13. Bear
13
BEAR
T he drive between the clubhouse and my house normally took ten minutes, maybe fifteen if we got stuck at a red light. After the call with Julia, I made it there in five.
We’d been welcoming the officers from the New England and Ohio chapters, who had driven in for a meet and greet and my upcoming nuptials. Even though we were about a month out from that, they’d arrived early to help us plan. But after hearing my wife’s panicked voice, everyone raced to my place.
Rage boiled through my veins, my entire body scalding with fury when I parked my truck down the street from my house. KC hopped out of the passenger seat, the hatred in his gaze matching mine. This had been a coordinated attack. They knew we’d be held up with our other chapters, but they made a mistake. Roses banded together, no matter what. Even if they had the Hell’s Knights with them, we were rolling three chapters deep, and we had enough guys to decimate them.
Thor, Hollywood, and Wheels walked up behind us, followed closely by Titan, the president of the New England SRMC, and Copter, the president of the Ohio chapter.
“I’m going to tear their fucking throats out,” KC said, his body tense as he stalked toward my house.
“Leave some for the rest of us,” Leo said from next to him, his bodyguards already armed and ready to go. He cocked his pistol, his limp barely noticeable with all the adrenaline pumping in his veins.
I understood. I wanted to rush in there and rip off all of their heads.
“Wait, wait, wait,” Thor said, grabbing KC’s shoulder to stop him. “They’d be idiots to not know we’re coming. They haven’t left the house.”
“So?” KC asked, wide eyes glaring at Thor.
“This is a trap,” Wheels said, rubbing his hands over his bald head.
“How are we going to do this?” I said.
“They want you scared,” Doc said, standing next to us. “I tried to talk reason into them, but they’re too pissed about everything. They want you to back down. They want you to step aside.”
Footsteps sounded from the woods to our right, and I grabbed my gun, holding it up just in case it was one of the traitors. When Selene appeared with her rifle in one hand, I lowered my pistol and took a deep breath.
“There’s ten of them, from what I can tell,” she said, “and another five guarding the house. We can surround it, take them out, and get inside.”
Thor nodded and kissed the side of her head.
“Alba and Julia?” I asked.
Selene took a deep breath and glanced at Thor. “We should move.”
That did nothing to alleviate my wrath. Whatever was going on in there would make me murderous, even more than I already was.
“Titan, take your guys around the house. Bring down anyone wearing a Hell’s Knights cut.” He nodded and stalked off to bark commands. “Copter, your guys are with me. We’re going in. Don’t kill any Roses if you can help it. You know how we handle traitors.”
A bullet to the head would be too clean, too easy. No, I would string them up by their insides and let them rot for days before I finally gave them release.
“You got it.” Copter turned to head toward his guys, currently parking their bikes behind the rest of the Madison Roses.
With KC at my side and the rest of my brothers behind us, we stalked the rest of the way to the house, aiming at the three Knights standing outside. I didn’t think, just reacted, firing at their heads, so they dropped to the ground. I stormed up the porch stairs and shot another Knight who tried to stop me. He managed to get off a round that clipped me in the shoulder, a fiery brand shooting down that side of my body, but I didn’t stop. Fueled by vengeance and the weight of this sudden affection for my wife, I entered my house like a demon, like I had the entire world behind me.
The scene inside would haunt me forever. Alba and Julia were on their knees with Stallion standing behind them. Reaper had been unbuttoning his pants when we walked in, and now stood with his fingers on his zipper, staring at us with that disgusting grin on his face.
Chaos erupted so fast, I could barely keep up with it. KC reacted first, firing at Reaper and hitting him in the leg. He went down as Stallion aimed at Julia’s head, but I was quicker. I hit him in the shoulder, knocking him back, making his gun go off straight at me instead. The bullet grazed my arm, but I didn’t feel it. I didn’t care. I had to get to my wife.
Her wide, terrified eyes met mine, and she sobbed, maybe in relief, maybe in terror, and I rushed forward. More Knights came around the corner, their guns raised, and I shifted to the side, nearly missing the rain of bullets that tore up my dining room and kitchen. KC ducked to the ground, hiding behind a side table as bits of drywall and furniture sprayed through the air.
Shattered glass rang out, and I winced as shards of the window hit me in the face, but the Knights tumbled over each other as Thor and Selene hit them from the outside. It cleared the way enough for KC, Leo, and me to rush into the living room and shoot the remaining Knights, huddled together in my hallway.
The rest of my brothers raided the house, Hollywood and Wheels taking off upstairs to make sure it was empty, and the sounds of “All clear” outside told me Titan had managed to get rid of anyone hiding in the woods.
Switch and Castor grabbed Stallion and hauled him upright while four of my other brothers detained Reaper and Lunchbox, but I couldn’t worry about that. The only thing I wanted, the only thing I needed, was my wife.
I rushed to her side and pulled the rag from her mouth before cutting the zip tie from her wrists.
“Roman,” she said on a cry, wrapping her arms around my neck. I lifted her with an arm under her knees and the other around her shoulders, holding her close to me while I sat on the couch so I could assess the damage.
“It’s all right, little wife,” I cooed, kissing her temple, her hair, her face, any skin I could touch. I needed to ground myself in her safety as much as she needed to know she was safe. “I’ve got you. Are you hurt?”
She trembled so hard, she couldn’t talk, only shook her head and sobbed. KC grabbed Alba and took her to the kitchen, likely to do the same thing I was doing with my old lady. And when Leo kneeled in front of us to put a hand on his sister, it took everything in me not to growl at him to get the fuck away. But he loved her, too, and he was her family, her blood.
“ Mia sorella,” he said. “Tell me you’re okay. Tell me you’re not hurt.”
“Thank you for coming for me,” she managed to say. “Thank you for saving me.”
“I’ll always come for you,” I said, holding her tighter.
“This is a fucking mess,” Thor said, drawing my attention when he came into the room. “I’ll get the cleanup crew working on it, but Bear…you can’t stay here. There’s blood everywhere.”
“Come to my house,” Leo said, rising again. “There’s extra space, and we’ll need to talk about what to do next.”
I nodded and tried to stand with my wife, but in the wake of the attack, my wounds had caught up to me and I groaned before plopping back down on the couch again.
“You’re hurt,” Julia said, finally glancing up at me with red-rimmed eyes and tear-stained cheeks. “Oh my God. Help him!”
“Shh,” I said, pressing a tender kiss to her lips. “I’m okay. It’s just a scratch.”
It was a lot more than that. A bullet had gone through my shoulder and out the other side. Another had nearly hit me in the chest, making a huge gash that would likely need stitches. And my leg ached, meaning I’d at least been grazed in the thigh if not outright shot.
“No, it’s not.” Suddenly forgetting her own trauma, Julia focused on me, tracing her fingers over my bloody cut before she lifted my shirt to see the damage underneath. “You need to go to the hospital.”
“No, mia cara,” I said. “There’s no time for that. C’mon. Let’s get you cleaned up, and then I’ve gotta head to the clubhouse to deal with this.”
Her features turned panicked, and she gripped my leather cut like her life depended on it. “No! Please don’t leave me. Not again. Please.”
I didn’t want her to go to the clubhouse with me. I knew what I had to do there. I had to execute Stallion, Reaper, and the others. I had to torture them for betraying us and take out my fury on their bodies before turning them into pig feed. I didn’t want her to see me like that. Undoubtedly, she knew what I was capable of. She’d lived in this life since she was born. She’d heard the stories, and certainly, her family had done worse.
But there was a difference between hearing it secondhand and seeing it. By the time I was done with these dumb motherfuckers, I would be covered in their blood. I’d bathe in it for weeks if I could, if only to be certain they were dead and they couldn’t betray me again. But I didn’t want those images in Julia’s head. I didn’t want that to cause her nightmares or make her see me differently.
“You can come with me,” I said, brushing the hair away from her face before resting my forehead on hers. “I won’t leave you again. I promise.”
“Thank you, Roman,” she said. “ Cuero mio. Amore mio.”
My heart. My love.
I took a deep breath and tried not to let the terms get to me. She’d been beaten, shot at, and nearly raped. Her emotions were high, and she’d likely gone into shock. It didn’t mean anything, but that didn’t stop me from kissing her again, deeper and longer, holding her tighter.
“Can you walk?” I asked, knowing my busted arm had finally given out on me.
She nodded and stood on shaking legs, only for her to wince and buckle under her weight. It was then I realized she’d been grazed in the thigh.
“Fuck, baby,” I said, pushing to stand. “Thor! Get some prospects in here. Julia can’t walk.”
“No, I’m okay,” she said, grimacing through it. “Just stay with me. I’m okay.”
With her wrapped around me and my good arm holding her close, I led her out of the house and away from the most terrifying night of our marriage thus far.