Chapter Fifteen
“Y ou’re fine where you are, little one,” Raven said, his hand still moving in slow, soothing circles on her back. He hoped she wouldn’t try to hop up and disappear again. He hoped this wouldn’t set her back, though he would understand if it did. It probably would, he knew, and he wished he knew what to do to make it better for her. He hated seeing her like this.
It had taken more than a week for the swelling to disappear from her face and most of her bruises had faded, at least the ones that her clothes didn’t cover. Now, what he could see was more of a sickly yellow than purple or black like they had been for a while. He could only hope the ones he hadn’t seen since that first day were doing the same. But he wouldn’t ask. Not now, not ever. He didn’t want her thinking that her body was all he thought about, at least not in the way he feared she would take the concern.
She would see it as him wanting to know how much longer she would be there. How much longer she would be a burden. How much longer she would be someone they had to take care of. That wasn’t what he was thinking at all, and until he figured out to express what he needed her to know, he would keep his mouth shut.
“Are you sure?” she asked, staring at him with wide eyes.
She reminded him of a child when she looked at him like that. A child who had been abused and mistreated and didn’t know who or what to believe anymore. It made him feel like a dirty old man for the way he thought about her. Not that he would let her see it. Not until she was ready for that kind of relationship, and not until she’d learned she could trust him, always.
Slowly, she relaxed. Dax left, going back to manning the bar, Raven assumed. Freud assured them she was fine and left, leaving the door open so Taylynn wouldn’t freak at being closed alone in a room with a man. Taylynn started to get up, to leave after the medic did, but he talked her into staying. Distracting her from the fact that she was still sitting on his lap by talking to her.
“Tell me more about you, little one. Where did you grow up?” he asked,
Taylynn shook her head. He’d expected that. Talking about herself was something she’d refused to do, other than to give Freud the basics of what she’d been through while she’d been with the Demons. While what little she’d disclosed was bad enough that Raven wanted to hunt them all down and make sure they never treated another woman like that, he knew it hadn’t been all of it. He knew she’d held back the worst of it, or at least what she saw as the worst. That was okay. He would wait until she was ready to tell him. He tried another tactic.
“Let’s turn on the TV and find something to watch.” He reached for the remote to the TV mounted on the wall opposite where his bed sat. “What do you like to watch?”
Taylynn remained quiet. He turned on the TV and looked at her, waiting for her to give some input on what to turn on.
“You like sitcoms?” he started flipping through channels.
“Not really.” Her voice was so soft he almost didn’t hear her, but he did
Elation shot through him. She was talking. She was telling him what she liked. “That’s okay, what about family dramas?” he carefully didn’t look at her as he continued flipping through channels.
“I’m not into that fake stuff.” Her voice was a little louder this time.
Raven frowned, but quickly wiped his expression. He didn’t want her to think he was unhappy with her. “Then tell me what you like,”
“I like action movies. I like cop shows, you know the kind where they catch the bad guy and the good guys go home and live happy lives.”
“I can work with that.” He kept his expression blank as he tried to find something that fit her likes on TV, the whole time thinking how backwards that she didn’t like family dramas and saw them as fake but liked shows where the bad guys were always caught. Especially after the life she’d been forced to survive over the last several months. He wouldn’t say living because while technically, she’d been alive, she’d been surviving, not living.
It took him a moment, but he found a rerun of a series about the FBI Behavioral Analysis Unit. The series was over, but it could be found in reruns on a lot of channels.
“How’s this one?”
“I’m not sure I’ve ever seen this movie.” She frowned at the screen.
“It’s not a movie, it’s a series.”
She turned and frowned at him, “Is it new?” Taylynn didn’t bother waiting for an answer before turning back to the screen.
“No, but just sit here and watch it for a bit.” He kept rubbing her back, hoping as she got into the show she would continue to relax. Maybe get comfortable enough with him that she forgot to guard her every expression or word.
By the first commercial break, she had moved around in his lap so she could lean against his shoulder. Because of the way she’d moved, Raven now rubbed up and down her uninjured arm. The touch was nothing big, nothing overt, but she seemed content to let him do it, and he liked the soft, velvety feel of her skin under his hand. He liked that while she hadn’t looked at him since that one glance while they were talking about the show, she seemed comfortable there, in his chair, in his lap, watching TV and touching him, even if she wasn’t doing any active touching.
By the time the first episode was over Taylynn had let her head fall against him and he could tell by the soft snoring that she’d fallen asleep. Content to stay like that for the rest of the day, he let the TV play the next episode and wrapped his arms around her. It hadn’t taken as long as he feared for her to become more comfortable with him. Though he wasn’t where he wanted to be, not yet. Still, this was progress, and he would enjoy it while he could.
****
A fter dinner, Raven offered to watch more TV with her, but Taylynn said she was going to take a shower and read in bed a while before going to sleep. He watched her leave, then turned to Jersey who’d been sitting on his other side.
“Send word out. Church in an hour. I want everyone who’s not busy on club business present.” Once the order was given, Raven retreated to his office. He wanted to go over everything one more time before taking the issue to the table for his brothers to vote on.
By the time Raven made it into the chapel a little over an hour later everyone else was present.
“I know I crack down hard on all of you for being late, and I apologize. I was on the phone with Shotgun getting an update on the situation and it took longer than I anticipated.” He stood in front of his chair, his eyes scanning the room for a moment then sat. “As far as we can tell, the Demons have no clue that Taylynn survived. That puts us at an advantage. You all know I want to end them over what they did to her, not just how we found her but everything they subjected her to over the last year. She still hasn’t told me all of it, and she may never be able to. I know enough to know I want them all wiped from this earth. Shotgun is working on getting his hands on Ace, but it’s proving a little more difficult than he anticipated. What I want to know is our end plan. Smokey, tell me what you’ve got.” He looked at the brother known for being fond of building gadgets and making things go boom.
“I’ve been doing a bit of research. Interestingly enough, the Demons’ clubhouse has an fascinating history. Apparently, the building dates back to around 1900 and was once a speakeasy during Prohibition.”
“Interesting but why the fuck does that matter to us now?” Snoopy said, rolling his eyes.
“Because its history as a speakeasy means it has a basement. Did any of you know that?”
Heads shook around the table.
“Why does it having a basement matter?” Snoopy didn’t seem satisfied.
“It’s not just the basement, but that particular one has an escape tunnel, actually it used to have more than one, but the one that matters is the one that still exists. It does have a brick wall across the entry to the building but that’s easily taken care of.” The grin that spread across Smokey’s face told them all he had a plan. One that was most likely dangerous and if done right, could mean the end of their Demons problem.
“Tell us what you have in mind,” Raven said, sitting back in his chair as he wove his fingers together and listened.
An hour later, satisfied they had a good plan in place, Raven adjourned the meeting. He watched as one by one his brothers filed out of the room until all that was left was Jersey, Freud, and himself. Panther, who was the last one out, closed the door behind him, as Raven had requested.
“What’s on your mind?” Freud said as soon as the door clicked shut.
“I’m torn and I want opinions, from both of you,” Raven said, looking at the older man, then to his VP and back again.
“All right,” Jersey said. “Lay it on us.”
“We know what we want done, we know where, we know the how, but what I’m struggling with is the who.” He held up one hand, stopping the questions before they started. He wanted to finish what he meant first. “I know we all want in on this, if only to have our brothers’ backs. But I need someone, and preferably more than one, to stay here with Taylynn, just in case. It would be stupid to assume we can get them all in one fell swoop, no matter how hard we try, and I’d hate for us all to be out avenging her only to have one of them come in here, find her and end up back in their hands.” He paused, looking at each of them again.
“I would like you to stay with her, but my gut tells me we will want you closer to the action,” he said to Freud, then turned to look at his VP. “So tell me what the two of you think.” He leaned back in his chair, watching and waiting for their input.
Freud took a deep breath and exhaled in a rush, puffing out his cheeks, but he didn’t say anything. Jersey tilted his head, watching Raven for a moment.
“This seems a bit excessive for a piece of ass. Are you sure we need to go this far for her?”
“She’s not another piece of ass. Or a club mama, and you know it.”
“But she’s not family. I didn’t want to stir trouble by questioning you in front of everyone, but don’t you see this burn them to the ground and salt the earth approach as a bit much for some chick you picked up on the side of the road?”
Raven saw red. He clenched his fists and flexed his jaw, trying not to say something he knew he would regret later. It took several deep breaths, inhaled then exhaled slowly, before he was able to regain control of his temper. Once he was sure he wasn’t going to say something rash, something he couldn’t take back, he pinned Jersey with a look that told him exactly how murderous Raven was feeling right now.
“She’s not in a place to make a decision right now, and I’d really prefer a chance to talk it over with her before it becomes public knowledge, but I intend to make Taylynn my old lady. My plan is for her to have my property patch on her back. Does that make her family enough for you?” He couldn’t help the way his anger ramped back up as he spoke and by the time he’d finished he was talking through clenched teeth.
“It does.” Jersey held both hands open in front of him, as if showing someone he was unarmed. Raven knew that wasn’t true but at least there was nothing in his hands. “And just to be clear, I’m not trying to be an ass, but if something goes wrong, and someone ends up hurt or worse, the rest of them will start to wonder if it was worth it. My knowing this now lets me answer any questions anyone might have with certainty.”
“I’m actually surprised no one’s asked why we’re doing this before now. I don’t know if they see what’s growing between you or if they are just as appalled by what she’s been through as we are. Either way, it’s good to know,” Freud said. He took another deep breath and continued speaking, “Dax should be one of the men who stays with her.”
Raven opened his mouth to ask of his medic and old friend had lost his mind, but Freud spoke again, stopping him.
“Hear me out. Before she walked into him, they were getting along great. I don’t think she’ll associate the panic attack with him. Especially after she insisted on apologizing to him. I think it will make them closer in the long run.”
Raven clenched his jaw and fought the urge to deny the older man’s claim. He didn’t want Taylynn getting closer with Dax, he wanted her getting closer with him.
“I see where you went with that and it’s not what I meant,” Freud said. “What I meant is they will be better friends. Friends. I know what you want from her and I’m not saying it won’t end up there, eventually, but I will caution you to be careful with her. She’s been through a lot and that’s going to affect her for a while.”
“I know that. I’m not completely heartless. Besides, I just spent several hours with her, calming her down and making sure she was in a good place. It’s part of why I want to make sure this is done. I need to be sure the fuckers who did this to her are eliminated, to make sure she never has to worry about them coming back and taking her again.”
“I understand.” Jersey said, his voice soft, “So let’s get this done.”
The last thing he wanted to do was to sit here thinking about all the details that Taylynn had shared with him. With every bit she revealed, he was more and more determined to make sure none of the Demons survived. He had to be careful with how they went about it, though. He would make sure Ace knew why they were dying but he didn’t want it to blow back on the club. That meant they couldn’t take over the Demons’ territory, at least not right away. He also needed to make sure there was a time gap between when they picked her up a couple of months ago and when they all died, just in case someone went snooping and realized where Taylynn had come from.
That meant they had longer to plan, to make sure they did the job right. And he had his best men, Smokey and Panther, working on the plan of how to go about it and acquiring what they would need.
Those worthless fuckwads had a limited number of breaths left, even if they didn’t know it