Chapter Forty-Three
Jenna
Sitting on the end of the bed, my eyes switched between the clock on the wall and the door keeping me inside this room. I hated it here. I never should have come. I should have taken my chances outside the fence.
The seconds ticked away on the clock, and I listened for sounds in the hall. Only three more minutes until I could escape. Three more minutes until I could leave this room and move around the clubhouse while everyone was asleep.
I thought coming here would be a haven. A safe place to rest while I got my shit together. Then I saw him. The president. God, he was so sexy and brooding. He had book boyfriend written all over him, and I just figured if I could snatch him up, I wouldn’t need the others to protect me.
I closed my eyes. How did my life become this? When did I become this person? Was it genetic? Was I like them? I never thought I was. Before I came here, I was a nice person. I thought about others. Put their needs before my own.
I wanted to be selfish for once. I wanted to be the person who won. Just one freaking time, I wanted to have someone put me first.
Leo, Wilder, and Knox didn’t count. They weren’t really putting me first. They were doing it for him. They were his friends, not mine. They didn’t care what happened to me as long as their obligation was fulfilled.
I looked up at the clock again.
Three am.
I slid off the bed and quietly moved to the door, resting my ear against the wood. The clubhouse was quiet; there was no music playing, no laughter of the brothers teasing each other in jest.
God, what would it be like to have family who loved you? Family who protected you?
The cold knob twisted in my hand. The snick of the latch bolt retreating into the assembly echoed through the room, and I knew it was because everything was so quiet that my fear of being caught amplified the sound.
Early morning was the only time the clubhouse was silent. When everyone had passed out from drinking or fucking. I pulled the door toward me, expecting a prospect to jump into the doorway and yank it closed. Sealing me inside again.
I didn’t do what Chasm accused me of. Well, the shit that happened to Morgan anyway. Yes, I broke into the president’s room. I thought maybe, if he spent a little time with me, he’d see the real me.
But no one wanted the real me.
The real me was broken.
I stuck my head into the hall, looking in both directions, making sure no one lingered around. I cautiously stepped out of the room and carefully closed my door behind me.
I made my way down the stairs to the kitchen. A little three am snack and a glass of whiskey was just the thing I needed to keep me sane. I couldn’t stay in that room forever.
I paused at the door when I heard the voices. Angry muffled sounds I couldn’t decipher. I moved closer and pressed a hand against the door, pushing it open the slightest amount, hoping whoever was in the kitchen didn’t see me.
“Let go!”
“You’re coming with me.”
“I’m not going anywhere with you. Jude will kill you when he finds out you touched me.”
“He’s a fucking pussy. He can’t even kill a stupid club whore who went after his woman.”
I clenched my teeth together, not wanting to make myself known yet, but I wasn’t a club whore. And I didn’t go after fucking Morgan.
“He won’t think twice about killing you.”
The voice was Sully, Chasm’s sister. She was right; Chasm wouldn’t think twice before killing Nathan for touching Sully. For trying to kidnap her.
“He’ll never fucking find me,” Nathan snarled. “Let’s go.”
“NO!” Sully shouted.
I heard the slap through the door and that was enough for me. I shoved the door open and grabbed the first thing I could reach. A wooden rolling pin on the counter.
“Let her go!” I growled at the prospect.
“What the fuck are you doing out of your room?” Nathan snapped.
“Stopping you, apparently. I said, let. Her. Go.”
Sully tried to pull away; her fingers pried at his hand that held her wrist. But Nathan was bigger, stronger. She was only a kid. Probably lived her whole life without having to fight for her safety.
Unlike me.
I tapped the rolling pin against my open palm and slowly walked forward, closer and closer until I was a few feet in front of him.
“What’s your plan here? How do you expect to get her out of here without me screaming my lungs out and alerting everyone in the clubhouse?”
His mouth twisted in a grin. “All I have to do is get her outside. No one will believe you over me. You’re just a club whore who went after the president’s old lady.”
“I didn’t do shit to her.”
Nathan smirked.
“It was you, wasn’t it?”
“Guess you aren’t as dumb as you look,” he sneered.
“I’m not as frail as I look either.”
I swung the rolling pin before he could comprehend my words. The wood smashed against his head, and he let go of Sully’s wrist.
“Run,” I told her.
Nathan stumbled back but didn’t go down. I was lucky prospects couldn’t carry in the clubhouse, or I might be dead with the way Nathan was glaring at me.
“Come at me, big guy. You don’t have anything I haven’t endured already.”
I taunted him and he lunged for me. I grabbed the hand that reached out and twisted it back until I heard it snap.
You didn’t need muscle to hurt someone; you just needed the advantage. And my size gave me the advantage. Well, the appearance of weakness due to my size.
Men always thought they could overpower women by sheer strength alone. Only, I’d been taught to defend myself. I’d been taught to fight when flight wasn’t an option.
And most of my life it hadn’t been an option.
Nathan snarled and his other hand shot out and clipped my chin, snapping my head back and causing me to lose my balance. I crashed against the table and fell to the floor.
“How do you like me now, bitch?” Nathan taunted as he straddled my hips and slapped my face. I reached out and grabbed his broken wrist and squeezed with every bit of strength I had. Then I bucked my hips and pushed him off.
I scrambled to my feet and Nathan grabbed my ankle, twisting my foot and causing me to cry out. I closed my eyes and let him pull me closer then snapped my eyes open and brought my other foot up and kicked him in the chin.
When he fell back again, I crawled toward the door and then stood up, yanking the door open and rushing out into the hall, only to slam into the chest of Knox.
His arms wrapped around me as Leo and Wilder stormed into the kitchen and pulled Nathan out into the hall. Chasm and the others crowded around, and Chasm shouted, “What the fuck is going on?”
He turned hard unyielding eyes my way. “What the fuck are you doing out of your room?”
“Jude, no,” Sully pleaded. “If she hadn’t come out, he would have taken me.”
I saw Morgan standing behind Chasm, her arms wrapped around Sully as she watched me. I dropped my eyes to the floor and buried my face against Knox.
“What?” Chasm barked.
“He was trying to drag me outside when Jenna came in. She hit him with a rolling pin and told me to run.” I looked up at Sully as tears rolled down her cheeks. “She saved me, Jude.”
Chasm looked at me. “Is this true?”
“Nathan is the one who destroyed Morgan’s things,” I said, ignoring his question.
Despite what everyone in this clubhouse might believe, I wasn’t the type of person to take credit for what I did. I didn’t help Sully in order to make people like me. I helped her because it was the right thing to do.
Because nobody helped me.
Not until Ellis.
And now, Leo, Wilder, and Knox.
Nathan struggled between Leo and Wilder. “She’s fucking lying. They both are. They’re working together with Pardon. Doesn’t anyone else think it’s strange that a guy who fucked off when the last president died, suddenly showed up with the new president’s sister?”
“Let him go,” Chasm said.
I trembled against Knox. I knew he wouldn’t believe me, but I was sure he would believe his sister. But then, my brothers never believed me.
Nathan smirked and winked at me. Knox growled, and he dropped his smile.
“Omen!”
“Yeah, Prez?”
“Check the cameras,” Chasm said.
Nathan’s face paled, and I stood up straight. I didn’t know the clubhouse had cameras, and based on Nathan’s reaction, neither did he.
“What cameras?” Nathan asked.
“You thought we didn’t have cameras through this clubhouse? You thought we weren’t watching every fucking thing you prospects did?” Chasm growled.
I looked up at the ceiling, searching for the cameras. Knox whispered, “No cameras, sweetheart.” My eyes widened and I turned to watch Nathan.
“Prez, I can explain,” Nathan whined. “I was just trying to help Sully. Protect her.”
“Protect her from what?” Chasm asked, crossing his arms over his chest.
Nathan’s breathing picked up. His hands went to his hips and he cursed, “Fuck you.”
“Take this motherfucker downstairs.”
Leo and Wilder grabbed Nathan and lifted him off the ground. They disappeared down the hall, followed by half the men, while Chasm stood in front of Knox and stared at me.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
I nodded. He reached out toward my face, and I flinched back. Chasm pulled his hand back and looked at Sully, then back to me.
“Thank you. I mean that, Jenna. Thank you for protecting her.”
“Does this mean I can come out of my room?” I asked, even though I didn’t expect him to release me. Chasm rubbed the back of his neck.
“Nathan admitted it, Jude,” Sully said, coming to stand in front of her brother. “He admitted he was the one who broke Morgan’s things.”
Chasm looked at Morgan and she nodded. Then, turning back to me, he said, “Yes. You are free to move about the clubhouse. But watch yourself, Jenna. You are here as a curtesy.”
I swallowed hard and nodded.
“Get her cleaned up and meet me downstairs,” he said to Knox, then hugged Sully, whispering in her ear before kissing Morgan and whispering again.
He walked down the hall, and Morgan stepped in front of me. Looking at Knox, she said, “I’ve got her. Go downstairs and make him suffer.”
Knox nodded and looked at me. “You okay?”
“I always am,” I said with a practiced smile.
“Sweetheart, now is not the time for this fake bravado shit. You need me to stay, I’ll stay.”
“I’m fine. I promise.”
I tried for a real smile, but I didn’t have it in me. My face hurt and so did my ankle. Knox studied me for a moment and when he was satisfied, he nodded and said, “Thank you, Morgan.”
“Of course,” she said. When he was far enough to not hear, she whispered, “Can you walk?” The surprise must have shown on my face, because she added, “I can see you favoring your foot.”
I looked down. “I don’t think it’s broken or anything, just sprained maybe.”
“Sometimes, that’s worse.” She looked behind her. “Brian, can you carry Jenna into the main room?”
“Sure thing.” Brian lifted me off my feet and carried me to the couch, setting me down with my feet propped up. “Can I get you anything?”
“Um, I never got the snack and whiskey I came down for,” I said with a chuckle that sounded flat.
“I’ll get it,” Sully said and rushed off before anyone could stop her.
Morgan sat down beside me with the first aid kit. “Let’s get you cleaned up.”
“You don’t have to make a fuss; I’ll be fine.”