Chip nodded. “We go now. This doesn’t work, I meet the Falcons. We got ’till one.”
Rip nodded and fought like hell not to think about the very real possibility that Em could be dead. Then he spoke to her like she could hear him.
Hold on, Em. We’re coming.
****
Ripper took a deep breath, ignoring the knot in his stomach, the deep burn in his chest. Surrounded by his brothers, surrounded by Chip’s, they were inside a home, two houses away from the address Doug gave them, where the Falcons could be hiding Em. Located in a suburb outside Santa Rosa, the houses were large with big lots and shaded by trees.
They arrived in two box trucks, backed into a home with a “sold” sign like they were the new owners moving in. Strike disabled the alarm. They broke in. None of the neighbors seemed to notice. Then again, the big yard and trees surrounding each of the homes made it difficult to, probably the reason the Falcons chose the area.
He stood just inside the front door, out of sight, waiting. He wasn’t even sure what he was waiting for, but they’d just arrived.
“You go in last.”
Ripper stared to his left, eyes spitting fire locked on Prez. “You’re fuckin’ high off your ass if you think—”
“You and Chip go in last.”
“You’re—”
Prez’s jaw hardened. “Not a fuckin’ request, brother. You’re too involved. Can’t risk you going in the way you are. It could get one of us killed, and I’m not risking one of our brothers. I’m not risking one of theirs. You think on it for a moment, and you’ll see I’m right.”
He hated it, but Prez had a point. He’d go in there with Em on his mind and miss shit that could get him killed, his brothers killed, Chip, or Chip’s brothers killed.
He nodded. “No one touches her.”
Prez held his stare for an endless moment then nodded.
They moved, piling out of the house through the backdoor. Their plan: a third of them would enter through the front door, another third through the back, and the last third would surround the home to make sure no one got away.
Ripper headed with the group entering the back. Guns drawn, two by two, they jumped a fence, scanned the area, crossed a neighbor’s yard then scanned again. Another fence, this one leading to the backyard of the home the Falcons occupied. Area barren, they neared the sliding glass door.
“Remember no shooting unless absolutely necessary.”
Army, the brother, had a military background. How high up the ranks in the U.S. Army his brother had gotten, Rip had no clue, but for the first time in his life, he cared to know.
A shot rang out.
His gut clenched, heart squeezed. Fear streaked every pore, every fiber, every cell.
****
The cold seeped deep into her pores, into her bones. Em didn’t feel anything, not her fingers, arms, legs, or toes.
Her hands tied at the wrists, feet tied at the ankles, a hood covering her face. She hadn’t heard a word, a sound, not since the warning she didn’t take lightly. It was all she thought about, making her more terrified. Sometime after, the temperature got to her.
She released a breath. It came out icy and didn’t heat her face. Then she heard it, the shot. She jolted, eyes snapping open. No use, she couldn’t see a thing.
A moment later, he grabbed the back of her shirt and roughly yanked her into a sitting position. Then she felt an object against the base of her neck. A gun. No, the barrel of a gun.
She closed her eyes and prayed.
Seconds turned to minutes. More shots sounded then a final one echoed before everything faded away.
****
His heart, Ripper heard it over everything else. It thundered in his chest, rang in his ears. He didn’t know how he got to where he was, inside the house, past a bunch of brothers, past the leader of the Falcons lying dead in a pool of blood. It’d all been a blur. Walking by more brothers, he ignored the God-awful pity stares and didn’t let himself read into them.
There was still hope. There had to be. He was breathing, his heart pounding, so she had to be breathing, her heart had to be pounding too.
Taking a step into the room where a crowd formed just outside it, his breath stilled in his chest. Two people in the room, a man and a woman.
The woman on the floor, lying on her side, her face covered with a hood. He recognized that black tee she wore, his tee. His shirt now hiked up revealing her thighs and hips, naked underneath. Legs cocked to her chest and closed. Under her head, blood. It ran in streams away from her.
His Em…with so much blood flowing away. Dead.
He’d never get another day, night, minute, second. What he had of her was all he’d ever have.
His heart stopped beating. Breaths slowed. The room spun. One thing became clearer, one thing proved by the way his chest burned, eyes blurred, life leaked out of him…
He’d wasted so much time, never chased her. He should’ve fucking chased her. He knew by the burn, the blur, the life leaking out of him, he’d never be a man again. The rest of his life, he’d be a zombie. His heart beating, but not pounding, he’d breathe but not live.
Acid rising in the back of his throat, he moved. In a split second, he knelt in front of her in that pool of blood. He reached for the hood covering her face and barely had his hand on it, when it happened.
She screamed and lifted herself from her position on the floor, pushing, struggling, fighting. “No, no…please…”
It scared him. It thrilled him. He took a deep breath, resting his hands firm on her shoulders. “It’s okay, Em… It’s me.”
She let out a sound. Part gasp, part scream, part relief, part joy.
“Hold still.”
He released one of her shoulders and tore the hood off her head. When her eyes caught his, they softened that way he loved.
Alive.
Breathtaking.
Beautiful.
A rush of emotion choked him.
Her hair dripping blood, the side of her face and head stained red. The shirt she wore soaked with it. So much blood, he didn’t know how she was moving, breathing, talking, fighting.
“Where does it hurt?”
She said one word. “Bree?”
A question. He knew unless he answered, he’d never get anything out of her. “Safe.” He shifted his hands over her head, trying to find where the blood came from. “Tell me where it hurts?”
She hesitated a second then shook her head. “Nowhere.” Dropping her head, she looked down. “Oh my God.”
For the first time, he got a good look at the man behind her. Half his skull missing, blood still oozing out, dead from a gunshot wound to the head. That blood on Em not hers but his.
Catching his gaze, she attempted to turn.
He grabbed her shoulders, holding her still. “Don’t, babe. Just don’t.”
Her eyes rounded. She nodded. “Can you untie me?”
He grabbed a switch blade from his pocket and cut the restraints at her ankles then her wrists. Immediately, she pressed her hands to his chest, her fingers clutching his shirt, his skin.
Wrapping his arms around her, he buried his face in her neck. “Are you hurt?”
She shook her head. “I’m cold.”
He felt the cold then. Her hands at his chest like ice, and she wore just a blood-soaked tee.
“I’m sorry.”
He drew away from her and watched those beautiful hazel eyes water.
“I’m so sorry, Bryce. I shouldn’t have—”
He grasped the back of her neck and hauled her to him as he wound his other arm around her back. Her body pressed close, he hoped absorbing his heat. “Shh…babe, it’s gonna be fine. You’re safe now, and I’m gonna keep you safe.”
“I …” A sob tore from her throat. “…Thought I was going to die… Thought I’d never see Bree, thought you’d never get to keep your promise…”
He pulled away slightly to catch her eyes.
“Remember…your promise… You promised we’d live the rest of our lives together…”
God, what his Em had been through. He couldn’t imagine. Hours held against her will, waiting and waiting to die. “I keep my promises, Em. I had to find you, so I could keep it.”
Tears streaming down her face, she pressed her cheek against his chest and sobbed. “Always loved you.”
“I know,” he whispered then released her neck to slide his arm under her. He hefted her up in one swift movement.
Taking several steps until he reached the door into the room, he met Chip’s stare. “She’s gonna be fine.”
Chip didn’t look his way. His gaze on Em as he cupped her cheek. “Em?” Voice choked.
She turned her head.
Chip inhaled nosily. “You hurt?”
She shook her head.
“You never forgive me for this, I won’t blame you, Em.”
Because Em was amazing, she smiled at Chip. “It’s not your fault.” A chill swept through her.
Chip’s arm went over his head, grabbing the back of his shirt. He yanked it off and draped it over her. “Love you, Em.”
She pulled away from Rip. Forced, he released her legs and let her stand on her own, yet needing the connection, he kept one hand on her lower back.
She wrapped her arms around Chip. “Love you more.”
Chip pressed his mouth to the top of her head. “Go with your man. I’ll come see you soon, yeah?”
She nodded, turned to Ripper, and curved her arms around him. A second later, he carried her out.
“My ring…”
He stopped, stare snapping to her left hand on his chest. “They took it?”
She shook her head. “I took it off.”
He stopped breathing.
“I don’t sleep with jewelry, so I took it off last night.”
He started again.
“I put it in my pocket before I went to bed. Do you think… Can we get it?”
“’Course, Em…” He paused for a moment and swallowed. “Promise me you’ll never take it off again.”
She smiled. “I promise.”
Epilogue
Em’s eyes hadn’t yet drifted open, but she rubbed her thumb along the ring finger of her left hand. Feeling her wedding band, she knew she was safe.
Even so, all of it came back to her in a rush, her wedding day, being kidnapped then rescued. After that, her memory got hazy, probably because by that point the shock had gotten to her. She remembered Bryce taking her into the back of a box truck and falling asleep against his chest with his arms tight around her. She remembered him waking her when they got home. She remembered him helping her shower, placing her wedding band on her finger, and taking her to bed. He laid with her. The minute her head hit the pillow, she passed out. She didn’t remember anything after that.
Now, she’d woken. It was dark out. She must’ve slept all afternoon and evening. Yet, Bryce wasn’t in bed. The mattress beside her was cold like he’d left a while ago or never went to sleep. She was still tired, exhausted even, but she didn’t want to be in bed without him, didn’t want to be without him period maybe because for hours she thought she’d never see him again. Not quite true. The truth—she never wanted to be without him, not for a single day since she realized she loved him years ago.
She stood on her surprisingly steady feet and headed out of their bedroom, down the hallway, and into the living room. He stood by one of the bay windows she loved. Hands on his hips, body strung tight.
“Bryce?” She closed the distance between them.
He turned, and his gaze instantly captured hers. “Why’re you outta bed, babe?
She smiled. “Because you are.”
She knew that look on his face, the forced smile. When the club had been involved in dirty dealings, he gave her that look and that same forced smile time and time again, so she knew his thoughts weighed him.
She wrapped her arms around his waist, slanting her head to hold his eyes. “Bree?”
“Staying with Trig and Allie again tonight.”
Disappointing, she wanted to see her daughter. “I missed her.”
He cupped her cheek then swept his hand back threading his fingers through her hair until he grasped the back of her neck. “She missed you, too. Allie brought her around earlier. She went into our room to see you.”
“You should’ve woken me.”
“You needed to rest. It’s too late to go now.”
She quirked a brow. “And you?”
His gaze on her lips, he asked, “What about?”
She narrowed her eyes. “Don’t play dumb.”
He heaved a sigh as he circled his arm around her back. “Gonna ask you something, and you gotta tell me the truth. It won’t change how I feel about you, but I gotta know, so I know how to help you. Yeah?”
She nodded. Even knowing what he’d ask, she waited for him to.
“Did they…” His fingers at her neck spasmed. “Did they…touch you?”
“One of them touched me.”
His jaw clenched, body locked, and those beautiful eyes that extraordinary, blue-green color went dead.
“Not the way you’re thinking.” Her stare fell from his. “He wanted to…you know, but this other guy, the one in the room with me stopped him. They were ordered not to touch me.”
Just before he hauled her against him, his eyes changed—the dead leaving, gratitude shining through. He rested his chin on the top of her head and whispered, “Can’t tell you how glad I am, Em.”
Pressing his lips against her forehead, his hands went to each side of her neck. Then he tilted her head to meet his face. “I gotta say it again. I’d still love you. I’d still want you. I’d want you any way I could have you. I just don’t want that for you ’cause I never want you to suffer like that.”
At that moment, it didn’t matter that she’d been kidnapped, that she could’ve been raped or killed. All that mattered—knowing he meant what he said.
She smiled. “I’d want you any way I could have you too.”
“They wanted to trade you for Chip.”
She closed her eyes tightly, swallowed then parted them.
“He was gonna do it too. I told him he wasn’t. We argued about it. Then we did it my way. I’ll clarify, we didn’t have the address from Trig’s PI, I would’ve traded you for Chip in a heartbeat.”
“They would’ve killed him.”
Eyes widening, he scanned her face. “They would’ve killed you.”
“They may have killed me either way.”
He clenched his jaw then leaned into her. “I would’ve tried anything and everything to get you back.”
She tightened her arms around his waist.
“After the drive-by, the brothers hired Trig’s PI to get dirt on the Falcons. That’s how we found you. The PI gave us an address. We’re getting ready to go in, and I hear a shot…” He swallowed thickly. “I thought we fucked up, and they spotted us. And I knew if you were there, they were gonna kill you. That first shot was one of their guys, messing with his gun. He accidentally fired it. We didn’t know that, so after hearing it, we went in, guns blazing.”
He quirked a brow. “More than fifty of us against the ten of them? No contest. But when I went into that room and saw you…” His eyes watered. Voice choked and ragged, when he said, “Lying so still, all that blood… I thought you were dead. Thought I’d fuckin’ lost you.” He laughed then, but it was forced and sad. “Then you moved… Best scare I ever had.”
She hadn’t thought of that, of how it must’ve looked. She heard shots including one close behind her and the commotion and decided to play dead. When someone touched her, she moved on instinct and begged for her life instead. She couldn’t imagine what it must’ve felt like to have been in his shoes.
“That guy in the room with you killed himself. There was a camera outside the door. He saw us coming. He could’ve killed you but killed himself instead.” He shook his head. “I
don’t know why. Don’t care. I’m just glad it was him instead of you.”
She knew why or had an idea anyway. He hadn’t been given the order, so he hadn’t killed her, but he knew he’d been caught, so he killed himself instead of risk the wrath of bikers.
He pressed a kiss to her lips then pulled away. “I’ll always come for you, even if after I find you, I gotta spank you.” A smile, a real one, spread across his mouth. “Love you, Em. Always will.”
“I love you, too, Bryce.”
****
Two days later
The Tuesday after the Saturday she’d been taken, Em was back at work. Bryce told her to take the week off. She took Monday off. She knew Bryce wouldn’t be happy when he found out, which would happen in a half hour when he got back from taking Bree to school and saw her in the office, but she couldn’t care less. No way she wanted to sit around for a whole week doing nothing but waiting for Bree to get out of school and Bryce out of work.
She grabbed the mess of sandwich wrappers and potato chip bags several of the brothers left on the counter and desk and stilled when she heard his voice.
“Hey.”
She lifted her head. Bud stood at the door leading into the garage’s office.
Most of the brothers and all of the old ladies had gone up to her at one point or another over the course of the past two days to congratulate her for getting married and to say they were glad she was okay. She expected that from the old ladies and Strike, not from the rest of the brothers. Not that she didn’t think they were glad she was alive—for Bryce and Bree’s sake at least—but she didn’t think they’d make it known to her. She understood by doing that, they were welcoming her back into the fold, expressing in words and actions that the past was just that, and they were moving forward with a clean slate. It was comforting, relieving, and felt damned good.
But Bud hadn’t been one of the brothers who went out of his way to talk to her. She hadn’t expected him to either. She also highly doubted he was there for that.
“Hi.”
“I got something to say. You busy?”
She was, but he’d say what he came to say, and she figured it was better for both of them if they got it over with. The faster, the better.
Riding Blind Page 28