Chapter 15
Honey stared at the dark phone screen in her hand.
She shook her head to clear her imagination of what was happening in the exam room right now.
Caroline was perfect—healthy, young, and so adorably curvy.
She didn’t have bruises from falls, nor was she stuck wearing a wrap around a hurt ankle.
And her future? It had to be a lot more promising than Honey’s.
A sick feeling grew in the pit of Honey’s stomach. She liked Caroline. The romance author had welcomed her eagerly. Honey didn’t doubt how much the other woman loved Wraith. She could sense the strong emotions tying them together. They were a storybook couple.
But other women he treated? Would they tumble into love with the charismatic, handsome-as-hell doctor as quickly as Honey had?
“Razor didn’t fall for any of them before he met you!” Honey reminded herself aloud.
Even as her words faded from the air, Honey didn’t know that. Maybe he’d pursued a line of women before her. What would make Razor decide he was her Daddy? Why had he chosen her over other women? Unless…. Maybe he enjoyed having a sick partner—someone he could take care of.
“Razor’s not like that,” she announced. “He likes me because I’m me. Not because I have an illness.”
Or did he?
A sudden movement outside caught her attention.
A white chicken with tufts of feathers decorating its small head stood on the outer sill of the window, peeking in at her.
She’d already spotted the fluffy creature and its companion in Razor’s backyard.
They enchanted Honey as they strutted their stuff.
This time the creature’s beady eyes stared at her as if she was the strange addition to this community. Honey swallowed hard. Would she ever truly belong in the Devil Daddies’ compound? Everyone was always pleasant to her, but….
Doubts and worries flooded her mind. She didn’t want to impose on anyone. Would the other MC members feel saddled by her presence in the compound?
Honey pushed the soft blanket from her lap. Her fingers lingered on the Devil Daddies MC logo. This had seemed like home. Everyone had welcomed her and been so nice because of their friendship with Razor. They didn’t know her. Not really.
She needed to get out of here. Honey maneuvered herself onto the wheeled knee scooter and navigated to the bedroom. Where had Razor put her luggage? Maybe in the closet?
Gliding inside, she spotted the two suitcases on the top shelf. Honey grabbed a handful of the clothes hanging on the top rack and used her grip on the material to steady herself as she rose onto the tiptoes of her good leg.
“Oh!” The scooter bucked underneath her as she overbalanced. Quickly, she stabilized herself by grabbing the handlebars and breathed out a heavy sigh of relief. That was a close one. She didn’t need to sprain her other ankle.
Manhandling a suitcase wouldn’t work. She turned the scooter around in an elaborate dance of forward and reverse motions in the narrow closet and escaped. So much for taking the clothes in the closet. She’d live without her casual clothes until she could retrieve them.
Back in the bedroom, Honey stripped off the pillowcase and stuffed it full of her panties, bra, and socks from the dresser.
She added her nightgown and collected her cosmetics from the bathroom.
Flinging the pillowcase over her shoulder, she headed for the kitchen door.
A blow from the pillowcase on the keyholder by the entrance to the garage knocked all the keys off.
Honey scooped up her car fob before staring at the door.
There was no way for her to get the scooter over the raised threshold. She’d have to leave it here. Abandoning it was best anyway. It had to be expensive. Another MC member or their family might need the rolling device in the future.
“Beatrice!” she remembered as she gathered her courage to stand and walk on her foot. Instantly horrified she’d forgotten her, Honey diverted again and returned to the living room to collect her precious bee stuffie.
“I’m so sorry, Beatrice,” she said, wiping tears from her eyes. “I’m not thinking clearly. You should have been the first thing I grabbed.”
Beatrice studied her with reproachful big black eyes.
Honey hugged her close to reassure her longtime friend.
“You’re right. That was awful of me. I’ll do better,” she promised.
She looked at the blanket and forced herself to leave it.
Her heart breaking, Honey swallowed hard, trying not to sob as she turned around.
Scooting back to the door, she carefully tucked Beatrice in with her clothes before pushing the wheeled support away.
It rolled to the far side of the kitchen and toppled over.
She squared her shoulders and stepped onto her ankle.
Instantly, her ankle ached but not so bad that she had to crawl to her car. That was her last resort.
Despite her slow, cautious movements, by the time she reached the vehicle, Honey gritted her teeth from the discomfort.
She slid into the seat and tugged the stuffed pillowcase inside.
After starting the car, she glanced in her rearview mirror at the closed garage door behind her.
Before she could panic, Honey spotted the garage door opener Razor had attached upon her arrival to her visor.
“Thank you, Razor.” He took such good care of her. The ache in her heart multiplied at the simple proof of his thoughtfulness and support.
Honey blinked tears away and pushed the button. As the barrier behind her rose, she opened the car door and leaned over to place the remote on the garage floor. She wouldn’t need it anymore. Better for it to stay here.
She backed up and pulled in front of Razor’s cabin to say her goodbyes to the dream of finding her Daddy. Grief welled up inside her as physically as a lump in her throat. She forced herself to shift into drive and move. A few minutes later, she reached the guard shack.
Searching her brain to remember his name, Honey plastered a fake smile on her face to greet the tattooed hunk who walked out. “Hi! Menace, right? I’m going to run some errands.”
“Aren’t you supposed to rest your hurt ankle?” he asked.
“Oh, I’m so much better. Razor is such a great doctor. He worked his magic on me.”
“How about if we call him?”
“Oh, no. He’s busy at the clinic. You don’t want to disturb him. He won’t be happy.”
“You’re sure he’s aware you’re leaving?” Menace asked.
“Of course. I wouldn’t sneak out. That would be a bad idea.”
He studied her closely and agreed, “Exactly.”
“Nice to meet you, Menace. I’m sure we’ll run into each other again.” Smiling, Honey held her breath as he debated. What would she do if he refused to raise the gate? Could she ram it? She struggled to control her growing panic. I have to get out of here!
Finally, he stepped back inside and hit the button to lift the gate. “Be careful, Honey.”
“Of course. Thanks, Menace.”
Without looking back, Honey drove under the lifted gate and onto the wooded road.
As soon as the guard disappeared from her view, Honey’s breath gushed from her lungs.
She pressed a hand to her chest to reassure her thudding heart.
Everything’s okay. The panic ebbed, but sadness flooded her mind in its place. She’d never be the same without Razor.
Her ankle ached a bit more with every minute she pressed on the gas pedal. She pushed the discomfort from her mind as she headed to her duplex. Razor had visited her place, but he didn’t have a key. He couldn’t get in unless she opened the door.
Heaving another sigh of relief when she passed Inferno and reached the main road, Honey relaxed against the seat back. She’d made it out of Razor’s return path. Honey rehearsed what she would say when he called.
Sorry, it’s just not working out. No, crap. He’d know she was lying.
Thank you for taking care of me, Razor. I appreciate your help. Better? Straight to the point and avoiding their personal connection. No, that sounded too cold. He would never let their relationship evaporate with that.
I don’t want to be a burden, Razor. No, he’d argue that she wasn’t. And she already knew she was.
I can’t handle your job, Razor. No, he’d ask why, and she wouldn’t be able to explain anything to him.
Her mind churned over a dozen more possible things to say to him and eliminated them all.
“Stop making excuses!” she announced. Her words echoed in the quiet of the car’s interior.
How fucked up was her life that her illness had scared away one boyfriend and caused her to say goodbye to another who just wanted to take care of her.
Razor deserved more—an ideal future with a healthy Little girl.
Tears coursing down her cheeks, Honey hobbled her way into the house and locked the door behind her.
He’d follow her because that was what heroes did.
And her heart would break again when she had to send him away.
Feeling more alone than she ever had, Honey collapsed on her couch with her pillowcase full of the few pieces of clothing she’d hauled with her and Beatrice.
She tugged the stuffie out and hugged it close. Thank goodness she had her bee.
The guard shack had changed attendants, and Vex had taken it over for light duty. Razor had stopped to check on him before heading home. He spotted the open garage from several cabins ahead and sped up. A sick dread kindled in his stomach. Something was wrong.
Pulling into the driveway, he saw the garage door opener lying on the ground. He lowered his kickstand and jumped off his bike to scoop it up as he stared at the empty spot her car had occupied. Squashing the flash of anger at himself for not arriving faster, Razor forced himself to focus.
Honey was gone. The device in his hand told Razor she didn’t plan to return. He clung to the hope there was another reason for finding it. Maybe he had the reason for her departure wrong. Maybe she had wanted some fast-food tacos or something and the opener had fallen by accident.
Razor stormed inside and spotted the scooter resting on its side. In the deserted family room, her blanket lay crumpled on the couch, discarded and abandoned. He refused to notice his heart felt like the crumpled material. This isn’t over.
He jogged down the hall to the bedroom. One pillow was on the edge of the bed without its white case.
Drawers gaped open. He quickly realized her panties, bras, and socks were missing.
Running into the closet, he scanned the racks.
A few of his shirts dangled from one shoulder as if she’d ripped them partially off the hangers. Above them, her suitcases mocked him.
Staggering back into the bedroom, Razor sat on the bed and dropped his head into his hands. She’d tried to get a suitcase and almost fell. Abandoning her heavy clothing, she’d taken only what she could fit into a pillowcase. Honey had fled.
Because of Caroline? How could she imagine he was interested in Wraith’s Little girl? He shook his head. He had a fucking doctorate in psychology! How hard was it to anticipate she would be threatened by his contact with other women? How had he screwed this up so badly?
His phone in his pocket buzzed with an incoming message. Razor snatched it out, hoping to hear from Honey. Lucien’s name appeared with a red ALERT as the subject line.
Ignoring the protocol that Lucien had drilled into him when he’d joined the Devil Daddies, Razor didn’t care what triggered the warning.
Nothing mattered but finding his Little girl.
He pulled up Honey’s number and called her phone.
It rang and rang. She didn’t answer. Razor disconnected without leaving a message and heard the faint echo of a buzz.
He stood and returned to the family room.
He tried again and flung the blanket to the side, discovering her phone on the leather surface. She had forgotten it.
“Fuck!”
Tucking both devices into his pockets, Razor ran for his loaner bike. He took off for her apartment, racing around the gate arm so he didn’t have to explain to Vex.
“Hey!” echoed from behind him. “Wait, Razor!”
Razor ignored Vex. Hopefully, his MC brother hadn’t torn out his stitches or anything vital.
Honey was his priority now. Passing Inferno, he saw a bunch of his brothers gathering in the parking lot.
They turned at the sound of his bike. Several recognized him by his vest and waved in big sweeping motions of their arms.
Something was going on. Razor didn’t stop. He had to find Honey. His phone buzzed against his chest.
Razor sped onto the highway. Minutes later, the unmistakable sound of a group of motorcycles rumbled behind him. From a distance, he could spot matched black and green helmets. They weren’t Devil Daddies. Instinctively, he increased his speed and cursed when they continue to gain on him.
The exit to Honey’s apartment was about five miles away. He didn’t want to lead the bikers there. The next exit came up quickly. Maybe he could lose them. He swerved off at the last moment and gunned it.
The thundering cycles followed him. Razor checked his side mirror, and a chill ran down his spine as they grew closer.
The Ravagers. A whole bunch of them. The bikers had spread across the two lanes, heading his direction, and were moving up to surround him.
Dividing his attention between the menace behind him and the traffic in front of him, Razor reached for his phone to call for help.
His back tire exploded, flinging Razor forward. He pushed away from his bike. Rolling into a ball to protect his spine and limbs, Razor hit the asphalt hard, and everything went black.