Chapter 11
Chloe
Two weeks later, I didn’t say anything when the guy I had been on a date with, Jacob, Jared, John, something that started with a J, had completely ghosted me.
Because the entire date, everything had felt wrong.
The way he held his fork.
The way he drank his drink.
The way his eyes moved to other women.
Everything.
And I knew why... it was because he wasn’t him.
I was screwed.
So, freaking screwed.
I sighed as I folded the last piece of laundry and put it in the drawer.
And when I turned away from the dresser, something caught my attention.
Was that a creak on the stairs?
That was odd.
My parents were out on their weekly date night.
But before I could make a move away from the spot I was in, something all in black burst through my door.
And before I could scream, a hand was clamped over my mouth.
My body was turned and pressed against my dresser.
Hands.
Hands that felt so wrong were grabbing me.
I tried to move my lips to scream.
I tried to move my mouth to bite on the hand that was still over my mouth.
My body bucked, trying to dislodge whoever it was behind me.
My hands swung widely, trying to hit whoever it was.
And when a hand moved to the waistband of my sleep shorts, I had never felt more grateful when my hand closed around a heavy candle stick holder I had on my dresser.
I grabbed it and then swung up and back.
The sound of something hard smacking flesh and bone reverberated around my room.
And when those hands let go of me, the body moved back, I spun and then hit the person in the face with the candle stick holder as hard as I could.
The person had on a black mask over his face, but there was no mistaking his eyes.
Eyes I had seen before.
But I wasn’t going to be one of those women who hesitated. You hesitate, and you get hurt.
Therefore, while the man was disoriented, I raced around, grabbed my phone, and flew down the stairs.
The moment I made it to the front door, I saw the deadbolt was locked.
As my shaking fingers unlocked it, I heard heavy footsteps racing down the stairs.
But I got that door unlocked, opened, and then... I ran.
I ran for so long that I wasn’t sure where I was.
I ran for so long that I felt a hitch in my side.
And then I power-walked until I got to something familiar.
Seeing the diner on the corner, I raced into it.
Eyes came to me, but I paid them no attention.
I brought up my phone, winced when I saw it was at seven percent, and then I placed a call.
My hands were shaking as I brought the phone to my ear.
A waitress started to make her way over to me, but she slowed when she took in my appearance.
I breathed out a sigh of relief when I heard, “Chloe?”
Then he shouted, his voice laced with anger, “You better get back, you sorry piece of shit.”
“Asher?” I couldn’t stop the tremble in my voice.
The immediate anger she had heard had disappeared immediately. “Chloe?”
With tears I hadn’t realized were spilling down my cheeks, I asked, “Can... you come… and g... get me?”
He was silent for a beat. Only a beat, then I heard, “Fuck this shit.” And then I heard a gunshot, which was immediately followed by, “Where are you?”
“The diner on the corner of Seventh and Main.”
“Okay. Be there in ten minutes.” And with that, I heard running and then the sound of motorcycles coming to life.
He was breathing heavily when he said, “I gotta let you go so I can get to you. But are you safe?”
I looked down at my bare feet, wiped the tears from my eyes, and nodded, “Yeah, I think so.”
“Okay, Doll Baby, be there in ten. Just hang on for me. And Chloe, whatever you need to do to keep breathing, you fucking do it. Do you understand me?”
I nodded, “Yeah, Asher.”
And with that, he hung up.
Pulling the phone from my ear, the woman who had approached me looked to be a few years older than me, and when I read her nametag, it read Leighton.
“Are you okay, hon?” She had stunning red hair that was tied back in a braid and the bluest eyes I had ever seen.
I almost wanted to ask her if they were contacts.
But after everything that had happened, I just didn’t think I had it in me. Instead, I shook my head, “No. But I will be.’
She nodded, smiled softly, then asked, “Do you need me to call the cops?”
I shook my head, “No. I have someone on the way. But thank you.”
She nodded, “Okay, well, how about we get you up on a stool and a cup of coffee? Your feet look a mess.”
I nodded, gratefully.
With a warm cup of coffee in my hands, I kept my eyes trained on the door, making sure I didn’t see him.
After I inhaled a much-needed breath, that was when I felt it.
The rumble from the motorcycles made the ground shake beneath her feet.
There, in the distance, she saw the headlights.
Uncaring what people were going to say. I wanted to feel safe. And that safety only came with one man.
On the back of that monster bike, there he sat.
I watched as he almost laid his bike down when he brought it to a stop. He was off it and storming toward the diner.
And the moment he opened the door, I carelessly placed the cup of coffee on the counter, dropped to my feet, and winced at the pain, but I didn’t care.
I took off, and when I saw that Asher had luckily braced himself and held his arms out, the moment I reached him, I flung myself into his body.
His arms closed around me as he pulled me into his chest.
His familiar scent of smoke and cedar caused even more tears to pour down my cheeks.
Because it meant one thing.
I was safe.
I buried my nose in his neck, inhaling the scent of safety and home.
Once her tears were done, Asher pulled moved his neck back, then bent it down to take in my features.
Then his gaze moved lower, and I knew he saw my feet.
Without a word, he shrugged off his kutte, handed it to me, and then pulled the black hoodie he was wearing and helped me in it.
Only when he had his kutte back on did he pick me up carefully and carry me to his bike.
Once he sat me down, he placed two fingers underneath my chin and lifted my face up until my eyes locked with his.
“Who?” he asked.
Was it really fire I saw burning in his hazel eyes, and when I saw how hard his face was, I knew that I wasn’t imagining things.
Therefore, I said the only thing I could, “My dad’s best friend. Marco Rubina.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Whit take his phone out and place a call.
“What happened?” he asked.
I took in the passerby and whispered, “Wouldn’t it be better to tell you all of this at the clubhouse?”
He shook his head, “Normally, it would. But with you, I need all the details.”
I nodded, “Mom and Dad went out for their weekly date night. I was putting laundry away. And that was when I heard a creak on the staircase. Before I could make a move, a figure all clad in black rushed into my bedroom. He had his hand over my mouth, my front pressed to my dresser. And when I felt his hand at the waistband of my shorts, I grabbed a heavy candlestick holder and hit him with it. Then I hit him again, grabbed my phone, and ran. Then, when I got here, I called you.”
He nodded, then swallowed, and that tick was in his jaw, as well as that vein in his neck was throbbing.
Then it seemed he got control of himself, and he said softly, “Okay. Thank you. Want us to go to your house to see if he’s there?”
I shook my head, “No, he probably isn’t.”
He nodded, “Okay, here’s what’s going to happen. I’m going to take you to the clubhouse, and you're going to call your parents and Stella. Then we’ll get your feet looked at. Okay?”
I nodded.
And that was that.
But as I turned my head, I saw that the entire motorcycle club was there, and Rome, Creature, Pagan, Stoney, Priest, and Coal all had specs of blood on their arms or faces.
I looked back at Asher, who was pulling a helmet out of his saddlebags, “Did I interrupt something important?”
He looked at me as he handed me the helmet, then helped me strap it on, and only once it was secured, he said, “Nothing is more important than you. Fucking nothing.”
Then he moved, climbed in front of me, and started the bike.
The rumble filled the night sky.
As soon as I was curled tight to his back, we headed to the clubhouse.
I called my mama, and she and my dad were on the way to the clubhouse.
Then I called Stella.
She beat my parents to the clubhouse.
And was smothering me in a hug.
She only released me when my mama did the same thing and then my dad.
And when I told them all what happened, I said, “I recognized his eyes.”
My mama snarled, “Who was that pendejo?”
I looked up at my dad and smiled a sad smile.
He picked up on it and said, “I’m not going to like this. Am I?”
I shook my head, “It was Marco, Dad.”
He was silent for a beat.
Then he turned and punched the wall.
“I’m going to kill that lying sack of trash. He told me he had changed. That he saw the light. And I’m the dumb motherfucker that allowed him to be in the same house where my daughter sleeps.”
Asher growled from behind him, “You’re going to have to get in line.”
My dad turned and looked at Asher.
I couldn’t make out that look.
But after a minute or two, my dad nodded.
Umm... okay.
“We’ve got people looking for him. We’ll have him before the sun comes up.” Asher said with one hundred percent honesty.
That made me shiver, but I felt no remorse for what was about to happen to him.
He had creeped me out for years.
And when I told Asher that after he carried me to his bedroom to clean my feet, he wanted to know why I hadn’t told him.
“Because I only saw him a handful of times. And you have enough on your plate without worrying about some creepy guy.”
He sighed, then ran his hand through his hair, “I want to know about everything that involves you, Chloe. How many times do I need to make that clear?”
I didn’t have a chance to answer him because he started cleaning my feet.
And all with a gentle hand.
How in the world could the president of an outlaw motorcycle club have gentle hands?
I knew the answer.
Because he was Asher.
And he could do anything.
In thinking that, I closed my eyes and didn’t realize I had fallen asleep.
Asher
I didn’t know how long I sat there after I had cleaned up her feet.
Minutes?
Hours?
I wasn’t sure.
But a few things were running on a loop in my head.
It took some motherfucker trying to rape her before I got her in my bed.
I was going to send him a thank you card in hell.
Because you can bet your fucking ass that I will be sending that motherfucker to hell in a few short hours.
Damn, but she looked good in my bed.
Her tanned skin against my white sheets. Her dark hair fanned out over my pillow.
A soft knock came at the door.
I stood up, stretched, and headed to it.
When I opened it, it was to see Trigger with a grin on his face. “Found him.”
Stella moved around Trigger and said, “I’m staying with Chloe.”
I kissed her cheek, then moved to the side and watched as my daughter carefully climbed into my bed and got beside Chloe.
It didn’t hit me then that Stella never said a word about how I was with Chloe.
And it wouldn’t hit me until a week later.
I looked at Trigger and nodded, “Let’s go.”
Forty-five minutes later, we found him.
Right where Charlie said he would be.
And with my brothers at my back, I kicked the piece of shit’s door open and grinned when I saw the damage my Doll Baby had done to his face.
Coal and Rome rushed him and had him pinned.
But it was Rome who was fixated on something on the man’s pec.
And then he said, “Well, look what we have here.”
I looked at it and couldn’t help but smile. Huge.
“Well. Well. Well. It would seem we finally found you, you piece of shit.”
There on the man’s pec was none other than a pair of shackles with fire behind it and the words Verity Runners MC. But I knew he was who we had been looking for, that fucking five-point crown that was resting atop one of the flames.
His trademark.
I kept my promise to Chloe’s father.
He didn’t stay breathing when the sun came up.
He also had been beaten by every brother.
And for the pièce de resistance, the man had received cuts into his body for all the kids we found out about over the past couple of years he had trafficked.
Since he didn’t deserve a fast death, not for this piece of shit, I did the only thing that felt right.
I pulled my knife from the middle of my back, placed my black-gloved hand over his forehead, held the bastard in place, and then I ran my knife over his throat.
When nothing but our heavy breathing filled the room and the scent of iron in the air, I smiled.
Then I watched as I sat on my bike with my brothers and smoked a cigar after we had gone through his monstrosity of a home while piles of cocaine, heroin, and meth went up in flames.
Our saddlebags were loaded down with cash we found.
We would be cleaning it.
And then making anonymous donations to all the kids we had recovered that he had trafficked.
As the sun peaked over the horizon, it was a good start to the day.
The moment I walked into the clubhouse with my brothers at my back, Chloe’s dad stood up and met us.
He took us all in.
The blood on our shirts.
Our busted knuckles.
He held his hand up and offered it to me.
I shook it.
Then he clapped me on the back and said, “When you ask for her hand, I’ll say yes.”
He stepped to the side, and her mother was there.
She rose on her tiptoes and kissed my cheek, then she whispered, “Be mindful of her heart. And take my words to mind. Make sure no skeletons in your closet can hurt her. Because I promise you this: when she loves, she loves hard. And she won’t hesitate to go down with you.”
I took her words to heart.
I really did.
That was when I called Teague.
Teague was a member of Wrath MC, Texas chapter in Bradford Valley. He had connections that Charlie could only dream of having.
And I was done waiting.
Chloe
When Asher returned, he said I wouldn’t have to worry about Marco.
And I believed him.
Even more so when I caught sight of him pulling his shirt over his head and throwing it in the trash can.
I wasn’t going to comment on the view of that man shirtless.
Because if I did... well... I would need to be sprayed with a fire extinguisher.
He had muscles for days. And at his age, it was dang impressive.
And the tattoos. One’s that spread from his pecs to his shoulders and over to his shoulder blades and down his arms... I wanted to lick every single line...
Stop it, Chloe, I silently berated myself.
Jesus Christ.
***
My father had apologized repeatedly, and honestly, I didn’t blame him.
He didn’t make Marco do all those things.
He didn’t have a hand in what I now knew about Marco.
All those poor kids.
My heart wept for them.
But they would never know that Zagan MC took the man who was largely responsible out and sent him to hell.
But I knew.
And even though my bedroom felt like it was tainted, I still slept like a baby.
Asher
Chloe’s mother’s words came to mind as I hung up the phone with Teague.
I only had one skeleton in my closet, and it was split into two parts.
I now knew where to find her. I also found out how she’s been able to avoid me for the past five years.
I just didn’t expect her to find me before I had found her ...