Chapter Twenty-Eight
Twister
Tempi had been curled into my side with her head tucked under my chin, and one leg thrown over mine like she belonged there, which she did. We’d spent the last hour tangled up in each other, raw and real. It wasn’t just about sex anymore. It was about her. About us.
But the world didn’t stop spinning just because I finally had something good.
She blinked at me through sleepy eyes.
“I have a few questions.”
“That sounds ominous. Should I put on clothes so you’re not so distracted?” I joked.
That earned me a smirk.
“You’re a distraction with and without clothes, Twister. It doesn’t matter.”
I chuckled and brushed my thumb across her cheek.
“Then I’ll just stay naked.”
I had a few things I wanted to make clear to her, too. I leaned down and brushed a kiss to her lips.
She moaned and deepened the kiss but stopped it abruptly.
“Nope, we need to put clothes on and get out of bed. I can’t have a conversation with you when you’re like this.”
“Fine, fine,”
I drawled and rolled out of bed. I tossed my T-shirt to Tempi and pulled on my jeans. I wasn’t going to get completely dressed, but I would at least put jeans on.
We made coffee and sat at her tiny kitchen table. It was going on ten, just before the bar opened.
“I’m not leaving Madison,”
I said finally, my fingers wrapped around a mug.
“No matter how bad it gets.”
She didn’t answer right away. Just watched me and waited for more.
“This club, this city,”
I paused.
“It’s not just about turf or power. It’s about building something real. We’re not like the ones who came before. We’re better. Smarter. And I’ll be damned if I let some masked cowards scare us off.”
“And me?”
Her voice was soft.
“Where do I fit in this future you’re building?”
I stood, walked around the table, and pulled her to her feet.
I kissed her like I already knew the answer.
“You’re it, Tempi.”
She melted into me, sighing against my mouth.
“Okay then.”
“Now it’s your turn,”
I said.
“What questions did you have?”
She laid her hand on my chest.
“Don’t look so worried,”
she laughed.
“I just wanted to know about how you got your name and how in the world you were able to afford buying the Sam James building.”
“Uh, well,”
I stalled. I had the answers to both questions, but I thought she was going to ask them.
“How did you know I bought the Sam James building?”
She wrinkled her nose.
“Gramps let it slip. He said I needed to ask you how you managed to make that happen.”
Fucking Gramps. The guy had good intentions, but sometimes he just needed to shut his mouth.
“Well, I got an inheritance from my grandfather a few years back.”
She nodded.
“And it was enough to put a down payment on the building?”
I cringed.
“Well, it was more like enough to buy about twenty Sam James buildings,”
I confessed.
Her jaw dropped. “Stop it,”
she gasped.
“You’re a bajillionaire? Who in the world was your grandfather?”
This is where things were going to get a little sticky.
“Uh, Hank Bonds.”
She blinked rapidly.
“Did you just say that your grandfather was Hank Bonds? As in Bonds Landscaping?”
I nodded.
“That would be him. He raised me when my parents died when I was a baby.”
She shook her head.
“I am so sorry about your parents, but that is insane that your grandfather was Hank Bonds. That explains how you are a bajillionaire. I don’t think there is a person alive who doesn’t know Hank Bonds. He had those cheesy commercials that just got stuck in your head.”
She snapped her fingers at me.
“For lawns that shine and hedges trimmed tight, Call Bonds Landscaping, done just right! From curb to yard, we do it all, big or small, just give us a call!”
she sang.
“I used to get that jingle stuck in my head at least once a day.”
“That isn’t the first time I have heard that, doll.”
She reached up and trailed her fingers down my cheek.
“I want you to know I’m with you for your hot body, amazing sexual prowess, and your ability to make me feel safe. Not because you’re a bajillionaire.”
I let out a loud laugh.
“Yeah, I wasn’t really worried about you being with me for my money since you just found out a minute ago I even had money.”
She winked. “Touche.”
“What was your other question?” I asked.
She laughed.
“Why is your name Twister?”
See, that was the one I wasn’t looking forward to answering. I cupped my hand to my ear.
“What was the question?”
She rolled her eyes.
“Spill the beans, why you’re Twister, handsome. I need to get downstairs to open the bar soon.”
“You could just go open the bar, and we can talk about this later,”
I offered.
“Oh no, no, no. I need to know right now because you keep skirting around the answer.”
I sighed.
“One night when I first joined the Saint’s Outlaws…”
Jesus, was I really going to tell this story?
“Yes,”
Tempi prompted.
“I played Twister.”
She rapidly blinked. “What?”
“That’s it, doll. I played Twister.”
She shook her head.
“I have a feeling there is more to this story.”
She was right. There was a tiny little detail I was leaving out.
She crossed her arms over her chest.
“Spit it out, Twister.”
I threw my hands in the air.
“I was naked!”
Her jaw dropped, and she fell into a fit of giggles.
Yeah, it was ridiculous. I had been young, dumb, and drunk on whiskey.
“Ha, ha, doll. Now forget I told you that, and kiss me so you can get ready for work,”
I ordered.
She couldn’t stop laughing but managed to press a kiss to my lips.
“That is better than anything I imagined.”
I rolled my eyes and slapped her butt.
“Get ready for work.”
She squealed and headed to the bedroom. I followed behind her because what else was I supposed to do?
I watched her rummage through the closet, then padded into the bathroom with her clothes under her arm. The shower turned on, and it took everything in me not to barge in there and offer to wash her back, among other things.
I walked her to the stairs once she was dressed and gave her one last kiss.
“I’ll be down soon. Don’t unlock the door until I’m down there.”
She gave me a salute and headed down the stairs.
I jumped in the shower and was shrugging on my cut when my heart stopped.
Glass shattered loudly, and a scream ripped through the building from downstairs.
I was already halfway down the stairs when the second crash echoed.
I didn’t stop to think, I just moved.
“Tempi!”
The bar was in chaos.
Two men in black ski masks were inside. One stood behind the pool table with a gun to Britta’s head, the other held a lighter above a puddle of what I instantly recognized as spilled liquor. Tempi was on the other side of the bar, surrounded by spilled liquor. If that asshole dropped that lighter, Tempi would be right in the middle of the fire.
Britta’s eyes were wide, furious, and terrified at the same time. Tempi was frozen behind the counter with her hands raised and her mouth parted in horror.
“If you move,”
the gunman barked to me, “she dies.”
I held up my hands slowly, and my heart thundered in my chest.
“Let her go,”
I said evenly.
The guy with the gun sneered.
“You should’ve left when you had the chance.”
“Look, we don’t need this shit. Put the gun down. Walk away. No one has to get hurt,”
I tried to reason.
He laughed, low and cruel.
“You think this is about you?”
He turned to his partner.
“Light it.”
“No!”
I shouted, but it was too late.
The man dropped the lighter.
Fire exploded. The puddle ignited in a flash, and flames licked up the side of the bar.
The guy with the gun threw Britta to the floor and turned to run.
I lunged at him.
I tackled the bastard to the ground. We hit hard. His elbow to my jaw, and my shoulder to the floor. He grunted and twisted, but I managed to land a punch to his ribs.
I growled, wrapped an arm around his throat, but the bastard headbutted me. He rolled away and kicked me square in the gut.
I stumbled back.
He got to his feet.
“Wrong fucking move,” he spat.
Then he turned, raised the gun again, but this time he fired.
“NO!”
Tempi screamed.
Britta let out a scream and crumpled to the floor with her hands clenched to her chest.
The two guys bolted for the door, and I couldn’t chase them. I couldn’t leave Tempi and Britta.
Tempi jumped from behind the bar before the fire got to her and ran to Britta on the floor.
“Fire extinguisher!”
I shouted to Tempi.
“Behind the bar,”
she said as she pressed her hand to the wound on Britta’s chest.
I jumped behind the bar and found the extinguisher. I pulled the pin and managed to get the fire out, but I knew there was going to be damage.
“She needs help,”
Tempi called.
“There’s so much blood!”
With the fire out, now I needed to get help for Britta.
I fumbled for my phone.
“911, now!”
Tempi screamed.
“I got it, doll, I got it. Just keep applying pressure,”
I ordered and ran over to them as I put my phone to my ear as the call connected.
As soon as I gave the dispatcher the address, I dropped the phone and grabbed a dish towel to pressing it to Britta’s chest, blood soaked through fast.
“Hold on, Britta. We’ve got you. Hold on,” I called.
Tempi was shaking beside me, and her hands were covered in blood.
“Baby, breathe. You’re okay. She’s gonna be okay. Help’s on the way.”
“Twister,”
she choked out.
“There was nothing I could do. I, I, I…”
she stammered.
I gripped her face, made her look at me.
“You did everything right. You hear me? None of this is your fault.”
She nodded as tears spilled down her cheeks.
Sirens wailed in the distance. I grabbed my phone again, this time calling the club.
“Badger’s Den. Now. Someone just shot Britta and lit the bar on fire. Now,”
I barked into the phone.
I ended the call before Swift said a word and looked down at Britta.
Her eyes fluttered open.
“You’re not dying, you stubborn bitch,”
Tempi whispered.
Britta coughed, and a weak smile formed.
“Well... damn. I was hoping for something a little more sympathetic. I’ve been shot.”
I let out a strangled laugh.
“Stay with us.”
The flames were out now without catching anything else. But the stench of smoke clung to everything.
Within seconds, the sound of bikes roared outside.
The Saint’s Outlaws stormed in. Cord, Swift, Hodge, Wheels, Method, and more.
Tempi didn’t let go of Britta’s hand.
I didn’t let go of Tempi.
I knew this was just the beginning of the hell storm, but I knew two other things for certain.
Madison was my home now, and Tempi was mine forever.
No one was going to take them away from me.