by J. M. Walker
My phone vibrated. I pulled it from my back pocket.
Shade: You still at that party?
Me: Yeah. You guys close by?
Shade: We are.
Me: Let me guess, Sunny wanted to be close by in case I got bored.
Shade: Something like that.
A breath of relief left me. This would be one of those times where I didn’t give a shit about Sunny’s overprotective nature. I had a feeling I was going to need it before the night was over.
Suddenly, two cops came barreling into the house.
My heart jumped to my throat.
“Oh God.” Gigi gasped.
“Someone called the police,” one of the officer’s stated, his brows narrowed. He had that familiar tick in his jaw that I noticed Sunny got whenever he was pissed. Which was quite often if you asked me.
“I…” Gigi’s gaze flicked to mine.
“I can only assume, you want to head down that hall,” I told them, pointing in the direction that Jaron and the two guys went.
The cop nodded, heading down the hall with a younger officer following him.
“What do you think happened?” Gigi asked, ringing her hands together.
I grabbed them, holding one in mine. “I don’t know but I have a feeling that Piper’s going to need us.”
She nodded, chewing her bottom lip.
The door to Piper’s room opened revealing a disheveled Jaron. Blood was splattered on his shirt, his shoulders hunched. He came down the hall with the two cops following him.
He looked up, his gaze landing on me. “Piper needs you. Take care of her.”
The cops walked him out of the house.
Two more officers entered shortly after. I was vaguely aware of them talking to Gigi. I didn’t know what was said. It didn’t matter. Jaron was right. Piper needed us.
“The room is down there,” Gigi said, pointing a finger down the hall leading to Piper’s room.
“I’ll talk to Piper,” the female officer said.
A glance passed between Gigi and I before we went to follow the cop down the hall when we were stopped short by a scream.
A slice of fear gripped my spine.
“Oh God.” Gigi clapped a hand over her mouth, her eyes welling.
The two guys who had been with Jaron, came out of the room next with Piper between them. The larger of the duo, opened another door, stepped inside and came back out into the hall a moment later.
Piper entered the room, the door shutting behind her.
The guys spoke softly between themselves and that was when I realized they were twins. Not identical but you could definitely tell they were brothers.
“Let’s go.” I grabbed Gigi’s hand and dragged her down the hall and toward the room they had put Piper in. It was my bedroom, but she could use it for however long she needed.
When we neared the guys, I let Gigi enter the room first but stayed back. “What happened?”
The larger of the twins pulled a pack of smokes out of the inner pocket of his leather jacket. “You’re Sunny and Shade’s girl.”
They spoke about me? “Uh…yeah, I guess I am.”
“No guessing about it, kiddo.” The smaller of the two, stuck out his hand. “Sammy.”
“Meadow,” I said, returning the handshake as the female officer entered my room to talk to Piper.
“This quiet fucker is Cyrus.” He jutted his chin toward his brother. “Piper’s going to need you. There’s been a death.”
My eyes widened. “Brody?” I whispered.
“Sure,” Cyrus grunted. “His name doesn’t matter. The piece of shit is dead. The cops are here. I’m sure the coroner will be here soon, and the mess will be cleaned up.”
I nodded, placing a hand on the doorknob leading to my room. “You’re with Hell’s Harlem?”
Sammy nodded. “Yup.” He clapped his brother’s shoulder. They both turned and headed down the hall.
Clearly, they weren’t men of many words.
Taking a deep breath, I entered my room and closed the door behind me.
Gigi was sitting on my bed with Piper, holding her and whispering to her.
The female cop was writing notes in her notepad.
“Can we have a minute with Piper?” I asked her.
She nodded.
I breathed a sigh of relief and joined my sister and Piper on the bed.
Piper’s body shook as sobs wracked through her. “He’s leaving me, and I only just got him back.”
I joined them on the bed, unsure as to what the hell was going on. “He’s not leaving you.” But I didn’t even know if that were true or not. I could also only assume that she was referring to Jaron. Clearly there had been something more going on between them than I had thought.
Piper looked up at me then.
I gasped. “Shit, girl. What the fuck happened?”
She had bruises and her lip was split. That was when I noticed her dress was torn.
“Brody.” Bile rose to my throat.
She shook her head. “Almost.”
“Jaron took care of it,” I added.
She nodded.
Fucking hell.
Meadow
AFTER GIGI AND I consoled Piper, the female police officer came to take her to the hospital. Her parents were called, and they left with her. Brody didn’t get as far as he wanted to but he sure as hell tried. From the looks of Piper, it would still leave a mark on her and probably give her nightmares for some time to come.
I had texted Sunny and Shade, asking them to come over. I wasn’t sure how, but I needed them to make me feel better. To distract me and help me out of my head. I knew they had been close by but wasn’t sure why they never came over. They must have seen all of the cop cars.
The coroner had taken Brody’s body away while the cops continued searching Piper’s room for evidence. I wasn’t sure what they would find. Brody tried raping her. End of story.
Knowing it would be a long while before Piper would be able to sleep in that room, I had a feeling that she would be spending the next little bit at her parents’ place.
Once everyone left, I went out onto the front porch. The cops had questioned a few of us, asking if anything had been out of the ordinary. Jaron had confessed to something but none of us knew what it was.
The front door opened, and Gigi stepped out. “Piper texted and said they’re home from the hospital and she’s going to spend the night at her parents’ place.”
I nodded, pulling a joint and a lighter from my pocket. “How’s she doing?”
“She’s a mess.” Gigi sighed. “I didn’t know there was something going on between her and Jaron, but it all makes sense now. Do you remember a few summers ago when he and his parents came back to town for a dinner Mom and Dad were throwing? He was watching her. I was tempted to tell Piper, but she was always with the twins.” She shook her head. “God, I’m rambling.”
Sticking the joint between my lips, I lit it, and inhaled the sweet bliss. Holding it deep in my lungs, I waited a beat before blowing it out through my nose.
Gigi sat beside me, taking the joint from my fingers. “I hate rambling.”
I grunted. “I think you’re forgiven tonight.”
Under normal circumstances, I would have said something about my sister smoking, but this wasn’t normal. So I left it alone.
“Do you know what happened?” she asked, coughing and handing me back the joint.
“No.” But I knew that Sunny and Shade would find out. As soon as the thought crossed my mind, two bikes rumbled up the street and turned into our driveway.
Sunny pulled his helmet off first, his dark slate eyes finding mine. He nodded.
I shivered.
Both of them turned off their bikes, kicked the kickstands out, and put their helmets on the seats of those beautiful beasts.
I made a mental note to ask them for another ride. One day. One day when I wasn’t feeling so…lost.
“They good to you?”
Gigi asked softly, stretching her long legs out in front of her.
I nodded again because what could I say? There were too many words to describe just how good they were to me. Men I’d only just met. Men I had let inside every part of my body. Men who had issues of their own but brought me into their little duo anyway.
Shade came toward me first. His hands were shoved in his pockets, his deep jade eyes searching my face.
“I’m going to…” Gigi stood. “I think I’m going to stay at Mom and Dad’s tonight.”
“Okay.” I rose to my feet and gave her a hug. “If you find out anything, let me know.”
“I will.” She leaned back, gave me a small smile, and released me before heading back into the house.
“Meadow.”
I caught Shade’s gaze, let out a soft sigh, and sat back on the bench. Sticking the joint between my lips, I inhaled the delicious smoke, but it did nothing to ease the nerves racing through me.
“What’s going on?” He sat beside me, pulling the joint from my mouth and sticking it between his own lips. He inhaled, the glowing ember on the end becoming even brighter. “Fuck me.” He blew the smoke out in small circles. “That’s some good shit, little lamb.”
I smiled, leaning into him. “I only get the best.”
“What happened here tonight?” he asked, wrapping an arm around my shoulders and pulling me tighter against him.
“Why didn’t you come over sooner?”
“Because Jaron told us to stay put,” Sunny said, coming up the steps. “We have to head to the clubhouse,” he told Shade.
“I don’t want…” I looked between them both. Not wanting to seem clingy but there was no way I could stay here by myself. Not with everything that had happened, and I didn’t even know everything.
“What?” Sunny stood in front of us, leaning against the porch railing.
“I don’t want to be alone,” I confessed, looking him square in the eye.
“Good,” he said gently. “Because we weren’t giving you the option.”
I breathed a sigh of relief, appreciating Sunny’s domineering ways at the moment.
“We’ll head to the clubhouse and then home.” Sunny left the porch. “Or spend the night there. Either way, you don’t have to worry about being alone tonight, pet.”
“I don’t know what happened tonight,” I told them. “But I know that it’s not good and that my friends will have a hard time because of it.”
Shade gave me a squeeze, kissing my cheek. “We’ll help them in whatever way we can.”
I hoped so.
We left the porch, following Sunny to their bikes. Looked like I was going to get to ride on one sooner than I thought.
Once I reached Sunny, I threw my arms around his middle before he could even get his helmet on.
“What’s going on?” he demanded, his voice rough.
I couldn’t get Piper’s screams out of my head. They hurt. They slid into a part of me that had never been reached before. I could feel her pain, her anguish resting heavily on my shoulders.
“Meadow.” Shade ran his hand in light circles over my upper back. “Talk to us.”
I grabbed his hoodie, pulling him closer to us, needing both of them. I needed them to drown out Piper’s screams. I needed them to take me far away from here. I needed them to tell me what the hell was going on.
“Meadow,” Sunny barked. “Tell us.”
“I don’t know. Brody is dead. The cops took Jaron away and Piper had to go to the hospital. That’s all I know. But her screams. God, I can’t get them out of my head.” I leaned my forehead against Sunny’s chest, breathing him in. Leather and spice wafted into my nose. Both he and Shade smelled the same but Sunny was spicier. Almost like their personalities. Sunny was the hothead while Shade was the calm one. But I bet if you backed Shade into a corner, he would lose his temper much like his partner.
“Fucking hell.” Sunny held me against him. “That must be the emergency Greyson was talking about.”
“Eve is going to lose her shit.” Shade straddled his bike, slipping the helmet on his head. “Drive safe. I’ll follow you.”
Sunny released me, placed a soft peck on my mouth, and handed me a helmet. “Hold onto me, baby girl. We’ll find out what’s going on. I promise you.”
I nodded.
When he sat on his bike, he waited.
I swung my leg over the seat, sliding in behind him and wrapping my arms around his middle. Leaning my cheek against his back, I inhaled the sweet scent of his leather cut. The patch rubbed against my cheek, reminding me that I could quite possibly be in over my head when it came to these two. They were bikers. They skirted the law and who knew what else. A part of me wondered if I could ever be enough for them. I knew the life that most bikers lived. A lot of them weren’t just one-woman men.
When we finally pulled up to the large house that the Hell’s Harlem crew resided at, my eyes widened at the sight before me. I had never been to this house even after growing up with Jaron. His father was a private man and stuck to mostly having his crew over and that was it. A part of me felt sort of special that I was now here. Like I was let into a secret club that only certain people could get into.
Sunny pulled up the long driveway with Shade following behind us. Parking the bike, Sunny killed the engine and took off his helmet.
I slid from the back seat, taking off my own helmet and handing it to him.
The driveway was littered with bikes of all sizes.
“He probably has everyone here,” Sunny said, his brows narrowing.
Shade pulled his bike up beside us, shut it off, and took off his helmet before jutting his chin to the house. “Think it’s safe to go in there?”
“Doesn’t matter if it is or not. Greyson and Eve are going to need us. Not that we can do much, especially if Jaron confessed to whatever happened.” Sunny ran a hand through his hair. “You don’t know anything else?” he asked me.
“No.” I looked around us, crossing my arms under my chest. “Piper and Gigi had bumped into each other and some wine had spilled on Piper’s dress. She went to change. I guess Brody followed her. Maybe there was a struggle and Jaron was defending himself.”
“Brody is a tiny fucker.” Shade came up beside Sunny, their shoulders brushing.
My stomach flipped, desire curling deep in my belly for the two men standing in front of me with only a bike between us.
Shaking my head, I rid myself of those thoughts, seeing as we had more important things to deal with at the moment.
“Come.” Sunny walked around to my side of the bike and took my hand. “We’ll probably be in the meeting for a bit, but you can have a beer. Have you met Bee?”
“Bee?” I repeated.
“She’s Tray and Zillah’s daughter,” Shade explained. “She kind of reminds me of you actually.”
“I never thought of that before but yeah, I agree,” Sunny added. “She’s definitely feisty and likes to keep her daddy on his toes.”
I laughed lightly. “Definitely sounds like something I would do.”
Sunny leaned down and kissed my cheek. “I know. You also like keeping this daddy on his toes too. Only difference is, I’m allowed to spank you.”
A shiver raced down my spine. “Will you show me where your room is? I mean, just in case the meeting goes long. It’s been a…” I wasn’t tired by any means, but they had a job to do and I didn’t want to get in the way.
“Of course. We actually stay in one of the guest rooms in the basement. Which means no one will be able to hear you scream.” Shade winked.
I rolled my eyes, smacking him lightly in the stomach. “Now’s not the time for that.”
“I know but I need to lighten the mood. Even if just for a second.” A shadow moved over his face. “Whatever happened to Piper…”
“Hey.” Sunny cupped his shoulder. “How about you take Meadow to our room. I’ll tell Greyson that you needed a moment. He’ll understand.”
; Shade nodded and took my hand. “That good with you, little lamb?”
“It is.” I looked back and forth between them. “Is everything okay?”
Sunny kissed the top of my head. “It will be.”
Shade
WHAT HAPPENED TO PIPER brought me back to a dark time in my past. A past that I didn’t like discussing. A past that only Sunny knew about.
With Meadow’s hand in mine, we entered the large house and were greeted by the majority of the Hell’s Harlem members who lived in the surrounding area. Although, some did travel a few hours, most were local.
“Wow. This house is huge,” Meadow said, her eyes wide. “I had no idea Jaron grew up here.”
“You’ve never been here before?” I asked, a little surprised that Jaron never brought his friends over. But he was also his father’s kid and liked to stick to himself most of the time. He had those who were closest to him but even then, it was hard to earn his trust.
“No. I haven’t. I don’t even think Piper’s been here.”
When we were approached by a couple of our club brothers, Meadow inched closer to me.
“Well I have to say that this is new.”
I turned suddenly, finding Greyson coming toward us.
He nodded toward Meadow and I. “I don’t have time to threaten you if you hurt her. We have to deal with this shit first regarding my son. Meeting room. Now,” he barked, heading in the direction of the room that sat off to the side.
Sunny gave my shoulder a squeeze and joined Greyson in the room.
Greyson peeked his head out a moment later. “Come here.”
“Give me a second, okay?” I told Meadow.
“Of course.” She gave me a smile in reassurance.
While the other guys went into the room, I stayed back, waiting for Greyson to chop off my balls and feed them to me.
“Listen.” He ran a hand through his light brown hair. “I don’t know what’s going on. This isn’t what’s important right now but before her father catches wind of this, I just want to warn you, he’s a large fucker. And he comes with navy brothers. So just be careful.” He looked over his shoulder.