Wizard (Hounds of Hellfire MC #4)

Chapter 12

12

THEA

E ntering Baylor’s high-tech office without him felt weird…but also awesome because it was a sure sign of how much he trusted me. Being surrounded by his scent got me into the zone much more quickly than usual. So much so that I wasn’t sure how long he’d been watching me when I finally looked up from the scene I just finished writing. “Okay, creeper.”

“Not my fault you still haven’t worked on your situational awareness.”

“Ugh, that’s fair,” I groaned, stretching my arms above my head. “Especially when I’m lost in a fictional world.”

He set his computer on the desk. “Book going well?”

“It really was.” I beamed a smile at him. “I know I joked about the inspiration you gave me, but you just might be my good luck charm. I’ve never gotten so many words in such little time. And I’m even in love with what I’ve written so far instead of doubting every letter I type.”

“Happy for you, baby.”

He strode toward me and leaned down to kiss me, leaving me wanting more. But before I could ask for another, I spotted the face of his watch. “Oh no. Is that the time? Crap.”

His brows drew together. “Why does it matter what time it is?”

“Because I totally forgot that I have a meeting with my audiobook production company today. Luckily, I set a reminder for two hours prior on my calendar, which pinged about ninety minutes ago.” I nudged him out of my way so that I could stand. Shoving my stuff into my laptop bag, I added, “The reason that I went with them is because they’re actually local, which is pretty unusual. But it’s been awesome because meeting with them forces me away from the computer and into the real world sometimes. And it’s how I met Violet.”

“Who’re you meeting with there?” he asked, following me closely as I left the office to go to his room and change.

“Susan, she’s the owner of the production company.” I ducked into his closet to find something more presentable to wear. Not that I needed to dress up, but Baylor’s oversized shirt and a pair of leggings wouldn’t work. And it was too warm to just toss a sweatshirt over it, so I swapped out shirts for one of my own before heading into the bathroom to brush my teeth.

When I finished, Baylor was shoving his feet into his boots. At my look of confusion, he explained, “I’m comin’ with you.”

I hadn’t left the compound since he brought me here after learning about my stalker. In my rush to get to the meeting, I hadn’t stopped to think about how this would all work. “Thank you.”

“Already told you that you don’t need to thank me when I do shit for you,” he growled.

“I know, but that doesn’t mean I’m not grateful.” I beamed a smile at him. “Or that I’m coming up with all sorts of creative ways to demonstrate it.”

“Fucking hell, woman,” he groaned, reaching down to adjust the bulge in his jeans. “It’s a damn good thing we’re taking my truck because driving my bike with a hard-on wouldn’t be fun.”

After slipping my shoes onto my feet, I winked at him. “We’ll save that for another time when we can make it all sorts of fun.”

He shook his head with a deep chuckle. “Have I mentioned lately how fucking lucky I am that you’re mine?”

“You may have mentioned it a time or two.” And I had swooned whenever he did, falling more in love with him.

“Good, because you deserve to hear it.”

“Later,” I urged, practically pushing him out the door. “Right now, we need to get going so I’m not late.”

Baylor didn’t waste any time getting us to his truck, but that didn’t stop him from calling out to a couple of his brothers on the way through the clubhouse. We ended up with Ash and Kevlar trailing behind us on their bikes.

“Don’t you think this is a little bit of overkill?” I asked when we parked in front of the production company’s office. “I didn’t even remember I had this meeting, so there’s no way my stalker could’ve known.”

“Not gonna take any risks when it comes to your safety, baby,” he growled.

“We got your backs,” Ash confirmed as he got off his motorcycle.

Kevlar nodded. “Yup.”

At first, I felt a little weird walking into the meeting with three bikers, but then I decided to just own it. I wrote steamy romance novels, and Susan’s company handled the recording of them. A few hot guys listening in shouldn’t distract us from discussing business. Not that I really noticed Ash or Kevlar when I only had eyes for Baylor.

The same couldn’t be said for the receptionist, whose gaze darted between all three men while she tripped over her words. Luckily, Susan came to her rescue and ushered us into the conference room without blinking an eye over my unplanned entourage.

When I spotted Mark waiting at the table, I realized she had a surprise for me of her own. Swiveling my head toward her, I asked, “Why is he here?”

Her reply about wanting to revisit the topic of duet narration was drowned out by Mark’s roar. “The better question is why the fuck is that fucking biker here?”

Everything happened so quickly. I wasn’t sure how he got out of his seat and over to me so fast, but before I knew it, Mark was holding a knife to my throat.

Baylor shoved Susan out of the way and demanded, “Let her go, Johnson.”

“So you’re not as dumb as you look,” Mark snarled. “I didn’t think you’d figure out who I was before I made Thea understand how badly she was fucking up, messing around with you when she’s mine.”

It was a good thing Ash and Kevlar had followed us because they barely managed to restrain Baylor when Mark tried to claim me.

“Calm down, man. You gotta get your head straight so we can save your woman,” Kevlar urged, gripping his right shoulder while Ash held the left.

“Fuck,” Baylor groaned, a muscle jumping in his jaw.

“She’s not his woman,” Mark screamed. “Thea just went with him because she was confused by my notes. If she’d realized they were from me, she never would’ve gone on a fucking date with him for burgers in the first place, let alone let him talk her into staying at your dirty biker compound.”

I really wished I’d taken Baylor’s warnings about my lack of situational awareness to heart much sooner. Maybe then I would’ve realized that my favorite male narrator was also my stalker.

“If you saw us together, then you gotta know she’s not yours,” Baylor pointed out, his gaze locked on my terrified one.

The confidence in his dark eyes helped ease some of the tension in my body. At least as much as it could when there was a knife pointed at my throat. The downside to all of the research I had done for books over the years was that I knew how close that sharp tip was to my jugular vein. One wrong move, and I would bleed out too quickly for Baylor to save me.

“You’re wrong,” Mark yelled, tightening his hold on my arm.

“Mark, please. You’re hurting me,” I pleaded.

“I’m sorry, sweetheart, but sometimes we have to use tough love to help the people who are most important to us.”

There wasn’t an ounce of apology in his tone, just anger. I wasn’t sure how I was going to get out of this. Not until Baylor mouthed, “ The Spy’s Return .”

Reading my books hadn’t just convinced me to go out on a date with him, it also allowed us to speak in code with each other. All it took was the title of that particular book for me to understand what he was getting at.

After taking a deep breath, I let my body relax so I wasn’t struggling against Mark’s hold. Then I whispered, “You’re right.”

“C’mon, Thea. You can’t listen to this guy,” Baylor argued. “He has a knife to your fucking throat.”

“Shut the fuck up,” Mark screamed. “You’re the one she shouldn’t listen to because you’re just confusing her.”

“Stop, Wizard.” I deliberately used his road name in the hope that the other guys—who’d only ever heard me call him Baylor—would understand that I was just playing along. “You need to leave.”

“Leave?” he echoed, clenching his fists at his sides as he shrugged Ash’s and Kevlar’s hands away from his shoulders. “Just walk away and let this guy hurt you?”

“Mark won’t hurt me. He loves me.”

“I do,” Mark whispered, his hold on me loosening.

The knife moved about half an inch away from my throat, giving Baylor just enough space to lunge forward and rip me away from Mark. Then he was on him, clenching his wrist so hard that the knife fell to the floor with a dull thud. After kicking it out of the way, Baylor punched Mark in the face. Blood spurted from his nose, but that didn’t stop Baylor from hitting him again. And again. And again.

Ash held me while Kevlar rushed forward to pull Baylor off him. “It’s done. I got him. He’s not gonna hurt your woman ever again.”

“I don’t understand,” Susan whispered. “What just happened?”

“You invited my stalker to our meeting.”