Chapter 2 Ginny
P resent time—
I was having the best dream. If you asked me what it was about soon after my eyes opened, I probably wouldn’t be able to recall many details. But I was happy. I felt it.
So, when I slowly gained consciousness, I immediately noticed two things. One, it was too quiet. No fan. I never slept without one since I tended to get hot at night, and the circulating air helped. Not only that, but the white noise enabled me to sleep without interruption. Two, I was moving. Actually, my body was slightly rocking as if I had been transported into a moving vehicle.
My eyes blinked a few times, out of focus for a few seconds before everything around me became clear. I was in a moving vehicle—an SUV with dark-tinted windows. The interior matched the starry sky outside as I momentarily focused on the twinkling lights beyond the windows.
“You’re awake,” Brick observed from the front seat. “I was beginning to think I’d have to carry you inside the safe house. Not that I’d mind,” he added in that deep, gritty timbre I loved. Just enough huskiness to be sexy but not creepy.
“Safe house?” I repeated like I didn’t understand the English language. “What do you mean?” Sitting up, I shoved off the blanket he’d obviously draped over me at some point.
“The place where I’m taking you so you’re out of danger,” he explained as he turned around in the front passenger seat, gaze roaming over me with too much heat. “We talked about this,” he reminded me.
Yeah, I remembered.
“I don’t need a safe house, Brick. Can’t we just go to your place or something? Stay in Vegas, so I’m close to my family?”
“No can do, Darlin’,” Dagger answered from the driver’s seat. “Pres ordered us to a safe house.”
“And that’s where we’re headed,” Brick added.
Frowning, I pushed the loose strands of my hair out of my eyes. “Let me get this straight. You take me from my bed while I’m sleeping, put me in this car, and drive me wherever your president said to go without my permission ?”
“That’s the gist of it,” Dagger replied. I caught his grin as he winked in the rearview mirror.
“Knock it off, Dag. Stop flirting with my woman, for fuck’s sake,” Brick growled.
Dagger only grinned wider.
I didn’t care about that; too focused on the facts at hand. “I’m being kidnapped.”
Brick shrugged. “It’s a relocation.”
“Against my will,” I pointed out.
“Baby, I haven’t heard you say you didn’t want to leave with me.”
I nearly snorted. “You didn’t give me a choice.”
“She’s right about that,” Dagger agreed.
Brick shot him a glare. “You helped me get her out, fucker.”
“I never said I was innocent.”
“Can we not?” I asked, annoyed with their banter. “I just want to know what’s going on.”
“As in a plan?” Brick clarified.
“Yes.”
“We’re taking you to a safe house.” He paused. “That’s pretty much it, Ginny, baby.”
Ugh. “That’s not it, and you know it. How long am I going to be there? How far are we from Vegas? When do I get to talk to my mom?” I sucked in a breath, growing more frustrated with every mile we traveled.
“Ginny.”
I sighed, meeting Brick’s firm gaze. “You’re in danger. I made the choice that best keeps you safe.”
“But you kidnapped me,” I replied with emphasis like it changed a damn thing. It didn’t.
“Babygirl, were you gonna leave with me willingly?”
We both knew the answer to that.
It’s not that I didn’t understand the seriousness of the situation. I did. I just didn’t want to leave my family. Nathan was on ship for the next nine months, so I didn’t have to worry about him, but my mother and Uncle Trig? What if something happened and I wasn’t there to help?
“They’re vulnerable. With me gone, it might make things worse for them.” I bit into my bottom lip, chewing out of nervous habit.
“Sweetheart, gonna need you to stop tearing up that perfect lip.” His stare intensified. “Before I have Dagger pull over, and I join you back there.”
“Brick,” I sighed, folding my arms across my chest and noticing for the first time that I was dressed and not in my pajamas. “Did you change my clothes?”
“Obviously,” he confirmed.
“Brick!” I shouted, highly annoyed. He saw me naked. Again. Wait. My eyes narrowed.
“Dagger turned around for that part,” Brick assured me with a wink. “Best part of the night, in my opinion.”
How the hell did he manage to put on my bra, shirt, leggings, socks, and shoes without me waking up?
“You were resting deeply,” he answered as if Brick could read my mind. “Gotta say, it was nice hearing you moan my name.”
“Made me a bit jealous,” Dagger added.
Oh. My. God. “I did not moan your name!”
“Babygirl, you not only moaned, you begged for more.” Brick’s grin was not only thoroughly pleased but wolfish. “And I’ll handle that soon enough.”
Dagger groaned. “Fuck. It’s Rosy Palm and her five sisters for me.”
I blinked. Huh?
Ohhhhhhhhh. My head dropped into my hands. I would never survive weeks with these two men. I’d go crazy.
“Don’t worry, Ginny. I’ll make sure you don’t hear.”
My hands dropped as I caught his chuckle. “You’re messing with me now.”
“You’re too sweet, Babygirl. It’s so easy.” Brick reached between the seats. His knuckles brushed along my cheek. “We’ve got your family covered. The club is watching out for them.”
“Promise?”
“Judge would never let anything happen to Hesh’s family,” Dagger answered. “None of us would.”
“And that’s why you’re with us. We’ve got eyes on your mom and Trig. They’re safe.”
I guess there wasn’t much else to argue about other than my loss of freedom. But it couldn’t last forever, right?
“So, how long are we doing this? A few days? A week?”
Please don’t say the whole month.
Brick’s tight smile conjured butterflies in my stomach before he spoke. I knew it wouldn’t be good.
“At the very least, weeks.”
Shit. “And if things don’t go the way your club is planning?”
“Months, Babygirl.”
He said it so calmly like this didn’t disrupt his life or Dagger’s. Would they resent me for this?
“I don’t think that’s fair to anyone in this car.”
Dagger shrugged. “It’s Judge’s orders. We deal with it.”
“Brick?”
“As long as I’m with you, I’m good.”
It finally began to sink into my sleepy brain. I wasn’t leaving the safe house for a long, long time.
And the worst part? I understood why it had to be this way.
I FELL ASLEEP AGAIN in the quiet that followed our conversation. By the time I opened my eyes a second time, I saw the sun breaching the horizon in rays of glittery amber and gold. Warmth penetrated the once-dark interior, and now I felt it seeping into my bones, revitalizing my body as I sat up and rubbed the last remnants of sleep from my eyes.
“Where are we?”
“Close,” Brick answered as he drank from a Styrofoam cup of coffee.
We must have stopped to fill the gas tank recently. I could see the logo from a local chain on the side.
“I’m hungry. Thirsty, too. Can we stop somewhere? I need caffeine.”
“No, Darlin’,” Dagger was quick to reply.
“Why not?” I wasn’t too good at keeping the attitude from my voice.
“Because it’s too risky, Ginny. No one can see you,” Brick explained. “The less anyone knows of your presence or ours, the better. That’s why our last stop was over two hours ago.”
I wanted to argue, but it made sense. “I see.”
“Don’t worry. I make fucking fantastic pancakes,” Dagger bragged.
“And I made sure the house is stocked for us—plenty of food in the deep freezer and the extra fridge in the garage. We’re stocked,” Brick informed me. “Stop scrunching that cute little nose and relax. We’ll feed you soon.”
Dagger snickered.
Pouting, I pursed my lips. I kinda hated the fact that both men knew how to tease me just the right way to make it annoying and funny at the same time.
It was strange how easy it was around them. I’d only seen Dagger once since we met at the airport. And Brick? He’d become as routine as brushing my teeth in the morning. One week since I got snowed in and stranded at the airport, and the two bikers came to my rescue. Without Brick, not only would I not have reached home for Christmas, but I also wouldn’t be alive.
He saved my life.
But now, it wasn’t him sticking around because we decided to indulge in the attraction between us and give whatever this was a go; it was also because I needed his protection. Not only him but his club. The Desert Titans MC owed that to my father, and if they voted to ensure my family stayed safe after his death, I’d accept their protection.
Even if it invaded and nearly stole my freedom.
“This is it,” Dagger announced as he slowed down and turned right. We rolled to a stop in front of a metal gate.
“Be right back,” Brick announced before he slid from his seat, opened the door, and left the door hanging open. It only took him a minute to unlock the gate and hop back in.
Dagger drove through the opening, and Brick jumped out a second time to secure the gate behind us before we took a long dirt road that seemed to last several miles. I noticed the sign that stated it was private property on the gate, along with another that stated security cameras were in use.
“We’ve got our IT guy watching the safe house. Nothing will take us by surprise,” Brick assured me as we drove, bumping up and down in our seats on the uneven road.
It leveled out as we approached a huge house surrounded by a forest of redwood trees. I didn’t get an answer about where we had traveled, but now I knew. Northern California. It was one of my favorite places to visit as a child. My father used to bring me to the redwoods to vacation with my mom. I hadn’t been back in years.
“The redwoods,” I breathed, hardly holding in my excitement.
Brick grinned as our eyes met. “I remembered Hesh used to come here many years ago with you and your mom.”
“But it’s a safe house,” I blurted.
“Exactly.”
Even back then, my father was protecting us. “That’s why it’s still safe now. Nobody knows about it, right?”
“Technically, just me, Dagger, your family, and Judge.”
“And Titan,” Dagger added. “Our V.P.”
“Yeah,” Brick nodded. “A small group. That’s how Hesh wanted it. He always said this was where you spent your summers.”
“It was,” I replied as my voice broke. I cleared it, forcing a smile. “This is more than I ever could have imagined, Brick.”
“Did it for you, Babygirl. Needed you to keep smiling even if things have gone to shit a little.”
“Thank you.”
Wow. I hardly had words for how much this meant to me.
I flung the door open as we parked, sliding from the seat to take in the yellow house and its wraparound porch, the tall brick chimney, and the tire swing still hanging from the tree to the left of the house, the opposite side of the garage. Without stepping behind the three-story, farmhouse-style plan, I knew a free- flowing river glittered under the early morning sun. Not a detail had changed since I’d last stood before it, including the second-floor balcony and the rotunda.
I used to read and play with my dolls in that circular room, enjoying all the sunlight that poured through the surrounding windows. My dad found me sleeping often in the sunbeams. He’d laugh and wake me up, scooping me into his arms before he nuzzled his nose to mine.
Tears sprang to my eyes, and I blinked them back, grateful for the memories I was able to share with him before he died. I would cherish them for the rest of my life. And being here, despite all the uncertainty and chaos, still made my heart feel joy.
“You okay, baby?” Brick asked as he slid his fingers around mine.
“Better than okay.” I turned my head and popped a kiss on his cheek, smiling as he pulled me into his embrace.
“We’re gonna figure this all out, Ginny.”
I might have scoffed if I wasn’t standing in my favorite place other than my childhood home. Here, at our vacation house, sheltered by redwoods, almost anything felt possible.