And maybe Drill will come over again tonight.
She knew she shouldn’t be thinking that way. She hadn’t seen him since Maddy had walked downstairs and interrupted their ill-advised make-out session.
She shook her head, reaching into her purse for her keys. That sounded so juvenile! Like they’d been playing spin the bottle or swapping kisses in a movie theater.
The more appropriate term would be: that time when she’d climbed him like a telephone pole.
And let’s face it: if you hadn’t been in the damned living room of your best friend’s house — with her brother, no less! — you would’ve gone a hell of a lot farther than that.
She ought to be more embarrassed by it. Not that she was embarrassed by wanting sex; she wasn’t. But to be caught like that? And, again, with her best friend’s brother?
She rolled her eyes. So. Not. Cool.
So, what will you do if he stops by again?
She sighed. She wasn’t sure what she was going to do. Indulging in her hormones wasn’t a smart idea. But they were going to be in the same town from here on out, and she’d see him again if he ever saw Maddy.
Which he might not.
Because he’s in a biker gang.
She frowned. That was a lot more concerning than the best-friend’s-brother problem. She’d done too much to cut that element out of her life. She’d never hooked up with a biker, and she’d done everything possible to basically forget what her family was or that she had any connection to it. Being with Drill, even in their quiet moments, brought back the memories she’d fought so hard to dismiss and destroy.
So why couldn’t she seem to walk away from him?
The man stepped out of the shadows behind the tall truck. “Hello, cutie.”
She froze. She’d been too deep in her own thoughts and feelings. Stupid, she berated herself, even as her hands clutched her keys tighter in her purse.
He stepped a little closer, and leaned against the truck’s door. He was wearing jeans and a biker’s leather jacket. She could see the patch for the Wraiths.
Drill’s gang. The ones that were threatening her and Maddy the other night.
She clenched her jaw. “What do you want?” she said, in a low, even voice.
“That’s not a friendly way to say hello,” he said, with a leering smile.
He was taller than her. Of course, she was five foot nothing, so many people were. He was probably about five foot ten, with some paunch. Meaty fists and a thick neck. She would bet he wasn’t that fast, but had a punch that meant he didn’t have to be. She quickly looked over his jacket, his jeans. He didn’t appear to be packing a gun. Didn’t mean he wasn’t. Just meant that there wasn’t one easily accessible or obvious. She watched to see if he reached towards the back of his waistband, just in case.
“What do you want?” she repeated, her tone almost robotic. She didn’t want to sound afraid. That just encouraged them. That said, she didn’t want to challenge him, either. If he was a bully, he’d feel the need to prove himself. It was a knife’s edge to walk.
Then again… she was used to being underestimated.
“What makes you think I want something, little girl?” the biker said, with a rough laugh.
“You’re here with a message.” She shrugged. “You haven’t threatened me, and you haven’t taken me.” Yet, she thought, feeling her heart rate accelerate.
“Wow. You’re good,” the guy replied. “Yeah, I got a message. You’re not welcome here. That farmhouse needs to sell. Convince your girlfriend to get her fat ass back to California.” His grin was crooked — he was missing an eyetooth. “Next time, we won’t be so polite.”
She moved her fingers slowly on her keys, careful not to jingle them too loudly. She felt what she was looking for on the bottom of the purse.
And Maddy made fun of me for buying bear spray, Thuy thought, keeping her face calm.
He reached out, lifted her chin. “You’re what? Chinese?”
“Vietnamese,” she ground out. “Third generation.”
“Huh. Always liked them Asian girls,” he said, and the way he said it made her stomach churn with disgust. “Maybe I can add a little message of my own.”
Her heart raced. “Leave me alone. I mean it.”
“No need to rush off,” he said, leaning closer. He grabbed her shoulder, pinning her against the truck. “Why don’t you just…”
She pulled out the bear spray and nailed him right in the eyes.
He started screaming, and she kicked him hard in the groin. He went down like a wrecking ball, shrieking and crying.
She unlocked and opened the door, slamming it shut. Then she screeched out of the parking lot, tears of residual panic falling as she hit the main streets.
Should she try to figure out where the police station was? Adrenaline in her system made her shake. Should she…
Wait a minute.
Maddy!
If they’d decided to stalk her at the library, what would they do to Maddy, who was all alone?
One hand on the steering wheel, she clawed through her purse with the other. She dialed 911.
“What’s your emergency?”
“I just got threatened outside the Green Valley Library,” she said, her voice shaking. She gunned the engine, racing towards the farmhouse, knowing she shouldn’t be on the phone and driving but spurred forward by fear. “By a large man, a member of a biker gang. And I’m afraid they’ve sent someone to my roommate, as well. I need help.”
“We’ll get someone to the library as soon as possible.”
“No! No. I’m headed to the farmhouse,” she corrected, starting to give the address. The connection broke off, and Thuy cursed. “Fuck!”
She floored it.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Drill was still at the farm at 9:30 that night. He’d spent the day hanging out with his sister, helping out around the farm, and avoiding Catfish’s texts. He’d walked the fence line, making sure that there weren’t gaps or breaks in the barbed wire. He’d looked at the shape of the driveway, making notes of where to add gravel and try to get ahead of ruts before things got too muddy in the spring. He’d even made dinner with Maddy, something he hadn’t done since he was a teenager and she was a pre-teen. It wasn’t anything special, just mac and cheese with ground beef and peas. But they’d laughed, and talked.
He felt better than he had in a long time.
He knew he could’ve left earlier, but Maddy had mentioned that Thuy usually got back at around 9:30 or quarter to ten after her shifts at the library. And yeah, after that kiss, he wanted to see her. He didn’t know if he’d kiss her again — although who was he kidding, of course he wanted to kiss her again. But he didn’t know if she’d allow it. Or if she did, he didn’t know if Maddy would be hovering around cock-blocking him. Not that he supposed he could blame her. He wasn’t good for a woman like Thuy.
Didn’t stop him from wanting, though.
He heard the engine of a vehicle coming up the driveway, and he grinned to himself, drying his hands and then putting away the towel he had slung over his shoulder from when he was washing dishes. Maddy was sitting on the couch, watching some DVD from the library. He decided to do what Thuy so often did: meet her on the porch. That would at least give him a second to maybe get his arms around her before they were in front of his sister.
He frowned as soon as he got outside. He knew the distinct sound of the truck; this was the sound of a motorcycle.
What the hell?
A bike drove up. It was Nick, the nervy young recruit who had stopped by his apartment, insisting on looking through his phone. The kid took his helmet off, shaking his bangs away from his face, looking surprised.
“Did Catfish send you, too?” he asked, sounding incensed. “I can handle jobs on my own, you know!”
He sounded so surly, so pouty, that it took Drill a second to process what the kid was saying.
“Exactly what ‘job’ are you doing here, Nick?”
Drill asked, forcing himself to remain calm.
Now Nick looked a little unsure of himself, his defensive confidence sliding. “We’re telling these chicks they need to get the hell out of Green Valley,” he said, then cleared his throat. “Right?”
“Did he tell you why?”
“Didn’t ask why,” Nick said, his eyes wide. “Are you nuts?”
So, Catfish wasn’t waiting until Christmas. Drill felt his blood boil. “Did you know the ‘chick’ you were going to talk to tonight is pregnant?”
For the first time, he saw the cocky kid look actually uncomfortable. Even if he was one of Timothy King’s cronies, the kid had at least a shred of conscience. “Uh, yeah,” he said. “Jesus, Drill, I wasn’t gonna, you know, hurt her or anything. Just scare her a little. Get the point across.”
Drill walked up to him, grabbing him by the shirt. The kid ought to be thankful it wasn’t by the throat. Nick’s eyes went wide.
“Now I’m getting my point across,” Drill said sharply. “You aren’t coming back here. You are going to leave these women alone. Period.”
Finally, fear registered on Nick’s face. It was one thing to be a twenty-year-old brawler amongst a bunch of drunk young assholes. It was another entirely to go toe-to-toe with a man who had been the hired muscle of the crew for the better part of a decade, who was completely sober. And who was itching for you to make a wrong move so he could crush you to powder.
“Sorry, man,” Nick stammered. “I’ll leave her alone.”
“Leave Thuy alone too,” Drill added, in case he had any other orders. Catfish probably would’ve wanted his bases covered. At Nick’s blank look, Drill rolled his eyes. “The other girl.”
“Oh. That wasn’t my job. Catfish sent Sledgehammer after her.”
Drill’s eyes widened. “He what?”
Before he could pursue that line of questioning, he heard the familiar thrum of the Chevy roaring quickly up the driveway. It screeched to a stop in a cloud of dust in front of the farmhouse, and he rushed to the driver’s side.
“Is Maddy all right?” Thuy asked as soon as the door was open.
“Yeah.” He looked her over. She had tear stains streaking her cheeks, but otherwise, she looked unharmed. “Are you all right?”
“Better now,” she admitted, getting down from the truck. He couldn’t help himself. He checked her over, then held her tight against his chest. Just for a minute.
“What happened?” he asked, stroking her hair, patting her shoulder.
“I was at the library, when this guy…” He felt her shudder. “He told me that Maddy and I had to get the hell out of Green Valley. Then he said he wanted… he grabbed me…”
Drill saw red. He held her tighter, forcing his murderous thoughts aside to continue hearing her.
“So, I maced him,” she said. “Bear spray. Stuff I’d picked up for the farm, believe it or not. Then I kicked him, and got in the truck. I headed straight here to make sure they didn’t do anything to Maddy.”
“I’ve been here all day,” he said, and noticed that she curved against his chest. Like she felt safe there. It warmed him, easing away some of the icy rage that had crowded his thinking as he considered what Sledgehammer had done. Or worse, what he could have done.
Another roar of a bike engine. Drill turned, automatically releasing Thuy and nudging her behind him. “Get into the house,” he said. “Get the shotgun.”
She didn’t say anything, just turned and ran to the house, the door slamming behind her. Nick goggled at him.
“What is going on?” Nick said, more baffled than angry.
As Drill suspected, it was Sledgehammer. When the guy got off his bike, he was limping a little. A swift kick to the balls would probably do that. His eyes were red as a weasel’s.
“Where is she?” Sledgehammer demanded, tossing his helmet aside and stalking toward the house. “Where is that little bitch?”
Drill didn’t respond with words. Instead, he walked over and dropped Sledge with a right hook that had all his anger and power behind it.
Sledgehammer’s head swung around, and his eyes rolled up a bit. Glass jaw, Drill thought with the clinical part of his mind.
“Jesus,” Nick breathed behind him. “You knocked him out!”
“Yeah, I know.” Drill shook out his knuckles.
“But.. but Catfish told us…”
“Catfish and I had an agreement,” Drill said, his words tinged with frost. “He broke the agreement. I will be having words with Catfish.”
“But Catfish’s president.” Nick was practically whining now. “And Tim said…”
“Fuck Timothy King.” Drill snarled it, baring his teeth. “Get out of here. Now. Or you’re gonna be next on the ground.”
Nick didn’t need to be told twice. He quickly hopped on his bike and took off, leaving Sledgehammer’s prone body behind.
Drill waited for Sledgehammer to wake up. He came around slowly, rubbing at his jaw and moaning. “What was that for?”
“She’s mine,” Drill said. “Got it?”
Sledgehammer looked wary, but also stubborn. “Catfish didn’t say nothing about the girl being yours,” he said. “Besides, I thought she was gay!”
“Didn’t stop you from grabbing her,” Drill said. “And I don’t care. She’s mine. If you touch her again, I will fucking destroy you. Nod if you understand.”
The dude was slow, but Sledgehammer finally registered the precarious position he was in. He nodded, swallowing hard. “Got it,” he said. Then reluctantly added. “Sir.”
Drill nodded in response. “Get the fuck out of here.”
Sledgehammer shot him a look of resentment, but did as he was told, getting on the bike and following Nick’s trail of dust.
As the adrenaline left his system, Drill turned back to the house. He found Thuy on the porch, shotgun in hand, looking at him.
A wave of exhaustion hit him. “I’m sorry,” he said.
“For which part?” Thuy asked, the gun shaking a little in her hands as it pointed at the ground. “For your biker gang guy coming to my work? For the threats against Maddy and me? For telling a guy I belonged to you?”
He winced. She would take offense at that. Jesus, he’d only kissed her twice, hadn’t even slept with her… but the moment the words had come out of his mouth, he couldn’t deny how utterly right they’d felt.
This woman is mine. He wanted to protect her, defend her, and hold her. And do a hell of a lot more than that.
He walked up to her, taking the gun from her hands.
“Maybe,” she said slowly, “you ought to explain to me exactly what’s going on.”
Chapter Thirty-Five
Thuy watched as Drill deflated, his shoulders hunching a little. He looked pissed, and sorrowful, and frustrated. She could understand those feelings. Take all of them, add a few cups of fear and adrenaline, and shake it around, and you’d have the cocktail of emotions she was experiencing. She crossed her arms.
“C’mon,” he said. “Let me just tell Maddy everything’s okay first.” He stepped into the house.
“Is everything okay, though?” Thuy pressed.
He nodded, his expression grim. “It is. Or it will be.” He walked into the living room, where Maddy was sitting on the couch. The TV was muted, and she was clutching a pillow, her eyes wide. “I’m so sorry about that, Mads.”
“They’re gone?” Her voice sounded higher pitched than normal. “Are they coming back?”
“I’m going to camp out in the cabin tonight, okay?” he said, rubbing her shoulder. “I seriously doubt anybody’s coming back tonight, but if they do, I’ll hear them. And I’ll make them sorry.”
Maddy’s eyes welled with tears. “I hate this,” she murmured. “I hate this.”
“I know,” Drill said. “I’m sorry.”
“I’m going to bed,” Maddy said, turning her back on him and clomping up the stairs. She paused halfway up the stairway. “The sheets are in the linen clos
et, if you’re going to stay. I haven’t been in there.”
“All right. G’night, Maddy.”
Thuy looked at her friend. “I’ll sleep down here,” Thuy said. “Don’t worry.”
Maddy looked sad. “If they show up, do you think sleeping on the couch will really make that much of a difference?”
“I’ll have the shotgun.”
Maddy shook her head. “Let Drill have the shotgun. If he’s going to be a guard dog, he might as well be armed.”
With that parting zinger, Maddy went up the rest of the stairs.
Thuy looked over at Drill. “C’mon,” he said. “I’ll explain it over there.”
They grabbed a set of sheets and pillowcases and a spare quilt, then trooped across the driveway to the small “cabin”, which was more of a mother-in-law unit. Thuy had looked at it when they first arrived. There was a queen-sized bed in a loft with a desk, as well as a small living room, and absolutely tiny kitchen and full bath. It was actually a nice little structure. “Why do you even have this place?”
“My mom’s brother was kind of a drifter. She wanted to give him a place to stay, a place where he’d feel welcome. My dad built this because she asked,” Drill said, turning on the lights. It was cold in the cabin, and musty smelling, the way a place that has been closed off for months would smell, like dust and staleness. He grunted. “Can you put the sheets up on the bed while I get the wood-burning stove going? Just to take the chill off.”
She nodded, climbing the shallow steps that led to the loft. There was a window. It was a clear evening, and she could make out the stars from the skylight. It was a nice cabin, and a beautiful night.
Too bad it was ruined by those assholes.
She grimaced. She stripped the bed, replacing the sheets, pulling and tugging the pillows into their cases. Then she tossed the quilt over the blanket and comforter, straightening everything out. By the time she was back downstairs in the living room, he had the fire going, slowly pouring out warmth and light.
Prose Before Bros Page 18