We hung up, and I immediately went back to the bedroom to tend to Ruby. She was still asleep, so I busied myself with cleaning up the mess she made, making sure the empty bottle of the pills she took were in a bag so Juliette could look at them. When a knock came on the door, I felt relieved. I was more concerned for Ruby than I had been for any of the people I helped in the past.
Juliette, Scorpio, and Archer were behind the door when I opened it, the same look of concern on each of their faces. “She’s in the bedroom,” I informed them, then showed Juliette the bottle of pills Ruby choked down. “It looks like she choked down a full bottle of Oxy.”
“Damn, she’s fucking lucky to be alive,” Juliette murmured, taking the bag from me. “Why don’t I go in first? Archer, you come in after I'm done speaking with Mrs. Tyler.”
Archer nodded.
Juliette quickly left the room and disappeared behind the hard oak door. The second she was gone, both of my brothers turned to me.
“I don’t know how you do it, Cap,” Scorpio said in awe. “It’s like you have a gift for sensing when someone is in trouble and saving them from themselves.”
“I’ve only been doing this for a few months, Scorpio. I’m not that good.”
Archer shook his head. “But you are. It was like you were meant to do this, Cap. It fits your personality. You always put yourself before everyone else. It’s why you almost died a few months ago.”
I frowned.
My doctors said that all the stress and excitement happening around the club lately was just too much for my heart to handle.They were probably right. Our club had gone from peaceful to warmongers so fast that my head was still spinning from it all. It wasn’t our fault. Somehow, we ended up on the Hell’s Artillery radar and now the 1% club was doing everything in their power to bring us down… power our club just didn’t have.
We were doing our best to pick up the pieces, voting a new member into our club—a member who inadvertently stole Scorpio’s bike for the same men that are trying to tear our club apart. The poor kid didn’t know any better. He was just trying to save his sister, but she went underground at the same time the Hell’s Artillery did. But not before they sent us a disturbing video of her being tortured because the sons of bitches poured what looked like bleach in her eyes. The poor girl was either dead or blind, both of which were pretty much a death sentence. Needless to say, our club was doing everything we could to help Pincher get his sister back, but the outlook wasn’t looking great.
It was the same problem we were having with Scorpio’s bike. The bike was in pieces, and putting it back together was proving to be more difficult than we expected. We were half tempted to scrap the thing altogether, but Scorpio was holding on to the family heirloom, hoping by some miracle we could re-erect his father’s bike to its old glory. Between the Hell’s Artillery constantly trying to fuck up our lives, and our small run-in with the Italian Mob, our club had gone from nobodies to on everyone’s radar overnight. It was exhausting, and it was no wonder my heart was in the state of shambles it was in.
“So, when’s the band rolling into town?” Archer asked, referring to Grief’s Conviction, a local band that had made it big, and was getting ready to play a big hometown show. They wanted our club to be their personal bodyguards, and every guy was ready to volunteer—everyone except Bull. The one guy they asked for by name.
“They’ll be here next month.”
“Good, I can’t wait to see them in concert. When was the last time they were here? How long has it been? Two years?” Archer asked.
“Four. We would’ve seen them last year had the concert gone off like it was supposed to at the rally.”
Archer nodded. “That’s right. The Hell’s Artillery just have this uncanny way to fuck shit up for us. You think she’s gotten over her bullshit feud with Bull?”
“Probably not. Those two have a tumultuous relationship if I ever saw one. Their chemistry was off the charts, but they can’t be in one room together for very long, otherwise they’ll kill each other,” I answered.
“Wonder why they specifically asked for him then?”
“Probably because they know he’s the best.”
Archer nodded. Scorpio was just standing there listening to us. When Grief’s Conviction rolled into town the last time, Bull revealed that he had sparked a little romance with their lead singer Misery. But it didn’t last long. Now the two could barely talk without wanting to rip each other apart. Scorpio was only a member at the time, so he didn’t have as much responsibility as he does now. It was his father Zenith, our late Prez, who was here at the time, and one of the few of us that actually interacted with the band.
Juliette chose that moment to walk out of the bedroom. “Archer, I need you, please.”
Archer started to walk toward her just as Juliette added, “She wants you to be in there as well, Cap.”
I don’t know why the idea of her wanting me in the room made my heart soar the way it did, but it suddenly felt like a strong eagle thumping wildly inside my chest. Scorpio stayed behind, not wanting to scare the poor girl any more than she probably already was. I entered the room after Archer, and Ruby’s blue eyes hit me with a look of relief, one I felt in my core.She was frightened, and I knew she was probably a little angry that I called the cops.
“Mrs. Tyler, this is Archer. He was a medic in the armed forces. He’s going to look you over, and then I’m going to have to take you to the hospital as a precautionary measure.”
Her ocean-colored eyes found mine, and the guilt in them spoke volumes. She was embarrassed about what she had done, and afraid of how people would look at her.
“Do I have to go?”
Juliette nodded. “Unfortunately, yes. It’s protocol when someone tries to take their own life that we immediately take them to the hospital. The only reason you aren’t there now is because Cap requested that I come first with Archer.”
“Cap?”
I held up my hand. “That’s my club name, Darlin’. I’m the Road Captain for the Celestial Sons MC here in town.”
