Chapter Seventeen
Rip
I guided Jade through the darkened hallway with my hand pressed firmly against the small of her back.
The emergency lights cast everything in a bloodred glow that made the familiar corridors of Haven feel alien and threatening.
Her breathing came fast and shallow against my side as we moved toward the community room.
“Shouldn’t we go to the panic room like Knight said?” Jade whispered, her fingers gripping the edge of my cut as she clung to me. I’d be lying if I said her trust in me didn’t make my chest swell in pride.
“Change of plans,” I said quietly. “Knuckles texted while we were getting dressed. He’s got something else going on behind the scenes. They’re expecting Eric here soon.”
Her steps faltered for a second. “Eric is actually inside Haven?”
“Yes. But we got him exactly where we want him.” I tightened my arm around her waist. “Trust me. Nothing is going to happen to you or anyone else.”
We rounded the corner to the community room where Knuckles stood in the doorway waiting. His massive frame blocked most of the entrance. He nodded once as we approached, then stepped aside to let us pass.
Inside, the community room looked nothing like its usual welcoming self.
The couches and comfortable chairs had been pushed against the walls.
The coffee tables were moved out completely.
The space suddenly looked twice its normal size with the furniture cleared from the center.
Red emergency lighting left pools of shadow in the corners where I knew brothers waited just out of sight.
The community room had been designed with specific considerations from the beginning.
Only two doors leading in and the emergency exits, which could be opened easily from the inside, but only from outside with a key card.
The two main doors had been built extra wide for furniture moving and with industrial strength locks and reinforced frames.
Most importantly, both had thumb latches on the inside only.
Easy to exit but impossible to enter if locked from within unless you had an access key.
A perfect trap if you knew how to use it.
“Center of the room,” Knuckles directed with a jerk of his chin. “We want him focused on you two completely.”
I nodded and moved into position with Jade.
I kept her close against my side so I could keep my body between her and Eric once he entered.
Six brothers lined the walls. Diesel and Gunnar stood flanking the main entrance.
Inferno positioned himself by the secondary door.
Knight was somewhere in the back shadows.
Two prospects also waited silently near what would have been the TV area, well away from the main group.
“Where is everyone else?” Jade asked.
“Panic room with the women and kids,” Knuckles said. “Letting in the enemy means we keep everyone protected until this is over.”
The radio clipped to Knuckles’ belt crackled. Hannah’s voice came through clear and cold. “Bastard headed to you, Knuckles. Give him a couple of minutes.”
Knuckles pressed the button. “Thanks, baby. We’re ready.”
I pulled Jade fully against my chest, wrapping both arms around her protectively. She tucked her head under my chin and gripped the front of my shirt.
“What do you need me to do?” she asked against my collar.
“Just stay right here with me. Look scared.”
That got a bark of laughter from her. “As opposed to actually being scared?”
He grinned down at me. “You know I won’t let anything happen to you. Right?”
“Yeah.” And I did. “I trust you, Rip. And when this is over, we need to talk.”
“Sounds serious.” I tried to distract her. If she wanted to talk, I’d carry on a conversation until this was all over. “I can feel your heart racing.”
“I am scared.” She looked up at me with wide eyes. “I want this shit to be over.”
“It will be soon.”
The radio crackled again. “He’s just outside. Here we go.” Hannah’s information signaled the guys and all of them shifted, waiting for Eric’s move.
“Hannah is herding him,” Knuckles explained softly. “She can control the emergency systems from the security hub. Cutting power to Haven or our compound does very little to compromise our defenses. Having to deal with scumbags like Eric, we’ve got more backup systems than a fucking nuclear sub.”
The room went completely silent as every man waited for their prey. Nobody moved. The only sound was Jade breathing against my chest. She trembled slightly but kept her grip firm on me.
A shadow passed outside the door. Footsteps hesitated, then moved closer.
Knuckles’ radio buzzed softly. Hannah again.
“He’s got his gun drawn. Just outside your door, Knuckles.
” Her voice went even colder. “I can take him clean right now, baby.” Hannah actually sounded like she was having a good time.
Yeah, her voice was cold, but Hannah had a vicious streak where abusive men were concerned.
Knuckles responded without looking away from the door. “We talked about this, Hannah. We need him alive. Stick to the plan.”
“You’re ruining my fun.” Though they kept the banter going, I didn’t miss the tension in Knuckles’ voice and his posture.
Like the rest of us, it went against every fiber of his being to let his woman out of his sight when there was a threat.
Even if his woman was as much a badass as anyone else in this place.
I heard the metallic click of a safety being switched off somewhere behind me. Normally, no one carried firearms due to the terms of parole for most of us, but the club kept weapons in the armory in the security office, locked but easily reached.
“He’ll see you first,” I whispered into Jade’s hair. “When he does, his focus will lock on you completely. That’s exactly what we want. I absolutely will not let anything happen to you, Jade.”
“Will he try to shoot me?” Jade kept her voice level even as the question revealed her fear.
“No.” I kissed the top of her head. “He will want to hurt you up close. To control you. The gun is just to clear his path. His real weapon has always been his words and his hands.” I sounded so certain when I felt anything but.
I trusted Knuckles, but that didn’t mean I liked putting Jade anywhere near that bastard, Eric.
Outside, the sound of footsteps grew louder.
The shadow under the door grew more defined.
Knuckles made a sharp hand gesture. The brothers melted farther into the shadows.
Diesel and Gunnar pressed themselves completely flat against the wall on either side of the door where they would be hidden from someone entering.
I felt Jade suck in a deep breath. She looked up at me with fierce eyes. “I want him to see me with you. I want him to know I choose you. That I am not his and never will be again.”
I nodded once. “Just follow my lead. I swear I will not let you get hurt, but you have to obey me without question.” I winced, knowing how I sounded. “I didn’t --”
“Hush, Rip.” She leaned up on her tiptoes to press a soft kiss to my mouth. “You’re not trying to control me. You never would. I know you only want to protect me. If I’m going to be your old lady, you have to have the right to protect me.”
Had she kicked me in the balls, I doubt I’d have been more surprised. I sucked in a breath, staring down at her. “Jade…”
“I’m just saying.” She smiled up at me before kissing me once more.
“Guys,” Knight whispered loudly. “Can you wait a few minutes to go make out? There’s a deranged asshole outside the door right now.”
I heard more than one of the guys clear their throat, stifling laughs, and the tension in my body melted away. My brothers had our back. Eric Blackwood wouldn’t get anywhere near Jade.
The doorknob turned slowly. A soft amber light drifted in from the hallway as Eric stepped into the room.
Jade gripped me tighter and buried her face against my chest. Not from fear but to hide the anger I saw blazing in her eyes.
She obviously understood showing her fury would undermine the trap.
Eric needed to see her frightened, not fighting.
I curled my body protectively around her smaller frame, making us a single silhouette in the dim reddish light. Everything in me wanted to lunge for the door and end this threat permanently. But the plan required patience. Eric needed to come fully into the room.
The door exploded inward with a force that sent it slamming against the wall.
Eric stood framed in the threshold with a sleek black pistol gripped in both hands.
His eyes darted wildly around the room before locking onto us in the center.
For one second, his face showed pure shock at finding Jade in my arms. Then his expression twisted into something that barely resembled human.
“You fucking whore,” he snarled. The gun wavered between us as he took two steps into the room. “You actually replaced me with this gutter trash?”
Jade stiffened against me but kept her face hidden. I tightened my grip on her protectively while keeping my expression blank. Just let him walk in a little farther. Just a few more steps.
“Step away from him now, Jade,” Eric ordered. His voice carried that practiced authority he probably used on her in the past. The voice that expected immediate obedience. When Jade made no move to leave my side, his face flushed dark with rage. “Did you not hear me? Get over here.”
“She stays with me,” I said quietly.
Eric laughed sharply. “You think this is some kind of rescue mission? You think you can just take what belongs to me?” He pointed the gun directly at my face. “You can’t walk away from me, Jade. You are my property. You have always been my property.”
The gun shifted back to aim at Jade. “I made you. Everything you are is because of me. You were nothing but trailer trash when I found you. I gave you everything.”