Chapter Twenty-Seven
Damon
We ride in formation, speeding down the highway.
It’s not long until we come across Blaze’s car, parked on the side of the road, right near Corey’s mother’s house. There’s a motorcycle there, too.
Shit.
We all come to a stop, and only then do we see the two men rolling in the grass, beating the shit out of each other. I wonder if Blaze ran him off the road—regardless, he did what he said he would.
He stopped him.
River gets off his bike first and runs to him, grabbing Tatum and taking Blaze’s place. The rest of us stand by.
River hits him in the jaw, then kicks him in the stomach. Tatum still stands, trying to punch River back, fists swinging. River is faster, though, and ducks before getting him in the nose, and then knocks him out in two more blows. I approach and hand him some zip ties from my bike, and he ties Tatum up, and drags him into the car.
It was a close call, but we got him. Now to get home and make sure everyone is safe there.
We follow the car all the way back, just to make sure Tatum doesn’t wake up and try anything. When we pull into the clubhouse, the rumble of our bikes loud as ever brings Jag out the front. I pull my helmet off and face him. He gives me a thumbs-up. All is good.
Fucking wonderful.
I worried that Gio would storm our clubhouse instead, with only a few of our members there. But it looks like Leif did his job and kept him at bay by letting him think we were still going through with showing up at their place. And with Corey’s information, we were able to get to Tatum in time. We all owe her.
Everything somehow worked out and I, for one, am glad.
I just need Corey in my arms, and life will be good again.
For now, anyway.
River and Romeo carry Tatum into the garage, and the rest of us head inside.
“There’s one little thing,” Jag says to me as we walk through the front door.
“What is it?” I ask, stopping when I come across Leif sitting in the lounge room, his foot resting on the arm of the leather couch. There’s a blood-soaked bandage around it.
“What the hell happened to you?” I ask, frowning.
“Your old lady shot me,” Leif says casually, opening a bar of chocolate and eating it, like it’s just another fucking day.
“Corey?”
“Yes,” comes her voice from behind me.
I turn and open my arms to her, and she runs into them. “You shot him?” I ask her, eyebrows rising.
She’s okay.
I’m okay.
I don’t care who she fucking shot.
“Yeah, long story,” she says, dangling her arms around my neck and kissing my cheek. “I sent you a text about it, but you didn’t reply, so I had to take matters into my own hands. I’m glad you are home.”
“Me, too. Sorry, I have no idea where my phone went.”
Romeo steps into the room beside me. “Fucking hell, Corey. Julianna told me what happened.”
“He’s alive, though,” Corey says, pointing at him, like it makes it all okay. “At least I didn’t shoot him in the head.”
Romeo scrubs his hand down his face. “You are your brother’s sister, you know that?”
“He’s your brother, too,” she reminds him. He sighs.
“I’ll take Leif to see Dr. Shine,” Jag offers, looking to Romeo for confirmation.
Romeo nods. “Yeah, take Jeremiah with you, though.”
Jag rubs his hands together excitedly.
“Why do you look so happy?” Corey asks him.
“Have you seen Dr. Shine? She’s hot,” he replies, grinning. “Smoking hot.”
“Dr. Shine is our connection at the hospital. She helps us out and doesn’t ask any questions,” Romeo explains.
“I remember hearing her mentioned before,” Corey replies, looking over at Leif’s foot. “But I pictured an old man, not a hot woman.”
Jag helps Leif get up and supports him while he hops out of here. I turn to Corey and ask her to explain herself.
“Shit,” I whisper after she’s given me the rundown. “Of course you’d figure that all out.”
She smiles, wincing. “I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have taken your gun and shot him, but I thought I was protecting the club. That has to count for something right? I didn’t want to mess around in case he was going to hurt us. And Julian was in the house!”
It’s hard to argue with that logic. I’m also in awe of her. How she handled the situation, how she protected everyone. She’s strong, fierce, and a weapon in her own right. And I’d be lying if I said my cock wasn’t hard right now. She clearly has a violent side—when it’s justified.
“No more guns for you,” is all Romeo says to that. But then he pauses on his way past her and touches her shoulder. “But thank you. You are one badass chick, you know that?”
Corey grins, and I shake my head, then grab her and kiss her.
“What’s going to happen with Tatum?” she asks when she looks out the window toward the garage.
“We are going to get information out of him and use him for leverage. But we’re going to move him out of here later tonight,” I explain. “Our goal is to get something to use to make them all leave for good. And then we can be done with these assholes.”
“Corey! I know you betrayed me!” Tatum calls out at the top of his lungs. He’s outside, being taken into the garage. “I wouldn’t have hurt her!”
Yeah, sure.
I take her away from the window. I know this must be hard for her.
We don’t want him here because it’s the first place they will come look for him.
And they will come.
So we need to be ready.
“How weird, my brother is in the garage, being tortured by my other brother,” she muses, sighing.
It hits me then how hard this must be for her. She might not know, or be close to Tatum, but he is still her blood. “Are you okay?” I ask, brow furrowing.
Her chest rises sharply as she takes a breath. “Yeah, I’ll be okay. The whole thing is pretty messed up. And I sent my mom a message when I found out that he was headed there.”
“What did she say?” I ask her, rubbing her nape gently.
“She said she’s fine, and she didn’t think he would do anything to her. And that’s it. No ‘how are you,’ no ‘it’s nice to hear from you.’ No anything,” she says, her hazel eyes sad.
“I’m sorry, Corey. Maybe she will sit on it for a while and reach out when she’s in the right head space,” I suggest, holding her against me. “And if not, it’s her loss. She should be proud to have a daughter like you.”
I don’t know how she accepts her psychotic son but rejects Corey, who is sweet and loyal and talented and smart.
I will never understand it.
And it’s so shitty that I have to try to protect her feelings from her own mother. The woman who birthed her, named her, and raised her.
“Thanks,” she replies, looking up at me through her thick lashes.
Even sad, she is the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.
“You’ve got me now, and I’m always going to be here for you,” I say, lifting her up in a bear hug and carrying her into our bedroom.
I know that nothing will stop the hurt from her relationship with her mother, but I can at least try to love her enough to make up for it. And maybe one day, they will be able to reconnect.
But until then, I got her.
With the adrenaline from today still pumping through my veins, I throw her on the bed, and lock the door behind me.
I’m going to show her just how much I missed her.