Clint arrived as Goldie and Sabrina walked me to a third ambulance. The fear in my brother’s blue eyes broke my heart. I offered him a smile as he climbed into the ambulance with me.
“She’s fine,” Sabrina insisted as she let Clint take her place. “They just want to check her out to be safe.”
I gripped my brother’s hand and asked, “Should you stay here to be in charge?”
“That’s what Rock is for. I’d handle things if it were his sister.”
“Yes, you would,” I said before the EMT started asking me questions.
When Clint exhaled deeply, I could see how the last six months had weighed heavily on his shoulders. Yet, he offered me a soft smile that I immediately mimicked.
Our lives had changed so much in such a short amount of time. He found his soul mate. I’d made a baby with a guy I really shouldn’t have fallen for but couldn’t deny. Making big, scary moves was easier with great people watching our backs.
ZODIAC
My day started shitty and kept spiraling from there. I got woken up early to news that some fucker threw a beer bottle at Ojai’s head while he was riding back from breakfast. I rode to the scene to figure out if he’d been targeted for fucking someone’s girl, riding with my club, or jealousy over his long, blond hair.
“I chased down the guy,” Ojai said as the EMT dealt with his bleeding head. “He ran into an abandoned building. I was able to snap his ankle, but we can’t find him now.”
“You get cleaned up,” I told Ojai, knowing he’d rather keep hunting the guy. “We’ll play hound dogs and chase the asshole’s scent.”
That was my morning, searching condemned properties in a shitty neighborhood to locate a guy with a solid throwing arm and a limp. Just before lunch, we discovered the dipshit curled up in a closet.
The guy was nothing more than a piece of shit junkie who thought it would be funny to knock a biker off his motorcycle. He didn’t even know who Ojai was! Just a dumb fuck willing to die for a chuckle.
By the time I got the call from Exile, I was in a bad mood and on my way to lunch.
“Elle is fine,” Exile said as soon as I answered. His words sent ice through my veins as I waited for the “but.” “Your boy is also fine. But Elle shot a guy and got a little bruised up. She’s on her way to the hospital just in case.”
“What guy?”
“I don’t know, but it sounds like he was looking for his wife at one of the club’s safehouses. He pulled a gun. Elle put him down. His helper bitch got run over. Nova was there, but she’s safe. Everyone who matters is okay, but I knew you’d want to know.”
“I’m on my way.”
“There’s nothing to do here.”
“Fuck off,” I snarled and hung up. York waited to hear the plan. “I’ve got to ride to Little Memphis.”
“Alone?”
“I can’t wait for a posse to join me.”
“I can head up there with you. Just in case, there’s trouble.”
Exhaling hard, I hated how my club felt broken with Exile and me constantly out of town. Now, York wanted to watch my back. But who the fuck was watching Black Rainbow’s territory?
“No, stay here,” I told York. “I need someone solid in charge.”
York looked a little disappointed about staying here rather than following me to Little Memphis. I noticed how he often volunteered to travel to the town. I once again assumed he had his eye on a Crimson Guard fox.
Disappointed or not, York didn’t argue with me. I left him to keep our territory safe while I checked on Elle.
The ride to Little Memphis felt longer today. I had zero patience for the distance between Elle and me. I needed her nearby so I could see her whenever I wanted.
Fuck, I needed to stop denying how much I missed her. I wanted Elle.She was mine!I couldn’t pretend we were just fuck buddies or parents with benefits. She meant too much to me now.
I checked my phone while getting gas halfway to Little Memphis. Clint sent me security footage of Elle shooting a guy. I saw how she got knocked into a car by a bitch who was then run over.
