Chapter 17
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
JACK
My phone ringing wakes me from my sleep, and I reach over to touch my girl, but find cold sheets.
Looking to the side, I smile. I forgot that she had to stay at her place last night because she was up early, boiling sugar to make some new candies for the store.
Reaching over for my phone, my smile widens seeing Lilith’s name and face fill the screen.
“Morning, baby. Miss me already?”
“Jack.” Her voice wavers, and I am instantly on high alert.
“What is it, baby? What happened?”
“I left for work this morning and found an envelope on my car,” she cries, the fear vibrating through her voice.
I leap out of bed, putting the phone on speaker so I can get dressed and still speak to her. Dressing in a pair of jeans, a clean T-shirt, and my cut, I tug on my boots.
“I am coming to you, Lilith. Go back inside of the house and wait for me. We will be there soon, baby.”
“Okay, hurry, Jack.”
I hang up, rushing from the room and calling for the guys.
“We need to ride,” I bellow.
All of my brothers look to me, and without hesitation, they join me in the middle of the room, while my anger builds and my need to get to my girl races through my blood. Speaking of blood, I have no doubt that I will be spilling plenty of what runs through that pig’s veins.
I know it was him who did this.
“What has happened?” Pres asks, coming from the kitchen.
“Someone left a photo on Lilith’s car. She found it this morning and called me crying and scared.”
“Where the fuck was the prospect that we had on her?” Sarge snarls.
“Fuck knows, but I intend to find out,” I say through gritted teeth.
“Go. Keep me posted,” Pres calls to me with a chin lift.
I see in his eyes that he wants to know that Lilith is safe and okay. He knows how I feel about her.
We ride out as soon as we all fire up our bikes.
Images of how scared Lilith must be file through my head, and my anger grows. It makes my blood boil seeing men take pleasure in hurting and scaring women; they do not deserve to live if you ask me. Fucking cowards.
When we arrive at Lilith’s apartment building, I park my bike, my brothers hot on my heels, as I charge for the door.
“No sign of the prospect,” Calder calls out.
“Find him,” Royal snaps, and Calder nods, looking at Finan who goes with him.
When we reach Lilith’s door, I knock and I hear a little startled cry from the other side.
“Baby, it’s me. I have Royal, Travis, Maverick, and Lennox with me.”
Shuffling sounds come from inside, and then the door unlocks. Pushing the door open, I see her there, shaking, her arms wrapped around her waist in fear.
“Fuck,” I hear my twin mutter.
“Baby, where are the photos?” I ask her as I take in her in my arms, soothing her to calm her down.
Her body shakes as it rests against mine, and I fucking hate it that she is scared. He will pay for doing this to her. I try to dampen down my anger and focus on her.
Lilith points to the kitchen counter, and Royal moves in to have a look. I can tell by the look on his face that I am not going to like what he sees.
“It is us, being intimate,” my girl murmurs against my chest.
“That fucker has been spying on you,” Royal snaps, making Lilith jump. I hold her tighter. “Maverick, check to see if any cameras caught who dropped that off. I want them found, so we can link it to that piece-of-shit ex and take him down.”
“No” —Lil pulls back from me, but I do not let her get far— “You cannot get into trouble because of me. We discussed this. He is not worth it.”
“Fuck that shit, baby. He will pay for scaring you. A man like him will not stop. He feeds off you being scared of him and him getting away with the shit he pulls,” I tell her.
Her eyes fill with worry, and it warms my heart that she is thinking of my safety, and the club’s. Fucking Ol’ Lady material right here in my arms.
I lead Lilith into the living room, the guys close behind us. Sitting on her sofa I pull her into my lap, needing to keep her close so I can support and comfort her. She snuggles against my chest, her hand gripping the edge of my cut, like she needs to feel it to keep her grounded.
“Lilith, you need to know that with the Rugged Skulls, none stand alone. Once you are ours, we take care of you. You belong to my brother now, so we will all protect you with everything we have, like I know that all of the members will do for both Tree and Archer,” Royal explains.
I expect more of a fight, but she sighs, her body deflating a little as she replies.
“Thank you.”
He gives her a nod, smiling at her.
“Keep her, brother.”
“I plan to,” I reply to my twin.
Calder and Finan come walking inside and I see a grim look on both of their faces.
“We found the prospect,” Finan informs us.
“Locked in the trunk of a car. He is okay, pissed that someone got the jump on him, but he is fine. Called Pres, he is sending Opal and Jodie to collect him to be checked over. He saw nothing. No suspicious vehicles came by; no strange people walking past. One thing he does think is that whoever did it was a kid.”
“Why would he think that?” Royal asks.
Lilith shifts on my lap, so my arm around her back and the one across her thighs tighten.
“The angle of the hit suggests they were shorter than him. The fucker is nearly six feet tall, and the hit came from below his height, striking him at his temple,” Finan speaks up.
Lilith gasps, sitting up with wide eyes. “He uses kids as informants, he has done it for years. One time he caught a fourteen-year-old boy stealing, and with the promise of not sending him to jail, he made the boy get him information on a big drug dealer. I heard him bragging to some of his officer friends that he was helping take down some of the smaller drug runners, but he would get the big boss. The boy got shot when the dealer found out it was him who was passing on information.” She is crying by this point, and it breaks my fucking heart.
“Now he definitely needs to be put to ground,” Lennox snarls from his position, cracking his knuckles.
“I agree,” Travis growls. “I will gladly make him hurt first.”
“Fuck yeah,” Mav calls out.
“I can’t fucking believe that he got a child, a minor, to watch you having sex,” Finan growls.
Young kids being connected to illegal sex crimes is a sore point for him after what happened to Juni a few years ago. Our niece was chatting with a girl her age online, and they wanted to meet up, but Joss told her no because she had heard some nasty shit in the media about young girls being catfished by perverts, and as it turned out, that is what happened to Juni.
She was kidnapped and Joss came to us, the Rugged Hunters, to help find her daughter. That is how she and Finan got together.
Juni is a big part of the club, and I know that Dom adores her, they banter like siblings, and they take care of the younger club kids.
“He is on a power trip. Fucking Lilith over and marrying her cousin was not enough for him. When they were together his life was a game and she was a pawn. His job and his cheating are what made his ego so fucking big; he thinks he is untouchable, but he has not dealt with the Rugged Skulls MC yet,” Royal states firmly.
I nod to him, and Lilith sags against me again. Her body fits against mine like she was made for me. My heart is completely fucking gone for her; she owns every part of me.
“It wasn’t until after I left him that I saw clear signs of his twisted games. I was a fool to not see them earlier. What hurts, alongside his betrayal, is that my family, including my father, knew what he was doing. My father will not speak out against my mother, she rules the house, and God bless anyone who steps in her way. It is why my father gave me most of my trust fund to set up Wicked Sugar here, and he did it so that I got as far away from my family as possible.
“You saw them at the wedding, Jack; none of them offered me any support. They blame me for his cheating, saying I was not good enough to keep him, like my cousin will be. Hell, I have zero doubt that they made arrangements between them to have an open marriage. Most of my uncles cheat, and their wives take the money and gifts as huge bribes. They make me sick,” my girl rambles, and I fucking love how strong her voice gets.
Cupping her jaw, her eyes widen as I move in, and sipping from her delicious lips I kiss her, taking my fill.
“I will never cheat on you, Red, baby. You know that, right?”
She nods. “I know, Jack. You are one of the good ones.” She smiles at me, pressing her forehead against mine.
“Hey, I am the best of the good ones,” Calder chimes in, making my girl giggle.
“Nah, brother, you are just scared shitless of your woman. Kady would rip your balls off if you stuck your dick in another woman.” Maverick punches his arm.
We all laugh at their antics, as Calder rubs his arm, then flips Lennox off.
“I think it would be best if Lilith stays at the clubhouse for a few days,” Finan’s voice breaks through the laughing.
Lilith tenses in my lap, her gaze landing on Finan across the room. He is standing in an imposing position: his legs parted, his thick arms crossed over his chest as he looks at her. He can look like a mean fucker when he needs to, but I know that he is only thinking of Lilith and her safety.
“Might not be a bad idea, brother,” Royal says, gaining my attention.
“Lil, baby, I agree with my brothers.” My hand cups her face, my thumb brushing gently over her cheek as she looks at me, not speaking.
“I can just stay here, Jack. I don’t want to bring this to your doorstep where your son lives.” She tries to scramble off my lap, but I don’t let her get far.
My hands clamp down on her legs, keeping her in place. With my heart rate picking up speed, I look my girl in the eyes, making sure that she hears what I have to say next.
“Lilith, baby, I know that you are scared of this fucker, but he will not get close enough to you to touch you. What happened with the prospect was a slip up, and we will be doubling protection. And I agree with Finan, staying at the club is for the best for now.”
“What about the shop? I still need to open and bake cakes and make candy.” Her voice is low, and filled with fear, and it guts me that I can’t stop her feeling this way just yet.
That cunt cop did a number on her when he fucked with her head and emotions.
“You can still go to the shop. We will post a prospect inside of the shop and one outside, keeping a close eye on you when I am working,” I promise her.
“Okay, Jack.” Her hand cups my jaw, mirroring what I am doing to her.
Her hands on me ignite my body, and I know that this is not the right time. The moment is sweet and just for us, even with my brothers in the room. Her gaze locks with mine and something deep passes between us; she knows that I will keep her safe.
She knows that I will do everything in my fucking power to make sure that she is never hurt again, by anyone else or me. It is not in my nature to hurt a woman, and if I were pushed, I would just hand her over to my mom.
Everyone fears Risky.
“I love you, Jack.” I smile at her, leaning in and pressing my lips to hers, and she sighs contently.
“I love you too, Red, baby.”
“Okay, enough of this sappy shit, when my woman is not around for me to be sappy with her. Lil, go pack your things, honey. We will take you to the clubhouse and form a plan to make sure this prick stays away from you,” Royal calls to her.
“Okay.” She goes to slip off my lap but stops.
She looks at me, then leans in, kissing me, leaving me fucking breathless, before she jumps up and leaves the room. My gaze follows her until she is out of sight, and I hear the guys chuckling from across the room and Royal, who is sitting in front of me on the coffee table.
“You have it bad, brother.” He smirks.
I nudge his boot with my own, grinning like a lovesick fool.
“He has always had it bad for her,” Lennox states.
I shrug. “Can you blame me? My girl is hot as fuck and sweet to boot.”
“It is the right time for you both now, brother. Back then, with Dom coming into your life, it would have caused you both some shit, and it would have ruined you. Seeing you both now, it will last,” Finan speaks up.
“He has a point. She will be good for both you and Dom. Lilith has a way with him that I think his own mother wouldn’t have. She was rotten through and through, man. I am glad that Risky ran that bitch out of town.” Travis grunts and the guys nod in agreement.
“It was partly my fault for not using my own condoms, and I would never regret Dom, but I am glad that he does not have to deal with the bullshit she would have brought into his life. Lilith will be good for him.”
“And you and your lonely little cock,” Calder teases, winking at me.
I pick up a cushion and throw it at him, just as Lilith steps back into the room. She looks between us men and shakes her head.
“Do I want to know?”
I jump to my feet, taking the bag from her, tossing it at Calder as Finan takes her suitcase from her.
“Nah, baby, just Calder being a little shit.” I wink and kiss her gently.
“Jack Masters, there is nothing little about me and you know it,” Calder dramatically calls out.
Lilith giggles, stepping to me. I touch my lips to hers as soon as she is close enough.
“You ready?” I ask.
She looks at me for a few seconds, like she is trying to convey what she is feeling, but I know, because I feel the same way.
“Yeah, Jack, I am ready.” She nods.
The clubhouse is the best place for he when she is not in work, but I know that we need to find this fucker and make him pay for taunting her.