Chapter Twenty-Eight Alexandra
Idon’t know how Archer managed to alert them, but when we arrived at the compound, Raiders came spilling out of the clubhouse to meet us.
Rev and Bishop magically appeared by my side.
They escorted me inside. Instead of taking me to Deacon’s room, they ushered me inside the boardroom.
Rev pulled a chair out for me and motioned for me to have a seat. “Talk to us, Alex,” he urged.
Holding up my hand, I said, “I’m a little shaken up, but for the most part, I’m fine.”
Bishop surveyed my face. “He didn’t try anything physical with you, did he?”
“My virtue is safe,” I replied, with a humorless smile.
“It damn well better be. If he dared to lay one finger on you, we’d bring a fucking firestorm down on him,” Bishop growled.
I drew in a deep breath and prepared to broach the subject I was wary of. “I need you to teach me how to use a knife.”
Rev and Bishop exchanged a glance. “Alex, I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” Rev said.
“Would you prefer I be defenseless the next time I have a run-in with Sigel or one of his thugs?”
“We’ll always protect you,” Rev argued.
Cocking my brows, I said, “Like today?”
“I suppose you have a point.”
“Do you realize that if I had been armed with a knife or gun, I could have taken Sigel out? Just like that.” I snapped my fingers for emphasis.
Crossing his tattooed arms over his chest, Bishop replied, “Well, that’s nice to think, but you’re not really the knife toting kind.”
“Basically, I’m a weak, helpless female?” I countered.
He grimaced. “I didn’t say that.”
“No, you alluded to it, and that’s just as bad.”
When I turned my gaze on Rev, he gave me a look of appraisal before nodding his head. “You need to learn how to defend yourself.”
“Seriously?” Bishop questioned, his blue eyes widening.
“Alex is right. We can’t always ensure that we’ll be able to protect her. Even with Deacon gone, she’s obviously still a target for Sigel. That’s all the more reason for her to know how to defend herself.”
Realizing he had lost, Bishop exhaled sharply. “If you say so.”
Rev nodded. “Go to the shop and get her something she can use.”
With one last disapproving look in our direction, Bishop headed out the door. Turning his attention to me, Rev asked, “Where’s the first place you would think to go for if you were going to stab someone?”
Furrowing my brows, I replied, “The heart?”
Rev shook his head. “While ultimately lethal, you gotta get through a hard as hell breastbone to get to it. You want something that will immediately incapacitate your enemy.”
Reaching out, he brought his hands to my neck.
His fingers worked down the side. “You want to try to sever one of the carotid arteries here on the neck. They pump blood to the brain. Since it controls every organ function, you want to take out the main nervous system. Fifteen to twenty seconds after a hit, your enemy will be beyond help and likely unconscious. Then you’re good to go. ”
“Isn’t there a way to kill them instantly?”
“No, but without help, taking out a carotid will ensure they die. Plus, with them incapacitated, it gives you the time you need to get away.”
“Okay.”
Rev released my neck. “Once you’ve got them down, a few good stabs or slices to the abdomen are good.” Pressing against my stomach, he said, “Here.” Then he moved his hand up slightly. “Here.” And then he dropped it below my navel. “And here.”
Bishop returned at that point with a shiny pocket knife. With one push of a button, a long blade flipped out. “See how this feels in your hand.”
Drawing in a deep breath, I reached out for the knife. Besides cutting steak or carving a pumpkin, I’d never held such a knife in my hands. I didn’t know when the time came to it if I would actually be able to use it. But I had to be willing to try.
As the steel blade caught the light, a feeling of empowerment came over me. It wasn’t an AK47 or a grenade, but I knew it would save my life. Most important of all, a jab and a cut could end someone else’s life—someone who was a threat to me and those that I loved. Someone like Sigel.
“You think you can use it when shit gets real?” Bishop questioned.
“Yeah, I do,” I answered honestly.
He smiled. “Something tells me that you can. You’re a tough little cookie.”
“Thanks.” I continued eyeing the knife with morbid fascination, imagining the damage it could do on Sigel. “So you guys keep war prizes from your enemies?”
When I dared to glance up, both Rev and Bishop stared at me with almost unreadable expressions. “Do you?” I repeated.
“Why do you want to know?”
Shrugging, I replied, “Just curious.”
“Bullshit! What the fuck did Sigel say to you?” Bishop demanded.
“The less you know about it the better,” I whispered.
Rev reached out to put his hands on my shoulders. “Alex, you need to tell us what Sigel said to you about war prizes.”
Shaking my head, I bit down on my lip, trying to prevent myself from betraying too much information. Rev’s grip tightened on me. “He wants something that was once the Knights’, doesn’t he?”
“Please, Rev.”
“Dammit, Alex, I don’t care what he threatened you with. You have to tell us!” Rev shouted.
“He wants his son’s cut—the one Deacon took after he killed him. He’s to call me in a few days, and I have to bring it to him. If I do this, he will leave me and Willow alone. But I can’t involve any of the Raiders, or people will get hurt.”
Rev and Bishop exchanged a glance. “It’s here, isn’t it?” I asked. When they didn’t respond, I said, “Please.”
Taking my hand, Rev pulled me out of my chair.
He walked me down to the end of the room.
On the left hand side of the door was a closet.
Surprisingly, he didn’t reach for a key to unlock it.
Instead, he opened it. When I glanced inside, I gasped.
Sitting on the middle shelf was a leather cut emblazoned with Nazi symbols.
I reached out to take it, but Rev held me back.
“You don’t take it now. When Sigel calls you about the meeting, then you’ll get it. ”
Although I was frustrated, I didn’t let my emotions betray me. “Okay. It’s probably better keeping it here anyway.”
“We’ll expect to be involved. Even if we have to hang back when it comes to you turning it over, we’ll still have your back.”
I smiled. “Thank you. I appreciate that. I didn’t want to have to do this on my own.”
Rev and Bishop seemed relieved with my response. Slinging his arm across my shoulder, Bishop said, “Why don’t you let me buy you some dinner?”
“That’s awfully sweet of you, but I need to go home in a little while to get some more clothes and check on things.”
Rev’s brows drew together in worry. “We can send Archer or Crazy Ace there.”
I laughed. “As tempting as it sounds to have the prospects pick out my clothes and raid my underwear drawer, I need to do this myself. Maybe even sleep in my own bed.”
Bishop glanced between me and Rev. “You really think that’s a good idea after what happened with Sigel today.”
“He won’t do anything to me until he gets the cut.”
“She’s right,” Rev replied.
“I still don’t like the idea of you anywhere outside the compound,” Bishop said.
I patted his shoulder. “Thanks for being overprotective.”
He winked. “Anytime, babe.”
Rev pressed the knife into the palm of my hand. “Just in case.”
“Thank you.”
Bishop whistled at Archer who immediately came over. “I want you to go home with Alex. Keep your eyes and ears open for anything.”
“You got it.”
As we started to the door, I glanced over at Archer. “Aren’t you tired of babysitting me?”
He grinned. “You’re pretty easy compared to some of the really fucked up things that prospects are usually forced to do.”
“That’s good to know.”
“Besides, I like being with you.”
“You do?”
He nodded. “Yeah, you remind me of my little sister.”
Playfully punching him in the arm, I said, “Hey now, last time I checked, I was the one older than you.”
“Yeah, but you guys act the same.”
“I get it now.” When Archer started to the clubhouse door, I stopped him. “Can you give me ten minutes? I need to get some of my clothes together to do laundry.”
“Sure. Take as long as you need.”
A moment passed between us, and Archer nodded in acknowledgment.
I then made my way down the hall to Deacon’s room.
When I slipped inside, I went to the closet to grab my bag.
After dumping everything out onto the closet floor, I brought the bag over to the bed.
Taking my makeup bag, I pulled out a small pair of scissors.
After cutting part of the bottom’s lining, I left the plastic flap half on. I threw a few shirts and pants inside before heading out into the hallway. When I got to the main room, I found it empty. Walking over to the boardroom door, I opened it. I knew Archer had ensured that it would be unlocked.
The room was plunged in darkness, and Rev and Bishop were no longer there.
Glancing over my shoulder, I slipped inside.
I hurried over to the closet. Tossing out my clothes, I then threw open the closet door.
Rev and Bishop were far too trusting because the cut still sat on the shelf.
I grabbed it and stuffed it under the loose flap of my bag.
I put the clothes back on top of it and then zipped it up.
I shut the closet door fast, and then raced out of the room. Thankfully, no one was there to see me.
I tried easing my frantic breaths as I headed outside to meet Archer. He was waiting for me by his bike. “Ready?” he asked, his brows rising.
I nodded. “Yeah, I got everything.”
“Good.” He slid across the seat of his motorcycle while I picked up the helmet that had pretty much become my own.
After I put it on, I climbed on behind him.
As my arms slid around his waist, I once again had to fight to keep my emotions in check.
While each time it seemed to get a little easier being on the back of a bike, it didn’t dull the pain of losing Deacon.
Later as we pulled into my driveway, I couldn’t help the tightening in my chest at the sight of the house that had once been my happy home. After my attack, I didn’t think it would ever feel happy again. That, coupled with losing Deacon, made me seriously consider putting it on the market.
When I started up the walk, I realized that Archer wasn’t beside me. Turning around, I cocked my brows at him. “Aren’t you coming in?”
He shook his head. “Gonna do a walk around. Then I’ll probably stay out here on the porch.”
“You don’t mean you’re going to sleep in one of the chairs?”
“I won’t be sleeping.”
“But I have a perfectly good couch inside, not to mention a guest bedroom.”
“Alex, when your protection is put on my shoulders, I take it very seriously. I ain’t gonna be caught sleeping if Sigel decides to strike.”
Realizing I wasn’t going to break his resolve, I nodded. “All right then. But it’s looked like it was going to storm all day. If it does, you’re coming inside. I won’t have you struck by lightning.”
He laughed. “Whatever.”
“And thank you. For today. For everything.”
As the unspoken hung heavy between us, he nodded. “You’re welcome.
Turning around, I headed back up the walk.
After unlocking the door, I purposely refused to look to my left.
With my emotions already going haywire, I couldn’t even acknowledge the kitchen or what had happened there.
Regardless of the fact I tried to escape them, the memories of that horrible night rocketed through my mind, causing me to gasp.
Pushing myself forward, I hurried up the stairs, anxious to put as much distance as I could between me and the kitchen.
When I got to my bedroom, I went straight for the bathroom.
The moment I turned on the water, the tears pooled in my eyes like I had turned them on as well.
After stripping out of my clothes, I slipped into the shower.
Standing under the spray, I let the water wash away the tears that continued to fall.
I thought by now I would be devoid of any moisture, but just like my grief seemed to have no cap to its depths, neither did my tears.
When I finished, I toweled off and slid into the silky blue robe that hung behind the bathroom door.
I knew there would be no way I would fall asleep on my own tonight, not even with Archer hanging around.
As soon as I took my sleeping pill, I wanted to at least order him a pizza—something to compensate for having to babysit me, even if he did say it was an easy job.
Opening the medicine cabinet, I took out the pills that my therapist had first started prescribing for me after my parents were killed. Now, another tragic loss, another reason to take a blue pill to escape the torment of grief through sleep.
I closed the cabinet and reached for the glass on the counter.
Something caught my eye, and I glanced up into the mirror.
The bottle of pills clattered onto the counter.
Both my hands flew to my mouth. Without a word, I shook my head back and forth, willing myself to wake up from the dream I surely found myself in. But nothing changed.
“Babe,” a gentle voice said.
Framed in the doorway of my bathroom was Deacon.