Captivate Me

by Ryan Michele

  “Just come back safe,” she says, pulling away from me and looking into my eyes. My woman, my everything. “Need you back here.” Her whisper is soft as she lifts up onto her toes and puts a chaste kiss on my lips.

  “I’ll be back.” And I will. I’ll walk through fire to get back to my girl.

  “Okay,” she says as I kiss her one last time then load up on my Harley.

  She watches me the entire time, brushing her tears away and standing up a bit straighter. There’s my girl. Strong, determined, loving. I need her to stay that way until I get back.

  That was not a goodbye to my woman. Never goodbye.

  I pull the throttle and move.

  “Are you okay?” Pops asks through the phone, and tears well in my eyes.

  I let the small bit of relief that he is okay fill my soul, but I would much rather he was in my arms, holding me tight.

  I turn away from the crowd of people, answering, “Yeah.”

  “You don’t sound okay.”

  “It’s good to hear your voice.”

  “Same, babe. We’re takin’ off here in about ten. We’ll get there as soon as we can.”

  “Okay.”

  “Need an update.”

  I blow out a breath. “Doc’s in there workin’ on them. Princess just has a flesh wound that she made sound like she was going to fucking die only to distract Ransom so she could take him down. Coop’s okay, hanging in there. Tanner, Shaina, and Derek are the concerns. I’m waiting to hear from them. Dagger and Mearna are in church with Doc working on them. Bella’s eyes got burned a bit from the flash grenades, but she’s coming around. The doctor is going to check her again in a bit.”

  “Your father still there?” he asks.

  I look at the door my dad just exited from. “He’s outside with the Clayton guys who returned. They’re taking care of the men.” I try to hide the hurt, but Pops knows me so well he hears it.

  “I’ll be there soon, and I’ll make everything alright.”

  I let out a huge breath. “How’s Breaker?”

  “Not good, but we’re getting him home.”

  I choke back the tears that want to form. They are of no use right now. Besides, I’m stronger than that. I will be the strength for everyone here, just like always. Still, my heart breaks for him. I know he’s not my flesh, but these boys are mine. Having one hurt so badly that he may not make it crushes my heart. To lose one would hurt everyone, and I hate it.

  “Be safe.”

  “Always.”

  The call disconnects, and I stare at the screen.

  “Ma?” Coop says.

  I look up to see Princess carrying him without a stitch of pain showing in her expression. Damn woman takes a bullet and keeps on moving.

  “Hey, little man.”

  “Youz otay?”

  I shake my head.

  “I need to go in and help. Will you take him?” Princess asks.

  I hold out my hands for my boy, wrapping him up tightly and burying my face in his neck, trying to get myself together.

  It’s been hours since Doc started working on Derek, Tanner, and Shania. Princess has been in there, but that was after she gave her boy lots of hugs then gave him to Ma.

  The little guy, Coop, talks a lot. Now, sitting in Ma’s lap, wrapped in her arms as she rocks him, he’s as quiet as can be.

  Doc brought in two other doctors with him, one wheeling in some equipment I’ve only seen in hospitals. They’ve been behind the church doors as Angel calls them. She says it’s a big deal, because only members go in there. However, they needed somewhere clean with a flat surface. The fact that the table in there is big enough for three people to be operated on is beyond me.

  Neither Dagger nor Mearna has been out, either.

  My vision is hazy, but it’s coming back slowly. The burning is there yet nowhere near as bad as before.

  I just feel so damn useless. If I get up and move around, I bump into things and only make a bigger mess. So I sit and wait, which is the worst thing for me to do because my heart is breaking.

  Yes, Buzz is hurt, but he’s okay. Breaker, though, isn’t. I pray they get here soon. I don’t know what I can do, but having them here is better than having them so damn far away.

  The clubhouse front door bursts open, slamming against the wall with a loud crash.

  I jump, turning that way, only seeing a giant, fuzzy figure.

  “Where is she?” Rhys calls out in a scary as hell voice.

  “Church,” Ma replies.

  Rhys stomps to the doors, throws them open, and then slams them shut.

  “Dammit,” Ma says.

  I can feel her distress from over here. She’s putting all of this on her when it’s really on the crazy asshole her father drug out of here earlier.

  I wish I could take her pain away and wrap my arms around my man.

  “You do not fucking die on me,” I growl at my brother for the second time in the last few minutes. I had to start compressions on his chest because he wants to flat-line on me. Not. Fucking. Happening.

  “You son of a bitch. Start fucking fighting.” I breathe into his mouth then press on his chest again before I get a faint heartbeat on the portable monitor the doctor gave us.

  “Fucking hell!” I yell, falling on my ass next to him, my legs no longer feeling useless.

  “You are not fucking dying. Do you hear me, Breaker? Shaina fucking needs your ass. I need your ass. The fucking club needs your ass. You knock this shit off right now,” I demand, hoping like hell he can hear me, even just a bit.

  We pull up to the clubhouse, and while there’s relief for being home, there really isn’t much.

  The Clayton brothers and Richard are sitting in the courtyard as we pull up. They hop from their seats as I get off my bike.

  “Help Buzz get Breaker inside.” Then I give Richard a look but say nothing to him. I have shit that needs to be done. I will deal with him later.

  As I enter the clubhouse, the silence is almost deafening. Everyone’s been busy, though, because there’s no blood on the floor, and it doesn’t look as though bullets were flying only hours earlier.

  “Pops!” Ma calls as she sets Coop down and runs toward me.

  I wrap her in my arms and bury my head in her neck, breathing her in, so damn grateful she’s okay. I feel her body shaking, and I hold her tighter. I want to tell her that everything is going to be just fine, but I can’t do that shit, because I don’t know at this point.

  “Comin’ in!” Buzz yells. I move Ma out of the doorway, and he and three other guys carry Breaker into the clubhouse.

  I hear a gasp and look over at Bella, whose eyes are filled with tears that spill over. She takes a step forward then back.

  “I’m alright. Give me a few,” Buzz says, looking at her, and she nods, covering her mouth.

  Buzz is covered in his brother’s blood with visible burns. From the look of Bella, it’s taking everything she has to stay away and not help him.

  “Need to go in there and find out what’s goin’ on,” I tell Ma.

  “Yeah.”

  “Bella needs you,” I tell her, lifting my chin toward the shaken woman across the room.

  “Done.”

  I give her a kiss on the lips then make my way into church, which is now a makeshift hospital. Rhys is sitting on one end of the table, holding Tanner’s hand, his eyes red, which surprises the shit out of me. Never once have I seen the man actually cry, and no way would I give him an ounce of shit for it.

  “Over here,” Doc says to the guys who lay Breaker down while I move to Rhys and nod my head at her.

  “Shot twice. Shoulder and leg. It didn’t hit anything too major. Doc found a goose egg on the back of her head. Thinks she hit something hard on the fall down. Can’t do anything more, so I’m waiting for her to wake the fuck up,” Rhys tells me in a rush, clutching his woman’s hand and kissing the top of it.

  I look at Princess. “You get checked out?”

 
; “Just a flesh wound,” she says, not answering my fucking question.

  I ignore it as I hear a groan from the table and look at Derek.

  “He’ll be fine,” she assures me. “Mostly hurt because one of the guys beat the shit out of him then shot him in the leg.”

  I want to say I’m surprised they didn’t shoot him in the head like they did the rest of them, but I refrain. This is good.

  “Shaina?” I ask, who is now lying next to Breaker as they start working on him.

  Her skin is pale, almost with a blue hue. She is lying on her back, which surprises me, considering that’s where she was shot.

  “Very close to her spine. Missed her heart and organs, but like I said, way too close to her spine,” Princess answers, shaking her head.

  “Paralyzed?” I ask.

  “If she’s lucky,” Princess says glumly.

  “Looks like you did a pretty good job, Buzz,” Doc says to him, taking a look at Breaker.

  Buzz says nothing, only stands there, looking down at his brother, all the while, covered in his blood. Then he calls over to one of the other doctors in the room, “I need O negative.”

  My first reaction is to pull each of them aside and beat the living shit out of them for being on Ravage property, but that’s stupid. They’re helping, and that’s what I need to focus on.

  One of the doctors scurries out of the room, coming back moments later with three full bags of blood.

  “You give him a lot on the way here?” Doc asks Buzz.

  “Yeah, they gave me four bags, but I think I need about three more. His heart stopped once, and I brought him back,” Buzz answers, and my heart twists. Fucking hell.

  “Let’s see what we’ve got here.” Doc takes a look just as I hear a woman’s moans and the sound of a chair screeching against the tile.

  “Tanner?” Rhys says, looking down at his woman.

  “Hey,” she croaks, blinking her eyes. “What’s going on?”

  “You were shot, but you’re gonna be just fine. Thank fuckin’ Christ,” Rhys says, and I can see the restraint it takes him not to pull Tanner into his arms and hold her. Instead, he turns to Doc. “Can I take her to our room?”

  Doc nods. “Keep an eye on her. You can’t sleep, and she needs to be woken up every two hours in case of concussion. If there’s any blood coming out of the dressings, you need to replace them. If it’s a lot, you call me. And you’re going to need to take her very carefully so you don’t tear open the stitches.”

  Rhys nods, picks up his woman like she’s glass, and takes her away.

  I can hear Dagger yelling something, but then all is quiet.

  Derek is the next to get moved over to the side couch, leaving Shaina and Breaker lying on the table next to each other, each with their eyes closed. They look peaceful, which scares the shit out of me.

  He’s breathing, and his heart is beating. That’s better than the alternative. Doc stitched him up and checked him out good. He says that right now, there isn’t anything we can do, so we need to wait.

  I take a breather and walk out to the clubhouse. Bella runs right to me and throws her arms around my neck and her legs around my hips. I engulf her, burying my face in her hair as I carry her to our room where I slam the door closed while tears fall from my eyes. I can’t stop them. I can’t hide them.

  As my body shakes and I sit on the bed, Bella doesn’t let go of me. She holds me without saying a word.

  Everything inside me breaks. My strength and determination crack as I let the emotions pour from my heart, a heart that is breaking. I can’t lose my brother. I just fucking can’t.

  I feel Bella’s body shake as wetness hits my shirt. I hold on tighter and take her in, allowing myself for the first time in hours to feel. And it hurts.

  Finally gaining my composure, I lift my head up to Bella. “Are you okay?”

  She sniffles. “My eyes are a bit messed up. One of the doctors said the bright light burned them a bit, but they will heal.”

  “What bright light?” I ask, grabbing her cheeks and looking into her beautiful eyes that are watery.

  “You’re a blur, but I see something red. Are you hurt?” Bella goes to lift up her hand to the burn on my face. I covered it with a bandage in the truck, but the blood must have come through.

  “I’ll be fine. Just a little burn. Now answer my question. What light?”

  Bella blows out a breath. “A flash grenade. I have no idea how Angel got her hands on one. Supposedly, she’s the one who set if off, but I’m sketchy on all the details.”

  “But your eyes will be okay?”

  “That’s what the doctor said. I’m hoping he’s right.”

  I crush her to my body. “I love you, Bella. Can’t fucking lose you. I can’t lose my brother, either.”

  “Love you, too. He loves you.”

  Tears well up, but I fight the fuckers back. “Yeah. I just hope he pulls through. Need to go back in and see him.”

  “Let’s go.” She takes my hand, and I lead her to my brother.

  I’m light, so light I feel as if I’m floating. The air around me is cool, and the hurt I felt earlier has disappeared. I look down, seeing myself lying on the church meeting table. My body is still, eyes closed, and my coloring isn’t right. I also have burn marks all over my body.

  I look to my left, and there she is. Shaina. Damn, she’s beautiful. Even with her complexion so light, she’s still the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. But I don’t understand why she’s lying next to me nor the fact that I’m floating above my body.

  I watch in fascination as something white comes from her body and floats up to me, turning into my beautiful woman. The smile on her face is gorgeous.

  “Shaina?” I ask.

  “Of course. Who else would it be?”

  I shake my head in confusion. “Why are we floating?”

  Shaina looks down, her eyes growing wide before they come back to me. “I don’t know, Breaker. What’s going on?”

  I pull her into my arms, and it’s strange. I can feel her body molding to mine, but my arms go through her and hers through me. It’s like we’re here, but we aren’t here.

  “I think we’re dead,” Shaina says, pulling back and looking at me.

  “You think?” I ask, puzzled. Life and death; that’s all I know. I don’t have a clue what this floating over my body thing is about, and having Shaina with me is bizarre.

  Shaina looks back down at our forms. “I think so. Why else would we be up here while our bodies are down there?”

  “I don’t know.” I pause as I look. “You’re too young to die.”

  “So are you,” she responds, grabbing my hand and squeezing it. “But I think our time has come.”

  “Are you ready to go?” I ask.

  “Only if you’re with me,” she says, reaching up and kissing me on the lips. It’s strange because I feel it, but I don’t. Neither do I care. I have my woman, and that’s all that matters.

  I kiss her back, loving the feel of her, even if it’s different than before. I am truly in love with this woman.

  She pulls away. “Are you coming with me?”

  “Is he awake?” I hear Buzz ask, storming through the doors as he looks down at my body.

  “Not yet, and his pulse is getting weaker,” Doc tells him as Bella comes up behind my brother and wraps him in her arms.

  “Fuck!” Buzz roars, and I feel his pain deep in my chest. He bends down and gets in my face, pulling away from Bella. “Don’t you fucking leave me. Do you hear me, Breaker? Don’t you fucking dare.”

  Bella comes up behind him, tears streaming down her face, and her body shakes. She engulfs him again as he reaches for my shoulders. I can feel him squeeze me hard, but it’s just pressure, no pain. Buzz’s body trembles, and the hand on me adds more force.

  “You hear me in there? Wake the fuck up!” he screams.

  I look back at Shaina as she gazes down at my brother. I try to figure out what she’
s thinking, but I come up short.

  “I can’t fucking do this,” Buzz says as he turns around and wraps Bella in his arms.

  She cries as she looks down at me and clutches my brother.

  “Breaker, come back,” she says then looks at Shaina. “You, too, Shaina. Come back to us. Come back to your family.”

  “Shaina,” I say, turning to her. “I’m not ready to leave them yet or my mom. She’ll be heartbroken. I can’t leave you, either.”

  “Breaker, what the fuck are you doing with my daughter?” I hear Diamond’s voice just as he appears translucently before Shaina and me.

  “Dad?” Shaina asks, puzzled.

  “Hey, girl,” he says to her, but his attention is on me. “Breaker, answer the fucking question.”

  He looks exactly the same as he did when he was alive, not aged a bit. Except, I can see through him now.

  “I love her, sir.”

  Shaina sucks in a deep breath then comes up beside me. I wrap my arm around her shoulder. I can feel her body, but again, my arm floats through, exactly like the kiss.

  “You’d better,” Diamond growls.

  “I’m going to make her my ol’ lady,” I tell him. Shaina looks up at me, and I look down at her. “Love you. Only you.”

  Diamond clears his throat, and we turn back to him. His attention is on Shaina.

  “You want to come with me? We can spend some time together,” he says, and it clutches my heart. He wants her to go away from me unless I follow, but I don’t want to leave my family or her.

  “You want me to come with you?” Shaina asks, puzzled.

  “I’ve always wanted you to come with me. Your momma didn’t like my life and wanted you away from me. If I would’ve had the choice, I’d have brought you with me.”

  I look at Shaina, whose face hasn’t changed much. She says, “I really want to cry right now, but for some reason, I can’t. Why can’t I cry?”

  “Because here, you don’t hurt or feel pain,” Diamond answers. “Here, you just are.”

  “And you want me to come with you?” Shaina asks then looks at me excitedly. “He wants me to go with him.”