Explosive (A Bleeding Scars MC)

by McCarthy, Abby

  The vote passed in favor. There was nothing I could do. We were a unit, so if the majority wanted to go one way, that was all we could do.

  "I'll get Alex," Gunner said.

  I wanted to be the one to go to her. I should've been. When Gunner walked back in with his sister, there was something different about her. I couldn't put my finger on it, but noticing the look in her eyes, I immediately regretted telling her to stay at her brother's. I wanted to take her in my arms and explain to her what was happening. I wanted it to be just the two of us. I was no longer irritated, but concerned for her.

  Gunner and Shane explained their plan to Alex. She nodded and dug in her bag. "Do whatever you want," she said, handing over the phone. I watched the slight wince from Gunner. He caught the change in her as well.

  Gunner's brow furrowed as he read through the texts. I wanted to look, but I wanted to trust she told us everything. Gunner typed furiously, then pocketed the phone.

  "It's done."

  Her eyes briefly traveled to his pocket, but her face remained blank.

  I was losing all of the progress I'd made with her. It was like she closed down right before my eyes. I hated it, but maybe a night apart would do us good. I was never the type to be indecisive, but I was at that moment.

  "Alex."

  I felt the brush of her fingertips as I reached for her hand. She pulled back and straightened her shoulders then looked to Gunner, "May I stay with you tonight?"

  "Sure. Yeah. Of course." He looked at me questioningly and then added, "I'll call Charlie and have her make up the guest room."

  "Thank you," she said, then retreated into herself even more, backing away from the crowd and leaning against the wall.

  A few men continued to quietly discuss how the fake meet would go. My eyes were on Alex the entire time. I probably shouldn't have been distracted by her, but I couldn't not watch her.

  Shane had two phones on him at all times. One was a burner that we only used to contact him with sensitive information. The other was his day to day phone. His burner phone rang, and we all shut the fuck up to watch him.

  "Yeah," he answered. I watched him nod and grunt a few times then finished with, "I'll be there."

  He hung up and didn't wait for anyone to ask what was going on, he just laid it out there. "That was Pete. He needs to talk. He got wind of some power player in town. I'm going to meet him. Ace, you're with me. Gunner, take Alex home, and I'll be in touch." Pete was an inside man we had at the local police station.

  I needed to put any worry out of Alex's mind. What I did not need to do was let her leave being shut down. But fuck, my entire club was here, and we needed to quit dicking around and get a move on.

  "You ready?" I heard Gunner gently ask Alex.

  She nodded her head, and I gritted my teeth. I hated this.

  She followed Gunner outside. Shane and I took off to go meet Pete. I wanted her to look at me one more time. I wanted her eyes, so that I could silently plead with her that we were going to be okay, but her eyes remained downcast, and I had club shit to handle.

  We rode about fifteen minutes to meet Pete at a park. It was fairly uninhabited this time of year. Pete was an older man, not a whole lot of years left on the force. His brother was killed by Hades Runners. He couldn't prove it, of course, but he would do everything he could in order to make them pay. We didn't even have to pay him like some of the others we had on the take. He just hated them.

  Pete was leaning against an old pick up when we rode up. We parked and greeted him.

  "Hey, Pete," I said, reaching out and shaking his hand.

  Shane, not one to waste time, went immediately into it. "What do you have for us?"

  "I don't know who they are, but some big-time players booked a room at The Lodge." The Lodge was as much of an upscale hotel that you could get around here. It wasn't fancy, but it beat a motel. "That could mean anything, but I overheard the chief tell Evanovich to make sure the Feds know. He looked panicked. Whoever it is, is big time."

  "Motherfucker," Shane mumbled. "Thanks, Pete. Appreciate the heads up, man."

  "Anything else comes up, even if it's small, you let us know. Even if you don't know exactly what it is, if something seems off or something seems like it's happening, you let me know." I shook Pete's hand one more time, and watched as he got in his truck and drove away.

  "With the feds in town, we might have to put our Hades plans aside," Shane said

  "I know."

  "You think it's the grandpa?"

  "Strong possibility. I'll do some recon. See if I can't figure out who it is, and what kind of threat they might be."

  "I'll come with you. There's no telling if the Feds have eyes already. I want me at your back," Shane responded.

  "I just need to grab some equipment from the house." I began to move to get on my bike when Shane put a hand on my shoulder, stopping me.

  "You all right with this, Alejandra shit?"

  "It's Alex," I said through gritted teeth.

  "See, that right there. She's got you twisted. Are you going to be cool?"

  "I don't know what it is about her. I know she's Gunner's sister and she is in a world of trouble, but there's just something. I can't explain it, I'm just..." I shook my head, not able to finish my thought process. I didn't know what I was, but I was never like this.

  "I get it. You see how she seemed to shut down?"

  "You caught that too, huh?"

  "Hard to miss."

  "Don't worry about my state of mind out there. You got nothing to worry about, and you know it."

  "I do. I just had to be sure. Are you ready to ride?"

  I nodded, and we headed off to go and try to figure out whoever the fuck was in town that we may or may not need to be worried about.

  IT WAS LATE. MY CLOTHES were wet because it started to rain while we were out. We had dick. Feds were already there, and no matter how long we waited and tried to figure out who was there, we got nothing. I'm sure that whoever it was knew the Feds were there. They were always so fucking obvious.

  After hours of sitting there getting fucking soaked and knowing we'd have to ride in the rain, we decided to call it a night. Tomorrow, we would try and figure out what the fuck was going on. Sometime during our failed stakeout, I decided I couldn't let things with Alex go all night, which is what brought me riding up in front of Gunner's house at three in the fucking morning.

  I immediately noticed Ranger, one of our prospects, sitting in a car across the street from Gunner's. He rolled down his window as I came to a stop.

  "Everything good?" he asked.

  "Yeah, for tonight at least. How much longer do you have until your shift is done?"

  "Reggie's on at five."

  I nodded, glad to have a second pair of eyes on Gunner's place, then I reached into my pocket and handed Ranger the pack of gum I had in my pocket.

  "There's caffeine in it. It will help when you start to feel like you're going to fall asleep."

  "Thanks," he said, yawning.

  I went to Gunner's front door and was about to knock when the overhead light flicked on, and Gunner opened the door, bare-chested in only a pair of boxer-briefs.

  "Shit, is it bad?" He asked, opening the door for me to step inside.

  "Sorry to come by so late."

  "What did Pete have to say?"

  I filled him in on what transpired, and when I was finished, he muttered a curse under his breath.

  "How was Alex?"

  "I don't know, man. It was weird. She was closed off somehow."

  "You got something dry I can throw on?" I asked, not wanting to talk to Gunner a second longer, but wanting to be in there with her.

  "Are you seriously coming for a booty call at my house in the middle of the goddamn night?" Gunner gritted out, annoyed.

  I sighed. We had to move past this. "I rode here in the rain, and I've been getting pelted with it for hours. She has dreams, bad ones. I need to be in there with her. I need to
make us right again. I know you just met her, and this is quick between us. Definitely not good timing, but I'm not dicking around with her, all right?"

  Gunner paused, deep in thought. "She has nightmares?"

  "Yeah."

  "I hate that for her. I'll get you something."

  He left the room and returned a moment later, handing me a small pile of clothes, mumbling, "They'll be small on your tall ass."

  "Dad?" Gun called, walking down the stairs.

  "It's okay, Son. Go back to bed."

  "I heard voices."

  "Hey bud, it's just me. Go back to bed. Sorry, I woke you."

  Gun rubbed his eyes, "Is Auntie your girlfriend?"

  "Gun, bed now. I'll be right up. You need some water?"

  "With ice," Gun added sleepily.

  Gunner moved about the kitchen and started up the stairs then turned to me, "There are towels in the bathroom. Dry up and clean up your puddle. You're leaking all over my floor."

  I shook my head then put on dry clothes. I threw mine in the dryer and wiped up my wet mess. Charlie didn't need to deal with that in the morning.

  Alex was asleep on her side, facing away from the door. Her back was to me, and she jerked slightly. I had no doubt that she was in her head, dreaming something terrible. There was a small night light in the room, and I could make out subtle movements that didn't feel right. I didn't like this.

  I slipped in beside her. "Alex, wake up."

  I inhaled her hair as her back was to me. It was fragrant with a berry scent. It was sweet.

  When she didn't stir, I moved her hair off her neck and pressed my lips along her skin. "Alex, wake up."

  She roused but seemed startled, pulling away from me.

  "Shh, Alex. It's me, Ace."

  "Ace?" she turned to me, confused. "What are you doing here?"

  "I needed to see you."

  "Why?"

  I brushed her hair behind her ear, wanting to see those beautiful eyes to try and gauge which Alex I would get.

  "I wish you would've told me sooner. I wished I'd known, so that I could better protect you. When I told you to stay here, it was a snap decision I made because I was ticked, but not at you. Once I spent more than five seconds thinking about the situation you were in, I immediately regretted telling you to sleep at your brother's. I'm sorry.

  "And that shit I said about you playing me was out of line. I don't think you've been playing me. I'm sorry for that too."

  "I... I'm sorry. I should've told you. I understand why you were angry. I don't deserve you."

  Fuck.

  "No," I nearly whispered, grabbing her chin. "No. I'm the one riddled with scars. I'm the one who doesn't deserve you." I couldn't believe I'd said that. I'd never been so open about my insecurities from my own past.

  She didn't say anything, but I could see the small shake of her head that she didn't agree with me.

  "After hearing everything about how you were raised, do you know what I see?"

  "A whore." Her words came out like a whip, striking somewhere deep inside of me. I was teetering on mad again, but I knew I had to stay calm. Her entire life, she was made to feel like this. I wouldn't fix it overnight.

  I caressed her cheek. "No, not a whore. You've never chosen that life. Do you know what I see when I look at you? I see beauty. I see courage. I see strength."

  "I'm none of those things. I wanted to run away, and I was willing to give up my brother. Who does that? Not a strong woman."

  "You didn't do that, though, did you? You came to us and told us. You decided to trust, and I can only imagine how hard trust is for you. Do you know how much courage that took to come clean to all of us and trust us to take care of you? You're Gunner's sister, so that already makes you family, but you're also mine, so that makes you a Bleeding Scar. I know it's cheesy, but Princess your scars have to stop bleeding at some point, and I'm going to be here to help you along the way. I don't want to hear you call yourself a whore again. Do you want to know what the word is for what you've done? It's not whore."

  She blinked, like she was trying not to cry. She was still trying to be strong.

  "What?" Her voice wobbled.

  "You were a victim. Those men, not even men—those cowards—they did these things to you. None of it was your fault. None of it. I think it's going to take a lot of time, but you should know, I'm not going anywhere."

  A tear finally slid down her cheek, and I wiped it away, caressing her face. I pulled her closer to me, wanting to feel her body against mine. "Tomorrow, we'll go back home. Tonight, let's sleep."

  "You don't have to leave?"

  "No, I'm staying. Sorry, I wasn't here sooner." I kissed her softly and gently. I kissed her eyelids as they began to close again. I kissed her cheeks and supple, beautiful lips. I didn't deepen the kiss. I just wanted her to feel cared for. I wanted her to know how much she was cherished. I did this for some time, and even once she fell asleep, I still found myself caressing her skin.

  It took me a while to fall asleep, too much had happened in such a small amount of time. I kept thinking about everything her grandfather let happen to her, and I hoped that it was him who was here. I wished he was closer, so that I didn't even have to work for it to kill the sorry old fucker.

  Chapter Twenty

  Ace

  "Ace! Get up." I blinked, the early dawn light began to come through the curtains. I couldn't have been sleeping for more than an hour or two.

  "Ace."

  I turned and was startled to see Gunner standing there with my phone in his hand.

  "You must've left this on the dryer. It's been going off with all kinds of alarms. Charlie was up and thought it might be important, so she woke me."

  I immediately sat up and started hitting buttons on my phone. "Someone tried to get into my house. We have to ride. Now. I'll make some calls."

  "What's going on?" Alex sleepily said from beside me.

  "Shh. Go back to sleep. Gunner, and I have to run out. Do not leave the house, okay? We'll be back. Reggie's outside watching the house. You're protected." I kissed her on her temple, then moved through the kitchen. Charlie was pouring coffee and speaking with Gunner in a hushed tone as I hustled into the laundry room. I grabbed my clothes and got dressed, all while my blood boiled. I hated the idea of anyone near my fucking property. I heard Charlie say to Gunner, "Be safe," as I walked back out to greet them.

  "You ready?" I asked, lifting my chin at Gunner as his eyes met mine. He took one last, long swallow from a cup of coffee.

  "Yeah. Let's ride."

  As we rode to my house, I was grateful that the rain from last night had stopped. It was still getting cold, nearly too cold to ride. I was glad for my leather and that I had enough sense to put a bandana in my pocket the last time I did laundry so I could cover my face from the nearly freezing wind. Gunner wasn't as smart, and I knew he was freezing when we finally pulled up outside of my home.

  I didn't want to pull into the garage in case my house had been breached. Gunner and I both had guns out as we walked the perimeter. I could see footsteps in the mud around my house. There was more than one man here, but it appeared that they were gone. A window on the back of my house had scratches like they tried to break it but couldn't get through the thick shatterproof glass.

  "Fuck," I muttered a curse low in my throat, then moved to the back door and put in a code on the keypad for the door to unlock.

  We moved through the house, checking from room to room. I didn't think that they had gotten in, but I had to be sure.

  "It's clear," I finally said to Gunner after going through the entire house. We put our guns away just as I heard familiar pipes heading up the drive. "Shane's here."

  "How the fuck do you do that?" Gunner was referring to my uncanny ability to tell bikes apart based on their pipes. Sometimes it was easy, but sometimes it had more to do with how the rider slowed than the actual pipes.

  I shrugged. "Fill him in. I'm going to check my camera
s."

  I moved to my office and opened my laptop, waited while it did a retinal scan, and began to click through the various screens. Fuck. My first two cameras were taken out. Whoever this was probably wasn't Hades. They were too dumb to take out a camera. This person was good, but they weren't that good. I had four other cameras in various locations. I clicked on the first camera and moved through the feed. It faced the house, so I was able to see the black SUV as it pulled in and my gut roiled. I went through my other camera feeds and saw several large men wearing all black. They kept their heads down, so it was hard to identify them.

  "Was it Hades?" Shane asked from the doorway.

  I looked up, "I think this SUV is the same from the hotel last night." I zoomed in on the plate. "Do you have that screenshot of the plates you took last night?"

  Shane walked over to me. "I do, hold on." He scrolled through his phone and handed it to me. I zoomed in on the image, and sure enough, it matched. Shane, looking over my shoulder, cursed, "Shit."

  "Who is it?" Gunner asked, walking in as Shane cursed.

  "Seems to be the guys we staked out last night."

  "Not Hades," I added.

  "Gunner, make some calls. I want eyes on that hotel at all times. Tell them not to take a cage and to be as inconspicuous as possible," Shane ordered.

  "You think it's the grandpa?" I looked to Shane for his response. That's where my mind was, but I wasn't one hundred percent positive that is who it was.

  "It'd make sense."

  "It would to an extent, but it doesn't seem like the old man gave that many fucks about her. I mean, it stands to reason that it could be because he sent men after us in Colombia, but I'm really not sure. Something feels off."

  "I know what you mean," Shane added.

  "What do you want to do with Alex?"

  "What do you mean?"

  "I don't think you should keep her here. You should think about going to a safe house?"

  "Our houses in the Alleghenies aren't really all that secret anymore, but I think I know a place I can take her where we'd be safe. I don't like the idea of taking her out of town, but she's been through enough already."