Chapter 19 Carver
The bass from the clubhouse speakers rattles the bottles behind the bar while cigarette smoke curls through the yellow lights overhead. I stare toward the hallway instead of paying attention to the chatter around me.
Raven’s been gone too long.
At first, I tell myself I’m being possessive. She said she was going to the bathroom, not disappearing into enemy territory. But another five minutes pass, and the knot in my gut tightens harder.
“What’s wrong?” Shield asks.
I shrug. How do I explain the feeling of dread knotted in my stomach?
I glance toward the hallway again, expecting Raven’s dark hair and sharp eyes to appear any second. Nothing.
The room suddenly feels too loud. Too crowded.
Tamara passes by carrying a tray of empty bottles, and I catch her wrist lightly. “Have you seen Raven?”
“She went to the restroom a while ago.” Tamara studies my face for half a second. “Why?”
“She’s been gone too long. Go check on her.”
Tamara nods immediately and disappears down the hallway, sliding the tray onto the bar as she passes.
I drum my fingers against the table, impatience eating at me. Shield says something, but I don’t hear a damn word. My attention stays locked on that hallway.
When Tamara finally returns, she’s frowning.
“She’s not in there.”
The words hit me like a cold punch to the ribs.
“What do you mean she’s not in there?”
“I checked the bathroom and asked the Kutte Bunnies, but no one has seen her.”
My chair scrapes hard against the floor as I shove back from the table.
“Carver?” Lenora calls after me, but I’m already moving.
I push through the front doors of the clubhouse into the cool night air. Gravel crunches under my boots as I scan the parking lot.
Her car’s gone. My anger flares hot. She left without a word. Why?
With my jaw clenched, I stalk toward the guardhouse at the gate. Axel looks up from his stool when I yank the door open.
“Did you see Raven leave?”
Axel nods once. “Yeah. About twenty minutes ago.”
“Was she alone?”
“Far as I could tell.”
“Did she say where she was going?”
“Nope.” He squints at me. “She didn’t stop to say anything. She just drove through. Why? Is something wrong?”
That’s the question, isn’t it?
I mutter a curse and turn away, already pulling my phone from my pocket. My pulse pounds hard in my ears as I head back toward the clubhouse. Twenty damn minutes. Why the hell would she leave without telling me?
By the time I hit the porch steps, I’m furious enough to crack concrete. I pull up Raven’s number, ready to demand an explanation, but my phone vibrates in my hand.
Raven.
Every ounce of anger vanishes instantly.
I answer on the first ring. “Where the hell are you?”
A broken sob comes through the speaker.
“Carver—”
My blood turns to ice.
“What happened?”
She’s crying so hard her breathing hitches between words. “Tony attacked me.”
I stop dead in the middle of the clubhouse entrance.
“What?”
“In the parking lot at my apartment.” Another shaky sob. “He grabbed me when I got out of the car. I—I got away and locked myself inside my apartment, but he was here, Carver. He was here.”
Pure murderous rage floods my chest so fast it makes me dizzy.
“Are you hurt?”
“My shoulder hurts, and he hit me but—” Her voice cracks apart. “Please come get me.”
“I’m on my way.”
No hesitation. No questions. I shove through the clubhouse doors so hard they slam against the wall behind me. Every head turns.
“Raven was attacked,” I bark.
The entire room goes still.
“Tony?” Min asks.
“He went after her at her apartment. I need backup.”
Chairs scrape violently across the floor.
Shield stands first. “I’m in.”
“Me, too,” Torch growls, already heading for the gun locker.
Ranch cracks his knuckles. “Let’s ride.”
Babe grabs his keys from the bar. “Nobody touches our girl and walks away.”
Min’s expression turns cold as death itself. “I’m going, too.”
I look around at my people—my family—and feel the rage in the room building alongside mine. Tony just made the biggest mistake of his life.
The ride across town feels endless even with me pushing the bike hard. My hands tighten around the handlebars every time I picture Raven crying on the phone. She’s scared, and she’s hurt. That fucker Tony will pay for this.
The thought keeps replaying in my skull like a hammer strike.
Six bikes roar through the streets in a tight pack, engines tearing through the quiet night. Babe and Ranch are in the lead. Torch is at my side—Min and Shield are behind us.
We pull into Raven’s apartment complex fast enough to have heads snapping in our direction. The second I kill the engine, Shield swings off his bike.
“We’ll sweep the lot,” he says. “If the bastard’s still here, we’ll find him.”
Torch cracks his neck. “Hope he stayed.”
Ranch pulls a flashlight from his saddlebag. “Let’s hunt.
I nod once. “Call the second you find him.”
The three of them disappear into the dark while I head for the entrance with Babe and Min beside me.
My pulse pounds harder with every floor we climb. By the time we reach Raven’s apartment door, I’m barely holding myself together. I pound on the door and call out.
A chain rattles on the other side before the door flies open.
“Carver.”
Raven launches herself straight into my arms.
I catch her automatically, wrapping both arms around her while her whole body shakes against mine. Her breathing comes fast and uneven against my chest.
“I got you,” I murmur, pressing my hand against the back of her head. “You’re safe.”
The apartment smells faintly of pepper spray and fear. Babe quietly shuts the door behind us while Min scans the room like she's expecting Tony to jump out from behind the furniture.
Raven clings to my kutte with both fists.
“He was waiting for me,” she whispers. “I don’t know how he found me.”
I carefully tip her chin up. The rage burns through me when I see the new bruises. Her tears make me lose my damn mind.
“You need to tell us exactly what happened.”
She swallows hard and nods shakily.
I guide her to the couch, sitting beside her while Babe leans against the kitchen counter and Min leans against him.
Raven drags a trembling hand through her hair.
“I came home from the clubhouse because…” She hesitates briefly before continuing. “Because I needed some space.”
The words land wrong in my chest, but I shove that aside for now.
“What happened after you got here?” I ask.
“I parked in my spot and started walking toward the door.” Her voice wavers. “Then somebody grabbed me from behind.”
Babe mutters a curse under his breath.
Raven’s fingers tighten together. “At first I didn’t know who it was.
I threw my elbow into his gut and stomped on his foot to free myself.
That’s when I realized it was Tony. I had a can of pepper spray, so I sprayed him in the eyes before I rushed inside and bolted myself in my apartment. That’s when I called you.”
Despite the fury boiling inside me, pride cuts through it. Tony picked the wrong person to attack. My girl isn’t weak.
She gasps when someone pounds on the door. We all go still until we hear Shield’s voice coming from outside.
“It’s me.”
Babe unlocks the door and Shield steps inside, expression grim.
“No sign of him,” he says. “Torch and Ranch are on their bikes looking for him.”
I nod toward Raven. “She maced the bastard.”
Shield’s eyebrows rise. “Seriously?”
Raven gives a tiny nod.
“Direct hit,” I say.
A dangerous grin spreads across Shield’s face.
“Well, that gives us something.”
He immediately pulls out his phone and hits a number.
“Torch,” he says when the call connects. “Change of plans. Check every urgent care and ER within ten miles. Raven pepper-sprayed him.”
A pause.
“Yeah. Ranch too.”
He hangs up and dials again before looking at me.
“I’m calling Maestro.”
A few seconds later he says, “Need you to run Tony Martin through every camera and contact you got. He attacked Raven tonight.”
The room goes colder somehow.
Shield listens for another moment before hanging up.
“Maestro’s on it.”
Good.
Shield holds the phone and stares at it for a minute before pocketing it.
I know he was debating whether to call the precinct for backup.
I’m glad he decided against it. If Tony’s smart, he’s already running.
I’m hoping our guys find him. I’d like to have a chat with the asshole who thinks he can hurt one of ours.
I look back at Raven. She looks exhausted and raw. She can’t stay here tonight. Not alone.
“You’re coming back to the clubhouse with us.”
Her eyes widen slightly. “Carver—”
“That’s not negotiable.”
Min pushes forward immediately. “I’ll help her pack.”
Raven looks too drained to argue as Min gently pulls her toward the bedroom.
I wait about thirty seconds before following.
Raven pulls a duffel bag from the closet. Her hands shake as she unzips it. Seeing her fearful guts me. I reach over and unzip it for her before pulling her into my arms.
“You’re going to be okay, I promise. We’ll find Tony. He won’t be able to hurt you again. Now, what do you want to bring?”
“I’ll grab your stuff from the bathroom,” Min offers before ducking out of the room.
Raven takes a deep breath and gives me a nod. “I’ve got this. It won’t take me long to pack.”
I sit on the bed and watch her grab jeans, t-shirts, underwear, and other clothes from the closet and dresser drawers.
She folds and packs them neatly in the bag.
Min returns with a small bag that I assume holds shampoo, conditioner, and the like.
She tosses it in the duffel bag just before Raven zips it closed.
Min returns to the other room, allowing me to ask the question that’s been burning through me since the guardhouse.
“Why’d you leave?”
Her hands stop moving.
For a long moment, she says nothing.
Then she exhales shakily and sits back on her heels.
“I was scared.”
“Of Tony?”
“No.” Her eyes finally meet mine. “Of you.”