by Lexie Davis
Okay, that was a problem. “Then maybe next time you shouldn’t film me doing illegal shit and send it to my girlfriend.”
His father’s eyes darkened. “Girlfriend?”
Ryker didn’t say any more. There was no way to win that conversation. Ella would always be a threat to Razor because of who she was related to. Bringing her into the club was a bad idea, and Ryker tried his best to keep her away, but he simply couldn’t. He couldn’t stay away from her.
“A rat is your girlfriend. Now there’s something for the Christmas cards.” He snapped his fingers and motioned toward Sonny.
Ryker watched as they brought Ella in the clubhouse. She was still dressed in the sweats he’d left her in. Sonny knocked her to her knees and Ryker clenched his hands. She wasn’t hurt and the fucking old man had better be glad. She glanced around at them, not saying a word. Her hands were bound and her eyes were big.
“What is she doing here?”
Razor snorted. “Like you don’t know how we handle rats.”
He pulled out his gun and cocked it before staring at Ryker. “Do you have the balls to do the honors? Or are you just a fucking pussy?”
“I’m not killing her.” Ryker said it with a deadly tone. “And if you fucking think that you or anyone else in this club is, you’d better fucking kill me first.”
Razor laughed. “Wow. She really has your balls in a knot.”
Razor focused on Ella. Ryker watched as his father studied her. She didn’t plead for her life. She didn’t cry. She simply sat there, waiting.
“Is that okay with you?” Razor held the gun out, pressing the barrel against Ryker’s forehead. “You want me to kill him first and let you watch?”
“You’re not going to kill your son.”
Razor arched an eyebrow. “Really? Why not?”
“He’s your legacy. Who is going to take over the club if he’s dead?”
Razor’s face contorted into rage. “Shut up, you stupid cunt!”
Ella licked her dry lips. “I mean, isn’t this what it’s about? The whole reason I’m here is because you’re trying to protect what you think you’ve created. You isolate him. You try to force him to do your bidding. You’re a sick, sick human being to inject drugs into him and film him just so you can send the video to me.”
“You didn’t like that?”
“Ryker is a wonderful person. He’s not the monster you want him to be.”
Razor laughed. “I got to hand it to you, son, I really didn’t think she’d be a cheerleader for you. Maybe it’s not the pussy that’s hypnotizing but your dick. That I can understand more.”
“Let her go.” Ryker had had just about all he could take of his father’s little show.
“Not a chance.” Razor walked toward Ella and gripped her face, squeezing hard enough to make her wince. “It’s about to get interesting.”
Ryker’s mind raced. What the fuck was he going to do?
Chapter Ten
Ella watched as Razor brought in a few prospects. The man that had taken her to the club stepped back from her, leaving her kneeling in the middle of the room with her arms bound.
Razor disappeared for a moment and grabbed a rocker patch with Roaming Devils For Life on it and held it up. “The first one that kills that bitch gets full membership. No vote needed.”
Ella glanced between the three men standing before her. All of them held guns in their hands. Two had visited her with Ryker when he’d been stabbed. They’d carried him up the stairs and into her apartment.
“Nobody?” Razor taunted.
She glanced over at Ryker, who looked like he was ready to kill. She’d never seen him have such anger. Deadly anger. He was controlling it, but she didn’t know for how long.
“Okay.” Razor grabbed several thousand dollars and slapped it onto the bar. “First club member that shoots her gets the fucking money. And if you want drugs, I’ll throw those in too.”
The guy named Sonny stepped up. “I’ll do it.”
Ella jerked toward the sound of his voice. Of course he’d do it. He was the one that originally told her that she was going to die. Razor handed him the gun and Sonny turned toward her, without even blinking, and pulled the trigger.
“No!” Ryker lunged forward but the two burly men grabbed him.
The clicking sound reverberated through the silence. Ella took in a shaky breath as he pulled the trigger a few more times.
“Now see. That’s loyalty.” Razor chuckled. “Doing what is best for the club without regard to feelings. Sonny doesn’t give a shit about the pretty little rat on her knees. He doesn’t care how good she can suck cock or how great that tight pussy feels around his dick. All Sonny cares about is she hurt the club and she needs to pay.”
Razor reached for the knife at his side. “Now, here’s my dilemma. Do I make a man out of my son and force him to kill the love of his life, or do I kill her myself because I know where his loyalties lie?”
He walked toward Ella, ignoring everybody else in the room. “You know he’s not a good man, right? He’s killed before. Several people, actually. That little injury he went running to you about was a result of a fight that took place over who would be the next vice president of the charter.” He glanced over at Ryker. “He’s a deadly force just like I raised him. So maybe he is the monster I created.”
Thoughts ran through Ella’s head as she tried to figure out how to get away from him. She didn’t know much about the club life, but a guy named Razor didn’t really get off on killing people with a gun. The knife in his hands was far more worrisome to her than the gun ever was.
“What would your daddy say about that?” Razor brought the steel blade to her cheek and rubbed it along her skin. “I’m sure he’s not too pleased with you fucking an outlaw biker.”
“Don’t touch her,” Ryker called out. “I’ll do it.”
Ella blinked a few times, her attention switching to Ryker. The two men let him go just as Razor turned. Ryker came toward them and held out his hand for Razor’s knife. Razor gave him the weapon, looking shocked that Ryker admitted that he’d do it.
Ryker took the knife and stared at Ella. “With just the right cut, a human can bleed out within seconds if they don’t have medical treatment.”
Ella watched as he came to her. The deadly look in his eyes was enough to scare her. Ryker had just changed the play. He’d told her that he would protect her, that he would take the fall if she fucked up. Ella felt tears well in her eyes as he slipped his hand around her neck, lightly touching her.
She wasn’t prepared for this.
“I’m sorry, Ella.” He pressed his forehead against hers. “You are the best thing that has ever happened to me.”
“Don’t.” She shook her head. “Please don’t.”
“I love you,” he whispered.
Her jaw trembled as tears streamed down her cheeks. He kissed her and she didn’t want it to end. Before she could stop him, Ryker lifted the knife and stabbed himself with it, driving it deep into his abdomen. Ella screamed, horrified, as he turned toward his father.
“You lose.”
When he collapsed, time stood still. Blood spilled out around him. Ella didn’t even care what went on around her. She lunged forward and rolled him, yanking the knife from his stomach to cut the ties from her hands. Her heart raced as she forced her finger into the gash, stopping the blood from spilling out. The warmth gave her a chill as she screamed for someone to call an ambulance. With her finger on his torn artery she wasn’t going to let him die. Not today.
Chaos erupted as most of the Roaming Devils scattered. One of the men that had helped him to her apartment knelt beside her.
“What can I do?”
“Call an ambulance.”
“I did.”
Tears streamed down her face. She held him down with the brunt of her weight so he wouldn’t dislodge her finger. He struggled in pain and Ryker’s friend got the clue to help hold him down.
It d
idn’t take too long for the ambulance to arrive. Ella straddled him as they loaded him onto the gurney and took them both off.
The paramedics tried talking to her and she ignored them, afraid that if she so much as breathed the wrong way that he would die. His pulse was weak. He’d lost a lot of blood, but her finger plugged the hole quite well. Her heart thumped wildly as they were rushed into the ER. Everything surrounding her moved in slow motion. The sounds of the doctors’ voices when they talked to her. The beeping of the monitor hooked to Ryker’s chest. She stared at his lifeless body, trying to tell herself that he was still breathing. That she was keeping him alive. The EMT had called ahead and the surgical staff was waiting for them. They immediately took the gurney from the EMS personnel and rushed to the nearest elevator.
Ella felt hot tears spill onto her cheeks as they took the ride up. The surgical floor was on five and the elevator didn’t lift them fast enough. She closed her eyes and struggled to keep her composure. She was eventually going to have to move her hand and let the surgical team take over and the thought scared the hell out of her. Once they got to the floor, they rushed into the empty surgical unit, with a few departing to scrub in. Several doctors were waiting for them, already dressed in their gear and ready to perform. They lifted both Ryker and Ella onto the surgical bed.
“Dr. Hawkins, you can dismount the patient now. We’ve got this.”
Ella stared down, not even realizing that they’d clamped off the artery. Seeing that she needed help, one of the surgical techs reached for her hand and gently pulled her finger out of Ryker’s body. She didn’t see any gushes of blood, so Ella let them guide her off the table and escort her out of the room.
“Do you need anything?” the tech asked her.
Ella shook her head. “No.”
The tech didn’t look too convinced. “Let’s get you cleaned up. You can wash at the sink and scrubs are over there.”
Ella hadn’t even realized she’d touched her bloody hand to her arm when she’d gripped it. She looked like a horror freak show. She pushed the foot pedal for the sink faucet and turned it on. The water droplets mingled with the crimson fluid until it rolled off her skin and down the drain.
The tech opened a new bar of soap and handed it to her. Ella glanced up into the room, staring as they hovered over Ryker’s body and worked to save his life. How did this happen? She sucked in a shaky breath, not even realizing that the tech had taken over scrubbing the blood from her arms.
“It’s okay,” the tech commented. “He’s in the best hands.”
She nodded, moving away to find a pair of scrubs that fit her. After Ella changed, she walked out into the waiting area to find several of Ryker’s friends waiting for him. They were all missing their cuts and had changed into sweats, but she recognized them.
“How is he?” one guy asked.
She didn’t know their names. She didn’t trust any of them either.
“How do you think he is?”
She sat down in the chair farthest away from them and tried to keep her mind off everything that could possibly go wrong. If the doctors didn’t fix the artery right, then he could bleed out. She closed her eyes and ran her fingers through her hair.
They were supposed to spend the night together. Just him and her. She’d curled up next to him while they’d watched that stupid movie. He’d held her in bed, knowing she didn’t feel as great as she should have, but she was on the mend. She still felt the way his hand had gripped her neck as he’d looked into her eyes. Ella stood, unable to sit any longer. If she stayed cooped up she’d go crazy.
“Ella?”
She jerked her head to the side as her father and mother came through the door. Her father pulled her to him, wrapping his arms around her body.
“What happened? Are you all right?”
She shoved at him. “Get off me.”
He took a step back. “Ella, what happened?”
“That stunt you pulled with the video? Yeah, that almost got me killed.” She glanced over at the police officers her father worked with. “I swear to God, if you don’t get them out of my fucking face…”
He nodded toward his co-workers and they left the room. She didn’t know who to trust anymore. Razor was still out there and he was undoubtedly pissed off about Ryker’s stunt. If he caught her, he’d kill her. She didn’t have any doubts about that. And her father was absolutely clueless as to what the fuck was going on.
“How did me turning that video in almost get you killed?”
“Think about it, Dad.” She stared at him. “That video was made for me and it ends up in the police department’s hands. They think I’m a rat. What the fuck do they do with rats, huh? Do you at least know that?”
“The Roaming Devils won’t assume you are to blame.”
She snorted. “Are you really that fucking naïve? No wonder the Young Blood caught you and beat the shit out of you.” She shook her head. “I shouldn’t have even bothered trying to save you. I put my life on the line, willing to do anything it took to get you back, and you turn around and do this bullshit to me. To Ryker.”
“Ella…” He reached out to her and she jerked away from him.
“Get away from me.”
She walked across the room, choosing to sit in the other corner. Her mother followed her and she rolled her eyes. She didn’t want to talk to anyone. She didn’t need comfort.
“Ella.” Her mother sat beside her. “Your father has been working against these gangs for the majority of his career. He knows how dangerous they are and he appreciates you helping to bring him back to us.”
“Don’t.” Ella shook her head. “Don’t you dare say what I think you’re going to say.”
“These people are not good people, Ella. Your father is not to blame for what went on tonight. You should have listened to him when he warned you numerous times to stay away from them.”
“Yes, I should have listened.” She laughed humorlessly. “Of course I should have. He fucking knows everything, including how I should live my fucking life. And of course, I wouldn’t want to do it the wrong way. I need to do it the way my fucking father tells me.”
“Stop saying the F-word.”
“Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!” Ella screamed the last one at her mother before standing again to leave the room.
She couldn’t do it anymore. She couldn’t be the nice doctor that cared about every fucking being on this planet. Rage filled her, and a part of her wanted Razor to come after her. She’d love to use her medical education on him to maximize pain and torture before she watched him take his last breath. If anything happened to Ryker, she would. She knew that without a doubt.
“You know he talked about you.”
Ella turned around to see one of the Roaming Devils. “What’s your name?”
“Parker. Everyone calls me Vampire, though.”
“Vampire?”
“As in bloodthirsty.” He shrugged.
“What did he say about me?”
He smiled. “He wanted to be with you. When he became president, that was his goal. To figure out a way that you could be part of his life without all the other bullshit raining down. He called you his saving grace. He was surrounded by darkness in his life and you were always his light.” Vampire scratched his chin. “You’ve known each other since you were what? Fifteen?”
“Yeah.” She folded her arms over her chest. “He always asked me for a pencil in homeroom. It was the only conversation we had with one another. Neither of us minded either.”
“He loves you.”
She nodded. “I know. I love him too.”
“I don’t think anyone questions that.” He leaned against the wall next to her. “I didn’t know what to expect when I met you. You were sick as a dog and jumped right in to sew him up like it wasn’t anything to worry about.”
She nodded. “I’m a doctor. Emergency medicine. I don’t know if that’s where I want to be anymore.”
“I’m pretty co
nfident that you saved his life today.”
“Yeah.” She didn’t want to think about it. The look on his face as he’d shoved the knife into his stomach was enough to haunt her for years. The rapid blood flow had told her immediately that he’d nicked the artery. “He’s such a fucking bastard.”
The man laughed. “He can be.”
“What’s the deal with you? Aren’t you supposed to pledge loyalty or something to Razor?”
“Loyalty has been in question for a while now. Ryker is where the majority of the club wants to go. He’s not half bad, even if he is a fucking bastard.”
She snorted, glancing to the side as her father stepped out. The police were at the other end of the hall and she had a feeling that the cockroaches weren’t going away just yet.
“Can I say something?” Vampire asked.
“What?”
“I really think your father means well. He’s on the right side of the law. It’s a different world than the one we’re in.”
Ella stayed at the hospital for the majority of the night. She was supposed to return to work, but her boss told her to take another day off. Ryker had been in surgery for a long time and she knew it took a while to repair damage, but it still didn’t do anything to ease her nerves.
Her father left to get breakfast and brought her something back. He didn’t say anything as he set it in the chair next to her and walked away. Ella wanted to make up with him, but she couldn’t. Not right then. She ate the food he gave her, ignoring the looks from her mother.
She was hungry and tired. Worried and sick. She really shouldn’t have been in the waiting room since she had strep, but the antibiotic should have helped her. She’d taken the damn shot and it was supposed to be quicker, but she didn’t really think so.
“Dr. Hawkins?”
Ella looked up at one of her co-workers. She set her food aside and stood, waiting for the results of the surgery. Each heartbeat filled her ears, and it seemed like minutes passed before the woman spoke again.