Chapter 2
GUNNER
Present Day . . .
“Daddy, I’m hungry.”
Hearing my daughter call out to me . . . calling me daddy . . . warms my heart. I give her a grin and motion for her to join me. “Come here, Pipsqueak, and tell me what you want.”
Spinning on the bench she is sitting on next to Rebel, Rogue’s ol’ lady, Delilah jumps up and rushes toward me.
I hold my arms out and squat down as she goes to tackle me.
She loves tackling and trying to push my brothers and me over whenever she gets the chance.
When she gets older, I know with the help of all the ol’ ladies of the club, she’ll be a ballbuster. I can see it now.
“What do you want to eat, Princess?” I ask, standing to my feet and taking her with me.
“Hot dog, chili, barbeque chicken, and mac and cheese,” she states, looking at the food lined up on the table.
“You got it, but you need some veggies too,” I declare, giving her a chance to pick which ones she wants, though I already know.
“Hmm . . . celery,” she states, acting like she’s debating within that tiny head of hers, but we all know celery is her favorite. That and broccoli, though only when it has cheese on it.
“Okay, Pipsqueak.” I chuckle and set her on her feet.
I put together her plate and mine before letting her show the way to the table.
Of course, she picks the one she was sitting at by Rebel.
The two of them are smiling, and Rebel leans into Rogue and rests against him.
After the hell the two of them went through for over a decade, they’re finally back together as they should’ve been all this time.
“Fuckin’ love you, Duchess,” Rogue states, talking to his ol’ lady as I set the plates down.
“Daddy, Uncle Rogue said a bad word,” Delilah pipes up loudly, gaining their attention. I smirk and shake my head at her announcement.
“It’s okay, baby, but you know the rules.
Princesses don’t use that language,” I inform her and clean her face after seeing her take a bite of chicken and getting sauce all over her face.
I love my little girl and teaching her to be a lady isn’t easy.
I’m not prim and proper. Hell, I’m a fucking biker, and there’s no curbing the way I am.
But I can sure as hell make it where she doesn’t follow in my footsteps.
Delilah nods and goes back to eating. For a little girl, she can put away quite a bit of food.
I take a bite of my own food while I listen to Rogue mention a run coming up, and I make a note of the fact I’ll need to find someone to watch out for my little girl while I go with him. We have a rotation, and my turns coming up.
A movement to the side catches my eye, and I cock my head to see what it is. At first glance, I’m surprised at what I see.
What the fuck?
I have to be hallucinating. It can’t be . . . taking in her appearance, the woman is skin and bones. She is dressed in nothing but a flimsy lingerie gown that barely covers her body and is filthy. Blood and dirt coat every inch of her.
Motherfucker.
Everyone around me remains silent until I speak up, breathing the name of the woman staggering in our direction. “Zinnia.”
Jumping up from the table, I don’t take my eyes off her as I run, closing the distance between us. Behind me, I hear my Prez and VP calling out commands about getting an ambulance and getting the ol’ ladies and kids inside.
I barely get to Zinnia before she collapses. I catch her in my arms and wrap my arms tight around her, disbelieving the fact she’s here . . . that I’m holding her to my chest.
“Zinnia,” I murmur her name, looking down at the unconscious form of the woman who’d gone missing so long ago and taking my heart with her.
“Bus is on the way,” Bruiser declares.
“Here, lay her on this and let me take a look,” Dagger states, coming to my side.
“We’ve got the ol’ ladies inside so we can keep them out of the way,” Axe mutters. “Though I highly doubt it will last for long.”
“It best last they don’t need to be out here when we don’t know what’s going on. Fuck where did she come from?” Malice snarls, lip curling in anger. I can see the rage burning in his eyes when I tilt my head in his direction.
He knows Zinnia. They all do. They knew what I had intended to do the day she went missing.
For days . . . weeks . . . hell, months on end, I looked for her.
I could never find her or her brother. The house was a disaster, and then it was put up for sale.
Cy couldn’t track down Zinnia or her brother.
I lay Zinnia down on the blanket my brothers place on the ground, and Dagger starts examining her. The sirens can be heard coming, but those medics aren’t my brother. I trust him with my life, and I’d trust him with Zinnia’s.
“Fuck,” he growls, furrowing his brow in concern seeing the anger in his own eyes as he looks her over.
“She needs a hospital. Just from all the injuries I can see, she needs more than I can do for her. Some of these cuts are infected, and I can only assume what else is wrong. You can tell she’s malnourished and needs help that she’ll get in a medical facility. ”
“Right,” I growl, dropping my gaze back down. I keep my attention on her, and only her, as everything around me seems to go at warp speed.
The bus shows, and the paramedics get to work.
I tell them that Zinnia’s my wife. I don’t know who she’d escaped from, and I won’t know until she wakes up.
There’re more than a few questions swirling around in my head right now, but first and foremost, is getting her safe.
I need to make sure until everything is straightened out that her identity stays hidden, and no one knows who she really is.
Pacing the floors of the hospital is not what I would call a fun time. My brothers have tried to get me to sit . . . to calm down . . . but there’s no way I can do that.
All I keep thinking about is that last phone conversation where I had told her I’d be there in two hours. Within that little bit of time, Zinnia went missing. If I’d gone when I wanted to, I could’ve saved her. We’d have been together.
But as I think more about it, I realize I wouldn’t have my little girl. I wouldn’t have fucked Quinn. Hell, I wouldn’t have sunk my cock into any of the bitches I fucked in the years since Zinnia was missing.
I met Zinnia went she was fifteen and fell for her.
Being three years older than her, I respected her wishes in not being ready.
I gave her parents the respect they deserved as her parents.
I ran any plans for dates by them to make sure they were good with it.
Then they died, and I kept respecting their wishes until she was eighteen.
It was that particular birthday she went missing, and ever since then, I’ve felt a pain in my chest.
The doors to the back open, and the doctor steps out into the waiting room.
I recognize the doctor right away . . . Doctor Michaels.
He’s a friend of the club and doesn’t bullshit when answers are needed.
Also it helps that we give him a bonus for when we need someone to come out to the clubhouse for shit Dagger can’t do alone.
“Gunner.” Doctor Michaels nods in greeting and shoves his hands in his pockets looking grim..
“How is she?” I ask, not beating around the bush with pleasantries.
Doctor Michaels looks from me to my brothers, who step closer, closing the distance between us. His gaze comes back to mine, and he shoves his hands in his pockets. “Is there any way we can speak privately?”
“Just tell me,” I growl, bracing for the news. I need my brothers near me right now. I don’t know what he’s going to say, but whatever it is, my brothers will keep me from doing something that will get me thrown out of the hospital.
“It appears your wife has several broken ribs, a sprained wrist, and a hairline fracture in her ankle.” He clears his throat a couple times before continuing.
“I’m sure you’re aware of her being extremely malnourished, and from the looks of her after being cleaned up, she’s been severely beaten.
Scars mar her back. It’s almost like someone whipped her with a cat-o-nines. ”
“Fuck,” I snarl, breathing out heavily and raking a hand through my hair. “What else?” I know he’s not done. There’s more. I can feel it.
“From the looks of things, she’s been raped, and I can only assume it’s been years’ worth of it. We’re waiting on the rest of the tests to come back and clear her of any diseases, but right now, she’s being treated for infection.”
“When can I see her?” I demand, burying the rage that’s burning in my veins right now.
“They’re transferring her to a room right now.
Give them an hour to get her straight, and you can join her,” he answers and sighs as he steps closer to me.
“I know this woman isn’t your wife. That you don’t have one.
I’ve made sure that all of her paperwork shows she is, though.
No questions will come back about it, so you’ll be allowed to stay with her. I’ve informed the nurses of this.”
“Appreciate it.” I nod and hold out a hand to shake his. “I owe you.”
“Just doing what I’m paid to do, Gunner,” he states and turns. “If you need anything, I’ll be here.”
Soon as the doctor is far enough away, I turn toward Cy. “I want to know where the fuck Zinnia’s been all this time and where the fuck her brother is.”
“Already working on it,” Cy mutters, holding up a tablet and waving it for me to see. “I’ll see what I can do about finding the motherfucker.”
“We’ll make this right, brother,” Hammer declares, grabbing my shoulder and squeezing it. “Whoever did this to her will pay for what they did.”
“You got that right,” I growl, my lip curling in rage.
Not too long ago, I swore I wouldn’t allow any other woman into my life besides my little girl. But I didn’t say anything against a ghost from my past. Zinnia’s back. I will do everything in my power to find out what happened to her and make things right. She’s not just my past . . . she’s my soul.