He should want to be the one to deliver it. I’ve caused him harm. I’ve become a problem.
The world tilts. A wave of dizziness rolls over me, my body swaying like a sapling in a storm. I haven’t slept in two days. Haven’t eaten a meal to be kept weak. The last of my strength is a guttering candle, and the thought of taking a single step away from the docks is a death sentence.
Someone would find me. Drag me back. This whole town is a festering wound, and the cops are just a part of the infection, only they’re wearing a badge.
My knees buckle. I don’t stumble—I fall. But the ground doesn’t come. Instead, I’m surrounded by a sudden, shocking warmth. More than just on my arm. As dark spots bloom in my vision, the world lurches, and I’m pretty sure my feet leave the ground.
I breathe in, and my closed eyes register the incongruous scent of a freshly mowed lawn and gun oil.
Blinking, I realize the brute has me. He’s cradled me against his chest like broken goods. His vest is rough against my cheek, and I can barely make out the sergeant-in-arms patch against the leather. The metallic scent of blood—his? Someone else’s?—permeates my senses. It’s on him, and now it’s on me.
“You can’t take her with us.” The other biker—Warden’s—voice is flat, final. He stares at me like I’m a stray dog. “Dude.”
“She has nowhere to go.” Hammer repeats my words, and I feel them rumble in his chest. His arms tighten—not a hug, but a claim, a securing of a burden. “It’s fine.”
“It’s not—” The other man lets out a frustrated growl, followed by a forced, weary sigh. “We need to get out of here before more come. Ripper better have found her brother; otherwise, they’re out of luck.”
I’m with the other guy here. It’snotfine. But this guy is strong, and I’m struggling to keep my eyes open while I’m surrounded by such warmth. I don’t even have the strength to curse him for touching me as he pleases.
My still-to-be-determined savior grunts, his face a mask of granite. He adjusts his grip, pulling me closer, and that small movement is the only kindness he’s capable of, a brutal sort of mercy.
I don’t understand this. Any of it. The energy to care has bled out of me. With the scent of his violence in my lungs, I turn my head into his vest. A soft, traitorous sigh escapes me.
Thoughts scream from a distant part of my mind, urging me to stay awake. I need my revenge.
But my body has already surrendered. The last thing I can focus on is the solid, unsteady rhythm of his heartbeat against my ear before the darkness pulls me under.
2
Hammer
We came to find someone in particular, but I’ve left with far more than I ever planned.
This woman hardly weighs much against my lap. Even as she’s curled up against my chest, I refuse to let even a single bump in the road wake her up.
She’s got copper-colored hair clinging to her forehead, tangled with long eyelashes. Her skin is pale, sickly. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more beautiful person before. When her face is relaxed like this, she’s beautiful. Even the grime coating her skin doesn’t hide the fact.
I don’t realize I’m getting lost with taking her in until there’s the nudge of an elbow against my arm.
“You want to let her stay at the clubhouse?” Next to me, I feel Warden’s eyes taking her in. Rather than drinking in her beauty, his face is pinched. “Pretty sure that’s the last place she’s going to want to be.”
When our getaway driver mentions going to a hospital for the body sprawled out in the back of the van, I wonder if it’s a good idea. They could get the help she needs. Not here in Meadow Falls, but back home. The clinic would treat her right, but it would raise suspicion.
“It’s the only place we can.” Mumbling the words to keep the hot-blooded woman asleep, my chest goes as far as stilling when her lips part with steady breathing. My eyes linger on the bow of her upper lip.
While Warden calls up Leah to meet us, I realize I’m going to need a checkup myself.
My shoulder throbs, a reminder of the nail wedged in my muscle. Call it a moment of weakness, but she stabbed me so easily. Now I’ve got a hole in my cut. When was the last time I let someone injure me without putting up a fight?
I can’t think of a single time. Strange how things work out.
It’s chaos when we return. Having gone without permission, Ripper had already accepted his punishment with a smile on his face, thanks to his success on the mission. While I’m not the one disciplining him, I must admit that I don’t envy him. Our president isn’t a man I want to be on the bad side of. His fists are thicker than mine.
With the constant weight in my arms, I don’t think twice about moving. Knowing I’ll have my own punishments to deal with for helping Ripper, I don’t wait to see what’s coming my way. Right now, this woman is my top priority.
As soon as I’m in the clubhouse, I’m reaching the bar. For once, the jukebox isn’t blasting tunes, leaving an eerie silence.
Our twin bartenders linger together, opting to avoid the show of brutality and punishment happening outside.
