“Call me in the morning with an update,” Sophia said.
“Of course.” I scooped Caroline in a hug with Charlie, and she kissed me on the cheek.
“Take care and call us if you need anything,” she said.
I gave her a wry smile and transferred Charlie into my arms before walking over to the chair and picking up the garment bags and looking at Lucky.
“We’ll all leave at the same time.” He picked up my cases still unpacked after our arrival this morning.
Within minutes we were bidding a second goodbye outside. Sophia and her parents jumped into their car with a couple of brothers from Forever Midnight following on their bikes behind them.
Charlie and I jumped in a car with Lucky, and another couple of brothers followed us. Before we’d gone two blocks my phone rang.
“Caleb,” I said, hoping it was him.
“It’s Officer Tom Davenport. Caleb’s fine.” He huffed a breath along the line. “He’s alive at any rate. A team of paramedics is looking him over. He’s got some questions to answer and then I’ll let him go.”
My head was too full of the fact Caleb had been injured to process much of what he said, but I clung to the fact that Caleb was also alive.
Earlier, while I’d been busy telling Cane to get to Ta-Towhee, Sophia had been on the other line telling Tom the same thing, and my resolve to file a police report as soon as possible had settled around my heart. It seemed strange to say it, but although the fear of that night would always be locked inside me, telling Caleb had in many ways made it easier to bear. I would always hold the memory of what happened but felt now that it was in the background. One night in a long list of experiences that defined me. Maybe telling the police would help keep it there. Hell, if I had gone to the police and told them what happened all those years ago, maybe it would have happened sooner. Leo would be behind bars and Caleb wouldn’t have risked his life or the possibility of prison himself by going after him.
“Thank you for letting me know,” I said, and shook the thought from my mind. Life was full of regrets. I knew only thing to do was accept the mistakes you made and try to learn from them, but that was easier said than done.
~
After all the excitement, the ride to the safe house had lulled Charlie back to sleep. I cradled her in my arms and lifted her from the car ready to carry inside.
It felt strange to have Lucky and the other brothers with me. Like I’d stepped back in time to a different life. I’d stayed away from the whole biker scene in order to keep my location a secret. Not that I’d ever been a big part of it anyway.
A slight smile played on my lips as I remembered how Caleb and I met. He’d been passing through the airport on a business trip with his dad. Terminal security had stopped them as they tried to enter the first-class lounge. They weren’t exactly the kind of clientele we were used to having. After they’d shown their passes and were allowed to enter, I did my job and tried to offer them the service all our guests expected. Not an easy thing to do when Caleb looked at me as though trying to burn through my soul. His dad nudged his arm and told him it was rude to stare, making me blush further, but Caleb grumbled something in return and continued eyeballing me. His gaze set me on edge but stirred something inside at the same time.
“Another business trip?” I asked a few days later when he returned to the lounge without his father.
“No. This one’s all pleasure.” He handed me a ticket and when I checked it had my name on it. He looked at his phone. “Seeing as you finish work in five minutes, I thought you could accompany me.”
Creepy stalker behavior aside, I said yes. The rest, as they say, is history. I’m not going to pretend it was love at first sight, more like lust mixed with a little fear, but that soon turned to love. Caleb was a lot of things. He could be intimidating to others, though never to me after our first meeting. He was intense and quick to anger. Not to mention insatiable in bed. But he was also one of the most caring people I had ever met and would do anything for those he considered family.
And I’d left him.
I hefted Charlie in my arms, shifting her to a more comfortable position. The safe house as Lucky called it was a colonial farmhouse set amongst a few acres of land. The lights were on, and a pick-up truck was parked in the secluded driveway. As soon as I stepped inside, Thea rushed towards me. She stopped a foot or so away as though suddenly aware we barely knew each other.
“Let’s get the little one into bed,” she said, making me grateful she was careful not to mention Charlie’s name in front of Lucky, even though that ship had sailed at the Cortez house.
I could wish that I’d told Caleb about her before the other brothers had a chance to make assumptions themselves, but wishes are as good as a fork when all you have to eat is soup.
Thea guided me upstairs and into a bedroom, where she pulled back the covers and I laid Charlie in the bed. I sat beside Charlie for a few seconds, staring at her perfect, tiny face. When I stood, I tucked Teddy into her arms and placed pillows either side of her to stop her from rolling onto the floor in the unfamiliar bed.
“You should get some rest too,” Thea said.
“I won’t be able to sleep.”
“You might surprise yourself.”
I stood and took her hand, squeezing it and smiling. “Thank you for helping.” The words were almost drowned out by the rumble from my stomach.
“Let’s grab something to eat. I’m famished,” she said and pulled me from the room.
Thea looked very much at home in the large, open-plan kitchen with more cupboard and floor space than anyone could ever need. She set to work making us both some food, and I felt guilty letting her, but she refused my help when offered.
“How long have you and Caleb been together?” I asked as I sat on a breakfast bar stool, next to the kitchen island, and watched her get to work.
“Ten months,” she answered and patted her baby-bump.
“He’s different to how I remember him. You must make him very happy.”
“He makes me very happy too.” Thea unhooked a griddle from a rack above our heads and set it to heat on the stove before building up a cheese sandwich, buttering both sides of the bread. When it was ready, she placed it on the griddle. “Did you get a chance to talk to Caleb?” she asked.
“I told him what happened, but not about Charlie.” I sighed. “I was going to. It’s just, things happened...” I choked back a sob and rubbed my hand over my head. Caleb was alive. It didn’t matter that he needed a paramedic. He was alive. “I-I don’t even know what state Caleb’s in. How much he’s hurt.”
Thea flipped the grilled cheese onto a plate and rushed to my side. “He’s fine. Those cotton heads. I can’t believe they didn’t call you.”
“They don’t have my number,” I said, realizing that while Cane had Sophia’s, I’d never given either of them mine.
“Still, they could have found a way to let you know through Lucky.” She pulled the plate toward me, told me to eat, and edged back around the center island to make another sandwich for herself. “Cane said that he’s battered and bruised but he is far too thick-headed for there to be any lasting damage.”
I smiled. Cane sounded a lot politer than I remembered, and I was certain Thea had left out an expletive or two.
Thea huffed out a breath and plated her food before taking the stool next to mine. “He also said that they arrived just in time. Eight of the Feral Sons were laying into him. He didn’t stand a chance by himself, no matter how strong or skilled he is. The Landon’s are both as pig-headed as each other. I don’t know what he was thinking. One man can’t beat eight in a fistfight.” She took a bite of her sandwich and murmured appreciatively. “I really was famished,” she said before taking another. “I swear this baby needs feeding every twenty minutes.”
With my own stomach starved of food, I cleared my plate in moments, beating Thea to the punch. “I just wish they were back already,” I said as soon as I s
wallowed the last morsel.
“Hopefully, they won’t be much longer.”
I stared at the ceiling and the rose-colored pots and pans hanging from a rack above the island. “Your home is lovely,” I said. “I never thought I’d see the day Cane moved out of his cabin. Although I guess with a baby on the way you could use more space.”
Thea chuckled. “He hasn’t changed that much since you knew him. We’re still in the cabin, although it’s undergone some renovations in the last few months.” She waved her hand around the room. “This belongs to someone Jameson knows in New York. They use it as a holiday rental. He suggested it to Cane as a place you could hide out without anyone suspecting we were here.”
“Jameson must know some fancy people.”
“I guess. He’s not much of a talker, so I wouldn’t know.”
“Nothing’s changed there then.” I lifted the plate from in front of Thea, and despite her protests, I insisted I would do the washing up. Now that I knew this wasn’t her house there was no way I was letting her wait on me.
“You know,” she said after a moment. “Cane also mentioned one other thing about Caleb when he called.”
“He did.”
“He said that the first thing he did when Cane got to him was ask after you.”
There was nothing I could say to that, so I didn’t try. It was obvious from our meeting this afternoon that Caleb still had feelings for me, and no matter how hard I’d tried to deny them over the years I had feelings for him too.
I finished the dishes and put them away in the places I’d watched Thea grab them from. I was about to suggest we head upstairs and get some sleep when a car sounded outside. I rushed to the hallway and saw lights flash through the window before going dim.
My heart thundered. The lights hadn’t belonged to a motorcycle. Lucky was out of one of the front rooms and at the door before I had the chance to think straight. When he opened it, I held my breath. After far too long, he flung it wide.
“What the fuck happened to you?” he said. “You look like you rode your bike head on into a tank.”
“Fucking feels like it,” Caleb answered and stepped inside.
Chapter Eight
Amber
In the light of the hallway, the bruises on his face stood out like bright red welts. His lip was cracked and swollen, and from the way he clutched his stomach, I knew he must have damaged some ribs.
I’d be heartbroken if I wasn’t so furious. I stormed up to him and almost slapped him across the face myself. “Is this how things are going to be? Don’t you realize this is the main reason I left in the first damn place.” My voice reached octaves so high, I was certain the glass in the windows would shatter. “I can’t believe you could be this stupid.” I threw my hands in the air and turned to leave, deciding the best thing to do was get him out of my sight.
“Amber.”
I stopped on the stairs with my back to him. “No,” I said over my shoulder. “Don’t you dare speak my name as though you care one iota what I think or feel. If you did, you would never have gone to that stupid bar.”
“Just calm down.”
That was it. If he thought I was mad a moment ago, he was in for a shock. In our years apart, he’d grown stupid. His brain power had no doubt diminished with all the steroids he’d taken to achieve his bulk. At that moment in time, it didn’t matter that I knew he would never do such a thing
I turned on the stairs and faced him again. Cane stood behind Caleb. Only when Thea moved alongside them and lifted her chin and motioned her eyes upstairs did I consider that any more shouting would wake Charlie. For a moment, my frustration and anger had overridden my senses. Although I was prepared to tell Caleb everything, I wasn’t about to do so this second.
I huffed out a breath, walked back down the few steps I’d taken, and pushed passed Caleb into the night air with the intention of walking around the house a couple of times to dissipate my anger.
The wind howled. Despite the warmth of the day, the night was decidedly chilly. I wrapped my arms tight around myself and cursed.
How could I have been so stupid to bring Charlie here?
Yeah, great plan. For the first time, I almost wished Caleb wasn’t her father. Not that I knew either way. Then she wouldn’t have her first meeting with him looking like — how did Lucky put it? — like he rode his bike straight into a tank.
“What the hell is wrong with you, Amber?” Caleb called as he followed behind me. “What did you expect me to do, sit and wait for Leo to fucking rape you again?”
Tears welled in my eyes. I continued stomping around the house, placing one foot in front of the other.
“Fuck! I’m sorry. I’m such a fucking asshole.” He placed his hand on my arm and pulled me to a stop.
“You’re always a fucking asshole. I can’t have that part of you in my life. Not now.”
Not knowing what I meant, he huffed out a sigh and looked to his feet. “Don’t go. Don’t... fucking run away from me again.”
“Don’t you see? I ran away to stop this from happening.” I waved my hand and gestured towards his face. “Or worse. Tell me, what would have happened if Cane hadn’t come to the bar? What if Thea hadn’t been able to reach him straight away and I would have had to wait for him to arrive at Sophia’s house? How long would it have taken for him to reach you? Thirty... Forty minutes? Where would you be right fucking now if Cane had turned up more than half an hour later?”
“I’d have managed.”
“Yeah, your face tells me how well you would have managed.” I poked him in the ribs and shook my head when he winced. “Yeah, you’d have been fucking fine.”
Without waiting for a reply, I pulled out of his grasp and continued pacing around the house. I ignored the thoughts bombarding my mind and the biting wind that made my face burn and pulled the leaves from the trees, causing them to swirl around me. Caleb followed a few steps behind. Anger, frustration, and increasing worry for what might have been fueled my steps.
When I’d completed a full circle of the house and was about to start another, he sped up and pulled me to a stop again. “You’re going to make yourself sick if you don’t go inside and get warm.”
“I’m not making you stay with me. If you’re worried for yourself, go inside.”
“Amber, please. Be angry at me all you want, just do it fucking inside.” His voice rose on the final words and I knew if I didn’t do as he asked, he would likely pick me up and carry me in.
“Fine, but only because I fucking want to.” My words sounded childish to my own ears, but I couldn’t help them.
I returned inside and headed through the first downstairs doorway I came to. He’d likely follow me upstairs and wake Charlie. I’d half expected to find Lucky inside, as it was the room he’d emerged from earlier, but instead, I found a living room. Two couches sat facing each other, and a floor lamp set the room in a warm orange glow. Caleb closed the door, sealing us in the room together.
I sat on one of the couches, but when Caleb sat next to me, I stood and moved to the other. My gaze landed on his battered face and saw the smirk on it. It widened. I tried to look away but could feel it burning into the side of my face.
Damn it! I hated it when he did this. He always fucking knew that if he grinned at me continuously, eventually, I’d crack and smile back. Not this time. I stood and turned to face the windows, but the curtains were drawn, and I felt like an idiot staring at their fleur-de-lis pattern. Still, he grinned. I just knew it.
“This is not fucking funny,” I said and turned to face him.
He kept on grinning. “Then why are you smiling,” he said and stood before walking toward me.
“I’m not.” As I said the words my face cracked under his onslaught and I smiled.
I desperately wanted to stay angry at him. But a huge grin split his face and he leaned forward, giving me a tentative kiss on the lips, as though testing both my willingness to be kissed and the pain he might feel
in the action. Obviously deciding both were acceptable, he deepened his kiss.
My legs trembled, and I felt as though all the air had been sucked from the room. With each kiss, each flick of his tongue against my own, my anger diminished, shifting from hard stone into something far more soft and squishy. In an attempt to regain my control of the situation, I pulled away. “It’s really not funny,” I said, unable to look him in the eye. “You could have been killed.”
He cupped my face in his hands and lifted my head to look at him. “I’m sorry. I promised you earlier that I wouldn’t go off half-cocked, but when I saw that fucking letter that’s exactly what I did. It won’t happen again.”
“Yes, it will. You can’t help yourself.”
He lifted my chin higher and kissed me again. Worried where things might lead and that I might hurt him, I pulled away. “We shouldn’t.” It seemed as though I was always saying those words before we did exactly what we shouldn’t do.
“You didn’t seem to mind earlier in the shower.”
“Who the hell does that?” I growled and shook my head. “There I was minding my own business—”
Another grin split Caleb’s face, halting my flow. He raised an eyebrow and I remembered exactly what business I’d been about when he interrupted my shower.
He ran his finger along my chin and brushed the tip over my lips.
My heart skipped a beat. I swallowed, trying to alleviate the dryness in my throat. Caleb licked his lips and I wanted nothing more than to bite them. “I could hurt you,” I said.
“I’ll take my chances.” He inched forward and pressed his knee between my legs.
I tried to say something, but the words were lost when Caleb pressed his soft lips against my own. My head spun, and this time, my body responded with desperate need. I opened my mouth and welcomed his tongue. His kiss was deep, demanding, I gasped and pulled him closer, backing towards the couch. I wanted Caleb Landon with every fiber of my being. I always had. I wanted to latch onto him and never let him go.
Forever Midnight MC Collection: Books 1-3 Page 20