Chapter 8
Chapter Eight
CJ
Beep. Beep. Beep.
What the hell is that noise?
Beep. Beep. Beep.
The sounds come in more clearly as I start to pull from the dark.
With effort, I force my eyes to open. I close them almost immediately at the brightness of the room.
Slowly, I open them again and look around to find I’m in a hospital. My heart begins to race and my breathing picks up.
Oh no.
If they haven’t found me yet, they’ll have been notified by now.
Looking around the room, I try to calm my breathing. If I can get up and find my clothes, I can get out of here before they show and take me away.
My eyes land on Axe sleeping in an awkward position in a chair by my bed.
What’s he doing here?
It’s then it comes back to me. Our argument last night, the drive-by, his words about me staying with him.
Oh, God.
Tears well in my eyes, my hand moves to my stomach to touch where I’d been shot. He’d tried to keep me safe, but I’d been hit before we could take cover.
Watching him sleep right now, he looks so peaceful. I need to get out of here. I don’t want to be the cause of him getting hurt. The last look into his eyes last night will be forever burned into my mind. He’d been afraid.
I don’t ever want to see that look in his eyes again.
Not when I can leave and disappear. Hide somewhere no one can find me.
Maybe I should go down to Haiti, or maybe New Zealand.
Yeah, that sounds good. Going to New Zealand sounds really good right about now.
At least being in an entirely different country altogether leaves less of a chance for them to follow me.
Axe stirs in his sleep, opening his eyes to find me staring at him. “Sunbeam,” he utters the word so quietly I barely hear it through his sleep-filled voice.
Clearing his throat, he sits up and leans forward. He then reaches a hand out to take mine. “How are you feeling?”
“I’m fine. What are you doing here?” I mutter hoarsely. My mouth feels dryer than the Sahara Desert.
“Here,” Axe says, reaching out with his free hand to grab a Styrofoam cup and places the straw to my lips.
I could so kiss him right now.
Wait, no, I couldn’t. I can’t.
Hell, I’ve never even made out with a guy, let alone kiss them platonically.
Damnit, I need to get those thoughts out of my head right now.
“Thank you,” I whisper when he pulls the cup from my lips.
“No problem, Sunbeam, now for the reason I’m here, baby, it’s simple. You’re mine and I’m not going to leave you unprotected here in a hospital where anyone can get to you,” Axe states as if he knows my darkest secret. “Just to let you know, Scorpion is here.”
“Who?” I ask. I don’t know a Scorpion.
“Marcus, CJ. He’s here along with a few of his brothers, his ol’ lady, and Apricot.” My heart rate picks up at the mention of my sister’s name.
“No. She can’t be here. Please, Axe, I won’t ask anything else, but please get them to leave.
Get them to take her and hide her away so they can’t find her.
They’ll come for me . . . please . . . please make them leave.
I’ll go away to keep her safe. I can’t let them get to her and if they’re coming, I don’t want them to lay eyes on her.
Her innocence . . .” I ramble frantically.
Axe moves, sitting on the side of my bed and gently keeps me from moving from the bed when I try to get up. To get away from here. “Calm down, CJ. No one is going to get to you or your sister.”
“But you don’t know. No one knows,” I utter ever so quietly, meeting his intense gaze.
“Sunbeam, I mean it when I say no one is going to come near you. I swear it. You can tell me what’s going on and I’ll protect you. I will always protect you, baby. I won’t lose you when I only just found you.” Axe’s words go straight to my heart like a sledgehammer and smash through my walls.
Tears I’ve held onto for years spill down my cheeks and turn into sobs. Axe climbs into the bed with me and holds me as I cry for the first time in, I don’t even remember.
“Shh, CJ, it’s okay. You’re safe now—no more running. I’ve got you, Sunbeam, I’ve got you,” Axe murmurs soothingly, pressing kisses to the top of my head.
I cry myself to sleep with Axe’s warmth surrounding me, and for once, I don’t fear the dark abyss of my unconsciousness.
SCORPION
I barely held the door open as I listen to CJ’s terror and tears. She’s lived through hell and I will forever live with that guilt.
Viking, my Prez and also the son of our previous president, Hydra, is CJ and my daughter’s cousin.
The whole situation is fucked up. Hydra couldn’t take the girls when they were little, even if he wanted to.
He’d been going through a nasty divorce at the time and the girls’ aunt and uncle took them since that’s what Social Services deemed best.
We’d found out that their aunt and uncle were putting Apricot into the system or up for adoption. I talked to my ol’ lady, Sabrina, about it. She’d been best friends with the girls’ mother. So we adopted Apricot and tried to get CJ as well.
Fuck.
If I’d known the hell she lived in, I would have fought harder.
Silently, I close the door to give Axe and CJ the privacy they deserve. She might not be my daughter legally, but I’ve always seen her as my daughter. Even when she preferred to live on the streets than live with us after she ran away from her aunt and uncle.
Hydra had been livid the first time she came to visit her sister. He found out she was living out of a heap of a car. He wanted better for her.
We all tried to convince her to stay, but she wouldn’t listen. Barely staying more than a few hours with anyone before leaving and none of us seeing her again for a while. Sure she talks to us on the phone but never for long.
I should have seen the signs. Fuck I did see them. I just didn’t know what to do about them.
Now I find out whatever she’s doing is to protect Apricot, my daughter. I need to know what’s going on, but I also need to get someone to watch over Apricot now more than ever.
Making my way to the waiting room, I look to my VP and brothers.
Ice, our VP, isn’t someone you fuck with.
In fact, those who cross him end up regretting it.
Maverick is our Sergeant at Arms. He’s also one of the only people I’d trust right now in our club with my daughter, along with Grimm.
With the shit going on out in Oregon with one of our other clubs, we have problems within the club on who we can trust and not.
For the most part, I know I can trust the brothers at our clubhouse.
“She awake yet?” Ice asks when I step in front of them.
“Yeah, giving her and Axe some time alone,” I mutter and look to Grimm. “I need you to keep Apricot in your sights.” I tell them what I heard CJ say in hysteria to Axe and having heard what the man told her, I have no doubt he’ll protect her from what’s to come.
And whatever that is, I now know to keep Apricot protected more so than she already is. No matter how much she hates it.