Chapter 5
FIVE
Bear
I pounded on the door.
Nothing.
Again, I pounded my fist on the door. “Orla, open up.”
“Fuck off!” she yelled out. A door behind me opened and I saw a man thinking about coming to her aid but when he took notice that I was at least a foot taller and at least two times the size of him, he backed up.
“Open the goddamn door or I’ll take it down.”
Finally, I heard the lock click and she opened the door. Her eyes were red from tears and she looked at me like I’d kicked her dog.
I pushed her back into the apartment and closed the door with my foot.
“Why’d you leave?”
It was all I could manage to get out, and I had no idea why it was so hard to talk to her.
“I came home,” she said with a shrug, but I saw the way her chest heaved and her bottom lip trembled with a held back sob.
“Why?”
“I feel safe here, Alex,” she said, angrily. “I wanted my own bed so I could go to sleep and feel safe.”
The answer hurt me to the core, my heart pounded in my chest, my fingers flexed beside me. “You don’t feel safe at the clubhouse?”
I wanted to say with me, but I held back. She didn’t need to know I was aching for her, to touch her, to be inside her, to put my lips on hers, to have her name inked over my heart.
“I just wanted to be home, Alex.”
I nodded. “Okay, I’ll sit on your couch while you sleep.”
“Just leave, Alex.”
She had crossed her arms over her chest, and looked away. I didn’t want to cause her any more harm but I couldn’t find a way to leave, not yet. I needed to know she was safe, I needed her to get a good night’s rest.
My phone dinged in my pocket and I pulled it out since, she was no longer looking or talking to me.
KILLIAN
Matteo found out where you guys are.
Fear laced through my chest as I looked over at Orla. She didn’t need to know that. She didn’t need to know her torturer, the one who made her cover her body with clothes, was still alive, let alone that he knew where she was.
KILLIAN
He’s on his way here, and brother, he’s after your woman.
I pocketed my phone.
“I wish I could leave you here, Or. I do, but you need to pack a bag.”
She rolled her eyes and made a move to walk away. I grabbed her elbow and wheeled her back. She came flying into my arms, her eyes wide with surprise as she looked up at me. Her hands landed on my chest, and man did I like having them there.
“Pack a bag,” I issued to her again. “You’re coming with me.”
“No, I’m not,” she said, shoving me away. “You can’t bully me, Alex, I’m not yours…not anymore.”
The words sliced right through me like a hot blade, just like they had been intended to.
“Mine or not, princess, you’re comin’ with me. Either you pack a bag or I pull you over my shoulder and take you there with nothing but the clothes on your back.”
“Why?” she screamed out at me.
“I said so,” I growled at her. “That’s why.”
She put her foot down and looked away, defiant to the last moment. I’d had enough of this shit. I bent down, grabbing her legs and hauling her over my shoulder before I took off down the stairs and to my bike. She was beating my back with every step, but I didn’t care. She wasn’t fucking safe here.
He’d be able to track her down with a simple search.
He’d never find her at my place, no one save for Ace and Hawk knew where I lived.
I liked it that way. I put her on my bike and slid the helmet on her head before I tore off into the streets.
She held on, only because I was speeding down the road, and if she didn’t, she’d fall.
I loved how it felt, having her hold onto me.
Just like it had back then.
I pulled up to my house, hidden by the trees of the woods that separated the clubhouse and my place. It was quiet, and no one came here. I hadn’t even been here for weeks, due to the club being in constant turmoil.
Getting off my bike, I turned to her. She’d pulled the helmet off her head but her eyes held that same hatred I recognised in her apartment.
“Care to share where I am?”
“My place.”She looked over at the house, her eyes wide in surprise. “You have a house?”
I nodded quickly. “Come on.”
She followed me thankfully as I opened the door and led her inside. “Why am I here, Alex?”
“It’s safe, no one knows it exists,” I told her. “You can sleep and get some rest. I’ll go and pack your bag. This is going to be your home for a little while.”
“Why?”
“Just…please, Orla, trust me, okay?”
She nodded, but I knew she would try to get in touch with Sheridan and she’d surely tell her.
“I don’t even have my phone!”
I smiled, knowing I didn’t have one in my house.
“Good.”
Turning, I closed the door behind me and locked her inside before I headed back to the clubhouse to figure out a way to protect her.
The less she knew the better.
Orla
I tried the door, but it was locked. This fucker locked me in and I had no phone to call someone.
Was he fucking serious?
Anger took over and I looked around for something to throw through the window, passing into a dining room with a long table, large leather backed chairs along the edge of the table.
I ran my fingers over the rich stained wood of the table and looked through the room.
It didn’t look used. Did he have people over to eat at this table?
Instead of getting angrier, I found myself more intrigued as to what was in his house. How didn’t I know about this place? He was always at the clubhouse so I’d assumed he lived there, but this place was amazing.
Moving through double doors, I came into the kitchen.
A state of the art kitchen with marble countertops, two kitchen stools at the bar were what I saw first. The oven and microwave sat on the wall, a toaster, jug and air fryer sat on the counter top.
Every appliance was black and silver. Curiosity got the better of me and I opened the large black and silver fridge.
Beer.
Typical.
His pantry had a few staples but nothing too crazy, so that sealed it for me. He didn’t live here, he lived at the clubhouse. Why would he tell me this was his place?
I moved out through another door and down a hallway. A large entertainment centre sat inside, a big TV with a playstation hooked up. I saw the podium where he had VR set up too.
Boys.
Moving further down the hall, I came to a room. It was a guest room by the looks of it, because it was void of anything aside from a bed that was made up and a bedside table. I opened the closet and saw nothing.
I continued down to another room and when I opened that door, I knew this was his room.
His masculine cologne was heavy in the air, and his bed wasn’t made.
Moving through the room, I looked in the closet and saw a couple outfits, leather, jeans, all the staples really.
I got up on his bed and laid down on his pillows, loving the feeling of the softness and yet the firmness of the bed underneath me.
His pillows smelled like him and I inhaled deeply, cuddling into them.
My hands shifted under the pillow, when I hit something cold and hard.
Sitting up, I moved the pillow to see his gun there.
I shook my head as I picked it up so I didn’t accidentally shoot myself and opened his bedside drawer.
Inside, I placed the gun, accidentally hitting something in the back.
I reached in to move it when I felt a wooden box.
Pulling it out, I held it in my hands, a latch on the side, and an engraving on the top of a claddagh.
I traced the pattern with my fingertips, remembering the ring he’d given me in high school.
Tears pricked at my eyes as I lifted the latch and looked inside.
My breath caught when I saw the ring I’d thrown at his face when I had broken it off with him, thinking that our relationship had been too serious for our age and I needed him to back off.
Worst mistake of my life.
I lifted out the strip of photos from the fair where we made out in the booth, looking over our sweet and innocent faces.
We’d had no clue that just weeks after that we would be over.
Another photo sat at the bottom of the box, and I lifted it to see my younger self.
I hadn’t had my first tattoo then, my skin was a clear canvas as I looked down at Bear.
He’d taken the photo after I’d been making out with him, my lips were pink and swollen, but I saw the love I had in my eyes for him.
A love I’d never recovered from, no matter how many times I ignored it when we were close in proximity. Tears streamed down my face steadily as I closed the box, letting it sit heavy in my lap as I remembered the days leading to our break up.
I was about to put the box down when I heard the telltale sound of the front door opening. Panic set in that I was in his bed and looking at his very personal items.
Bear
Killian sat alongside me on one of Ace’s spare bikes as we waited for the plane to get in. The private airfield was quiet, and not at all what I was expecting when we got word Matteo had chartered a flight here.
I looked down at the time on my watch and saw it was almost time for it to land.
“Here she comes,” Killian said, looking up at the sky. Sure enough, the chartered flight was on its descent. I checked my gun in my waistband and waited.
This would be over and we’d be able to go back to fighting for Neal Foley to be put away for good. He was the reason we were down two men and would be for five fucking years.
Orla would be free.
That hurt more than I thought it would, but she’d be out of danger, and I was more than okay with that.
The plane landed and taxied on the runway, coming to a stop right by us. I got off the bike at the same time as Killian as we stood close by to wait for the doors to open. Slowly, one by one, the crew got off the plane and the cargo was unloaded and then…nothing.
“He’s not here.”
“Who told you he was coming?” I asked Killian.
“Bastian.”
“He’s his brother,” I replied, anger coming off me in waves. “Of course he’d lie.”
“No, you don’t know Bastian like I do. He and his sister aren’t full siblings of Saverio or Matteo. He was never treated right by them, he honestly wants his brother gone. If he’s not here on this plane, then he knew Bastian would betray him.”
“He’s in danger,” I said. “Get one of your brothers to warn him.”
Killian nodded, and headed back to his bike. “Bear, if he’s not on this one, he probably flew commercial, which means he’s already here.”
Fuck.
I got on my bike and took off, leaving Killian at the airfield, speeding my way down the road toward my house.