We sat a little bit away. Alexis had made coffee for all of us and we were drinking it now and talking. I felt right at home with them, even though I’d never met them before. It was like a little sisterhood they’d formed and I could sense they looked out for each other.
I wasn’t sure if I belonged yet…technically, Dash and I hadn’t really spoken about what would happen to us long term. He’d promised to keep us safe and we had sex, but that could mean anything. It didn’t necessarily have to mean anything permanent.
I knew he was perfect for Amanda and me, but I didn’t want to get my hopes up. But these women were treating me like I was a part of their group already.
They sat with me, concerned and wanting to know what happened. I started at the start because they were interested to know everything. I told them how I met Caesar and how I got trapped.
“You were only seventeen, hun, you shouldn’t blame yourself for this. You didn’t know any better. We all do a lot of crazy things at that age. You just got really unlucky,” Alexis said, squeezing my hand gently.
I nodded and looked down embarrassedly at my cup of coffee.
“And he blamed you for trapping him with a child? You’re the one who got trapped!” Kaya commented.
“What did he do to you?” Alexis asked.
“We don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to, hun,” Jordan reassured me and I shook my head.
“No, I do. I haven’t told anyone about it other than Dash. But I should have been. I should have told everyone I knew. I shouldn’t have been so afraid and kept it all to myself. Maybe then I could have got out sooner,” I said in a weak voice.
Lila gave me a warm hug.
“But you weren’t afraid when it really mattered. You were brave. You were able to get Dash out of there, you had the courage to walk out on the MC with your kid. You were able to break free,” she said.
I knew she had a point, all of these women were right—but I just couldn’t see myself as someone brave. I had been under someone’s boot for so long that I saw myself as nothing more than a weakling.
“You’re here now, Harley. You have nothing more to worry about,” Jordan added and she passed me a delicious looking iced cupcake which I devoured.
* * *
“I was too young and I’d dropped out of school and had no money. With a baby to support now, I had nobody else to turn to other than Caesar and the MC,” I said to them. It felt good talking to them, getting it out of my system.
“And what about your family?” Kaya asked in a low voice and I breathed in deeply.
“They’d washed their hands of me when I ran away to live with Caesar. I spent a long time hating them, but now that Amanda is growing up, I see their point of view and I know what I’ll do differently,” I said.
“Parents!” Lila exclaimed, rolling her eyes. I knew she was Lewis’ daughter and she was only joking. So, the rest of us smiled.
“And once I started relying on him for money and a job, things just got worse and worse. He didn’t care about his daughter, all he cared about was having a girl in their clubhouse who would slave for them. Clean and cook and run errands. And he is violent and has a temper,” I said, shifting in my seat.
They weren’t blind. They could see the cuts and bruises on me, most of them were healing or healed up but the faint marks were still there.
“Dash and the others will never let that happen to you or Amanda again,” Jordan said and I nodded.
“I know. I trust him, I trust all of you. I’m so glad to be here,” I said.
Lila initiated a group hug and we all fell together. A wave of tears washed over me and I suppressed it.
It felt so good to be back in the real world, surrounded by supportive and kind people. Trusting Dash was the best decision I made.
“And I noticed the way he looks at you…at Amanda too. You guys would make a cute family,” Alexis remarked and I blushed even deeper.
“These guys look like they’re tough as nails,” Kaya began.
“And they are!” Lila corrected her.
“But they can be warm and fuzzy on the inside when they meet the right woman,” Kaya continued and I blushed more.
That was when Dash walked in. He saw us all sitting around and smiled.
“There he is! The man of the hour!” Alexis remarked and he came over to stand behind me.
“How are you guys doing?” he asked and I looked up at him and nodded.
“I’m doing great. Amanda’s doing even better!” I replied and he looked over at her in the corner, sitting on a big leather chair which I presumed belonged to Lewis.
“So, the guys and I have been talking. We need to hit the Hell’s Drifters now, while they’re still scrambling about trying to get a hold of me,” Dash began. I nodded. “Will you be able to lead us to the clubhouse?”
A smile was spreading on my face now.
“Any time you want,” I told him and the women exchanged victorious looks too.
21
Dash
Dash
Harley gave me detailed instructions on how to get to the clubhouse. I’d told her to be as thorough as possible and she did her best. This information was gold. The main reason why we hadn’t been able to take out the Hell’s Drifters all this time was because we didn’t have anybody on the inside. And now we did.
Before I was about to leave, I gave Harley a small quick kiss on the top of her head which made the other girls giggle.
I was about to walk back out to the bar when we heard the bikes outside. I was instantly suspicious because it sounded like a hoard of bikes. Most of our club was at T-Bone right now. Who else would be joining us?
“Get down. Now!” I growled and jumped in Amanda’s direction, pulling her quickly out of her chair. She squealed in panic even before she’d heard anything.
Kaya and Lila screamed too. They were all ducked down.
“In the back room. Come on. Now!” I shouted at them, just as we heard the first gunshot being fired. We could hear the roar of the others’ voices outside.
I saw the fear in Harley’s eyes.
“Get down on your knees. Stay away from the windows. Let’s go!” I ordered. I covered Amanda’s head with my hands and ran to the store room at the back. It had only one door and one window. It would be the perfect place to keep them safe for now I figured.
I was the first one in and I put Amanda down. She grabbed my hand, refusing to let go.
“It’ll be all right, honey,” I said as the women came filing into the room. They had their ears covered with their hands. They were scared. But nobody was as afraid as Harley.
She came into the room and ran straight for Amanda, lifting her up in her arms. Amanda started to cry now as more gunshots rang outside.
“I’m going to have to go. Stay down. Don’t get out of this room till one of us comes to get you!” I barked orders at them.
The others grouped around Harley and Amanda. The little kid was the one who needed most protection and all their motherly instincts were coming into play here.
While Amanda cried, Harley had tears in her eyes too. I knew what she was thinking—that it was all over. That Caesar and the others were here and they were going to take her away again.
I reached for my gun and pulled it out.
“Take this. Use it if you have to. Don’t hesitate.”
I pushed the gun into Harley’s hand and Amanda cried even harder.
“I’ll be back as soon as I can,” I added and ran out of the room. Before I went I looked over my shoulder at Harley. She was staring at the gun in her hand, shaking all over. But I trusted her. I knew how strong she was. If there was any woman who could protect herself and her daughter against these motherfuckers, it was Harley.
* * *
I ran out to the front of the club and the shooting was still going on.
“Gun!” I shouted as loud as I could. Girth took his second one out and threw it at me. I caught it and headed to one
of the back windows of the bar.
“The girls?” Abe shouted from across the room.
“In the store room. Harley has my gun. They’re not getting out of there,” I said and took aim through the window and shot.
Just as I predicted. A group of at least a dozen guys from the Hell’s Drifters and Dark Legion were gathered around the front and they were shooting right at us.
Luckily for us, this time, we were the ones outnumbering them. The entire Marked Skulls MC was present here and they weren’t going to achieve anything. The dumb idiots that they were.
I continued firing and ducked every time I saw someone take aim.
I searched everywhere for Caesar but he was nowhere in sight. Was he too pussy to show up here? Fight like a real man?
The only thing he was capable of was to raise a hand on a woman.
Thinking about that got me even more fired up and I shot again. This time my bullet caught one of them right in the shoulder, close to the heart and he fell to the ground crying out in pain. He was going to bleed to death if one of his ‘friends’ didn’t pull him away right now.
The shooting continued and I caught another one in the leg. My brothers continued to fire along with me till the other side realized finally they were not going to win this one.
Eventually they gave up.
They were pulling back but we kept firing. They started dragging their wounded and loaded them up in the back of a van. The van they had taken me for a ride in.
We shot at them until the last one had finally disappeared out of view. When they were gone I straightened myself up. I’d fought through the aches and pains in my body. I was still wounded but I’d forgotten about that.
I looked around, the rest of the MC was in a panic but nobody seemed to be hurt.
Oz came up to me and thumped my back.
“You did good, Dash!”
I nodded, running a hand through my hair. I wasn’t expecting this to happen so quickly, happen like this. The Hell’s Drifters were clearly very pissed off at us now. Maybe even more so because I’d taken one of their women with me.
I smirked at Oz and nodded.
“Better go check on the girls,” I said and handed Girth his gun back.
I needed to put Amanda and Harley somewhere safe where they wouldn’t have to experience something like this again.
22
Harley
Harley
I shoved Amanda behind me, far away from the window in the room just as Dash had told us to. The other women and I were all huddled together, trying to protect Amanda as best we could. The truth was that we were all scared.
The men were out there and the shooting was constant, but inside, we were trying to stay strong for Amanda. She was crying, whimpering as she held on to me tightly.
Why had Dash given me the gun? Why would he even think I was capable of holding it correctly? I had spent the past seven years surrounded by guns, by men who carried guns—but that didn’t make me an expert at it. In fact, I was far from it.
I shuddered and the gun shook in my hand as I tried hard to hold on to it tightly. All I knew was I was supposed to point it in one direction and pull the trigger. Nothing else. How hard was I supposed to pull, where was I supposed to aim? Dash instructed me not to hesitate. How was I going to do that?
Behind me, Amanda whimpered some more. I held the gun with both hands now, pointing it at the door and I looked over my shoulder at my daughter.
Alexis was the one holding her hand now, while Lila was trying to comfort her by stroking her hair.
“Baby, it’s going to be all right. We’re all here with you,” I said, trying to put on a smile for her.
“Why is this happening? Why do you have a gun, mommy?” Amanda cried.
“It’ll all be over soon, I promise,” I said but the tears didn’t stop rolling down Amanda’s cheeks.
“Where is Dash? Why did he go out there?” she demanded to know.
“He’s out there protecting us, baby.”
“I didn’t want him to go,” she cried some more, blubbering.
“I know. Baby, please don’t cry. Just try and stay calm,” I tried.
I wished I could hold her and comfort her now, but my hands were occupied by the gun. I couldn’t touch Amanda because I still had it pointed at the door.
“It’s okay, hun,” Alexis said and picked her up in her arms.
“It’ll all be over in no time and then we can finish that candy out there,” she said jovially.
But none of this working. I couldn’t find a single way to pacify Amanda. I thought we were going to be safe here, away from the Hell’s Drifters and Caesar. But I shouldn’t have expected it to happen so quickly. I should have known that the path to safety was going to be stormy.
For now, all I could do was hold the gun and try and stop myself from shivering while I kept it pointed at the door.
I trusted Dash. He was going to be back here very soon.
* * *
We must have been standing there, waiting for the firing to stop, for no more than ten minutes, but it felt like we’d been there forever. Every time a shot was fired and there was a break in the shooting—we hoped it was over but another one was fired soon after.
I was beginning to fear that some of the men fighting to protect us were hurt. What if Dash was hurt? I could feel tears welling up in my eyes again.
Another shot was fired close to us. It felt like it was fired right there in the room beside us. All of us screamed in unison and Alexis ducked down with Amanda in her arms.
We were all crying and shuddering together.
The shooting died down for a few moments again, giving me a chance to breathe when there was a sudden crash behind us.
Someone had smashed through the only small window in the room.
I saw the flash of a man’s elbow and then an arm reaching in.
“Kaya!” I screamed. She was the only one standing close to the window and now the man had caught her by the hair.
She screamed. Amanda was screaming and crying in horror while Kaya struggled to slip from his grip.
We couldn’t see the man’s face, but I knew he was from the Hell’s Drifters. He continued to tug at Kaya’s hair. He was going to try and pull her out.
“No!” I screamed and ran to the window. Using the butt of my gun I rammed it into his arm.
“Fuck!” we heard a groan and then he was reaching his hand in again.
“Fuck you!” I screamed. Before I even knew what I was doing, I’d pointed the gun in his direction and pulled the trigger. It happened so fast for me to know if I’d actually caught him in the arm. He’d disappeared away from the window soon after.
Kaya ran to the other side of the room, whimpering and crying and the rest of us moved away from the window as well.
I kept the gun pointed at the window. It was higher than us, so they would have to come close to fire. I had never used a gun before but desperate times called for desperate measures.
If any of them came close to the window again, I was going to shoot.
Where was this determination coming from? I felt powerful when I held the gun in my hand. Just moments ago, I was crying as well. I felt weak and broken and now that I’d come face to face with danger like this—I wasn’t going to back away.
Maybe this was the bravery the women and Dash were talking about.
I’d just never noticed it in myself before.
I stood there with the gun in my hand and my eyes fixed on the window. Nobody was getting close to Amanda or the others. Fuck the Hell’s Drifters. They were going down.
* * *
I didn’t notice when the shooting finally stopped. I was so focused on the window and the gun in my hand. It was only when Dash ran into the room, kicking the door open, that I blinked and came back down to Earth again.
I turned to see him. He was standing there, tall, with his shoulders heaving and his dark eyes intense.
“What happened her
e?” he asked.
“Some guy tried to pull Kaya out through the window,” Lila explained.
“Mommy shot him. In his hand!” Amanda squealed and Dash looked at me again.
The weight I was carrying on my shoulders suddenly weighed me down. I hadn’t even realized the kind of responsibility I was shouldering just moments ago. My lips quivered just as Dash lunged at me, pulling me into his arms.
Our lips met and the other guys stormed into the room to check on their women. Dash had me in his arms and we were kissing deeply. I wrapped my arms around his neck, pinning myself close to him. It was fine now. He was here. The shooting had stopped and we were all going to be safe.
I pulled away from him gently and saw Amanda standing there. She ran to us.
“Dash!” she squealed and he lifted her up in his arms.
“You okay, baby girl?” he asked her, looking her over for marks or bruises. She nodded her head and wrapped her tiny arms around him. It melted my heart to see them like this.
“What an adventure we’re having!” he exclaimed and put her down again. Amanda reached for my hand and I squeezed tightly, running my fingers affectionately through her hair.
“I’m sorry for this, Harley. This shouldn’t have happened. I shouldn’t have brought Amanda and you here,” he said.
I looked down at my daughter. Amanda was brave. For a seven-year-old who had never seen a gun before, she had taken the whole incident very well. However, this was not the kind of violence I wanted to expose her to. This was exactly the kind of life I wanted to take her away from.
“I can’t let this happen to her again,” I said and Dash nodded.
“I know. I won’t let it.”
He reached for me, holding my cheek tightly in his hand as he stroked it.
Marked Skulls MC Series: Books 1-5 Page 68