Chapter 4
Four hours earlier—
Crow couldn’t make our date. I knew it was a possibility, but it still stung. It wasn’t personal. He just kept getting pulled away because of all the shit with the Dirty Death. Undertaker and his club were monsters. They murdered Crow’s father, Rook, weeks before we met. It escalated the rivalry and turned into a vicious war.
But that wasn’t why I hated that ruthless son of a bitch. He sent his V.P. Chronos to kidnap my sister. He ordered him to break her. For eight days, he kept her prisoner and violated her, and that nightmare still haunted Bree. She jumped at loud noises and screamed awake at night. She didn’t know that I could hear her across the hall. Since Raven was the V.P., his rooms were next to ours.
Today, like so many since her capture, I lingered outside her door. She’d taken a nap, exhausted from early pregnancy. I slumped outside the door, resting my back against it, and winced. I would have barged in if Raven wasn’t there.
He came to check on her and ran inside, rushing into their shared room before I had a chance to say anything. It was probably for the best. Things were still a little stilted with Bree. She hated feeling like a victim. I couldn’t seem to stop thinking about her being one.
A sigh escaped as I slowly stood. Sitting here, feeling helpless, wasn’t my idea of a good time. I turned, nearly bumping into Lou’s scooter.
“Hey, Bella. Wanna ride?” He wiggled his eyebrows.
“Lou,” I laughed, catching his double meaning. He was the only one who could have said that to me and gotten away with it. Since the day he hired me, we’d flirted and joked. I loved this old guy. Since dating Crow, I hadn’t worked at the bar at Bull’s Saloon often. But when the threats with Undertaker increased, I stopped working for Lou altogether.
It made me happy to see him nearly every day since he made a point of visiting me and Bree and sitting in his favorite spot in The Roost’s bar.
“I can see it, ya know.”
“What?” I asked, refusing to let all the emotion I felt surface.
“That pain you’re hidin’. You keep it all bottled up and place that pretty smile on your face. But old Lou knows. I don’t like it.” He smacked the arm of his chair, rattling the scooter. “That’s it. We’re gonna go rustle up trouble.”
I swallowed the sudden lump in my throat. “You see too much, Lou.”
He waved me forward as he turned his ride around. “Let’s go.”
I followed him to the elevator Rook had installed a couple of years ago when Lou could no longer walk. Crow told me the story the night we met and came here after our date at Hoover Dam. I didn’t know it then, but my life was forever altered.
I think I fell in love with Crow almost from the first moment he spoke. He had such a powerful, cocky, but sincere presence.
He was a big man, nearly six foot five. Toned and muscled and thick. Crow had impossibly broad shoulders and short dark hair that he occasionally shaved off. His full lips kissed me more thoroughly than any man ever had, above the waist and below it. He wore a beard, and damn, I loved to run my fingers through it. His presence held me spellbound when he gave me his number, and I still felt that way.
It seemed like fate had destined us to be together.
Lou led me to the kitchen, where he opened the fridge and pulled out a tray. Sliced fruit, various types of cheese, crackers, and dip were arranged in a tempting display. A second tray held an assortment of ham, turkey, and roast beef. “Grab a big plate. We’re gettin’ a snack.”
I wanted to argue that the trays might be saved for something special but fuck it. I wanted some of it, and it looked delicious.
Lou smiled when I filled a plate with the goodies, including cookies and brownies Bree had made that afternoon. She wouldn’t care if we ate them. That was why she made them to begin with. “What do you want to drink?”
“Red wine. You?”
“Beer.”
We loaded his basket with a few bottles of our preferred beverage, and I held the plate as he led the way outdoors. The sun had already sunk below the horizon, and the stars began to pop into view, dotting the horizon with twinkling lights.
Lou pulled up next to me at the picnic table. “Dig in. I’m starved.”
I reached for a hunk of cheddar and made a mini sandwich with a club cracker and a piece of ham. Yum! All this needed was a little Dijon mustard. I’d have to remember that next time.
We ate in silence until we’d cleaned the plate. Lou burped and opened his beer, taking a few pulls before he ticked his chin at me.
“You need me, I’m here. That’s all I’m gonna say about it.”
“I know, and I appreciate that, Lou. I’m just worried about Bree.”
“And Crow. The club. Gail. The list is endless, huh?”
I couldn’t resist a smile. “Does it get any easier?”
“Not when you’re the president or his ol’ lady,” he admitted truthfully.
“What about when you’re scootin’ around and pokin’ in everyone’s business?” I joked.
He snickered. “You got me there.”
“I love that you’re around, Lou. I mean that.”
“I know ya do, honey. You and Bree,” he paused and cleared his throat, “You’re like family to me. Daughters I never had. I like to ensure you’re both being looked after, and no one is messin’ with ya.”
“Nobody does, Lou. They wouldn’t dare. Crow and Raven would lose their shit.”
“Yeah,” he agreed, “and rightfully so.”
“You’re special to us too. I can speak for Bree because she’s said it to me more than once. We both love you.” I leaned over and placed a kiss on his cheek.
He grinned, pushing up the nasal cannula he always wore as it slipped from his nose. Lou never left home without his portable tank. His nurse insisted on it. Lou kept an extra in his basket at the front of the scooter. “Now that’ll give me some good dreams.”
I giggled, pouring my wine into my glass and swirling the contents before taking a sip. “This is nice. For once, I feel relaxed.”
“That’s because you’re almost halfway through that bottle of wine.”
He wasn’t wrong.
I opened my mouth to reply when I saw something sail through the air and sink into his thigh. A little red object. It looked like a dart.
Lou frowned. “The hell?”
A second one lodged into his left arm as he cursed.
“Run, Bella!”
I slipped from the table and crouched, trying to move around the edge so I could clear a path to the door. My gaze swept over the lot, noting the bodies that slumped over or already lay on the ground. How the hell did we miss this?
I knew I should have screamed. It would have brought people running from The Roost. But I realized it would also place the people I loved in even greater danger. Bree didn’t need to be traumatized again. Raven would protect her.
Crow was busy in church with most of the club members. They wouldn’t notice what was happening until it was too late.
Lou staggered from his scooter when the first Dirty Death MC member reached us. His fist swung at the attacker, but he missed. Whatever drug the DDMC used, it was potent.
I cried out when the asshole punched Lou, knocking him against the picnic table. “Hey! Leave him alone!”
Lou’s voice slurred as he begged me to get to safety. He knew my choice as I stood still, flinching when I stood, and a dart hit my leg. My vision blurred as I swayed.
Another DDMC member moved from the shadows and lifted a pistol, whipping it against the back of Lou’s skull. He collapsed against the table, draping over the top and landing on his stomach. I wish they hadn’t done that. There wasn’t a reason to hurt the old guy. He was harmless.
A dark figure moved in front of me. A black faceless mask hid his face. “Undertaker is expecting you, Bella Hart.” He lifted a syringe and plunged it into my neck.
I felt a pinch. A burst of pain at the injection. Then nothing.
Only darkness as I felt my body go limp.
My eyes fluttered as I slowly awakened. I noted that I felt cold, which was odd considering it was summer. The chill didn’t feel like air conditioning. It was more like a damp, moldy cold that penetrated my skin and left me shivering.
It was dark. I couldn’t see much. Something scurried close by and bumped into my ankle. I jolted, pushed off the ground, and crashed into a wall. Stone. My fingertips pressed against the smooth surface, dipping into the grooves.
I kicked as I felt another furry body skitter over my foot. “Ah!”
Dark laughter echoed from across the room. The sound bounced off the walls. “Humans. Natural selection should have bred you from existence. You have no desirable traits, no way to protect yourself from the beasts and monsters.”
Oh, God. That deep, sinister voice. It was terrifying.
“Such a pity your eyesight is so poor.”
I heard a shuffle as he moved, coming closer. My back flattened against the wall. “What do you want?”
“Isn’t it obvious? Come now. You’re one of the smarter ones.”
“Crow,” I whispered.
“Bingo,” he growled.
“You’re Undertaker.” I didn’t have to ask.
“Yes.”
“You owe me,” I blurted, pushing off the wall and moving toward the sound of his voice. “I demand restitution.”
“You demand?” Laughter, albeit tinged with irritation, followed.
“Yes. It’s my right.”
A lightbulb flickered on, and I stood a few feet from iron bars, standing in a jail cell on a muddy floor. A beast of a man was across from me, staring through the bars.
I blinked, adjusting to the light as he reached out and gripped the iron barrier. Something about him was off. Not in the deranged, psychopath way, even if I could tell that was true. No, this was different.
“You sense it. Interesting.”
I shrugged. “I want retribution for my sister. I demand it,” I repeated.
His lips twitched as if he wanted to smile. “You don’t fear me.”
“What point would that make? I know you’re bigger and stronger and could kill me if you wanted. I’d be dead by now if that were your goal. So, no, I’m not afraid. I’m fucking pissed.”
He tilted back his head and howled with laughter, like an actual howl. It reminded me of a wolf. “You’re a good match for the crow. I see now why he mated you.”
That wasn’t important. “Bree was assaulted. Chronos raped her. He beat her.” My voice cracked. “I want justice!”
“He’s dead. There is no further blood to be spilled.”
“That’s not good enough.” I approached the bars, slamming my palm against them. “Crow got vindication. Not me. It’s not the same.”
“No,” he agreed, “it’s not.”
“Then you understand.”
“I do.”
Good.
“But I can’t grant it. Not yet.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re bait.”
Oh. Fuck.