Jordan kept her face devoid of emotion, but, inside her heart pounded. He spoke of murdering her without a shred of emotion. Sully undoubtedly talked of her the same way, even though she had been carrying his child.
“It would’ve been so, so easy going to the cops.” Stein bowed his head. “For the last few months, we were grieving deeply for Sulley.”
“Very deeply,” Silton confirmed.
Her throat tightened so she could scarcely breath. Where was the nurse? Anyone? In her arms, Ava opened her rosebud lips and made a little noise, then lapsed into sleep again.
Stein paced. “Then, we thought, Sulley wanted you dead. We could always oblige him. Do it in honor of his memory.”
Burying her nose against his daughter’s small shoulder, Jordan drew in a breath to calm herself. They wanted to see her fear. She wouldn’t give them that satisfaction.
Damn the cops. The moment they left, she was placing a call to Mr. Caldwell.
“We’ve been watching you,” Silton said darkly, “and your pretty boy private investigator.”
“And all your big, tough bikers.” Stein laughed. “What would happen if the cops got these photos of that biker murdering my brother?”
“Sulley has a weapon in that photo,” she reminded him.
“Is he pointing it at anyone?” Stein countered.
Sulley had spun to face Mr. Caldwell when, moments before, his .357 had been aimed directly at Knox’s head.
“Here, in this photo, it looks as if he’s being shot in cold blood. Maybe, drawing his weapon to defend himself.” Stein leaned close to Jordan’s ear. “You want to be responsible for sending this motherfucker to jail? Away from his young wife? Away from his club?”
Jordan’s insides crumbled.
Mr. Caldwell hadn’t concerned himself with cameras that might have been in the parking lot or even with Knox’s presence—he’d been there trying to get information that would send the club president to jail. Mr. Caldwell had walked in on Sulley on the verge of murdering her, and he saved their lives.
He hadn’t done it just because Jordan was his wife’s doctor. He’d done it because it was the right thing to do. And now he might go to jail for it?
The biker was so smart. If she told him the situation, he’d find a way to help her.
“I don’t think she’s convinced, Stein,” Silton said into the deafening silence. “What do you think?”
Stein gave her a cool grin and held up his phone again, pointing to Cam. “What about this motherfucker? How brave of him to play the knight in shining armor.”
She refused to dignify the comment with an answer.
“You want him to live? Or you want to be a stubborn, uncooperative bitch and get him killed?”
If the threat to Mr. Caldwell alarmed her, the peril Cam faced chilled her to the bone.
“If you don’t do exactly what I tell you to do, I’ll kill him,” Stein warned. The steely tone in his voice told her that he meant exactly what he said. He would shoot Cam and not lose a moment’s sleep over it.
She swallowed hard. “What is it you want?”
“Besides you suffering?” Silton put in.
“Yes,” she said as calmly as she could. “Besides that.”
“We want you to lose contact with the bikers and your pretty boy. Send them away. Tell them don’t ever contact you again.”
“There’s no guarantee you won’t go through with your intentions anyway. What assurances do I have you won’t turn Mr. Caldwell in, and you’ll allow Cam to live? Why do you care if I’m in contact with the bikers?”
Cam was a former police officer. He often told her that he had contacts on the force. If she didn’t want to bring the MC in, then she’d have to get the law on her side.
She’d have a very small window of time, but she could inform Cam, just as she would Mr. Caldwell. Then, as soon as she recovered, she’d apply for her gun license, something she’d intended to do, but kept putting off for one reason or another.
“You have to trust us,” Stein told her.
“Ha! That’ll be the day,” she sneered.
One moment Stein was pacing, the next he shoved a gun against her head. “Listen to me, Jordan. Here’s the situation. You do what we say, or your friends suffer. One goes to jail, the other goes to the cemetery. You really want to test us and risk them?”
Her arms tightened around the little baby peacefully sleeping in her arms.
She didn’t want to put either Cam or Mr. Caldwell in danger.
But how could she let them go, especially Cam? He was her…her everything. And he’d stayed all day with Ava and her, only going home to get a few hours’ rest.
She had only just acknowledged her feelings for him, just shared a toe-curling kiss. But the gun to her head illustrated the seriousness of Stein’s intentions.
“I’ll give you as much money as you want,” she whispered. “For as long as you want me to. Just leave my friends in peace.”
“Friends?” Stein’s hand shook and the gun wiggled against her head. “You kissed your hero. That’s a little more than friends to me.” He leaned closer and hissed, “You were Sulley’s. My brother is the only one who had the right to fuck you or kill you, for that matter.”
Jordan bit down on her lip. If they knew about the kiss she and Cam had shared, they must’ve been watching her. Somehow, they’d bugged her house. With cameras.
“As long as you follow my orders and distance yourself from those motherfuckers, things will be fine,” Stein said.
She knew better than to believe them.
“What do you want?” she gasped.
“You,” Stein said flatly. “You and that kid are Sulley’s. We’re keeping what’s his, because that’s the way he would have wanted it. You should be glad.”
He pressed the gun harder against her head until she gasped, “Why?”
“Because we think Sulley would want you dead, right here, right now. But we made a smarter decision. His kid isn’t going into the system, so you get to live. That’s all that’s left of him.”
Whatever Mr. Caldwell and Cam had done, they’d done on her behalf. They’d protected her and her unborn baby without a thought to their own safety and freedom.
She could protect them, too. Even if that meant giving up Cam, and never discovering what the future might have held for them.
“Do we have an agreement?” Stein demanded.
“Yes,” she squeaked, afraid to move, fearing the gun might go off.
A heartbeat later, Stein pulled the weapon away and shoved it back inside his jacket. “Do what you have to do to get them out of your life. You take our calls at all times or else.”
Silton shoved a piece of paper at her with their names and telephone numbers. “Program them into your phone.” He leaned over and his rank breath washed over her face. “Memorize them, and never ignore them.”
Jordan’s mind was whirling. Roxy and the other women would visit her tomorrow. Somehow, she could let them know and ask for the MC’s help. No! As soon as these two lowlifes departed, she was calling the police.
No…
Who was she kidding? She’d place everyone in danger if she involved law enforcement, Cam, or the bikers. If Sulley had been a despicable pig, his brothers were contemptible assholes. The photos they had, the ones with Mr. Caldwell in them, did seem as if he’d killed Sulley in cold-blood.
Mr. Caldwell wasn’t a saint by any means, but he was fair-minded, loyal, and dedicated to his family. She couldn’t repay the way he’d saved her by throwing him to the mercy of the Ward Brothers. They didn’t have any.
Cam’s danger was even more dire. Mr. Caldwell would be taken from his family and friends, and sent to prison, but at least he’d be alive. If she challenged Stein and Silton, Cam would pay with his life.
Once again, she felt the despair of not having a family to turn to. She had nowhere to send Ava to assure her safety while she figured out a way to deal with these men.
; Before she could say anything, Ava’s nurse walked in. “Aww, your little one is sleeping,” she cooed, smiling at Silton and Stein.
They hid their terrorizing intent with boyish grins and polite nods.
“That’s my niece,” Stein said proudly.
“Mine, too,” Silton added. “We’re brothers.”
“Aww,” the nurse responded. She leaned over and took Ava from Jordan’s arms. “I think I see a resemblance.”
“Jordan wants her name moved from the hospital registry.” Stein stopped at one of the bouquets and caressed a flower. “She doesn’t want any visitors.”
Cradling Ava, the nurse frowned. “Is that so, Doctor Will?”
They all stared at her. Silton lifted a brow, while Stein narrowed his eyes.
“Yes,” Jordan said faintly. “I-I need to rest and—”
“Aww, you poor thing, of course you do. I’ll make that change right away.”
“Can you have her moved to another room?” Stein feigned sympathy. “Some people are aware of her room number and won’t take no for an answer. She needs privacy.”
The nurse looked to Jordan for confirmation.
“Uh, yes, c-can you move me? Please inform all visitors that I’ve checked out and gone to stay with a family friend.” She had no doubt but that the brothers would find out if she had visitors. Hopefully, her message of leaving to stay with a family friend would curtail check-ins.
“Anything for you, Doctor Will.”
Jordan was usually better at names, but fear and uncertainty scrambled her brain, so she nodded to the nurse, without personalizing it as she liked to do.
“Let me bring Ava to the nursery. I’ll send your nurse in so she can set everything in motion.”
“Th-thank you.”
Alone again with Stein and Silton, she drew in a deep breath. “Now what?”
“You’re at our mercy,” Stein said with a nasty grin. “When we call, you jump. We want full access to our sweet little niece.” He jerked his head at Silton, nodding toward the door. Once they were both there, he looked at Jordan again. “Remember, we’re watching you.”
He sauntered through the door as if nothing had happened, as if he hadn’t just destroyed her world. The moment the door closed, Jordan’s strength and determination fled and all the pain from her surgery rushed back.
Staring at the ceiling and remembering Sulley’s vicious anger at the restraining order she’d filed, Jordan said a prayer. Not only was her life still in danger, but also her baby’s. Stein and Silton might not kill Ava, since she was Sulley’s only child.
Still, their violence, the stain of their presence, would ruin the child.
Jordan thought of herself as a strong, independent woman, but the shameful truth was that Sulley had reduced her to a frightened, jumpy woman. No! She refused to feel shame. The shame was all his.
He’d taken away her joy and filled her days with fear. She’d thought her life would be nothing but roses and sunshine after his death.
How naïve she’d been.
His brothers intended to finish what he’d started and, this time, she would have no savior.
One Month Later
Cam killed the ignition of his Jeep Wrangler and focused on the two-story brick house where he’d parked. The home was huge with columns and a wrap-around balcony. The interior was as elegant as the owner. Cam knew from personal experience, having been inside the residence often. Now, he couldn’t even get its inhabitant to take his fucking calls.
A well of dark emotion rose up in him. Damn it, his woman was in that house. And his baby.
He deserved better than Jordan’s brush-off. He’d protected her from the baby’s crazy father. He’d kept her company, cheered her up, and lent a shoulder for her to cry on during the last weeks of her pregnancy. Not once had he given her the impression that her pregnancy by a certified asshole mattered to him.
For Christ’s sake, he’d gone with her to the hospital, been there for Ava’s birth.
Now Ava was four weeks old. He’d already missed four weeks.
But…
He wasn’t an asshole. If she had decided she didn’t want him, then she didn’t want him. He’d tried calling, texting, even writing a fucking letter. He’d knocked on this door so many times that he figured the shape of his hand was beat into the wood.
This would be his last attempt.
Scowling, he eyed the bouquet of red roses laying in the passenger seat. He was interested in so much more than a friendship with her, but, if she spurned him today, he’d walk away and not look back.
She had the right to change her mind. Say no. Forget he existed.
Determination filling him, Cam snatched up the roses and got out of his Jeep, striding to the door and ringing the bell.
Once. Twice…Just as he would’ve given up, the door swung open.
The moment he saw Jordan, his irritation fell away. She wore a peignoir, her braids in a long ponytail. From the single kiss they’d shared weeks ago, he knew her skin was as soft as a rose petal.
She had high cheekbones and wide, expressive eyes that currently spoke volumes. She didn’t want him there.
He stiffened as the knowledge settled into his bones. Right. He wasn’t a man to beg. “These are for you,” he said, holding out the bouquet.
She took the roses and sniffed. “Thank you, Cameron. They’re beautiful.”
The softness of her voice held a note of sadness. She didn’t look like the sassy Jordan he knew. But she was a new mom and might not have been getting much sleep.
“How are you?” he asked, studying her body language, her every feature.
Instead of answering, she shrugged.
“You could’ve….” His voice trailed off. Recriminations wouldn’t matter. She wasn’t interested in him. He needed to get that through his head and move on. Still, she could’ve responded to his messages and had the guts to tell him to fuck off herself.
He’d thought their friendship was above the treatment she’d given to him.
Ava was a month old today, the reason for his visit. When he’d first returned to the hospital and found her gone, he’d given her a pass. Surely giving birth left her emotional. He respected her wish for privacy. Although he’d thought she had no close relatives, he hadn’t questioned the message that she’d checked out of the hospital and gone to stay with a family friend.
He had expected her to call.
A day passed. Two. Ten. Concerned about her, he’d driven to her house, finding no bikers serving as bodyguards. No sign of life. Frustrated, he’d called her, but didn’t receive an answer.
Then he’d started calling, dropping in, and texting in earnest, but even a man as stubborn as he was knew when he was being ghosted.
He’d backed off.
Today, however, was a special day. Little Ava was a month old. Lying awake at dawn, he’d decided to try one last time. He missed Jordan so fucking much.
He started to back away, but halted, unable to leave without trying to understand her motivations for shutting him out. True, they’d never had sex, but there’d been chemistry between them. He’d felt it. Perhaps, he’d been mistaken in his belief that she’d felt it, too.
“If you want me to lose your number, forget we ever met, I will,” he told her, allowing the truth to surface. He’d felt more than chemistry. He’d felt love for her and Ava.
He loved Jordan. Couldn’t she see that?
Lowering her lashes, she buried her nose in the bouquet before drawing in a deep breath and meeting his eyes. “I have a new baby girl. Soon, I’ll return to my practice. I won’t have time for uh…you.”
Cam could have sworn she’d been about to say us. Not that it mattered. She was ending things between them, before they had a chance to see where it might go.
“Have it your way, Jordan,” Cam told her. If she’d called him back just once this past month, he might’ve put up more of a fight.
She nodded, backing out of the doorway but
she didn’t slam the door in his face. She was a good woman at heart, and she’d leave him with some dignity and allow him to retreat.
His throat tight, he looked at her for the last time, waiting for her to meet his eyes. When she did, he froze, confused.
In that fleeting second, he thought he saw agony in her eyes. Regret, despair and—something he never wanted to see on Jordan’s face—fear? Not only that, but a deep, abiding desire.
“Bye, Cam,” she whispered.
What the fuck?
He turned away, the snick of the closing door sounding final. But he couldn’t make himself walk away. Jordan’s behavior was too strange.
There had to be something besides lack of interest motivating her decision. Just days before the birth of her baby, she’d finally agreed to go away for a weekend with him, once her daughter turned six weeks.
She’d allowed him in the delivery room.
His heart thundered in his chest as he came to a decision. Cam, PI that he was, intended to find out the true reason she’d pushed him away.
Jordan leaned against her front door and closed her eyes, wanting nothing more than to open it and shriek after Cam, run down the walk and drag him back inside. She wanted him to see how much Ava had grown in the four weeks since she’d been born. She wanted…
She wanted him.
It had been a long, lonely month for her. Stein and Silton thrived on intimidation and they were enjoying themselves. One-by-one, they’d forced her to shut the people closest to her out of her life.
First, Cam. Then, Roxy.
Mr. Caldwell had been the hardest. Telling the man to pull his bikers had resulted in lot of questions on his part. He only backed off when she told him the Harley pipes disturbed Ava.
As the days went by, his wife, Meggie Caldwell, kept telephoning Jordan, as did his sisters, Zoann and Ophelia. Meggie’s assistant, Bunny. Roxy’s daughter, Bailey. Jordan had delivered all of their babies, and felt such an affinity to them.
Under any other circumstances, she never would’ve ignored their calls. Finally, they’d left her alone. The calls stopped, allowing Jordan to breathe easier.
No one called as often as Cam. He never sounded angry or frustrated. He’d just say that he hoped she was well, and was thinking of her. The last few days…
Death Dwellers Motorcycle Club:: Fifteen Bad Boy Biker Books Page 417