“What if I give you permission to do so? Would that help you over that hurdle, Viking?”
“I don’t know,” he confesses. “I’d still feel like I was betraying you.”
“But you won’t be,” I nullify, trying to ease some of his burden. “Shade’s not a gossip so I’m not worried about him repeating things you tell him. Unless you know things about him that I don’t?”
“He’s not like that,” he says, defending his friend. “He knows things about me that none of our brothers do and he’s kept those things to himself for years.”
“Then I don’t have an issue with him knowing things about me, Viking. But you can’t get yourself worked up if you don’t even know he’ll open up to you. Why don’t you take it one minute at a time and wait to see if he’ll even want to talk to you. If he does, and you think something about us will help him figure things out, then tell him what you feel is appropriate.”
“Guess I could do that,” he mutters.
“Then that’s settled. One thing you can tick off your list of worries. I have an idea for your other thorn of contention,” I say.
“What’s that?” he inquires, walking over to me as I sit my phone back down, text to Van sent off.
“Your other concern is me being ahead of you, right?” I ask him.
“Yeah. It is,” he confirms.
“Then I’ll wait for thirty minutes before leaving. That should give you enough time to drop off your bike, meet with Shade, and head toward Riptide’s.”
“That still leaves you without protection,” he growls.
“But I won’t be far behind you, Viking. Surely, everything will be okay.”
“I suppose, but Letti, if anything feels wrong, if your gut says you need to reach out to me, don’t hesitate. I’m taking a huge risk not following my intuition on this. I’m trusting that you won’t take any unnecessary chances here.”
“I have you on speed dial,” I state. It’s true, I do, he’s number one and Riptide is number two. Number three, four, and five are Slayer, LoneStar, and Shade. The men I know will come charging in without an ounce of hesitancy regardless if I scream for help or not. The call alone will trigger their protective instincts. “Y’all are on my favorites lists so it’s easy to get to one of you with a touch of my finger.”
“Still don’t like it. For some goddamn reason that only they can understand, Maloney and his deputies have a hard on for you,” he grumbles.
“I think that has more to do with messing with the club than a personal slight on me. What better way than to mess with the men than to harass their women? I’ll be fine, Viking. I have my pepper spray and taser handy. I’m never far from them.”
“Walk with them in your hands at all times, baby girl,” he directs. “That’s the only thing that’ll ease my conscience.”
“That’s a promise I’ll keep and guarantee will happen. Now get going, or you’re going to be late.”
“Alright, alright, I’m outta here,” he groans, packing his pockets with the items off the sofa table and coming over to me, bending me backward, and giving me a scorching kiss that makes me want to hold onto him and not let him go.
“See ya, soon,” I breathlessly say.
“Soon,” he repeats, patting me on the ass as he marches with heavy, reluctant feet out the door. We should’ve both listened to his gut. But I’m stubborn and refuse to let Maloney and his men dictate my life.
CHAPTER
TWENTY-THREE
Letti
I’m putteringaround the house to kill time until my thirty minutes are up and I can leave. Reorganizing Elodie’s toys, since they’re strewn throughout the house instead of in the spare bedroom that Viking no longer sleeps in, I put them in their place and feel a sense of accomplishment.
As I go to swipe my keys and purse off the table, the door bursts open and masked, armed men come charging in. They’re wearing government official tactical gear, which has my entire body shivering because I know Maloney is behind this.
“On the ground!” one of the masked men orders. I’m not a fool so I do as he commands, I release my things and let them drop to the floor and scatter as I hit my knees.
“Secure her,” the leader says as he stands over me with his rifle aimed at my head.
I clamp my eyes closed and swear under my breath as they zip tie my hands behind my back and roughly shove me to theground. I release a breathless‘oomph’as my sternum hits the hardwood flooring. That shit is painful since it’s not carpet and is unforgiving toward my body without any cushioning.
