Unable to contain my concern any longer, I asked, “What’s going on?”
“I don’t know much,” Stocks said as we reached the door and he let us in. “Emily said Lily’s shook up, but safe for now. They’re waiting for us in Link’s office.”
That sure as hell didn’t tell me much. Safefor now? Was she unsafe before? Would she be unsafe in the future? Continuing to bite back my questions, I followed Stocks through the common room, down a hall, and into the office of the club president where we found Link sitting behind his desk, holding Jameson on his lap. Looking like he was two seconds from annihilating the world and everyone in it, Havoc stood beside Link with his arms folded in front of him. Emily, Sasha, and Naomi all crowded the sofa. As we drew near, the girls moved out of the way to reveal Lily curled up on one of the sofa cushions. She was holding an ice pack over her left eye, her lip was split and leaking blood, and anger burned in the eye I could see.
Stocks tugged his hand out of mine and stepped forward to get a better look. “What the fuck happened?” he asked in a tone that sounded more like a roar than a question.
Raising her head, Lily met his angry gaze with her own. “I got jumped at the shelter. They took my backpack.”
“Jumped at the shelter?” His brow furrowed. “Last month when you asked about learning self-defense… I thought you were just trying to get close to Bull.”
Color flooded her cheeks and more anger poured off her. “Looks like I should have focused more on the self-defense, huh?”
“I didn’t know, or I would have insisted that you take those classes.”
“Yeah, well, I didn’t really think those bitches would attack me.”
“What bitches?” Stocks threw his hands in the air. “Will someone please tell me what’s going on?”
Emily stepped forward. “A couple of girls from the shelter have been giving Lily a hard time. They wanted a necklace she wore that her late grandma had given her. She didn’t want to provoke them, so she stopped wearing it and put in her backpack. They caught her alone and did this…,” she gestured at Lily, “before taking her bag. Did I get everything right?”
Lily nodded.
“Where’s Bull?” Stocks asked. “Why isn’t he here?”
Emily chewed on her lip, dropping her gaze.
“He’s at work, and I don’t want him involved,” Lily replied. Lowering her voice she added, “Not like he wants to be involved anyway.”
Glaring at Havoc, Julia patted Lily’s shoulder as Sasha frowned and looked away. I don’t know what all had gone down before we joined the group, but the air was thick with tension.
Stocks frowned at Lily’s answer. “Okay. What’s the plan, and how can I help?”
“I’m sorry.” Lily’s eyes filled with tears. “I didn’t want to come to you guys for help,again, but that necklace is the only thing I have left of my grandma… of my family, and I don’t know what else to do. I tried to talk to Ms. Helen about them before, but she won’t listen. Those bitches can have the rest of my stuff—I don’t even care anymore—but I can’t lose Grandma’s pearl. My grandpa gave it to her when they were dating and…” She angrily swiped at her tears. “I have to get it back.”
I barely knew the girl, but Stocks had told me she’d led one hell of a rough life. Until now, I hadn’t realized she was living in a shelter. She couldn’t be much older than her early twenties, yet she sounded so damn hopeless. My heart went out to her. “Do we have a plan to get it back?” I asked, joining in the conversation.
Naomi smiled at me. “I knew you’d be down to help.”
Of course I was. Lily was clearly important to all of them and someone had fucked with her. I’d do whatever I could.
“Let’s roll,” Emily said, tugging her keys out of her pocket. “I’ll explain on the way.”
Emily, Sasha, Naomi, Lily, and I squished into Emily’s Jaguar and headed to the Sacred Peace Women’s Shelter with Stocks and a prospect riding their bikes behind us. While she drove, Emily explained that she’d dealt with this particular shelter before, and they didn’t take kindly to male visitors, which was why Link had insisted she take so many of us girls along. Julia wanted to come, but apparently our pregnant friend had lost that battle to her overprotective husband, which was why I’d been called in.
It also explained why she’d been glaring daggers at him.
“So… why are Stocks and the prospect following us?” I asked.
“Because even though you and Naomi have been trained in hand-to-hand combat, Sasha’s a former cop, and Sasha and I are both packing, my husband thinks we need at least two men to have our back in case things get rowdy at the womens’ shelter.”
“That’s… interesting,” I replied. On one hand, it was sweet that the men were so protective. On the other hand… it was also a little insulting.
We parked and headed up the walkway. Stopping behind Emily’s Jag, Stocks tugged off his helmet and gave me a thumbs up. Even though his presence wasn’t necessary, I always felt more comfortable with him around.
“I keep reminding myself that the Neanderthal loves me and wants to keep me safe,” Emily continued as we approached the front door. “Which is why we’re humoring him.”
“We humor my stubborn-ass brother a lot,” Naomi added, knocking. “I only do it to shut him up.”
