by A. M. Myers
“Sit down,” Blaze instructs as I walk into his office and I throw myself in the chair across from him as he scrubs his jaw with his hand. “She’s safe, in case you were wondering.”
My eyes widen. “Are you seriously throwing attitude at me when she is the one who is cheating on me?”
“Open your fucking eyes, Fuzz. That woman is completely fucking devoted to you and I know you asked Streak about this guy coming after us also finding other ways to torment us. Did you really forget about it so easily?”
“Why would he do that?” I ask, rolling my eyes as I take another sip of my beer and Blaze slams his hand on the table. I jerk forward, staring at him as he levels a glare at me.
“Pull your head out of your goddamn ass. This is an all out war on this club and you should know better than to assume anything. I watched your woman cry her eyes out all night long.”
Running my hand through my hair, I release a breath. I know I entertained the thought that the man coming after the club could be behind the things going on with Piper but I’m not buying it. This guy, whoever he is, is not going to concern himself with targeting just one member of this club. Why would he?
“What would be the point of making me think my wife is cheating on me?”
“Let me ask you something,” Blaze says, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms over his chest. “You were the one spearheading the investigation in these girls’ deaths. How much work have you gotten done on the cases in the last two weeks?”
“Not a lot.”
He nods. “And why is that?”
“‘Cause I’ve been too worried about Piper to focus on them,” I admit, connecting the dots with where this conversation is going but I already thought through about all this and I still think it’s unlikely.
“Uh-huh,” he quips, nodding his head. “Would you say that you’re acting sane right now? That you’ve got your shit together and that you’ve been an asset to this club and your wife lately?”
My throat feels tight as I shake my head. “No, I suppose not…”
“My thoughts exactly. So, while I was sitting in front of your house last night, I called Streak and had him dig into your wife’s life. He can’t find anything. The IP address of the person running the dating profile he found on her came from a restaurant that offers free wifi, the hotel reservations were also made from the same computer, and the flowers came from one Colin Owens, who was also communicating with the dating profile but there is no evidence that Piper is doing any of this. In fact, as far as Streak can tell, if she isn’t at work, she is with you.”
That’s not exactly true. She goes to her support group, too, but I get his point. Piper isn’t cheating on me and I’m an ass. All of the tension I’ve been carrying around for weeks rushes out of my body and I set my beer on the desk before leaning forward and dropping my head into my hands. “Oh my fucking God.”
“You know the thing that confuses me the most, though? You know how to look all of this stuff up and yet, you didn’t. Why the hell not?”
“I don’t know…” I whisper, looking up at him and he shakes his head with a sigh.
“Seems like you don’t trust her… or you’re scared.”
I narrow my eyes at him. “You a therapist all of the sudden?”
“Sure as hell feels like it lately,” he snaps and I drop my head into my hands again as my head spins.
Piper isn’t cheating on me.
The words ring through my head over and over again until the words I flung at her last night replace them, making my heart sink.
“Fuck! I’ve got to get back to the house and…”
“Grovel?” he supplies and I nod as I stand up and turn toward the door. “Maybe get something shiny with a four figure price tag. Just a thought.”
I nod as I grab the door handle and turn back to look at him. “Yeah. Thanks for watching over her last night, Blaze.”
“It’s fine as long as you don’t make a habit of this.”
“It won’t ever happen again,” I assure him. Once I convince Piper to forgive me for being an epic dick, I’m going to be the best damn husband that anyone has ever seen. He nods.
“Get out of here, then.”
Nodding again, I step out of the office and close the door behind me before heading for the clubhouse door with one thing on my mind. I run through our fight and the more I remember, the more my heart sinks.
Shit.
The stuff I said was so fucked up and she was so hurt. I have no idea how I’m going to explain this all to her. When we went to my parents’ house, I promised her that I was going to be there through everything but it was so easy for this guy to get in my head and drive a wedge between us. I can’t believe I was such an idiot about this. All I had to do was a couple of internet searches and I could have avoided hurting both of us but no, I was too damn consumed with worry and convinced that she was leaving me again.
Fuck.
Maybe I need some goddamn therapy.
The front door opens, bright morning sunlight streaming into the room and Kodiak walks in, his gaze scanning the bar before coming to a stop on me. He arches a brow as he walks over to me, shaking his head.
“Dude, you’re so fucked.”
“Why?” I ask as my head jerks back. How in the hell does he even know about what’s going on? He glances over his shoulder and leans in.
“Tate is outside and if I were you, I would avoid her at all costs.”
Before I can even ask him why, the door swings open again and Tate walks into the room with purpose, dressed in all black and her hair pulled back into a tight ponytail. She looks terrifying. Her gaze lands on me and rage rolls off her, so potent that I consider running out of the back door like a little bitch. I glance down and notice the taser in one hand and her pistol in the other.
Yep.
I definitely should have run.
“Baby, I said no gun,” Kodiak hisses but she walks past him, barely flicking her eyes in his direction as she closes the gap between us and gets right in my face.
“What in the fuck do you think you’re doing?”
My eyes widen and I glance at Kodiak, who closes his eyes and shakes his head, before turning back to her. “Like, right now?”
Wrong move.
She doesn’t even respond, just snarls at me as she presses the taser to my skin before I can dodge out of her way. The muscles in my arm seize up before electricity rolls through my entire body, all of my muscles tightening and pain hitting every nerve ending as I crumple to the floor with a groan.
“What the fuck?” I breathe, trying to figure out what the hell I did to Tate to piss her off. That woman is ten kinds of crazy and I know better than to mess with her. Shaking my head, I open my eyes. Black boots fill my vision and I glance up at her. “Are you wearing steel toe boots?”
She grins. “Test me again and find out.”
“Want to tell me why the hell you’re so pissed?” I ask as my muscles begin to relax and I take a deep breath, trying to will them to release. She lifts one of her feet and presses it against my shoulder as she points the pistol at me.
“Tate,” Kodiak warns, taking a step toward her and she glances back at him, halting him in his tracks.
“Shut up.” She turns her gaze back to me. “Do you know what I did last night, Fuzz?”
I shake my head. “No.”
“I went over to your house and held your wife as she bawled all night long, saying it hurt so bad that she was going to die so let me ask you again, what the hell kind of game are you playing with my friend?”
My heart aches as I imagine Piper sitting on the couch and crying so hard that she can’t even breathe. How many nights did I wake up to that same scene because she had a nightmare about her parents? And now, I’m the one doing it to her.
I’m such a piece of shit.
“I fucked up, okay?” I say, looking up at Tate, as Blaze’s office door opens and he steps out. He takes one look at the three of
us and rolls his eyes, mumbling something to himself about “fucking children”.
“Tate, put the gun away.”
She peeks over at him and nods. “Fine, but the taser stays out.”
“Fine,” he agrees with a nod and she turns her attention back to me as she slips the pistol into her ankle holster. She tosses the taser to her other hand and holds it just above my skin. “Continue.”
“I was just going to go home and apologize to her.”
She shakes her head. “She’s not there. Eden came over this morning and took her into work to get her mind off her asshole husband.”
“Okay,” I say with a nod. “I’ll go there, then.”
“And say what to her?”
“That I’m a fucking moron and I know she didn’t cheat on me.”
Her eyes widen. “That’s it?”
“What else would I say?” I ask and she glares at me as she pulls her foot back and presses the taser to my skin again. I yell as the jolt pierces through my body and my muscles lock up.
“How about, ‘I’m a fucking idiot for ever thinking you would do that to me, baby’ or ‘I’m so sorry that I asked you if the baby was mine’. Honestly, just about anything is better than your plan.”
“Okay,” I breathe as my muscles begin to relax again and she presses her foot to my shoulder once more. “I’ll tell her all that. I fucking swear.”
She studies me for a long moment before she stands up and flips the taser off, removing her foot from my shoulder. When it’s safe, I slowly pull myself to my feet and she points a finger in my face. “If this ever happens again, you’ll get a bullet wound to match Lincoln’s.”
“Noted,” I whisper, taking a step back from her. “Can I go find my wife now?”
Arching a brow, she studies me. “Are you going to show up empty-handed?”
Before I can answer her, the front door opens again and we all turn to look as a frail, trembling woman limps into the clubhouse. Her clothes are ripped and torn in pieces, hanging off her thin body and there is dirt smeared all over her skin mixed with what I can only assume is blood. Tear marks carve a path of clean, perfect skin down her cheeks and her hair is a wild mass as she gazes around the room in horror. Blaze steps forward cautiously.
“Are you okay, darlin’?”
She shakes her head and I scoff.
She is obviously not okay but what is she doing here?
“I..” she whispers, looking at all of us like we might jump her and Tate sets her taser down on the table before walking over to her. The woman watches her cross the room, her eyes full of fear and a whimper slips out of her mouth as Tate grabs her hands and leads her to the closest table.
“Sit down, sweetie.”
“Kodiak, go call Rodriguez,” Blaze orders as the girls sink into their seats and Kodiak slips into the war room as he pulls his phone out of his pocket. I turn back to the table as Tate tries to reassure her that she is okay but the woman is terrified, crying and shaking as she looks at all of us with so much fear that I don’t know how she is still standing.
“Can you tell me your name?” Tate asks and the woman nods.
“Veronica Pope.”
Hold up…
I know that name.
All the blood rushes to my ears as I stare at her and it feels like there is an ice block in my chest, spreading through my body with each breath. “You’re Veronica Pope?”
She looks up at me and nods. Blowing out a breath, I look up and my eyes meet Blaze’s across the room. Veronica Pope went missing a while back and Rodriguez asked us to help him with the case right around the time Henn was released from prison but we never found anything. Holy fuck… all this time, she’s been with the guy coming after us? Pinching the bridge of his nose, Blaze releases a sigh and walks forward slowly before sitting across from her.
“Veronica, my name is Blaze and I’m the president of this club. We’ve been investigating your disappearance for a while now with the police so I want you to know that you are safe here, okay?”
She studies him for a second before nodding.
“Can you tell us what happened to you?”
“I… I was kidnapped… I don’t know how long ago… a man… he’s been holding me hostage and today… he opened the front door of the cabin he was keeping me in and he told me to run…I didn’t make it far before he caught me and he made me wear a blindfold as he loaded me into his car. When he dropped me off… we were here and he told me to come inside,” she says, her voice weak and my stomach flips as my heart starts racing.
“He specifically told you to come in here?”
She nods. “He said you guys would help me…”
My heart beat pounds in my ears as I stare down at her, my mind trying to catch up. Why would her kidnapper bring her here? Unless… it’s him.
“He told me to give you,” she whispers, pointing to Blaze. “A message.”
Blaze runs a hand over his face as he nods. “What was the message?”
“I am just getting started.”
My stomach drops like a rock and I clench my jaw as Blaze’s gaze snaps to mine, the look in his eyes as grave as I feel. “Call everyone in and their families, too.”
I nod. “I need to go get Piper.”
“I’ll call everyone,” Tate says, jumping up with determination on her face. “You go get your wife.”
“Thanks,” I whisper as I turn and run out to the parking lot with every worst case scenario playing through my head. I pull my phone out of my pocket and dial Piper’s number as Veronica’s warning runs through my head again.
I am just getting started.
What does that even mean?
How does this end?
With all of us dead?
With our club destroyed?
“Wyatt?” she answers and I release a breath I didn’t realize I was holding as I reach my bike and swing my leg over the seat.
“Baby… I need you to go home and I’ll meet you there.”
She scoffs. “That’s all you have to say to me today?”
“No, Pip. We have a hell of a lot to talk about but shit is going down at the club and I need to get you to safety so can we table it for just a little bit?”
Silence greets me as I start my bike and my heart hammers in my chest. I mentally urge her to agree with the plan. Not that it will stop me from getting her and bringing her back here to keep her safe but I’d rather not apologize for another thing. Finally, she sighs. “Okay, Wyatt. I’m leaving now and I’ll see you at the house.”
“Thank you, baby,” I say as I back out of my parking spot. “I love you.”
“I love you, too, Wyatt,” she replies but I don’t miss the tears in her voice and I know this is nowhere near fixed for us but with the threat looming closer, everything is clear for me. Nothing is more important than my wife and our child and I’ll do whatever it takes to live up to the promise I made her in my parents’ driveway.
I won’t let anything come between us anymore.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Piper
My hands shake, gripping the steering wheel so tightly that my knuckles turn white, as I pull up in front of the house and stare at Wyatt’s bike in the driveway. I don’t know what to think. Yesterday, he was telling me that he will be signing the divorce papers in the morning and then when he calls me today, he tells me he loves me and needs to get me to safety. I’ve got whiplash from his ever-changing moods and I don’t know how much longer I can do this. Pressing my hand to my belly, I remember the ultrasound picture we saw of our baby yesterday and shake my head.
I can’t believe that was only twenty-four hours ago.
Whatever happens, we are bringing a baby into this world and if he doesn’t want this anymore, doesn’t want me, we have to find a way to raise this little one together. Pain blooms in my chest and tears sting my eyes as I think about the possibility of being a single mother after I thought I was getting everything I’ve ever wanted and a sob bubbl
es out of me. I clamp my hand over my mouth and lean my head back as the tears start slipping down my cheeks and my chest shakes. I love him so much that I can’t even explain it, can’t find the words to describe the feeling I get whenever I see his face, and I don’t know how I’m going to survive losing him a second time.
Opening my eyes and looking up at the house, I meet Wyatt’s eyes as he stands in the doorway and gasp, my heart climbing into my throat. I wipe the tears from my cheeks and turn the car off but I can’t force myself to get out. After a second, he starts walking down the stairs toward me and my heart races out of control.
Oh, God, what is he going to say?
Does he still think I’m cheating on him?
Is he leaving me?
When he reaches my door, he opens it and holds his hand out to me with a nervous smile on his face. His eyes are full of fear and uncertainty and it doesn’t do anything to calm my emotions. My stomach tightens painfully as I slip my hand into his and step out of the car. Pulling me into his arms, he looks down at me, our gazes locked together as my heart feels like it’s going to explode in my chest and my stomach flips. Each breath punches out of my chest, matching him and slowly, he lowers his face to mine and gently claims my lips. A sob shoots through me as I melt into him, swallowed up by our kiss and his firm touch holds me together when all I feel like doing is falling apart.
I can’t lose him.
The mean, hateful words he hurled at me yesterday echo through my mind and I pull back, shoving him away from me as I shake my head and take steps back. “Stop, Wyatt.”