34. Chapter 34
Chapter 34
Lilli
“Have you heard anything?” I ask Miriam after a long nap.
She sets her book aside and says, “No.”
“We can’t just sit here and wait,” I say, and she shakes her head.
“They’re looking. We have to be patient.”
“What day is it?”
She glances at her phone and frowns. “Friday.”
Two more days. We have two more days before she goes back into the closet.
What will they do after that?
Beyond that, what if the sheriff realizes that I’m gone? At this point, I’m not sure which is worse…Mercy there with my psychotic parents or taken away to an unknown home.
With any luck, the sheriff will never know but I’m still worried. Ugh.
“Can I at least go, anywhere but here,” I say waving my hand at the bed.
“Like where?” she asks.
“I don’t care. Downstairs. Outside. Anywhere but these four walls.”
Her lips thin and I truly take in her face as she rises and stalks to the door. She hasn’t rested since I came and to my shame, all I’ve done is make demands and act like a petulant child.
I’m disappointed when Giant appears instead of Wolf but resigned. After the shower incident, I’m sure he’s avoiding me at all costs.
Giant smiles and bends down, picking me up with the utmost care. “Getting a little stir crazy?”
”Yeah,” I say. “I’m sorry to be a bother.”
Miriam coughs and I cast her a death glare that she ignores before picking up her book and following us down the stairs.
Although I would have been happy sitting on the skeevy couch in the great room, I’m delighted when he steps outside, and I lean my head back and let the sun warm my cheeks.
When I open my eyes, Giant sets me down in a reclining chair and I say, “What?”
Giant grins and says, “We’ll put it back inside when you’re done.”
Nodding, I whisper thank you as he sets the chair to recline. It's the first time in days that the pressure leaves my ribs and with a small moan, I smile.
“Good. Yeah?” he says.
“Yeah. Thanks, Giant.”
His eyes brighten and he taps my hand. “You’re welcome, darlin’.”
Once he’s gone, I yawn and relax in the chair. Although I hear the faint sound of people buzzing around me, some inside and others around the building, it’s peaceful enough that I feel sleep pull at my bones.
Miriam sits down beside me, and I open my eyes when she says, “I think he gets a kick out of that, you know.”
"Who?”
"Joker.”
When I stare at her blankly, she laughs. “Giant. His name is Joker.”
Oh. Mulling it over, I decide Giant fits him much better despite the rainbow stripe of hair on his head.
When Miriam yawns behind her hand, I say, “You should go take a nap. I’m fine out here.”
She opens her mouth to argue, and I touch her arm. “Thank you for taking care of me. I love you. Now go get some sleep. You look terrible.”
Shaking her head, she leans in and kisses my cheek. “Newsflash. You do too.”
I grin as she walks away before closing my eyes.
For a while I doze, coming in and out of consciousness as people pass by or say something too loudly. Eventually, it dies down though, and I sleep so heavily that I’m confused when I open my eyes and it’s dark outside.
The twinkle lights under the tent remain, glowing softly in the moonlight and I feel a pang of sorrow for Miriam that our parents ruined her wedding day.
There’s not much I can do on that front though, so I set it aside. The dull throb of my ribs is starting to ramp up which means it's time for another dose of meds.
I’m hoping Miriam finished her nap when I hear two voices approaching. They stop on the side of the building, and I tilt my head when I recognize Duke’s voice.
“Don’t you think it’s time to let this shit go?” he says.
“Let what go?” Wolf grunts.
“The past. Rose. It’s done. Stop living there. There’s nothing you could have done,” Duke says.
Rose? Who’s Rose? My breath hitches and I cover my mouth. Has he moved on?
“Fuck off,” Wolf snarls and I flinch. Okay, he’s definitely mad.
“No. She wasn’t in that basement because of you. That shit was Danny’s doing and there ain’t nothing you could have done about it. Let it go before it consumes you.”
Oh. Shoot. Poor Rose. Although I’m not feeling particularly gracious toward this Rose, I am sorry for her pain.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Wolf says and Duke chuckles. The bitter sound slides down my spine like razors, surprising me because Duke has always seemed more happy-go-lucky.
“I know she’s waiting for you and you’re fucking here,” Duke says. Something clangs against something else. I hear a faint shuffle.
She’s waiting for you. Whoever this Rose is, I hate her guts, I decide, wiping my cheeks. I guess I really wasn’t that special after all.
Then Duke says, “Fine. Whatever. We found Hand.”
“Where?” Wolf growls.
"Two hours North. Some dive bar. Should be back there tomorrow night.”
"Good,” Wolf says.
Hand. With everything else going on, I forgot about the creepy bastard. With any luck, they’ll find him and solve that problem.
Wow. I’m blasé about someone committing murder.
Shoot.
“What are we doing about Mercy?” Duke asks and I stiffen. Bad move, literally but it’s too late and I bite my lip against the pain, practically leaning over the chair.
Still, I set it aside because finally, I can get some damn answers.
“So far, nothing has changed. Mercy is fine. She was at school. We sent Draven to find her. She said she was good but to hurry, those fuckers are getting more rabid.”
Okay. They've been watching Mercy. Thank God. This eases some of my panic and I relax against the chair. I’m so sorry Mercy but by tomorrow, you’ll be safe. Even if I have to go home and make it that way myself.
It quiets down after that, and I assume they’re gone when Wolf rounds the corner. He stops before me, and I raise my head.
His eyes glitter in the near darkness and a shiver rolls down my spine. My throat closes when he raises his hand, covered in grease from whatever he was doing around the corner.
For whatever reason, my words in that alley come back and I lean forward until those fingers touch my cheek. When he exhales, his breath puffs against my skin as he gently rolls those fingers down to my chin before moving to the other side.
It’s only when he moves them across my lips that I taste the acrid oil coating his hands. Speechless, I stare while he wraps his fingers around my throat. It doesn’t hurt but it’s hard to ignore.
His eyes bore into mine and he leans down until we’re nose to nose and says, “Now you’re dirty too.”
My jaw drops as he walks away, and I touch my stinging lips. What the heck does that mean?
Shame suffuses my system, and I sigh, wiping away what I can. Clearly my words left a mark. I’m rubbing my greasy fingers off on the previously white shirt when Giant appears with Miriam behind him.
He pauses, his eyes going wide, and I touch my cheek until his gaze drops. Oh. My neck.
“Fuck me,” he mutters before lifting me up and into his arms. “You, okay?”
”Yeah,” I say because I don’t know what else to say.
Giant doesn't respond but I feel his disapproval as he walks through the main area. Melanie, my least favorite person on the planet, looks over and away before whipping around. Her eyes search my face before dropping to my neck.
This same thing follows as we pass multiple brothers and women. My cheeks burn at the scrutiny, but I refuse to hide.
At the base of the stairs stands Maddox and his lips tighten when he sees my throat before he says, “I need a date tonight. What do you think, Lilli?”
”Maddox,” Giant tsks, but he completely ignores him while he waits for my response.
“Um, I’m not in the shape to dance,” I say, and he smiles. He’s quite handsome I think, and I wish that I could feel an ounce of what Wolf inspires with a greasy handprint and a scowl.
“I don’t dance,” he says.
”Okay then,” I say and lean my head against Giant’s shoulder.
Once we’re back in the room and he’s set me on the bed, he says, “You don’t have to go if you don’t want to.”
”Where is this party?” I ask curiously.
Smiling, he points over his shoulder. “Downstairs.”
”Oh. Well, I’d like to come for a little while,” I say shyly.
“Okay darlin’, just, be careful.”
“Careful?”
”It’s dangerous to tease a bear,” he says, patting my hand.
Miriam glances around his shoulder with wide eyes and I wrinkle my nose. “There are no bears here, Giant. Only lone wolves.”
His eyes take on the twinkle I’ve come to adore, and he says, “You’d be surprised, darlin’.”
After he’s gone, Miriam says, “You sure about this? You look tired.”
“I am tired but if I sit on this bed, my butt is going to go numb.”
Toni busts through the door before Miriam can respond and as soon as she stops before me, I say, “I need a favor.”
”What?” She arches her brow.
“I need hair. I need makeup. I need to look like someone else. Someone…dirty.”
Toni whistles between her teeth before rubbing her hands together. “Dirty, huh? I think I can do that.”
Wolf
Romeo eyes me strangely as I walk by, but I don’t need commentary from that fucker or anyone else.
Call it a brand. Call it a claim. Call it whatever the fuck you want. I don’t care, as long as everyone knows that Lillith Anne Abernathy is mine.
Seeing my handprint on her neck opened something primal within me. Maybe she is innocent and clean, but I’ll be the one to protect her. I’ll be the one to make her dirty.
Every little gasp, moan, or wide-eyed look of wonderment is mine. Nobody gets to touch her with their filth but me.
After everything that’s happened, I know to my goddamn black soul that she was meant to stand by my side and I will do anything, anything to erase the pain of what I let happen to her.
For every drop of blood she lost for our child, I’ll give her ten times more.
Nothing and no one will stand in my way because Lilli may not see it, but I do. Dirty or not, she can’t hide her need when I touch her and if I have to fuck her every moment of every day to keep her, I’ll do that too.
As long as I live and I hope it’s for a long time, she’ll be mine.
The guys are planning another party tonight and while they’re fucking off, I’ll be with my woman setting her straight.
Resolved, I grab my shit and borrow Joker’s bathroom to shower. When I emerge, I wipe off the mirror and stare at my reflection.
I’ve been MC since the day I was born thanks to my dad. I’ve never wanted or needed more until now.
All that’s about to change except when I head back to our room, my heart thrumming, I find the damn thing empty.
Where the fuck did my baby girl go?