Chapter 22
Dixie
“How’s the restaurant coming along?” Dad smiles from the head of the table.
He invited Oakley, Roxy, Chopper, Storm, Jasper, Morris, and myself over for dinner tonight. He used to do this all the time. It was a way for him and the higher up members to get to know the prospects a little better.
Lately, he hasn’t been doing it as often and I have to admit, I kind of miss it.
“It’s getting closer and closer to what I imagined every day. The new sign will be installed next week. Jasper and Morris finished putting up the new drywall today and the floors will begin in a few days. We want to paint first.”
“I'm glad. I know you’ve always wanted this.” His eyes shine with tears, but he doesn’t let his emotions get the best of him.
“I have. Thank you for letting me do this, Daddy.”
“Of course, Princess. Storm made me realize it’s ridiculous to keep you locked up in the clubhouse when you have such an amazing talent. You deserve to share it with the world… Though I have a feeling a lot of the guys will be visiting your café daily.”
“I’ll happily accept them, but I'm not making stew, sloppy joes, burgers, or tacos.” I point a finger in his direction, making him chuckle.
“I'm sure they’ll enjoy whatever you have on the menu.” He takes a bite of dinner and lets out a little sigh. I made his favorite meal. Chicken and gnocchi soup with shepherd’s pie.
“Do you think you could provide the shop with some pastries to have on hand?” Oakley raises her gaze to me.
“Possibly. I guess it will depend on how much you want each day and how busy the café is.” My brain runs with the idea and I begin thinking about what I could send to the shop.
Bagels, donuts, pastries, scones, and muffins. I think I could handle that. Some of those things could be prepped the day before or made in advance and frozen.
“I’d happily take some things at the bar, but I'm not sure what those neanderthals would eat while they’re drinking.” Roxy rolls her eyes.
“I like tea sandwiches when I'm drinking.” Jasper smirks.
“Shut up, Jasper. No one cares. I'm not serving tea sandwiches at my bar.”
“I thought it was a saloon.” Morris’ brows furrow.
“It’s a bar. We don’t live in the wild west,” Roxy growls.
I swear the prospects are taught how to push her buttons when they join the club. They all know exactly what to say or do to get her to explode. Though they tend to tread more lightly because they’re scared of her.
“Man, I thought the sign said Savage Saloon.” Chopper strokes his beard, a smirk tugging on the corners of his lips.
“I swear, Chopper.” She slams her hand down on the table.
Before she can chew him out, he drapes his arm around her shoulders and tugs her into his side. He whispers something in her ear and she instantly relaxes and calms down.
“Do you ever wonder what he says to her to get her to calm down that quickly?” Storm whispers in my ear.
“Yeah, but I’ll never find out.” I shrug. Roxy doesn’t talk about Chopper other than to say she can't stand him, which we all know is a lie.
“Why?”
“We don’t talk about Chopper.”
He smirks, but doesn’t say anything else. I’m about to ask why he’s smirking when my phone rings. I frown because everyone I talk to is already at the table.
“Hello?” I answer as soon as I see Artie’s name on the screen.
“Dixie! Someone is throwing things through the windows at the café! I don’t know who they are, but they seem set on ruining everything.”
“Go somewhere safe! We’ll be there as soon as we can.”
“I’ll go to the office. It’s a mess in there, so they’ll never find me. There are so many boxes from the renovations. I can hide behind them.”
“Be safe. We’ll be there soon.”
I end the call and turn to Storm, but he doesn’t need me to tell him anything. He already knows.
“Get everyone and head over to the café. Reapers were sniffing around there this week.”
He grabs my hand and tugs me out of Dad’s place. Seconds later he’s buckling a helmet under my chin and throwing his leg over his motorcycle.
“Get on, Dixie.”
I don’t hesitate. I jump on the back of Storm’s motorcycle and wrap my arms around his waist. I hold on to him for dear life, knowing he won't go slow.
We make it to the café in only a few minutes. There is a line of motorcycles outside the front. My hands are shaking as I watch the strange men throw Molotov cocktails through the broken glass that used to be the front windows of my café.
I gasp as I look towards the building and notice how much of it is already up in flames. Why are they doing this? This business has no affiliation to the club. I’m not part of the club and Artie definitely isn't part of the club.
I glance around and count how many men are around. Nine sets of eyes turn in our direction and evil smiles spread across their faces. Nausea rolls in my stomach. We’re out numbered. There’s no way I can physically fight any of these guys and Storm can’t take on that many at once.
Storm doesn’t hesitate. He grabs the first man he sees and punches him in the face. The man falls to the ground, but two more replace him. Storm works hard to fight them off, but there are too many of them. I watch in horror as one after another goes after him, but there’s nothing I can do.
Motorcycles roar in the distance and I know it won't be long before the rest of the club arrives. I just have to hope we can survive until the rest of the club gets here.
“Storm, duck!” I shriek as a man comes from his side and I know he doesn’t see him.
Storm drops to his knees, just barely missing the punch aimed right for his temple. I have no doubt if he hadn’t moved in time, he’d be knocked out cold.
“Who are you, sweetness?” A man licks his lips as he takes a step towards me.
“Don’t touch her,” Storm growls, trying to push the men away from him, but there are two who have both of his arms held back so he can't get away from them.
“I think I want to. She’s awfully pretty.” His creepy, cold words wash over me, making me shiver from how disgusted I am. I don’t think I’ve ever been this scared in my life.
He grabs my wrist and tugs me against him. I lose my footing and stumble into his chest. I want to scream and cry, but Dad always taught us to stay emotionless if we were ever in any situations like this.
“How about I kill your little boy toy and let you experience what a real man is like?” He trails his index finger down my neck and over my collarbone.
“That’s an interesting offer, but I kinda like the man I already have,” I hiss, keeping my tone strong and confident.
As motorcycles fill the street in front of the café, the Savage Wolves dismount their bikes and take in the scene in front of them.
“Let go of her,” Dad yells as he stomps closer. “She’s not yours to touch.”
The Savage Wolves don’t hesitate to go after the guys remaining from the other club. Within seconds the Reapers are all on the ground… Except the one holding me.
“I don’t see a property patch on her. She sounds like fair game.” The man smirks as he snakes his arm around my waist and tugs my back against his chest. “I think I’ll keep this one. I’ve never been with someone so innocent.”
My eyes lock with Dad’s and we have a silent conversation. He trained me and my sisters when we were younger. He was worried something like this could happen and he wanted to make sure we were prepared. We used to always complain and tell him it was stupid, but now I'm happy he kept pushing.
He made sure we knew simple things like where pressure points were and how to make smart decisions when all we wanted to do was run away and cry.
Storm yells something, gaining my captor’s attention while Dad motions two fingers to me. I nod my head just enough for him to know I understand.
“Princess, now!” Dad roars as he marches towards us with his gun held high.
I let my body go limp, knowing I’ll throw off my attacker’s balance. He won't expect this move and I tumble to the ground with a groan.
A gun shot goes off and a moment later, the man collapses to the ground next to me. I stare at him as the life drains from his eyes and his body goes limp.
I scramble away from him. I know my father isn't a saint, but I’ve always been kept well hidden from this side of the club. I’ve never seen him take a life and was always able to view him as a good person.
But that view isn't changing today. That man was more than willing to take me away from my family. From the club. He was going to take me against my will and I don’t even want to think about what he would do then. None of it would’ve been good.
I’ve heard enough stories over the years about how other clubs treat women. Especially women without property patches. I would’ve been abused and raped until they decided they were finished with me, then there’s a chance they’d kill me.
“C’mon, Dixie.” Dad crouches down next to me and helps me stand. As soon as I'm on my feet, he tugs me into his arms and away from the dead man. “I’d stop at nothing to keep you safe. Absolutely nothing.”
There’s a lot of noise going on around us, but Dad keeps me shielded from all of it. He keeps my head against his chest and covers my ears with his hands.
“Little Fox,” Storm mumbles as he pulls me out of Dad’s arms and into his.
He doesn’t care if this will raise suspicion or anything.
He’s too worried about me to think about the consequences.
He presses a soft kiss to the top of my head and holds me close.
“I never should’ve brought you here. But after Artie… Man, where’s Artie?”
I push away from Storm and scan the area. My mind scrambles to our conversation. Right before I hung up, he said something about hiding in the office.
“He’s in the office!” I try to race into the building to find him, but Storm grabs my arm to stop me.
“I’ll find him. You stay out here.” He pushes me gently into Dad’s waiting arms and hands me his cut. He tugs the collar of his shirt up to cover his mouth and nose before disappearing into the smoke and flames.
“Storm, no!” I cry as I watch the man I love disappear into the building, knowing he might never get out of there.
“It’s going to be ok, princess,” Dad whispers as he strokes a hand up and down my back. He used to do the same thing to me when I was younger and would come home upset from school.
But this isn't the same. I'm not upset because the boy I have a crush on likes someone else. Or because the popular girl was mean to me. No, I'm upset over the thought of something happening to the man I love. I don’t think I can even stomach the idea of anything taking him away from me.
I need him in my life. I'm so happy knowing he’s mine.
Seeing those men try to beat him up was nauseating. I never wished I was more like Roxy than I did in that moment. She would’ve grabbed something and started beating the crap out of everyone. She would’ve done something other than stand by and watch. Maybe I need to ask her to help me train.
It feels like a lifetime before Storm emerges from the smoke with his arm around Artie’s waist. The old man is coughing and having a hard time walking, but he’s doing it.
“Artie! Are you ok?” I run to them, needing to know they’re both ok.
“I’ll be fine.” He waves off my concern. “This neanderthal wanted to carry me, but that wasn’t happening. If I was going to die, I was going to do it with dignity.” He scowls at Storm, making him chuckle.
A fire truck pulls up and starts working on getting the fire out before it can spread to another building. I watch with tears streaming down my face as my dream goes up in flames.
“It’s going to be ok, Little Fox. We’ll get everything rebuilt,” Storm whispers as we both watch the men work.
“Sir, you need to get checked out.” An EMT stops beside Storm and grabs his bicep, tugging him towards the ambulance.
“I'm fine,” he growls, but the woman doesn’t stop.
“Just humor me and let me listen to your lungs. You’re covered in soot and I'm sure your lungs are too.” She rolls her eyes.
“Please, Storm,” I glance up at him with tears in my eyes.
Losing my restaurant is awful and I know how much work it will take to fix everything and get it back up and running, but losing Storm… that would be a devastation I’d never survive. I need him to be ok.
“Anything for you, Little Fox,” he murmurs as he presses a soft kiss to my forehead. He follows the EMT to the ambulance and scowls as he takes a seat on the tailgate.
I glance around at the bodies on the ground and wonder how the cops don’t seem to care. They’re taking statements from the club, but no one is in handcuffs.
My gaze lands on Artie and I take off in his direction. I can't believe they tried to burn down the restaurant with him in it.
“Artie! Are you ok?” I take a seat on the stretcher next to him and wrap my arms around him.
“They say I have some smoke inhalation, but I'm sure I’ll be fine.” He waves a hand through the air.
“Sir, you need to come to the hospital.” A male EMT eyes him with annoyance.
“I think you should listen to them, Artie. Jenni would want you to take care of yourself.” I squeeze his shoulders. “I want you to take care of yourself. I need you to help me get this place cleaned up and turned into the magnificent café Jenni always dreamed of.”
“Yeah, fine. I’ll go.” He rolls his eyes, but I don’t miss the tear rolling down his cheek. It washes away the soot in its track, but I don’t say a word.
“Go with them and I’ll check in with you later tonight after all of this gets cleaned up.” I motion in the direction of the destroyed café.
I don’t know how we’ll do it, but this place will be restored. We promised Artie to help him bring Jenni’s dream to life and I'm not stopping until that happens.