to the ceiling. “Levi!”
It was a brief second before the church doors opened, and Levi stuck his head in.
“Get Romeo in here,” Op ordered, the prospect not waiting a second before he was gone again.
“This is something that would’ve been good to know before we started this,” Leo commented, drawing my attention. “I ain’t saying that we all still wouldn’t have agreed to help. Family is family. But given I'm responsible for the safety of the club, we could have addressed the situation a little differently.”
I took the criticism with a nod.
He was right. I should have taken the time to learn more about what exactly Romeo was running from before we started this whole mess. Going in blind was never a good idea, but things had moved so fast, and I’d been blindsided. I had my family back together and fuck the world if they tried to bring me down. What I hadn’t considered was what my other family was stepping into. What they were taking on their shoulders so I could have what I wanted.
Blood or no blood, the lines were so blurred now that it didn’t matter to me whether we were related or not. My brothers were my brothers, and I needed to get my head in the fucki
ng game if I was going to keep every single one of them safe.
It wasn’t long before the door opened again, and Romeo slipped inside. Op nodded for him to take the open chair at the end of the table. I could see the trepidation in his eyes. He felt like he was being cornered. Too many years of being treated like shit. Too many times being jumped in the jailhouse. He’d been burned, and at any point, he felt like he needed to be ready to fight his way out. Even though these men who’d stuck their asses out on the line to save him, he’d do what it took. And where that should make me proud of how strong he was, it actually twisted my gut knowing he was so practiced in that way of thinking where it almost just became natural.
“Chill, Rome,” I ordered. Nodding to the way he was unconsciously clicking his knuckles like he was preparing for a fight. “Will you just calm down?”
“Ham’s right,” Optimus agreed, holding his hands up in the air as a way of saying he meant no harm. “We just want to have a chat and hope maybe you will have some information which could fill in the gap.”
“Famous last words,” Romeo grumbled, his dark eyes continuing to scan the room.
Blizzard took the file with the sheriff’s name and details and sent it flying down the table. “We found out who attacked Meyah,” Blizzard informed him.
Romeo stopped the file with his hand. “Fucking good. Fucking bast—” His words were cut short at the first page, his brows pinching together as he looked down at the information and the photo. A deep growl started in his throat, and he quickly closed the file.
“Why didn’t you mention you were running from a fucking sheriff?” I demanded. “Do you realize what he could have done? What he could still do? He fucking sliced Meyah’s neck open, Rome.”
“I fucking know, okay,” he roared, pushing to his feet and sending the chair behind him flying back against the wall. “I fucking know because I’ve been living with that shit for almost six goddamn years now.”