The next thing I knew, Wasp was carrying me down the hall to my room. He stopped in the doorway and looked around. “You’re packing?” he asked, his tone clipped.
“Trent and I need to leave. Nate’s here. He gave Trent a note. At the Y. I was in the bathroom.”
“What note?”
“It’s on the coffee table.”
Hurt clouded Wasp’s eyes. “You were just gonna leave?”
I snorted. “I don’t have a car. Or money. I was going to ask to borrow plane fare. I tried to call you.”
“Sweetheart…”
He didn’t get it. He was going to tell me to stay. “Drew, he took Robbie. He took Becca. And I can’t…” I choked up. Swallowing back tears, I said, “You’re amazing and wonderful, and everything I never knew I needed. The way you look at me… The way you take care of my kid… I love you.” Another sob ripped out of my throat. “I can’t let him take you.”
Warm lips landed on mine. Wasp squeezed me closer as he kissed away my tears and set me down. When he pulled away, his big rough hands framed my face, holding me still while his gaze captured mine. “I love you, too, and you’re not doing this shit alone. I might be just a mechanic who never saw combat, but I would fight like a goddamn Tasmanian Devil for you and Trent. I’m with you in this. Hell, my brothers are even with you. That’s how I got here so fast. Stocks was watching your building and recognized the asshole from that picture you sent me. I’ve got your back, dove. From here on out, when you’re in trouble, I need you to runtome, not away. You feel me?”
Unable to speak, I nodded.
Wasp loved me.
He was going to fight for me.
He had my back.
We were going to be okay.
Wasp
“WHAT’S THE PLAN?” Stocks asked as soon as Carly and I emerged from the bedroom. He was sitting on the sofa watching Trent drive a toy race car over a stack of books on the coffee table.
“Havoc’s on his way.”
“Havoc’s coming?” Trent asked, bouncing up and down.
Despite Havoc being a hardass and making them listen, all the kids at Helping Hands seemed to love and respect him. Seriously, it bordered on the line of hero worship, and for the life of me, I couldn’t understand why.
I was the fun one.
“Yeah, buddy. He’s gonna take you for a ride in his tow truck.”
Trent grinned. “Yay! Are we going to your house?”
“Nope. Somewhere better. A fire station full of ex-servicemen who will keep you and your mom safe.”
I’d called Link to give him a rundown of the situation and let him know we were on the way. The club wasn’t always the best environment for a child, so he was going to make sure everyone knew we were coming and that there’d be nothing going on in the common area that could traumatize a kid.
By the time Havoc arrived, Trent was so excited he could barely sit still. All his previous fear seemed to have disappeared now that we were onsite, and his mom had calmed down.
“Havoc!” Trent shouted, the minute the big ole’ hardass walked through the door. “I get to ride in the tow truck with you.”
“Hey big guy, you sure do.” They tapped fists, and then Havoc picked him up. “Let’s get to it. Where’s your seat?”
We loaded Carly and Trent’s bags and buckled Trent into Havoc’s truck and then Carly and I climbed on my bike and Stocks swung his leg over his, all of us watching for Nate. Still no sign of him, so we took off. Two bikes and a tow truck made quite the motorcade, driving the few blocks to the club’s headquarters with cargo so precious I could barely wrap my mind around what they meant to me.
Carly had been packing to leave.
The idea of her and Trent going anywhere without me made me want to freak the fuck out. I could have lost her, and even the idea of that made me want to punch something. No,someone. This asshole was fucking with her, and I wanted to rip him apart for it. When she’d finally opened her door and let me in, her fear had been so goddamn palpable, I could practically touch it.
