Chapter Thirteen
P owerhouse
We’re on my bike, and for the first time, she almost falls off.
I nearly wreck reaching back to catch her, but mange to stop it in time.
I pull off the road immediately, kickstand going down and engine turning off.
My heart's about to beat out of my chest, the concern drowning me over whether Raven’s okay or not.
“What is it, what’s happened?” I’m frantic as I turn around, worried she’s burned herself somehow or something else harmed her during our ride.
My eyes dart to her face, finding it abnormally pale.
Her stare’s locked on a vehicle ahead of us.
My hands move to her, rubbing her arms that no longer hold me as I try to get her to respond.
It’s how I knew something was wrong in the first place; her hold on me had disappeared.
“Chicken nugget?” I ask again, trying to make her smile, but she’s practically comatose as if she’s seen a ghost. “The fuck is it, baby, G-damn you’re worrying me,” I admit, then finally glance around.
The first thing I notice is the dance center we’re parked directly in front of, and it hits me like a Mac truck.
She used to practice here. However, she’s not looking at it; she’s staring off into traffic.
I’m not generally a smart type of guy, but it’s not hard for me to eventually get a clue and piece some shit together.
She saw something, and there’s only one thing that upsets my woman badly enough to have her fold into herself. Her injury.
“Did you see someone?” I eventually find the courage to ask. She’s silent, so I give her a shake, then immediately lean in to kiss her forehead. “Tell me.”
“I-I-” she stammers, blinking several times as she collects her thoughts. “It was nothing. Nobody, I’m fine.”
“Yeah, sugar cakes, you are absolutely not fine. Not even a little bit. Tell me who the fuck you saw, now.” I generally never speak to her with such force, but I feel like it’s the only way to reach her so she’ll actually speak up.
She sighs, finally breaking her stare with the now-empty traffic light. “It was my old dancing partner. I wasn’t expecting to ever see him again. He must be in town teaching or something.”
“He moved?” I haven’t pressed her on anything injury-related over the last couple of weeks since she broke down and admitted to me what all she went through.
Don’t get me wrong, I wanted to. However, I’m not an idiot.
I know when to back off and give someone some space to breathe, and my little paprika needed it.
She was back to her sweet smiling self until just now, and so help me, I want to rip the throat out of the assclown who made her look like a G-damn ghost all of a sudden.
She nods, gaze flicking down before meeting mine again. “Yeah, he, uh, went on to dance with a prominent company. He’s practically famous now, well, he is in the dance world.”
“Fuck that pissant. What was he driving?”
“I’m not sure, we should go,” she murmurs, lying.
It’s all good, my baby can tell her lies about this all she wants.
I’ll find out the truth myself regardless.
I’m going to hunt the motherfucker down who hurt her and break his goddamn legs.
I’ll bend each of his fucking twinkle toes until they snap.
He’ll pay for what he’s done to my girl and wish for the rest of his straw-sipping days I leave him alive that he never hurt my precious gumdrop in the first place.
“Whatever you say, pookey. You need me, just squeeze, okay?”
She nods, and I press a kiss to her lips before twisting back around.
I fire my engine up once again, the vibration calming me enough to focus on pulling back onto the street.
She’s gripping me tightly once more, so I let the ride do its work.
We stay on the road until my fingers are frozen and I can’t feel my nose.
Some of my brothers hate riding in the cold, but I don’t mind it.
Reminds me of a cold plunge bath in a way, you get just as chilled, all the way to the bone by the time you’re done.
Raven’s teeth are chattering as we climb off, and I wrap my arm around her, walking with her tucked into me to warm her up as we head inside the club.
I open the door for her and follow her inside, catching her hand before we’re surrounded by the brothers. She spins to face me and signs.
“I’m headed to the room. I need a hot shower to warm up.”
“Want some company?”
“Not this time.” She signs back, and my throat tightens, knowing there’s no way I can fix things for her in this moment. I had hoped the ride would help clear her mind, like it helped calm me down so I could think straight again.
“Okay, shortcake,” I nod and let her fingers slip through mine. I hate that she’s hurting.
Mouse, Blow’s prospect, comes in right behind us, and I stop him.
“Ride over to HEB and get my little feisty paprika some hot chocolate mix and marshmallows. Make sure you get the ‘ Organics’ brand; she doesn’t like any of the crappy ingredient shit.
” He already knows she’s picky on ingredients; hell, the entire club does.
I wouldn’t have it any other way, though. I love my boo bear just the way she is.
“Sure, Powerhouse, no problem.”
“Get some of the peppermint essential oils too. They’ll be in the health food section, again, make sure it says organic on it.” I pass him a twenty-dollar bill and nod my thanks.
“Be back in a few,” he says, and then he’s headed back outside in the cold. Kid’s gonna freeze his dick off now since the sun’s setting. He better hurry the fuck up; I need something to cheer my woman up, and I’m hoping hot cocoa is the way to go.
“Richardson!” I bark, waving him over to me as I find a spot at the bar. I gesture to Manic to get me a beer and then turn to Angel. “I’m going to need to talk to you about this shit, too.”
Angel’s scarred brow rises, but he remains quiet, waiting.
He’s got the woman we found in the club from when we rescued Plague’s friend beside him.
She watches us, not saying anything. I can’t help but wonder how their dynamic works.
As far as I know, he’s not fucking her. I’ve caught a glimpse inside his room, passing by, and I saw an oversized dog cage in there.
Makes me think maybe she was a little more fucked up over what happened to her by the cartel, who took her, and she refuses to give the safety of a cage up.
I know he won’t be locking her in there against her will.
Prez wouldn’t put up with that shit, regardless of how much of a badass Angel is.
“It’s about my girl,” I admit with a sigh, once I have both of their attention. I know that out of everyone, my brothers will be there for us. I’d never trust anyone else with something this important.
“Is Raven okay?” Richardson asks.
I send him a silent glare telling him to shut the fuck up until I’m done talking. He’s the newest patched member aside from the prospect we’re about to vote on, so he’s low on the pecking order.
I proceed to fill them both in on her injuries, how they happened, and share that she still suffers from the repercussions.
I end the story on today, and what went down on our ride earlier.
Everything inside me wanted to follow the fucker and handle business right then and there, but Raven wasn’t having it, and I respect her enough not to press her.
“She won’t tell me what he drives. Let alone anything about him to point me in the right direction.
I don’t know what dance she was practicing for when everything happened.
Raven was the lead role in more than one, which, from what I’ve Googled, is unheard of in ballet.
She was that fucking good, to be cast in multiples.
My woman was completely dedicated, spent damn near her entire life planning to be a top ballerina.
” I have to brag a little, because she earned that shit.
I continue, “I need to find this prick. I’m going to break his leg bones and disfigure his feet, but I don’t know what to do to figure out where to snatch his ass.
Richardson, I know you have experience in searching for people since you worked alongside Prez’s ol’ lady.
Angel, you always find whoever the fuck owes us or crosses us.
Well, this motherfucker has crossed me by hurting my shortcake.
I want his name. I want his location. And, so help me, I want to hurt the motherfucker, like yesterday. Can you two get me what I need?”
Richardson pins his stare on Angel, waiting to take orders like he’s good at.
The guy is smart, a lot smarter than me, so he should know where to search.
Angel flicks his gaze to the woman beside him, then back to me and Richardson.
“Yeah, brother, I can do that. Richardson, do a search online, and see if you can find the basics out about this dipshit. Once we have a potential name and location, I’ll go to work about rooting him out. ”
My chest deflates, the stress I was holding letting up with these two in on my dilemma. “Appreciate it. I wanted to chase him down today,” I confess.
Angel shakes his head, “Too messy.”
Richardson speaks up, “You sure this is what she wants? Raven doesn’t strike me as a violent type of person, more of a live and let live.”
I nearly punch him for thinking about my woman period. “Hey numbnuts, the fuck do you know about my gumdrop and what she’s like?”
His hands rise in surrender, “Nothing. I know nothing, just her temperament is calm and kind.”
“Say something nice about her again and I’m chopping your dick off.”
The woman beside Angel laughs quietly to herself, and witnessing her relax around us has my lips tipping into a smile. Angel pulls her to him, always ready to show her she’s protected.
“Look, my woman may think she can let this go, but I can see inside her. Her soul needs to be able to heal, and while this fucker continues to breathe, she’ll always have the fear locked inside her. I may not be able to give her much, but this is something I can fix.”
Ripper comes up from the open side of our little group. “You digging into something that will stir shit up for the club?”
I shrug. “It shouldn’t. However, if that changes at any time, I will bring it to the table.”
His hand falls to my shoulder as he claps it and squeezes with brotherly affection. “Good. I can always depend on you to help keep the club out of shit, ‘House, so if you have an issue, let us help.”
My chest puffs out a bit at his compliment. I’m a whore for Raven’s praise, but the prez’s isn’t so bad either. It’s tough being the favorite around here some days, but someone has to do it, and that someone is obviously me.
“Thanks, Prez. Also, I booked a fight, so get your betting money ready, brothers.”
Prez lets out a whoop, announcing to the group who are drinking and kicking back all around the room, “Guess what, brothers? Powerhouse has booked a fight!”
Cheers fill the room, making me feel even better about the decision I made.
Everyone is excited to fill their pockets, and I can only hope it works out that way for me, too.
I have a plan in motion, one that’ll hopefully make my woman realize just how much I’ve fallen for her.
Thinking of her has my gut twisting with a touch of uneasiness.
I can’t help but wonder how she’ll react to my fighting.
I worry she’ll see me in a different light and maybe even become scared of me, and it’s the last way I ever want her to feel with me.
Maybe I can hide it? Should I?