Chapter One
NOTHING GOOD COULD come from opening the damn box.
Hell, he wasn’t the first to come across this dilemma. Pandora herself faced this very challenge, but she wasn’t smart enough to walk away. She’d peeked inside and unleashed a million horrors.
Was he stupid enough to repeat her legendary mistake?
Probably.
With a disgusted huff, he shoved the ten-by-ten-inch safe across his shop’s counter. A few months ago, he’d discovered the blasted box buried in the back of a closet in his spare room. The thing must have been there for more than a decade as it was his ex-wife’s, and they divorced a few years after Curly went to prison nearly fifteen years ago.
“Still staring at that thing?” Lock’s voice sounded over the bell”s chime, indicating his arrival.
Ty looked up into the smirking face of his club brother, the locksmith who’d been the man to crack this safe.
“Yep. Just reveling in the discomfort of indecision before I inevitably open it and find something left by my ex-wife that’ll cause me months of turmoil.”
“You know, it might be empty. Maybe she took whatever was in there before she left.” He rested his forearms on the counter as they stared at the box between them. “You could be torturing yourself for nothing.”
“Could be,” Ty agreed with a nod. “But today is not the day I’m going to find out.” He shoved the safe to the side, giving Lock his full attention. “Whatever it is has waited ten or so years. One more day won’t hurt it. What’s up? You blow a tire?”
Lock’s expression went from playful to serious in an instant. “No, I’m good. Brenna sent me.”
Ty frowned at the mention of Lock’s ol’ lady. He liked Brenna, liked her a lot, but hadn’t spent much one-on-one time with her in the two months since they’d rescued her from a human trafficking nightmare.
Being around Brenna made Tyler think of her, and he did just about anything to keep away thoughts of the woman who’d been held captive with Brenna. The way-too-young woman who’d suffered unimaginable horrors and wormed her way under his skin in a way no one had in many years. Maybe ever. She’d awoken a protective streak and near-obsessive hunger he’d been fighting since she disappeared from the hospital two days after being rescued.
Absolute insanity.
The woman was young, wounded, and terrified to be anywhere near a Y chromosome.
Except for me.
She’d allowed him to carry her out of hell and hold her until they arrived at his clubhouse, where she’d begged and pleaded with him to stay by her side.
And he did until they drove her to the hospital, and the team of doctors kicked his ass out of the room. After that, the ol’ ladies took on the job of watching over her. The plan was for her to stay at the shelter on the club’s property, but she’d vanished, signing herself out against medical advice.
No one had been able to find her since, and they’d looked.
If it weren’t for the hours he’d spent by her bedside, watching her twitch and mumble in her sleep, he’d have wondered if it were all a dream.
But no, she’d been real and fucking with his head ever since he met her.
“What’s up? Bren, okay?”
“Yeah, she’s fine. Um…” Lock ran a hand through his hair. “Fuck,” he muttered. “Okay, I’m just gonna say it. Pulse called her a few hours ago. Kelsie is in the hospital. Here, in Tampa.”
Ty’s jaw dropped, but no words came out. He froze, unable to even blink. “What?” he finally managed to whisper.
“That’s all I know, brother. I dropped Brenna off at the hospital and then came straight here.”
He swallowed. It felt like razor blades were slicing his throat from the inside out. Every beat of his heart pummeled his chest as though trying to break free. He worked to school his features. “Is she…”
“All I know is what Pulse said. It was a quick phone call. His ass would be toast if anyone found out he’d passed on patient information. She’s, uh, it’s not good. It seems as though she’s been crashing in this rundown apartment in a really shitty area of Tampa. She’s in bad shape, man.”
There was something Lock wasn’t saying, but Ty didn’t stick around to grill him. He leaped to his feet. “Can you—”
“Go,” Lock said as though reading his mind. “I’ll call Jinx to come in and watch the shop until he gets here.”
“Thank you.” Fuck, it was good to have the brotherhood of his club. Many years ago, the day after he turned twenty-one, he’d prospected with the True Outlaws MC. Side by side with his cousin Travis, aka Curly, they’d vowed to earn their patches and be the biggest, baddest bikers around.
Instead, they’d been fucking fools, and after three months of selling drugs and running guns, Ty bowed out. It wasn’t what he’d wanted. He’d been searching for a connection, for a family to replace the shit one he’d been born into. But the True Outlaws weren’t a family. They were a dysfunctional gang of shitheads who lived like animals and respected nothing but their motorcycles. Curly stuck it out, patched in, and lived to pay a very steep price—thirteen years in prison for the one crime that idiot hadn’t committed.
Now that his cousin was free and running his own MC, Ty finally got what he’d been searching for all those years ago. The Handlers’ brotherhood was unmatched.
“Thanks, Lock,” he said as he grabbed his wallet, phone, and keys. “Text if you have any questions.”
Lock waved him out the door. “I got this. Don’t worry. Maybe I’ll even outsell you.”
Any other time, Ty would fire back with a snarky quip, but the words died in his throat. The driving need to get to the hospital overrode his common sense and ability to communicate.
“Go!” Lock said, sensing his unease.
With a final nod, Ty ran out the door and toward his bike.
For the entire forty-minute ride to the hospital, he ran a montage of disastrous scenarios through his head. How had Kelsie ended up back in the hospital? Was it a medical emergency? Appendicitis or a heart problem? Had she been in a car accident or suffered a fall? Had someone hurt her?
Again.
God, the young woman had suffered things at the hands of sick men no woman should ever experience. Most of the men involved in the trafficking ring were killed or arrested the night the Handlers rescued Brenna and Kelsie.
Most, but not all. Ty knew some were still out there, and if he ever came across them, they’d breathe their last breaths in his presence.
Finding a spot to park his bike took way too fucking long, and by the time he walked into the lobby of the hospital, he was vibrating more than his damn motorcycle.
“Ty!”
He whirled around to find Brenna speed-walking his way.
She held up a hand before he could ask one of the million questions on his tongue. “I haven’t seen her. They won’t let me since I’m not family. All I know is that she’s on the fifth floor, room five twenty-seven.”
“Room five twenty-seven. Got it, thanks.” He strode down the hall toward the elevators.
“Ty, they won’t let you anywhere near her right now. When she came in, she was delirious, so they had to give her Ativan. She’s snowed right now, but we can visit once she wakes up and gives consent.”
If she gave consent.
The unsaid words hung heavily between them. Would Kelsie allow them to visit? She’d run from them and their offer of help only two months ago. Had whatever happened to her today changed her mind?
Ty didn’t care if she wanted their help or not. This time, she’d accept it if he had to tie her to his bike and drive her to the shelter himself.
He turned and faced Brenna as he back-walked down the hall. “They can’t fucking keep me from her,” he said with enough venom, Brenna’s eyes widened.
“Well, actually… Tyler!”
He spun away from a frustrated Brenna, bypassed the slow-as-fuck elevator, and yanked open the door to the stairwell. Even though he was forty-six, he kept in good shape and had no problem jogging the four flights to Kelsie’s floor. Barely winded, he burst into the hall and stormed past the nurse”s station. A few gasps and shocked gawks followed him, but he ignored them and stalked toward Room 527 with all the confidence of a man who belonged right there.
“Excuse me, sir!” A tall nurse with short, choppy hair called after him as he reached Kelsie’s room. “You’re not supposed to—”
He speared her with a glare that had her shrinking back and avoiding his gaze. A six-foot-three man covered in tattoos with a death stare would do that to most people.
Back the fuck off. I’ll tear down anyone who keeps me from Kelsie.
No doubt the nurse would call security, but he only needed a minute. A few seconds to finally satisfy the need that had been riding him hard for the past two months. All he wanted was to lay eyes on her. He stayed awake each night, wondering where she was, what she was doing, and if she was scared, lonely, or hurt.
The reason for his obsession didn’t require an advanced degree to understand—he’d been the one to carry her out of hell, and now he felt a responsibility toward her. It was a basic rescuer-hostage relationship—nothing deeper.
Nothing. Deeper.
No matter what that little voice in the back of his mind tried to whisper. He’d always been a fucker anyway.
Careful not to be too loud, Ty nudged the door to Room 527 open. The sharp odor of antiseptic tickled his senses, making his nose wrinkle.
He fucking hated hospitals. Everything about them, from their stark white walls to the crunchy mattresses to the staff bustling around trying to keep everyone from kicking the bucket. The places reeked of sadness and disease.
A fucking downer, for sure.
He stepped up to the bed. A tall IV pole held a bag of medicine pumping into Kelsie’s arm. She lay still in the bed, on her back, with a thin pink blanket pulled over her waist. The thing looked scratchy as hell. Couldn’t they spring for something a little comforting in this fucking place?
Ty made a mental note to bring her something softer on his next trip. And there would be another one. She was pale, unusual at this time of year for someone who lived in Florida. It also looked as though she’d lost a good ten to fifteen pounds since he’d last seen her, and she’d been thin then. At least that was an easy fix. After a few weeks of good meals with the club, she’d be right back to a healthy weight.
He clenched his fists to resist the urge to reach out and touch her. To make sure the body lying before him wasn’t a mirage. How many minutes had he spent wondering about her over the past two months? His pulse thudded in his ear as he scanned the length of her, starting with her beautiful, serene face. She really was pretty, with blonde hair, smooth skin, and a look of peace she hadn’t worn in the short time he’d known her. Sedatives would do that to a person.
A pale blue hospital gown with a hideous geometric pattern in a darker blue covered her upper body. Her arms were exposed, resting straight at her sides on top of the blankets. In the crook of one of her elbows, the IV had been taped to her skin.
Her forearms had—
His breath solidified in his lungs as a pain akin to a gunshot wound exploded through his gut.
He stumbled backward. “No.”
Kelsie had thick bandages around one of her forearms, down near her wrists. His stomach jolted. Bile rose in his throat.
She hadn’t.
She couldn’t have.
He glanced at her forearm once again.
She did.
He wanted to drop to his knees and scream until she woke up, and he could demand to know why she’d taken such a drastic step.
“Sir!” A no-nonsense voice barked from the open door. “You need to leave this room immediately.” Strong hands gripped his upper arms and corralled him out of the room.
Only his state of shock allowed the nurse to maneuver him away. He could barely think, let alone struggle.
“You do not have authorization to be here,” she said in a tone full of disdain. “And if you do not leave the hospital immediately, I will call the police.”
“Sir, come with me.” A portly, unsmiling security guard appeared out of nowhere. “Don’t make us call the authorities.”
Ty stumbled down the hall, escorted by the guard. Everything around him faded into a foggy mist.
She tried to end her life.
Kelsie tried to end her life.
Over and over, the horrifying statement played on a loop in his brain.
“You aren’t to come back without express permission from the patient. Do you understand?”
Ty blinked. The bright sun seared his eyes. He was outside. When had he walked outside? He nodded, which seemed to satisfy the security guard, who turned his back and waddled away without another word.
Kelsie tried to end her life.
He couldn’t think of anything else.
Ty shook his head. One thing was for sure. He’d be back, and soon.
He wanted answers, and he was going to get them. Nothing short of an army would keep him away.
This time, she was going to accept help from the club whether she wanted it or not. He wasn’t above using every dirty trick in the book to get his way.
Kelsie would not slip through their fingers again.
He’d rescued her once, and now their lives were forever intertwined.
That’s why I care so much.