Chapter 4
Chapter Four
Joey
I’d failed at a lot of shit in my life, and my biggest failure, by far, was not protecting my ex well enough.
She’d endured so much because of her attachment to me, and on top of that, instead of giving her a safe space and helping her heal from the trauma of her childhood, I’d turned her into my own little monster.
I’d made us toxic. She liked to describe us as oil and water, and honestly, she wasn’t wrong.
We still loved each other, even though she was happily married to the president of the Fathers of Mayhem MC and had two kids with him—one adopted and one biological—but we loved each other at a distance now.
She kept me with her so she could always remember to breathe, but she lived for him. And I was okay with that. After all the hell and pain she’d endured, she deserved to be happy with him. I’d even urged her to move on with him.
But despite being the only woman I’d ever loved—still loved—she was my biggest regret.
Which was why when Alejandro Garcia had asked me to help him protect the woman he planned to purchase and rescue, I’d been on the fence. I’d fucked up once, and I wasn’t interested in history rewriting itself. Wasn’t interested in it running parallel to what happened with Adelaide either.
Because fuck me, I had a thing for damsels in distress. Adelaide had been proof of that. When she needed me, I was soft with her. Doted on her. But when she’d tried standing on her own two feet, even if I’d pushed her to do that, it’d caused splits and rifts between us.
I needed a woman who needed me. And despite how much I loved Adelaide and how much she loved me, that had never been our dynamic. Not after I’d turned her into the woman she was now.
I wasn’t keen on opening the clubhouse to this woman and Alejandro, but I couldn’t just leave her in potential danger either.
I didn’t have many morals, but I’d always lived by the code that women and children were off-limits.
I’d just do my best to keep my distance from her while I worked with Alejandro to eliminate the ring he was working on taking out.
Then, they could be on their merry fucking way, and I wouldn’t fuck up yet another woman.
Because I got attached… way too fucking easily. But I could fuck them up even faster.
A knock sounded on the open chapel door.
I glanced up from where I’d been sharpening my knife, arching a brow at Ink, my vice president.
It wasn’t like him to be awake. He liked sneaking around with Jessie, my twin sister, who was younger than me by a couple of minutes, when he thought I wasn’t paying attention.
They were off more than they were on, but I was pretty sure that was mostly because of my sister.
She had trust issues after what’d happened to her because of my old VP, Charles.
He’d damn near killed me, and he’d brutally beaten and raped her. Those scars on her skin and inside her soul ran deep.
“What?” I grunted. “It’s like two in the fucking morning. Why are you up?”
“Why are you up?” he shot back.
“Touché,” I muttered, leaning back and setting my knife down. “What’s up?”
“We’ve got company.” He jerked his head in the direction of the clubhouse doors. “Looks like your new friends have arrived.”
Fuck.
I’d been hoping I’d have more time to prepare for Alejandro to show up with his precious cargo, but apparently not. The man definitely worked a lot faster than I gave him credit for. I wondered how much money he forked over to get his hands on Yeller Giddons daughter so fucking quickly.
Pushing back from the chapel table, I stood and made my way around to where Ink was still waiting.
After slipping past him, I headed outside.
Sure enough, a black, expensive SUV was rolling onto the lot with illegally tinted windows.
I slid my hands into my pockets and waited for them to come to a stop and get out.
After a minute, Alejandro and his right-hand man, Miguel, exited the vehicle.
Alejandro rounded the front of the SUV and waited as Miguel opened the back passenger door.
A set of bare feet appeared, and then, the door was shutting.
The breath was knocked from my lungs.
Covered in bruises and dirt with nothing but an expensive, men’s suit jacket covering her to mid-thigh, the woman Alejandro rescued was…
breathtaking. Beneath the tangled, dirty blonde hair and the discoloration on her face, she was beautiful.
And there was a defiant gleam in her eyes as she carefully made her way across the gravel to Alejandro, not making a peep or flinching at the sharp rocks that were no doubt cutting into her bare feet.
Alejandro pressed a hand to her lower back and led her toward me. “Let’s go inside,” I muttered once they were close.
Turning, I headed back inside, and once the three of them were through the doorway, I shut and locked the doors. Looking at Ink, I quietly ordered, “Get Whiler and York up and put them on gate duty.”
He nodded once, then headed toward the staircase. Finally, I turned to face Alejandro and the blonde beauty in front of me. She was eyeing me distrustfully, and I couldn’t really blame her. I was an MC president, after all. For all she knew, I was no better than her piece of shit father.
“Elaina,” Alejandro began, “this is Joey, the president of the Sons of Hell MC. He’s offered us his clubhouse to use as a base for the time being and for more protection for you.”
She just stared at me, her eyes guarded and her shoulders tensed. I let a small smile tilt my lips, hoping to set her at ease. “No one will touch you while you’re here,” I promised her. “You have my word.”
I just fucking hoped I could keep it.
“I don’t trust you,” she finally uttered, her voice cold and flat.
I shrugged one shoulder. “To be expected.” I looked at Alejandro just as Ink came down the stairs.
I needed space from the blonde beauty in front of me.
That damsel in distress thing she had going on was already wreaking havoc on my resolve.
“Ink will show you to your rooms. It’s been stocked with toiletries, and my sister grabbed some clothes for Elaina.
I don’t know if they’ll fit, but they should work until we can get something better. ”
Alejandro dipped his chin at me. “Thank you.”
Nodding once, I headed back for the chapel, this time closing the door behind me. I sagged into my chair at the head of the table and sighed, my eyes sliding closed.
I was well and truly fucked. Goddammit.