Aubrielle
I’d been sick to my stomach. The cruelty of my family shouldn’t have surprised me.
I knew what they did for a living. However, knowing it intellectually wasn’t the same as seeing it with my own eyes.
After the dog fights, we’d returned home.
I lasted until we were safely in our house before I let my full disgust out.
It resulted in me crying again, for longer, but I also puked twice.
Shadow was furious not only because of how it was affecting me, but also because of his disgust with what my family had done.
He told me I wouldn’t be going with them to watch the fight between Truce and whoever his competitor was.
He said if my dad demanded I attend, he was telling him to fuck off.
I’d pleaded with him not to ruin the club’s chance to take them down because of me.
I swore I could take it. Shadow said the dog fight experience made it clear.
My family needed the Punishers more than the club needed them.
There was something afoot. It was more than merely a desire to expand.
He suspected they needed an infusion of cash, but wasn’t sure why.
It was hard to get into the right headspace to go to work on Sunday night. Then I’d been off for two days. Now it was Wednesday, and I was back to Eden. I worked to keep my mind on my dancing. I might not love what I did, but I wanted to give it my all. I refused to let the Punishers down.
To distract myself, I practiced my new dance and planned to reveal it on Saturday night. Mayhem put out the word that I had something new. He did that to help all the dancers build hype and grow the crowd.
Shadow and his club brothers had met on and off to discuss their plans.
He shared aspects of those plans, which I was kinda glad for.
He assured me they’d be ready. As for me, on Friday night I’d be watched over by Tinker and Gravel.
When I protested the need for two guards, I hadn’t won the argument.
Instead, I was told how I was his soul, and Shadow wouldn’t leave me exposed.
It wasn’t because he didn’t trust Tinker to watch over me.
It was because he was anal and wanted double protection.
Tonight, I stayed in the dressing room until after my first dance. I need to be in the middle of it all to get into the right frame of mind. Shadow was nearby, providing silent support unless I asked him for more.
There was a knock on the dressing room door, and Ratchet walked in. He came straight to Shadow. Whatever he said had my man straightening. Then they came over to me.
“Mayhem needs to see us in his office,” Shadow announced.
“Okay, is everything okay?” I asked, rising.
“I don’t know. All I was told was to come get you,” Ratchet said.
The three of us left. Curious gazes followed us. A minute later, we entered the open doorway to Mayhem’s office. He wore a concerned look.
“Thanks, Ratchet, I’ll be out as soon as I’m finished,” Mayhem said.
“You’re welcome. Take your time,” was all Ratchet said before leaving and closing the door behind him. Shadow and I sat in the chairs in front of the desk.
“What’s wrong?” My old man asked.
“This was delivered at the front. Joaquin brought it to me. It’s addressed to Elle. I think her secret fan has changed up his tributes. I could be wrong, but in case it is from him, I thought it would be better to open it here rather than in the dressing area.”
As he finished explaining, he reached under his desk and brought out a box. It was wrapped in silver wrapping paper with an ornate silver bow. He set it on the desk. I stared at it as if it would bite me.
“Do you want me to open it?” Shadow asked.
“No, I’ll do it. It might not be what we think,” I replied.
Taking a calming deep breath, I reached over, undid the bow, and removed the paper.
The box underneath was black, with no writing on it.
I removed the lid. On top of the tissue paper was a card.
Before I could touch it, Mayhem tossed me a pair of nitrile gloves.
I put them on, then opened and read it aloud.
Parvati, I have a confession to make. I’ve been picturing you in this when we meet. Make sure you only wear it for me, not that fucking biker. He doesn’t get to keep you, my love. You will be mine. The time is near, Aubrielle. Love, Nataraja.
I looked up at the guys. “He knows my real name!”
“He does. It’s not unreasonable that if he did dig, he might discover it. Let’s see what he sent.”
Mayhem’s matter-of-fact tone helped me calm myself.
Shadow stood there with a thunderous face.
With shaking hands, I peeled back the tissue.
Something red and lacy was underneath. Using my forefingers and thumbs, I pinched the lace and drew it out.
As it unfolded, I was confronted with a teddy.
It was sheer, and when I examined it more closely, I saw it had the breasts cut out, and the crotch was slit.
If it had been something Shadow gave me, I would’ve loved it. However, receiving it from an obsessed stranger made me feel dirty and slightly sick. Shadow snatched it out of my hands and threw it back into the box. His arms came around me and drew me against his hard chest.
“We need to speak to Joaquin. See if he can tell us anything about the person who sent it.”
“I already did. It was a courier service drop-off. Spawn is locating and contacting the driver. He’s also going back to the company that employs the deliveryman to see how it was paid for, and he’ll check their security footage if they have any. The same things we did at the florist.
“I know it’s easy for me to say, don’t panic over the fact that this person knows your name.
And while we all wish we weren’t dealing with this at the same time as the situation with your family, in the scheme of things, your family is a greater threat, I think.
We’ll still keep someone with you at all times outside the compound.
Clearly, whoever this is doesn’t have the courage to face you or is intimidated by our presence.
Whatever the cause, I can promise that we will eventually find who this is and deal with them. ” Mayhem stated.
“I know. I’m creeped out knowing someone was watching me and sending the flowers.
This teddy makes me feel dirty. I agree that shutting down the dogfights and other fights is the priority.
People and animals are being hurt by those.
And I’ll never be free from my family unless we do something about them and those that support them,” I responded.
“I’ll get rid of it for you. I’ll give the card to Spawn.
It looks like this was prepackaged, meaning the note was handled by the person who wrote it.
Maybe Spawn can get fingerprints off it that he can run,” Mayhem explained as he put the lid back on the box.
I removed the gloves and tossed them into the trash can.
“You wanna stay here until you have to get dressed?” Shadow asked.
I drew myself up tall as I shook my head.
“No, I’m going back in there. I’m not letting this freak fuck with my head. Thank you for having us do this here, boss,” I told Mayhem.
He smiled. “Anytime. Now, get to work.”
I chuckled before following Shadow out of the room, after he thanked Mayhem and they exchanged a fist bump. I made myself let go of the worry. There was nothing I could do about it at the moment, so I wasn’t going to think about it. There’d be time later.