Chapter 18
EIGHTEEN
KILLIAN
The president of the Chaos Kings was sitting two tables down from me while smiling at Natty. It wasn’t the sort of smile he’d give a girl he wanted to fuck, it was warmer than that, as though he truly cared about what she was saying. He looked hopeful.
Which meant she must be giving him a good report regarding living with the Stone Riders.
I stared at my dark cell phone while the two across the room laughed. Natty had shed Giles jacket, and the reminder that I had offered her mine reverberated in my head like a fucking song that wouldn’t end. I knew why in the moment that I had done it.
Natty hadn’t been on the back of a bike with a member since she was transferred to the Stone Riders several years ago.
She was having issues with even getting on the back of my bike.
I nearly took my truck, just to calm her down, but she knew it would be faster if we took the bike, and she needed to get back to help Red with something.
Knowing Natty was nervous about leaving the club, and on the back of a bike no less, I assumed my jacket with my patches would put her at ease. I knew she trusted me, and I knew she understood how powerful the president patch was, and how untouchable it would make her.
That same logic wouldn’t compute for Laura for some fucked up reason, and I had no idea why.
When I thought of putting my patch on Laura, all I could think of was how it would put a target on her back, and how I couldn’t live with myself if something ever happened to her.
Especially since that meeting with my father.
Which brought me back to the entire reason I wanted a little space tonight.
Daisy had found a way inside my chest and stamped her initials all over my pathetically weary heart. Now she was there, and she wouldn’t budge.
No matter what I fucking did.
Giles was right, this was becoming a problem.
Tapping my phone screen, I checked the time once more and my knee began bouncing under the table. Giles said he’d look for Laura, and I didn’t think she’d do anything stupid, but what reason did I give her to remain loyal to me?
None.
If anything, she’d fuck someone just to make a point to me. I already knew how I’d handle it too, which meant I wasn’t fit to be president.
Jameson walked over with Natty next to him. “Thanks Quinn.”
She smiled and took the seat across from me.
“I’m going to go back and talk to Penelope and see what she thinks. But, I need to know, if you even have space for her?”
Natty eyed me then blurted before I could, “we’ll make room.”
Yeah, we were good at that.
“We will…there’s a few options. A cabin on the back part of the property, and a house that the club just recently purchased. Needs some renovating, but it would work.”
Jameson’s expression grew distant as he nodded along.
“I just want her to be safe.”
“She will be.” I nodded, regardless that I was itching to leave.
I didn’t honestly give a fuck about this Penelope chick, or the fact that King’s VP knocked her up.
I knew offering her sanctuary was the right thing to do, and a good way to gain an alliance with the Chaos Kings, but I was ready to get back.
Jameson tipped his chin in understanding while staring off as though he still wasn’t sure.
“I’ll be in touch. Thanks.”
Gripping Natty’s shoulder, he gave her a solemn smile. “Thank you for sharing your story with me. I appreciate it.”
She smiled back. “I’m glad you’re helping her. I’ll be a friend to her when she arrives.”
The two gave each other another long look, and then Jameson was walking off, out through the front door.
I stood, pocketing my phone. “We need to get back.”
“I knew you shouldn’t have come. You could have sent Giles.” Natty clicked her tongue disapprovingly.
“This type of situation, I had to oversee.”
We moved outside, Natty pulled on Giles’s jacket, zipping it, while letting out a sigh.
“If it gets back that you tried to give me your patch, she’s going to hate me.”
Handing her the spare bucket helmet, I ignored how worried her words made me. Tempted to play dumb, I nearly asked who she was talking about, but I didn’t have the energy.
“Laura isn’t my girl, I’m not her man. We’re not—”
Natty made a sound, almost like she was about to puke, interrupting me.
“She’s not your girl, and yet you’re practically bursting out of your skin because you’re imagining her with another member right now.
You can’t see her with anyone else. Her eyes are always on you, even when you’re not looking.
She lived in your house for three months, Killian.
Anyone else would have tucked tail after the first three weeks.
She was waiting for you. I don’t even know if she realizes that. ”
Confusion tugged my brows together; I was about to snap a rebuttal when my phone began to ring.
Giles.
Giving Natty my back, I turned to answer it.
“Yeah.”
He was breathing hard, and I could hear chaos in the background. “The Roman is here, and he’s pissed, Killian. He’s going to shoot someone. I tried to talk him down…”
“What are you talking about, what happened?”
He was still trying to catch his breath. “Everyone was scared, and Sadie screamed, which prompted Silas to give off a warning shot. Laura came running outside, and he saw her—it was like he immediately recognized her, but I don’t know how that’s possible.”
Her father is the senator of Virginia.
My heart was thundering so hard, I was sure it was about to tear through my chest.
With a crack in my voice, I asked just barely above a whisper.
“What happened when he saw her?”
Giles hesitated, then cursed. “He called her Virginia royalty and then said she must belong to someone important…no one spoke up, but then Sadie and a few other Sweetbutts shoved Laura forward.”
This wasn’t happening.
“Are you telling me...” I swallowed the thick lump forming in my throat. I thought I’d asked the rest of my question, but then Giles spoke up again, and I guess I hadn’t actually said it out loud.
“I’m telling you that Silas, the new leader of the Death Raiders, just took Laura from right under our fucking noses, they’re here—keeping her at gunpoint until you arrive.”
My phone dropped.
Then my fist flew and Natty screamed from the sickening crunch when my knuckles met the brick wall.
Natty was practically melded to my back as we flew down the road.
We passed car after car, breaking the speed limit.
My hand was throbbing, but the cold air against it felt good.
I kept my gloves off, and my jacket off, needing to calm down.
I hadn’t even texted Wes before I left, seeing as Callie was the reason that fucking Death Raider wasn’t dead yet.
She’d made a deal with him after he helped save Wes a few months back.
All I could do was focus on getting there.
If they were keeping her hostage, that meant they wanted something.
I knew this asshole was going to pull something like this the second I became president.
Callie swore he wanted peace, but Wes and I knew better.
Within ten minutes, we were pulling off toward the driveway of the club. There were Death Raiders lining the road, forcing us to slow down. Natty’s grip slackened until she let go completely. With quick movements, she was pulling Giles' jacket off and stuffing it in her lap.
The action seemed odd, considering the wind was still whipping at her hair, and the cold stinging our cheeks. Unless she didn’t want someone to see her wearing it.
We drove down the path, eyes of Raiders on us the entire way until we were near the front of the club, where Giles, Brooks, Rune, Hamish, Pops, and several other Stone Riders were waiting. In the middle of the lot was Silas, and on his bike, sitting in front of him was Laura.
She was straddling his lap, facing him, with her back to the clubhouse. As we approached, her eyes trailed us. Her face was impassive, as though this didn’t bother her in the least, and she was bored out of her mind. I knew she was hiding her reaction, and likely her fear.
I pulled off as close to the entrance as I possibly could.
Once I parked, Natty shocked me by standing and making eye contact with Silas.
The two stared at one another for a stretch of time, his pale eyes locked on hers. Finally, after her lips pursed and her fists clenched, Natty handed Giles his jacket back before giving Silas her back and going inside.
I left my bike, giving a glance to my VP, and then cut the distance to Silas.
Once I was within ten feet of him, he made a tsking sound, shoving the barrel of his gun into Laura’s temple.
“That’s far enough, Mr. President.”
Seeing that gun against her head made me feel like my pulse was going to burst through my neck.
I ground my molars together, staring and feeling helpless as this psycho held the girl, I was fairly certain I was in love with, at gunpoint.
All I could think about was that day I had confessed what her eyes were like to me.
Cinderella Blue.
She had to be okay. He couldn’t hurt her. If he did, I’d rip his throat out, and we’d have a war. Likely one we’d lose, but it wouldn’t matter anyway because if those beautiful eyes stopped seeing the sky, then what was the point of any of this?
Understanding registered slow and painful. She was more important than the club.
“What the fuck is this, Silas?” I lifted my hands.
Tilting his head, his creepy eyes caught the light. His dark black hair was slicked back, his leather jacket on, his own President patch in place along with the death reaper and scythe. He looked every inch the monster I heard so many stories about.
His free hand went to Laura’s hip, pulling her closer, so her chest was flush against his. Her head moved to the side, but her expression remained the same. I stepped forward again, fucker needed to stop touching her.