Chapter 19 Bronx
NINETEEN
brONX
I knew it was risky bringing Freya to the clubhouse.
And I knew Stone would be pissed. This kind of move without speaking with the guys first could spell the end of my tenure with The Lost Boys.
But after she was cornered by the Chinese, I had no other choice.
She needed the full force of the club’s protection behind her.
Otherwise, she wouldn’t make it out of this trip to San Diego alive.
And I knew that.
I swung the door open, and the guys all turned to me, Stone in the middle, with Texas and Notch gawking at me as if I’d grown a second head.
I watched our president’s eyes fall right to Freya, and before I could even get a word in, his face heated up.
Red cascaded from his nose down through his neck as Freya stepped behind me.
“This wasn’t a good idea,” she whispered.
“You stay with me and you’ll always be safe. Even from them,” I murmured.
I reached back behind and offered her my hand.
I wiggled my fingers, waiting for her touch.
Waiting for her to trust me and take my hand.
It took a while. I knew she was debating on what to do.
Debating on whether or not this was a good idea.
I couldn’t blame her, either. She’d been through hell and back her first few days in San Diego, and things were only just beginning.
“Who the fuck is that?” Stone asked.
Freya whimpered behind me, and I whipped around.
I wasn’t going to let anyone else intimidate her.
I cupped her cheeks and made her look me in the eye, and I saw the fear running around behind them.
Those gorgeous eyes that faded from their wondrous kaleidoscope colors and turned into that bright emerald green.
The fear in her eyes she had back in that alleyway, she had now.
And it killed me.
“They aren’t going to hurt you. They never would. And even if they wanted to, I’m not going to let them,” I murmured.
She nodded her head and then turned her lips to kiss my palm.
She slipped her hand into mine, and I turned back around, facing the guys in the lodge.
Stone was two seconds away from popping clear through the roof, while Texas and Notch stood there trying to figure out why the hell I’d barged in with some random woman.
Then again, there was something in their stare that told me they knew who this was.
Even though they’d never set eyes on Freya, the relation to Hayley was unmistakable in her features.
I led us into the lodge and closed the door behind me, not taking my eyes off the guys.
“What the hell have you done?” Texas asked.
“Why don’t we just hear him out first,” Notch said.
“Everyone, this is Freya. The girl I’ve been talking to you about,” I said.
I slowly led her to my side and peeked down at her.
She curled into me, not letting go of my hand.
And I didn’t blame her. The guys she stared at were all on edge.
Stone growled like a feral dog that had finally been cornered.
I shot him a glance that told him to back off, but all he did was slowly approach me with his chest puffed out like some pompous asshole.
“What the fuck is this girl doing in our lodge?” he asked.
“She needs help, and we’re the only ones that can give it to her,” I said.
“We talked about this. All of us did. And then you go over my head like this?”
“We never talked about what would happen when she got cornered by the Chinese.”
Stone’s eyes held mine firmly as Freya threaded our fingers together.
“Stone, you need to take a breath and calm down,” I said.
“You don’t give the orders around here,” he snarled.
“I do when you’re scaring a young woman at my side. We do no harm to women and children, remember? And right now, you’re doing a hell of a lot of harm.”
“Wait, did you say she was cornered by the Chinese?” Notch asked.
“You should have never brought her here!” Stone roared.
“Listen to what I’m telling you and stop being so damn selfish and stingy with your own resources. She needs help,” I said.
“Maybe you should listen to your president,” Freya whispered.
“Yeah, maybe you should listen to the possible trap you’ve waltzed right into our lair,” Stone hissed.
“She’s not a trap. She’s a young girl in need of our help because she’s walked into a target she has no idea is watching her. Watching us. It’s time for you to back down and admit that we’re in way over our heads, which means she is too,” I said.
“Why the hell is she here!?” Stone roared.
“Because she was cornered by Yung’s men, and had I not found her she’d be dead right now!” I exclaimed.
We began fighting, and Freya tried to break it up.
She stood in front of me, turning her back to Stone as she placed her hands on my chest. She tried pushing me away, backing me up and toward the door.
But I wasn’t having this any longer. I was done with Stone’s bullshit. I was done with all this bullshit.
“And what if you’re wrong, huh!? You’re the numbers guy, Bronx. You don’t do this kind of shit!” Stone yelled.
“That’s what all of you think, isn’t it? That I’m just a bag of muscles here to run numbers for you and line your pockets with money. And yeah. Sure. I misjudged Boulder greatly. I get that you guys no longer trust me because of that,” I said.
“That isn’t what—”
“Can it, Texas. Because I know that’s exactly what’s going on,” I growled.
“Who’s Boulder?” Freya asked.
“I’m much more than a walking human calculator, asshats.
And if I’m wrong about this, I’m ready to throw my leather cut on the floor right here.
Right now. Freya needs our help. She was surrounded by Chinese men who already had their hands on her by the time I got there.
She’s in trouble, just like Hayley. And just like Ella and Keva,” I said.
“Enough,” Notch commanded.
He stepped between the two of us and led Freya off to the side. He came back to stand in between Stone and me, his hands on either of our chests. Notch looked at me with a quizzical stare and then turned his attention back to Stone.
“Stone, take a breath,” Notch said.
“You don’t give the orders,” Stone growled.
“And you won’t be either, if you keep this up,” Texas said.
We all turned and looked at him as Freya cowered in the shadows.
Fucking hell, she deserved more than the shadows.
“What did you just say?” Stone asked.
“You’re not listening to what Bronx is saying because you want to protect Hayley.
And for good reason. We’re all happy at the fact that you two are engaged.
But this woman was just surrounded by our enemy.
By the people trying to take us down. Look at Bronx’s knuckles. Look at his hands,” Texas said.
I looked down, not knowing what he was talking about.
Until I saw the blood. My knuckles were coated it in.
It was underneath my fingernails. In the grooves of my palms. It ran all the way up my wrists.
I hadn’t even noticed it was there. I’d been too worried about getting Freya out of there safely to even noticed I’d left with their bloodied mark against my skin.
“Freya, are you all right?” I asked.
I looked over into the darkened corner where she was holed up and I saw enough of her outline for her to nod.
“It’s not mine,” she said softly.
I looked back toward Stone and watched him finally back down.
Notch cracked his neck and his knuckles before he stepped off to the side, headed for Freya.
I heard him trying to comfort her out of the corner, cooing softly and reaching his hand out for her.
I looked over and nodded, trying to get her to understand that Notch was safe.
We were all safe once we got our heads screwed on straight.
“How did they find her?” Stone asked.
I shrugged. “I’m assuming we’re being tracked by them too.”
“They know where she’s staying?”
I nodded. “I left her hotel room this afternoon, and ten minutes later I found her on the curb in broad fucking daylight surrounded by four of them. Broad daylight, Stone. They’re getting desperate.”
“Fuck,” Texas murmured.
“Are you hurt?” Stone asked.
He looked over to where Notch was slowly guiding Freya out of the corner.
And when the setting sun caught her features, I heard everyone gasp.
Even Stone. Fucking hell, the similarities in her features to Hayley were uncanny.
Undeniable almost. I looked back toward Stone and watched his face fall.
His skin went from angry red to bedsheet pale within seconds.
“Believe me now?” I asked.
“Are you hurt, Miss Freya?” Stone asked softly.
“My arm hurts, but I’m okay,” she said.
“Shit. Her arm. I need to get her ice,” I said.
“I’ve got it,” Texas said.
“What happened to your arm? Can I see it?” Stone asked.
He took a step toward her and she quickly backed away.
“I’ve got it,” I murmured.
I went over to her and slowly slipped her cardigan off. Fuck. The bruise that bastard left behind on her skin was massive. It wrapped all the way around her upper arm, and every single outline of the man’s thick fingers could be seen.
“Here,” Texas said.
I reached for the ice pack and guided Freya to my leather recliner.
I sat her down and got her legs propped up and then fiddled with the ice pack.
I got it taped around her arm before I slid off my jacket and placed it over her lap.
I reached out and tucked a strand of her wild dark red hair behind her ear and cupped her cheek.
“It’s going to be okay. Do you trust me?” I asked.
She nodded softly into my palm and my heart skipped a beat. Then, I stood and turned toward the guys.
“They’re tracking us, and in the process they’re cornering everyone we’re spending time with.
All of them are in danger right now. Every single one of them.
Now, this young girl needs our help. Damn, you now see who she’s related to.
So, what is this crew going to do? Are we going to turn away a woman in need who’s gotten tangled up in our shit because of our careless ways and selfishness?
Or are we going to buck up and stick to our code? ” I asked.
“They were trying to get information out of her, weren’t they?” Notch asked.
“They were,” Freya said.
Her voice became stronger, and it made me grin.
“What kind of information?” Stone asked.
His eyes fell to Freya, and I stepped off to the side.
“They wanted to know what my relation to Bronx was. What he was doing in my hotel room. They tried to corner me with the fact that they figured Bronx and I were hooking up, and that I was as weak as they assumed I was,” she said.
“Are you?” Texas asked.
“Am I what? Weak or hooking up with Bronx?” she asked.
“Both,” Stone said.
“No, and why the hell is it any of your business?” she asked.
I swallowed my chuckle as I grinned down at her.
‘Atta, girl.
“I like her. She’s got spunk. Good on ya, Bronx,” Notch said, chuckling.
“Did you say anything?” Stone asked.
“Didn’t get a chance to. Bronx stepped in before things got too rough, and they dragged us into an alleyway,” Freya said.
“I take it the two of you emerging means they didn’t,” Texas said.
“You’d be right, yes,” she said.
“What in the world is all this commotion about?”
Hayley’s voice shocked me, and I whipped around.
I watched her emerge from the hallway with that damn rock Stone had bought her glimmering on her finger.
My jaw dropped open as I heard Freya gasp.
My eyes panned over to Stone, who was automatically striding for her side.
Hayley’s eyes danced around the room, tired, like she had just woken up from a nap.
“Hayley’s here?” I asked.
“It’s her,” Freya whispered.
“She’s been staying here at the clubhouse with me because of how her father is involved. She’s scared, and I told her she’d be safe here,” Stone said.
Then, I heard the recliner flip down as Freya’s feet hit the floor.