by Kara Kelley
“It makes sense, this one’s prettier and look at those curves.” Mauler left his spot by the pool table and wandered to Addi, ripping the duct tape from her mouth. Drew’s insides burned with fury and his fists clenched at his sides as Mauler ran his hands over Addi’s breasts and down her sides to her hips. He wanted to crush the guy’s skull, but before he could take a step, Addi leaned back on the blond and kicked Mauler in the gut with both legs, sending him stumbling back.
“Fuckin’ bitch,” he spat, and backhanded her.
Addi spit blood on the floor. “Keep your filthy hands off me.”
“Should we let this one go?” Dingo asked, eyeing the kid. “I ain’t keen on killing a kid.”
“I’m not leaving my mother.” Brent crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes at the bikers. “Drew’ll kill you all and I’ll leave with my mom and Addi.”
Mauler and Dingo both laughed and Brent’s hands fisted. “Sure, kid.” Mauler took Addi from the big blond, pulled another kitchen chair out and sat it next to Layla, shoving Addi in it roughly.
“No one’s going anywhere, moron. The kid’ll just run to the cops.”
“Fine, I gotta piss. Can you two handle this?” Dingo was clearly annoyed by Mauler’s insult and that’s when Drew saw his opportunity. He knew Trevor would handle Dingo as he went out the back door. He probably needed air as much as he needed to piss and the lawn was as good as the bathroom to him. The guy was constantly whipping it out in public to piss when Drew was a kid.
Mauler leaned his face so close to Addi’s she could probably smell his putrid breath and then grabbed her breast while his eyes flickered to Drew’s. Out of the corner of his eye, Drew saw Addi slip both hands out of the duct tape, and lift both knees while Mauler was distracted. She flew forward as his head turned back to her and she clapped both palms over his ears. Drew winced, knowing that was not only painful but it was disorienting as hell. Addi fisted his hair and yanked him to her, head-butting his nose. And while Mauler was stumbling, holding his nose and attempting to clear the tears from his eyes, Addi’s legs sprang out into his gut, sending him flying back again.
Mauler wasn’t a small man and the fucker was laid out.
“That’s for touching me again,” she spat.
Drew turned his attention to the big blond, who hadn’t done anything to protect his brother from Addi’s attack, and frowned in confusion. He was already untying Layla.
What the hell is going on?
Drew grabbed Addi as she lunged for Mauler, who was back on his feet again. “Untie Brent and get them out of here.”
She nodded, but before she obeyed, she spun and kicked Mauler in the balls with the top of her foot. Thankfully she kicked him hard enough to make him drop to his knees and not just piss him off. Drew grabbed Mauler by the scruff of his shirt and grinned at Addi as she headed for Brent. “That’s my baby girl.”
“Drew, he’s a good guy.” She nudged her chin toward the big blond who had already untied Brent. His eyes narrowed at the blood on her forehead. She had hurt herself head-butting Mauler. Dammit.
“His name is Sean and he’s on our side.”
Drew nodded. “Head out back, Trevor’s out there.”
She took off with Brent and Layla and he slammed his fist into Mauler’s jaw, hearing a satisfying crunch.
“That’s for having such a hard fucking head and hurting my baby girl.”
Trevor was dragging Dingo into the clubhouse, blood spurting from his nose, when shit went bad.
There was a flash of silver and Trevor went down with a blow to the head. Three Skull Grinders stepped over him to walk in the clubhouse.
“You know what we do to traitors and runaways?” the biggest one said as another three guys walked in holding Layla, Brent, and Addi.
Shit.
With the six guys and one gun pointed at him and Sean, and the other pointed at Addi, he knew they were pretty much screwed. Especially when John Trigger walked down the stairs.
“Well, look who’s finally graced us with his presence.” He looked much older than Drew remembered. He was thinner, slightly bent in the shoulders, and his skin was scarred around the cheeks. Drugs, he assumed.
“Trigger,” Drew acknowledged, buying time as his mind worked through scenarios for getting out of the mess they were in.
“Boys, if you wouldn’t mind getting rid of the witnesses, I’d like to have a word with my son and his girlfriend.” His hard dark eyes, slitted in anger, turned to Sean. “Give Hacker a good send-off. Anyone who betrays the Grinders needs to be made an example of.” His mouth, a little crooked, turned up cruelly. “Video it. We’ll watch it at the next prospect meeting.”
Drew’s muscles tensed as he readied himself. He planned on rushing his father as soon as the others left. Mauler was useless, still clutching his gut and gagging and Addi could handle him if she needed to. Dingo, still holding his nose, was eyeing Trigger, probably awaiting instructions.
“Let Addi go.” Drew stepped toward his father, but stopped when he pulled his gun, a black Glock, out and pointed it at Addi.
“Mauler and Dingo were going to betray you,” Addi said in a rush, her voice high and panicked, making Drew feel as if he’d been kicked in the gut.
“Shut the fuck up, cunt!” Mauler choked out and started to rise. The others paused in their attempt to subdue Sean so they could hear what came next.
“They were going to kill you and Drew and take over the Skull Grinders MC themselves.”
“I can prove it,” Sean added. The three guys jumped on Sean as he attempted to pull something from his pocket.
“Stop!” Trigger yelled. He turned back to Addi. “Don’t lie to me or I’ll put a bullet in every joint, grab some popcorn, and watch you writhe in agony on the floor.”
“Enough.” Drew’s voice was still his usual deep and raspy but was so cold he didn’t even recognize it. “This has gone on long enough. I took the fall for the murders. I spent my youth in jail and then became a goddamned recluse. All because I didn’t want to be in your damn motorcycle club. We can both walk out now and end this. We’ll start fresh. We’ll lead this club together. No one will dare try to overtake the two of us. I’ll come home, Dad.” Drew took a sure step toward his father. “Let the girl go. She means nothing to me. She was a distraction, a hot piece of tail, that’s all.”
Trigger shoved his gun in his pants and clapped his hands. A smile, wide and genuine, brightened his pocked face. He focused his gaze on Addi.
“You’re the girl from that camp, aren’t you?” He took a few steps further down the staircase until he was on the main floor and looked at Drew. “I knew as soon as Mauler said you were back in that shitty little town that you must have been hiding at that camp.” He went to Addi and took her chin with his thumb and forefinger, turning her head to examine her face. “You’re the girl, aren’t you? The one my son was in love with when he was sixteen.” He chuckled. “Don’t look so shocked, Andrew. A father knows.”
“You hurt her, you’ll have to kill me or have a guard with you every minute, ‘cause I’ll fucking beat you to death when you’re sleeping.”
Trigger’s brow rose. “I haven’t made any decisions yet, Reaper.” His eyes swung toward Sean. “I wanna hear your proof.” Trigger cocked his head to the side and gestured for the guys to back off. As soon as they did, Sean elbowed the closest one in the face and smiled when his jaw made a crunching noise.
“You deserved that one, Cowboy.” The guy with the cowboy boots swore through his hands.
“He fucking broke my goddamn jaw!”
Sean pulled out his phone, pressed a few buttons and held it up. Mauler’s voice came from the little speaker, but before anyone heard anything damning, two things happened. First, there was the loud rumble of at least twenty bikes coming down the road and second, Dingo shot Sean’s hand. He was probably aiming for the phone but he missed.
Sean hollered, did some fancy-ass moves and had Dingo on the ground. The gun s
kittered across the floor and both Drew and Addi lunged for it, but Mauler was closer and diving for it too.
By then the noise from the bikes had stopped and Mauler’s voice was explaining how he and Dingo could take down Trigger and Drew.
“Addi!” Drew yelled, shoving Addi down and diving on top of her as Mauler grabbed the gun and swung it toward them. Two shots rang out and Drew felt his ears explode in pain, but he didn’t care, Addi was out of the way of the gunfire. Then there was silence. He rose and looked down at himself, checking for wounds and then noticed blood on the floor. He checked Addi quickly.
Mauler was clutching his gut, looking pale with an expression of disbelief. At least twenty guys walked through the door then, but none of them wore the Skull Grinders patch.
They were all from the Iron Code. They’d come to help their brother, Gunner.
The Iron Code MC took care of the remaining Skulls and Drew pulled Addi into his arms to calm her trembling and reassure himself she was safe. She pointed after a few minutes and Drew looked up to see where Mauler’s bullet had gone.
His father was on the floor, eyes wide and lifeless.
Drew pulled Addi’s face into his chest and rocked her. He watched the organized chaos around him as the Iron Code held the living members of the Grinders in the front room, fixed Sean’s hand wound and tended to Trevor and Layla, who were both pretty battered. Brent was physically unharmed but was clinging to Layla’s legs looking stunned and pale.
Drew rose and helped Addi up from the floor. “Babe, let’s go check on Brent and Layla.”
She nodded and stayed close under his arm. When the sirens started, Drew felt Addi relax further into him.
“Drew?” Sean called to him before they’d made it to Layla and Brent.
“You undercover RCMP?” Drew asked, sizing him up.
“No, and actually, we’ve met before.”
Drew was puzzled and now quite pissed that this guy put his woman in danger when he wasn’t the authorities.
“We have?” He scratched his beard, keeping his calm. “You one of the Iron Code?”
“No, I work for a private security firm, hired by the MacAfee family.”
Drew swallowed hard, still comforting Addi, his free hand stroking her hair. “Babe?” He looked down at Addi. “This is where I pay my penance. Just remember how strong you are. How beautiful and how proud I am of the way you took these assholes down. I love you.” His hands dropped and Addi reached for him but he stepped out of her way. Drew looked back at Sean and straightened his shoulders.
“You’ll let her go, yeah? We’ll deal with this alone?”
“Sean, tell him. Please,” Addi begged, emotion strangling her vocal cords.
Drew frowned. His baby girl was in shock and talking nonsense. He wondered how long it would take her to get over all of this without him. She would, he had no doubt of her strength and resilience, but it would take time and she would grieve the loss of him.
“We haven’t been properly introduced, Andrew Trigger. I’m Sean MacAfee and you saved my life.” He reached out to shake Drew’s hand, but Drew was too dumbfounded to move.
“Sean MacAfee?” Drew asked, and Sean nodded.
“You shoved me behind the dumpster and saved my life. I regret it took years of therapy for me to talk again. Otherwise, I may have been able to give testimony to prove your innocence.” He reached out further to take Drew’s hand, shaking it firmly. “Thank you for saving me.”
Emotion welled inside Drew and it was mirrored on Sean’s face. He shook his head and pulled Sean into a bear of a hug.
“You have no idea how good it is to hear you’ve forgiven me.” Drew released Sean and rubbed the back of his neck with his hand, a little embarrassed.
“Forgiven you?” Sean’s question was paired with a furrowed brow. “How could you possibly blame yourself for any of it?” He gathered a breath and Drew glanced at Addi.
“My uncle pulled some strings, cashed in favors, and used his influence to make sure you were locked up and I regret I wasn’t able to stop any of it. You were only a little older than my sister and being held responsible for a murder you didn’t commit. Any other twelve-year-old in the same situation would have been protected, given therapy and care, but you were condemned because of my uncle and my weakness.” Sean’s hands shook as he placed them on Drew’s shoulders.
“I need you to forgive me.”
“You were just a kid.”
“And you weren’t?”
* * *
It was later, after Sean left to debrief his firm and the RCMP was satisfied enough with all the statements to let everyone leave, that Drew took Addi on the back of his bike down to the river where he used to draw as a kid.
“Are you okay, babe?”
“I’m fine. I’m okay.” She nodded excessively as if she were convincing herself as much as him. The last thing she sounded like was a person that was okay.
“Honey, Daddy’s here.”
Her eyes filled with tears and she threw herself into Drew’s arms. “You almost had me convinced, Daddy.” And her tears spilled hotly against his chest.
“Convinced of what, baby girl?” He tilted her chin up and wiped the tears from her face.
“That you were going back…” she sobbed and took a shuddering breath. “And that I meant nothing to you.”
“Aw, I love you, sweetheart. And I will spend the rest of our lives convincing you that you’re the most important person in the world to me.” He shushed her when she buried her face in his chest again.
Addi’s cell buzzed in her pocket. Drew was going to take it, but Addi was too quick in answering.
“Yes, Dad?” she sniffled.
Drew waited as she listened on the line. Addi rolled her eyes at whatever he was saying on the phone.
“Dad, you’re a grown man, I’m not your wife, your assistant, or your goddamn slave. Grow a pair and take care of yourself for once. I’m done!” She pressed end and tossed the phone into the river.
She looked at Drew and smiled. He beamed back at her.
“Have I told you lately how fucking amazing you are?”
She laughed. “Yeah, but now I finally believe it.”
Chapter Eighteen
Drew
The interview with Rebecca Snow went so well it was picked up by international news stations and broadcast all over the world. Rebecca sat down with both Drew and Sean and followed Addi’s questions to the letter.
The world finally knew the truth about what happened and who the real artist of the famous Ray Moore paintings was. There was a flurry in the art world to buy copies of anything with the wrong signature and art dealers were begging for anything new from Drew, including the paintings in the background during his interview. The paintings of the events that shaped both Sean’s and Drew’s life.
But the true success had nothing to do with the truth being out there or Drew’s art becoming even more sought after; the actual achievement was the camp. Tonalonka had become a place where kids could get over their trauma from violence by learning to express themselves through art.
They offered classes in painting, writing, and even martial arts and self-defense to empower their bodies and minds, as well as all the usual camp bonding activities. They had therapists and child trauma specialists to help with curriculum and counseling and had a plan to get some therapy animals.
People were calling from all over North America to get their kids a spot at the camp when it officially opened. Drew had even decided to start winterizing the cabins so they could run it all year long.
“So do you think Uncle Ray is proud?” Addi asked, looking at the sun rising over the flat lake. They had postponed his memorial by eight months to correspond with the grand opening of the new camp.
“Proud? I’m just a dumb biker so I gotta ask. Isn’t there a stronger synonym, Miss Moore?”
Addi shot him a dirty look. “It’s baby girl, Daddy. Don’t make me start calling you Mr. Biker
again.” She turned, jabbing a thumb at her back where she wore her property patch. It read, ‘Property of Daddy,’ the bottom rocker read ‘Lone Wolf,’ and in the middle was the insignia of a wolf and the small MC patch. The front of her leather cut had her own MC name, Baby Girl. She had designed and had it made but she’d be packing it away soon. Drew had finally agreed to become an Iron Code prospect and she knew he would be getting his Iron Code top rocker soon, but she’d still be wearing his property patch. Whether he was a Lone Wolf or in the Iron Code, Addi would always be his Old Lady.
“You’ve been spanked for that already. I don’t advise doing it again.”
“Pfft, you wouldn’t dare today.” Her eyes narrowed at his crooked grin.
“Oh, really?” He reached around her waist and pulled her tightly against him before releasing her to smack her bottom sharply.
“Not today! It’s Uncle Ray’s memorial and if there was ever a time where he was watching us closely from above, it’s today.” Her voice rose in pitch at the end as his grin turned more wicked.
“I think your uncle would enjoy seeing your naughty ass get blistered. He told me himself you needed spankings.” Drew’s brow flicked upward as hers slammed down.
“He did not!”
Drew stayed silent and turned his attention to the sunrise.
“He didn’t, Drew, right? He wouldn’t.” She huffed and crossed her arms. “Drew!” She stamped her foot and Drew looked down at her ankle-high boots.
“I’m so glad you’re wearing appropriate footwear now, but babe, Daddy doesn’t like when you stamp and throw a tantrum.” He patted her on the head.