Chapter 6
CHAPTER
SIX
MARNIE
It’s Monday and Harley doesn’t have class. I’m in the middle of making some of my signature gougères. The Mat-Su Valley population loves the light, fluffy cheese puffs.
I avoid talking to Harley about what happened over the weekend with Rylan. I don’t want to admit that I’m hung up on her brother. She also doesn’t know about the conversation I had with Wing, regarding Quinn.
Oly is at the summer day camp program at the local family fitness club.
“Okay, I’ve let you wallow long enough. We’re friends. I’m not giving up on you, even if you and my brother don’t work out.”
I release a deep sigh. She’s right.
“It’s not that. I just don’t want you to get your hopes up. I can’t be with him.”
She’s sitting on a chair, watching me as I work.
“It’s just that my life isn’t in a good space for a relationship right now,” I explain.
“Are we ever ready? Do you think I was ready for Crue when he came into mine? I wanted revenge for my dad’s death. I wanted to prove I was tough enough to do it on my own and didn’t need the men who walked away from me all those years ago,” she says.
I know what she’s doing. She wants me to share more. I think I shared enough yesterday with her brother and his men.
“I didn’t know that for my safety, my father told them never to contact me,” she adds.
“Why were you in hiding?” I ask.
I didn’t tell the men I was in hiding. I immediately contacted my tech guy and asked him to check for any hits on my name, or if my father or Silas have left. He told me to stop being paranoid and just keep living my life. If there’s an issue, he’ll contact me.
But I still feel it. I feel like I’m being watched.
When I got home yesterday, my apartment felt off.
I don’t know if I did it before I left or what, but some of my belongings were moved around.
My kindle wasn’t by my bed. It was in the living room.
Then my pajamas I was sure I left hanging in the bathroom were set out for me on my bed. I couldn’t wear them after that.
“I had to because an enemy of the club put a price on my mother’s and my head. She was killed, as you already know,” Harley says.
“Oh crap. I didn’t know that part.”
I knew her mother was killed. I knew Harley had left, but I didn’t know she had a price on her head. It makes me want to share with her because that’s almost like what I’m going through.
“I didn’t know how you’d react to learning that. Can I tell you something?” she asks.
I nod and smile at her. “Of course, you can. You’re my only friend,” I confess.
“I don’t know your story, but I want you to know I’m here to help if you ever need it. I can teach you how to defend yourself and shoot a gun, if you want. I’m also a good listener.” She reaches across the worktable and takes my flour-covered hand. “You’re my only friend too.”
“Thank you.” I can’t say anything else.
I look up at her with a sad smile. I want to share, but I’ve already told them all too much. I can’t jeopardize their lives any more than I have so far.
Looking over her shoulder, I glance at the digital clock on the wall and realize I’m running late.
“Oh crap! I have to get Oly. Would you mind putting these in the oven, then starting to close up on your own? I’ll be back as soon as I can.” I turn to the sink and wash my hands.
“Take my truck and Fezzik, if you want.”
“No, I can’t do that.”
“Yes, you can, and you will. I heard that P.O.S. car giving you problems this morning.”
My car isn’t going to last much longer. I’m going to have to purchase something soon, which means digging into my funds.
“I’ll take the truck, but Fezzik won’t leave with me.” I grab the keys off the hook and rush out the door.
Heading down the hill to one of the busiest intersections in Wasilla, I wait through a couple of lights before turning toward Oly’s day camp.
Inside, I scan the card on my key chain that I grabbed along with Harley’s so I can get through the security gate. Through the glass of the kids’ play area, I spot Oly sitting on the floor with another little girl, playing kitchen. As soon as she sees me, she jumps up and runs for me.
It’s moments like this that I’m going to miss when I leave. I’ve decided I’ll leave Oly here with Harley and Rylan, where she’ll be protected. If I can lead Silas away from this place, she’ll be safe. If I’m captured and taken, I can live with that, as long as my baby is safe from them.
It takes some time, but when I return to the bakery, I see Shock and several of the guys pulling in on their motorcycles as well. Shock races past me to the front of the building. I park and run into the back, leaving Oly in the truck.
I look around and don’t see anything wrong until I step into the front of the bakery. Fezzik is lying on the ground. Rylan is standing over him, checking him. Out front, I spot GB down by his motorcycle.
I don’t even think. I rush back to the truck to get Oly so she’s close by.
When I return to the front of the bakery, the guys are milling around, and I’m scared that I just lost my only friend.
Sparky is bent over GB, checking him out.
“Okay, let’s go,” Aftershock says as he gets back on his bike.
“Miner, take Marnie and Oly to my house. Put it on lockdown. Take Fezzik too,” Ry orders.
I’ve only met Miner once, but he’s nice and sweet. Rylan and Shock discuss Fezzik and what’s going on with him.
The distance between Ryland and me is getting to me with everything going on.
“Rylan?” I choke on his name as tears roll down my face. Oly is crying too, unsure of what’s happening.
Rylan walks over and kisses me so deeply. It’s as if he’s trying to tell me everything without saying a word, and my heart clenches. He pulls away and presses a kiss to Oly’s forehead.
“I’ll be back with Harlowe. Be safe and do whatever Miner tells you.”
“I will. I’m sorry I wasn’t here.”
“I’m glad you weren’t. They would’ve hurt you both.” This time, it’s his voice that chokes with emotion.
Miner directs us to the back, and I shut everything off, making sure nothing will be ruined before locking up. We load back into Harley’s truck, and he drives us to Rylan’s place. The house is in lockdown, and I can’t stand the worry, but I know Rylan and Aftershock will bring her home.
“Don’t worry. They’ll get her back,” Miner says, reading my mind.
“I know. I’m just worried they’ll get hurt.”
He chuckles softly. “Most people don’t worry about Prez like that. He used to fight in places that aren’t normal rings and aren’t safe. I’d be more worried he’s going to lose his shit and go all grizzly on them.”
“You think?”
“Honestly, it’s going to be more Aftershock losing his shit. That’s what I would be worried about.”
“What would he do?”
I don’t know Aftershock that well, just what Harley tells me. The other night he just sat and watched her playing with Oly and didn’t talk much. I get the feeling he’s the silent type.
“He’ll blow shit up. Do you know what an aftershock is?”
“Isn’t it what happens after a major earthquake? It’s what relieves more pressure.”
“Yep. That’s what Shock does. He lets out the pressure and shakes the hell out of shit. He was in the military, part of the engineers’ unit, and also received extensive training in explosives ordinance demolition. Plus, he and Loki have been blowing shit up since they were young boys.”
“How did Rylan get his road name?”
“He’s the biggest, meanest one of us.” He chuckles. “When he loses control, things get destroyed and people sometimes die. He’d never do that to you,” he quickly adds.
I smile. “I’m not worried about him hurting me. The way he is with Oly shows me that.”
I look over to where Oly is playing in the living room with the new toys Ry must have gotten yesterday after I left, or maybe today.
I decide to cook. It always helps distract me. I don’t want to think about what is going on, whether Ry is getting hurt, or if Harley is okay. I’m beginning to connect with all these people, and I don’t really want to, but it’s too late.
I can’t stop it now.
Miner sits at a laptop, working and responding to messages on his phone.
A couple of times he walks out to the garage, and I know he’s talking to Rylan.
I set up my phone to play some music as I bake a loaf of fresh bread and make a beef stroganoff with the piece of moose roast Ry had in the refrigerator.
Oly is sleeping in the spare room, which now has princess sheets on the bed and a matching comforter.
The proof of his level of commitment is right in front of me.
But I struggle to see myself staying here and being with him.
I’d love to stay in Alaska, but it’s only a matter of time before my life is taken over.
I trust that Sparrow House, the Adairs, and Holden have all helped me, but my father and Silas are very powerful men.
Before I know it, there is a beep, and the house is disarmed. Rylan steps through the door. As soon as I see him, my knees almost give out, and I hold on to the counter, worried because he’s not showing any emotion. He just watches me.
“She’s safe.”
I rush to him and jump into his arms, holding him tight, my legs wrapped around his waist as his arms hold me just as firmly.
“I was so scared.”
“Shock wasn’t going to let her go. The threat has been taken care of,” he says against my neck as I feel him moving.
He sits on the sofa and holds me to his body as I sob.
“I was so scared you wouldn’t come back.” The words slip out, and his arms flex slightly before he lifts my chin and kisses me deeply.
“It would take an act of God for me not to come back to you.” His voice cracks.
I lean in to initiate the kiss this time.
A throat clears, and we come apart. Miner is standing there.
“I was going to leave you both to it, but the timer is going off on the stove, and I don’t know anything about what you’re cooking. Plus, it smells too good for me to leave.” He chuckles deep.
I try to squirm from Ry’s lap, but he doesn’t want to let me go. He finally does, and I get up.
“Heard it was close. The gang showed up. The doc is on his way to Shock’s to check what they gave her,” Miner says, and I can’t help but eavesdrop on the conversation.
“We got away, and we probably neutralized some of them too. But to be betrayed like that is the worst. Goat was an original founding member.”
I hear the hurt and pain in Rylan’s voice.
“Gunny had a friend of his check over Fezzik. He’s good.”
“Gunny still with the girl?” Rylan asks Miner.
“Yep, won’t leave her side. She should be discharged in the next week.”
“I want guards on her for him.”
“He’s already asked.”
“Good.”
I can feel Ry’s eyes on me, and I turn to see him watching me as I finish off dinner.
The thought of being betrayed by someone he trusts hurts him so much.
It makes me think of the secrets I still haven’t told him.
He might know I have a shitty past and that I’m on the run, but he has no idea what Silas is capable of.
He doesn’t know that my father is among some of the most powerful and influential men.
He has no clue about the worst of it. I’m keeping those secrets, and I worry about what he’ll do when he finds out.
Will my betrayal be worse than Goat’s? My heart clenches the way it always does when I think of Rylan and our future.
My watch pings, and I look down at the message. It’s from a burner phone. I know who it is instantly.
Unknown Number
Someone is pinging your new name. I blocked them, but be careful.
It’s proof that I need to step back before he falls for me.
Kodiak
She’s pulling away, and I don’t know why. I want her to stay the night, but she tells me she has work to do. I give her the space because my adrenaline is so high right now, I might do something stupid, like kidnap her and fly her out to a remote cabin so I can make her mine completely.
My heart and body ache as I watch Miner drive her home. I couldn’t do it because Vortex has some information for me. I’m heading to the clubhouse to meet with him.
As soon as I walk into the club, a couple of bear baits look me up and down. I ignore them and head through the back to my office and the club’s private areas. Vortex is waiting outside my office door.
“Someone is looking into your girl. I tried to stop it, but it was blocked by someone else,” Vortex says by way of greeting.
“Fuck. Do we think it’s the father or his guard?”
“No. It’s someone local. I got their ISP. It’s Alaskan. I was in the middle of pulling their IP address when it was blocked.”
“Okay, so now you want to find out if the people who rescued her are helping hide her?” I ask, and he nods. I think it over as I sit down in my large chair. “I think we should wait. I don’t want them coming to get her back, or alerting her that we know who they are.”
The moment Marnie mentioned Sparrow House, I knew who had helped her.
Not the exact person but the family. You don’t run in the underworld without knowing who the biggest players are, and the Adairs are one of them.
I also know about Sparrow House because Persephone once suggested using them to hide Harley before I had her sent here instead.
“Are you sure? What if this father of hers could cause us problems? We don’t even know him. If the Adairs are involved, I’d assume he’s dangerous.”
I don’t even need to think about that part.
“Yes, I’m sure. It’s not the fact that the Adairs are involved. It’s that she was tortured. I don’t want her to ever go through that again. I’ll kill anyone who touches her.”
“Okay, Prez.” He gets up and heads for the door.
“Wait.” I stop him. “Keep an eye out. If there is anything that pops up, I want to know.”
“Sure thing.” He walks out, and I lean back in my chair, thinking about everything that happened today, or what could have happened.
If Marnie and Oly had been there, they would have been taken too, or worse. The thought of losing them hurts so much it almost takes my breath away. I can’t and won’t lose them.
I contact another one of our prospects and tell him I want him on her. I set up a twenty-four-hour detail. She’ll always have someone on her.