Chapter 28 #3
I ’m trembling where I stand in the middle of the parking lot, but it’s got little to do with the fact that I’m not wearing a coat in this frigid night air.
My nerves are completely rattled, and I have to pull myself together before I tell Cherry what little I know of what’s going on.
If I tell her like this, I’ll terrify her, and I don’t want to do that.
I wrap my arms around myself and glance around the lot at the remaining motorcycles just as the steel door of the Twisted Throttle swings open, and Diesel’s massive form barges up to me.
“Vanna, what happened? Ruger said Dean grabbed a couple of the guys and just took off.”
“They did, something happened with Axel.”
“Is he hurt?”
“No, I don’t think so. I don’t know what’s going on.”
He hooks a muscular arm around me and steers me back in the direction of the roadhouse. “Shit, you’re shaking like a leaf. Don’t worry. Dean’s got shit handled, whatever it is. Come back inside and we’ll figure out what’s going on.”
“I have to tell Cherry, and I really don’t know how I’m going to do that, then pretend everything is fine and just go back to playing hostess after all this,” I whimper.
“I’ll clear the place out, you just take care of Cherry and Ace. I’ll handle everything else.”
Maxie is the only one behind the bar when we step inside. “Cherry must still be with Ace.”
“I’ll handle things up here, go talk to Cherry,” Diesel insists once more. I avoid making eye contact with anyone as I head for the corridor beyond the bar. Just as I round the corner, I hear Diesel telling Maxie the party’s over.
When I get to Dean’s old club room, where Ace is hopefully sleeping, I take a breath and quietly open the door to peek inside.
Ace is curled up on his side, asleep, and so is Cherry. She looks like his petite guardian angel, with a slender arm wrapped around him from behind as they sleep, sharing the same pillow.
I don’t want to wake her up. Maybe I shouldn’t.
Maybe letting her sleep is best, since there’s nothing she can do about whatever is going on anyway.
I glance at the digital clock on the nightstand.
It’s a little after midnight. Only a few minutes since Dean took off with the guys.
They probably don’t know anything yet. And who knows how long it will be before he even contacts me with an update.
I chew on my bottom lip while I war with myself over whether or not to wake her up. Would I want to know if I were in Cherry’s place? Yes…I would. Despite not being able to do anything, I would still want to know if there was something going on with Dean.
I softly clear my throat, but it’s enough to cause her to stir.
“ Cherry ,” I whisper. She opens her eyes and carefully moves to look at me without waking Ace.
I motion for her to come out into the hallway.
She already looks concerned, but grabs the blanket at the foot of the bed to cover Ace with before she steps out of the room with me.
“What’s going on?” she whispers as I quietly shut the door behind us.
“I don’t want to wake him,” I whisper back and start walking toward the kitchen to move away from the door.
“It’s really quiet. Is the party over? How long was I asleep?” she asks, keeping pace beside me.
“Diesel and Maxie shut it down and sent everyone home.”
“Why? What happened?”
“Dean got a call and had to leave. Viking, Chopper, and Viper went with him.”
She looks perplexed. “From who?”
“Axel.”
She gently grabs my arm, and we stop walking. “Did something happen to Axel?”
“Dean said he’s okay, but they’re on their way to him now.”
“What happened to Axel?”
“He wouldn’t say, but he did say Axel is okay. I know they were talking on the phone, and I asked if he crashed his bike, and Dean said no. They did send Chopper to get his flatbed, though.”
“What?”
“Legion left earlier… It could have something to do with him.”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake. Did Axel go after Legion?”
I shake my head. “I honestly have no idea what is happening. Legion told me he was meeting someone tonight. All I know beyond that is Dean freaked out and took off, and it has something to do with Axel. I don’t even know for sure if Legion is involved in any way.”
“Would it surprise you?” For some reason, she doesn’t seem as alarmed anymore.
“Are you mad at me for waking you up about this?”
“Of course not. This is the stupid shit we signed up for when we decided to hitch our lives to MC guys,” Cherry says. “Let’s go see what’s left to clean up in the bar while we wait to hear something from them.”
Sitting around really does just make waiting worse. I let out a sigh of relief. “I want to be like you when I grow up.”
“ B ring Legion in the back door by the patio,” I call up to Chopper behind the wheel of his flatbed truck, before turning to Viking.
“Help carry him inside.” I shift my angry gaze to Axel.
“You go to the War Room. You sit your ass down at the table, and you wait there,” I order him.
Without any lip this time, Axel nods, dismounts his bike, and strides into the roadhouse.
“He’s in bad shape,” Viper says, once we’ve got Legion in a bed in one of the vacant bang-around rooms. “I don’t know if he’s gonna die or what, but he needs to be seen by a doctor. We should just dump him at the hospital.”
“For all we know, whoever jumped him meant to kill him and left him for dead. We can’t risk anyone coming to finish the job,” I say.
“Then we need to get a doctor here,” Chopper says. “Do any of us have a medical connection like that?”
“Maybe the Jokers’ do?” Viper suggests.
“Hang on… I might know someone who can help.” Viking pulls out his cell and makes a call to someone who answers pretty quickly.
“Yeah, I know it’s late, we’ve got a bit of a situation.
We need a doctor, fast. It’s an emergency…
Yeah, I’m okay… He’s okay, too… Do you know anyone who could help?
Okay, let me put you on speaker. I’m with Dean, Viper, and Chopper. ”
“I think Jett dated someone who might help… But they’re a vet,” a woman’s voice says through the speaker.
“A combat medic?” Viper asks.
“No, a veterinarian ,” the woman clarifies.
“Fuck…” Viking mutters, then turns to Viper. “Wait. Don’t you know any combat medics?”
“None that could get here any time soon,” Viper says.
“Alright, call Jett and meet us at our clubhouse as soon as you can,” Viking says to the woman. “Thanks, Val.”
“I thought I heard a commotion back here,” Vanna says, stepping into the room and glancing around at us, before she lowers her gaze to the mangled mess that used to be Legion, lying unconscious on the bed.
One hand flies to her mouth as she gasps in horror and clutches the door frame with the other. “Oh god… What happened to him?”
“Axel said he got jumped,” Viking replies.
When she maneuvers herself into the small, already crowded room to be nearer to him…
to sit down carefully on the edge of the bed beside him…
and cautiously reaches as if she’s going to touch his hand because she can’t bear to see him like this…
A surge of jealous rage courses through every fiber of my being, and I want to finish the motherfucker off myself.
She doesn’t touch him, though. That should be enough to settle me.
She’s not touching him, yet …but damn it, she fucking wants to .
She wants to comfort him in that endless, bleeding-heart, compassionate way of hers.
Him. The man I know is in love with my wife.
The man who— given half a fucking chance —would take her from me in a heartbeat.
I exhale slowly through my nose, unclenching my jaw just enough to grit out, “ He’ll fuckin’ live .”
He’ll fuckin’ live just to fuckin’ spite me!
She turns to me, her brows drawing together as if she doesn’t understand my sudden hostility. “He needs help,” she whimpers.
“We’re working on it,” I growl.
“I’ll stay with him until then,” she says, turning back to him as if he’s the priority in her life now, and that’s all I can fucking take. My heart aching, my stomach twisting, I storm out into the hall to head for the War Room with Viking, Viper, and Chopper right behind me.
“Dean…don’t take this out on Axel,” Viking says, keeping his concerned voice low. “I know you’re fuckin’ raging. And you know Vanna is just a kindhearted woman. That’s all that was. She’d be that way about anyone, Dean. You know that.”
I violently shove open the double doors of the War Room and step inside, causing Axel to startle and stare at me as I walk over to claim my seat at the head of the table. Viper, Viking, and Chopper take their seats as well.
“Dean… I…I was just trying to clean up my own mess,” Axel leans forward, elbows on the table, and runs both hands through his disheveled hair, slicking it back.
“Our club is at Legion’s mercy because of me.
I was just trying to get us free of him.
I thought maybe he’d eventually lead me to wherever this contingency plan is.
If I get the leverage, he’s got nothing to hold over any of us anymore. ”
“That crew might have killed you had they caught you.” It’s impossible to keep the growl from my tone, and I slam my fist hard on the table.
“Do you understand me? Do you have any fucking idea what that would do to us if something happened to you?” Axel is visibly shaken, sitting with his hands in his lap, eyes wide and glassy.
My throat constricts around a painful knot as I stare back into his watery blue eyes.
“I’m sorry, Dean,” he nearly whimpers. “I…I only did it because I love you guys.”
“I would fucking kill Legion right now if it wasn’t to the detriment of your freedom! This is why we tried to keep you out of it! To fucking protect you!”
Axel lets out a frustrated sigh. “ But that’s why I ?—”
“Talk to him.” I turn to Viking. “Get through to him. Whatever I’ve said, whatever I’ve done clearly isn’t working.” I stand and head for the door. If I don’t hit something soon, I’m going to fucking explode. “I’m failing him… I’m fucking failing everyone around me!”
“Dean, breathe , bro. Everyone is alright,” Viking reminds me. “Everyone that matters, anyway. Go swing on something in the gym for a little while before you spiral out. I’ll talk to him, okay?”
I’m just about to the door when Axel jumps up. Thankfully, Chopper prevents him from reaching me before I make it out of the room.
I don’t bother wrapping my hands before I start throwing punches on the bag, each one landing with a thud that echoes through the empty gym. I keep punching until my knuckles ache, my muscles burn, but it’s not enough.
I see her face in my mind. Her worry, her pain, her compassion for him.
I punch harder. The bag jerks back violently, swinging on its chain. My breaths are ragged, my chest tight with something I wish I could purge.
I shouldn’t feel like this. I know what kind of person she is. That kindness of hers, that softness… It’s why I fell in love with her. But right now, it’s eating me alive.
I keep slugging the leather. Again and again. Until my fists feel as numb as I wish my heart would, until my arms are shaking. But it’s still not enough.
I don’t stop until a voice breaks through the haze of my thoughts.
“Hey,” Viking says from the doorway. “Val’s here, and the vet will be here any minute.”
I drop my fists, catching my breath, only realizing now how much sweat I’ve got dripping down my face as my heart pounds in my ears.
“Great,” I mutter. He’ll be fine. But I still feel like I’m bleeding.