CHAPTER THRITY-SIX
I tap Zoe’s ass lightly with the palm of my hand, watching in fascination as it jiggles. Licking my lips, I would prefer to stay up here in our room then go to the party and just fuck her senseless, but I know we’re expected to make an appearance tonight.
“We need to get up. The party’s tonight.” I tell her, to which she doesn’t move, lying over me. I love feeling her against me, makes me constantly hard for her. I’d love to stay in bed fucking my woman all day, but we had things to do, and there was time to get down to those things tonight.
“Do you wanna go see your dad?” I ask, knowing that will get her moving. I watch her sit up, showing no concern that the covers are not doing their job, as she reveals her magnificent tits to me. Unshed tears in her eyes, as well as a mixture of guilt and pain. I fight hard to keep my hands to myself, instead of all over her beautiful body like I really want to.
“I’m glad he’s dead. Does that make me a bad person?” she whispers softly, lifting her eyes to look at me. “He can’t hurt me or my family ever again.”
I sit up and take her in my arms. “No, it doesn’t make you a bad person, little one. You could never be that.”
“I don’t want to return to Dallas. I want to stay here; I don’t want to work as a crime scene cleaner anymore.” She announces, her words shocking me to my core. She had always wanted to work with her father in the crime scene cleanup industry, and I never thought she’d ever want to leave it, especially when she’d taken over for Max.
But the happiness I felt that she didn’t want to go back to Dallas, that she wanted to stay here with me, was indescribable.
“Then you don’t have to return to Dallas if you don’t want to.” I tell her, holding her tight to me. “Whatever you wanna do, you can do.”
“Will you come with me?” she asks, looking up at me, and I couldn’t help lowering my lips to hers, kissing her softly, and telling her without words that I would always be there for her.
“To see your dad?” I ask, and she nods. “Sure, baby, if you want me to come with you, I will,”
Silently, we redress and return hand in hand to the common room. Kick and Tiny were there, knowing grins on their faces.
“Where are the girls?” Zoe asks, letting go of my hand, and I had to stop myself from taking it back again. Caleb is dead, so the danger is over. But I still can’t help feeling uneasy.
“They’re in the kitchen preparing salads for tonight.” Kick says, stubbing out his cigarette. “We decided to have a cookout in the backyard tonight. Family friendly, no sweet butts allowed,” he says, and I don’t miss the relief on Zoe’s face as my brothers chuckle.
“I’m guessing you’re happy about that?” Tiny asks, as Zoe grins.
“I’m going to the kitchen to see if the girls need any help, then we can go,” she replies, getting on her tiptoes to give me a quick peck on the lips.
“Go where?” Kick questions, raising a brow, when it’s just the brothers left.
“To the hospital to see her dad. She wants me to go with her.”
Kick nods his head. “We might come with you guys, if that’s okay?” Looking across at Tiny and a few other brothers who are milling around. They nod their heads in the affirmative, and I’m glad we’ll be all travelling together. Safety in numbers and all that.
“Sounds good.” I reply, looking around the room at each brother. “Anyone heard from Storm lately? How’s he doin’?”
Tiny snorts, but then smirks. “I spoke to Lil’bit the other day.”
Lil’bit was a nickname given to Mallory, Everleigh’s best friend from before she left Briar Creek all those years ago, by the club. Minutes later, Zoe returns from the kitchen. The rest of the ol’ ladies behind her.
Mallory had distanced herself from the club since her relationship with Storm had fizzled. “She’d apparently spoken to him over the phone for some time, but otherwise, she couldn’t tell me how he was.”
Seems he was avoiding his brothers, but not the woman he did the dirty on. Maybe there’s hope for his recovery yet.
“You ready to go, little one?” I ask, once the women appear from the kitchen, bringing her into the safety of my arms as she rests against me.
“Yep. Let’s go,” she says.
I lead her out to my sled, throwing my leg over the seat, and wait for her to climb on behind me. The rumbling of at least a dozen bikes behind us, and with Zoe’s body wrapped around mine behind me, goes a long way to soothing my thoughts about what Caleb said before he died. Could there still be a threat to my woman out there? And if there was, then who?
Arriving at the hospital half an hour later, we got there just in time to see the parking lot full of police and the SWAT team, which had arrived here from Dallas. What the hell was happening?
“What do you think’s going on?” Riggs asks, coming up to my sled after we’d parked. Trying to get inside was a moot point. The police stationed outside every entrance, and none of them were talking about what was going on.
“I have no fucking idea,” I reply, looking around.
“My father’s in there.” Zoe exclaims, panic lacing her voice. Before I could stop her, she gets off the sled and takes off for one of the emergency exit doors. Son of a bitch!
Shock and panic sets in, and I can’t seem to do anything for a moment but stand there like an idiot.
I frantically look around and notice Kick is talking to detective Reyes, the only one at the Culville PD we have in our pocket. I stride over determinedly.
“My woman has just gotten herself in a world of hurt, I need to get into the hospital to go after her. Her father’s in there.” I growl at the police chief. Pushing my hands into the pockets of my jeans so that I don’t strangle the motherfucker. Kick gives me a warning to take it down a notch, and I take a deep, calming breath.
“Who’s her father?” He demands, looking at me, then quickly at Kick. “As I was just telling Kick, we have a hostage situation.”
“A hostage situation? Who’s the hostage?” My gut churns, and I knew even before he spoke the words who it would be.
“A Max Cullen in room 403. Some woman calling herself Emma came in brandishing a weapon, straight into his room,” the police detective explained.
“How the fuck did she get inside the hospital with a fucking gun?” I demand, wanting to throttle the idiot. “Emma? Wait, why do I know that name?” Then it hits me; she’s Zoe’s friend from high school. Running a hand through my beard, I pace. And now Zoe’s in that fucking mess. Could this be what Caleb was eluding to earlier? But why would her friend want to hurt her?
“Is there another way inside?” I demand. “My woman’s in there.” Kick looks at me with wide eyes.
“Shit!” he exclaims.
Detective Reyes is reluctant to tell me, but seeing the determination on my face, he points toward the same entry point Zoe went through. Without waiting for anyone else, I was inside within seconds, Kick, Tiny and the others on my heels. It was a good thing we all had weapons on us, and we brought them out at the ready.
Kick took the lead, and we followed behind. Taking the concrete steps two at a time, and as quietly as our boots would allow, we climbed to the floor where Zoe’s father’s room was located.
As I step into the corridor, my eyes scanning left and right, I’m on high alert for any potential danger. But luckily nothing happened. Hearing raised voices, we all turned as one towards the sound, coming upon a scene that made my blood boil.
A woman was pacing nervously, talking to herself. Max was in the hospital bed, trying to talk the crazy woman down, and looking desperately at the still figure lying on the ground, with a large gash to her head.
Before the bitch even had a chance to react, instead of shooting her like I wanted to, I lift my Ruger and bring it down over her head, watching her drop to the floor like a sack of potatoes. Pushing her out of the way, I sit down on the floor beside my woman and bring her gently into my arms.
“Baby?” I scan her for any further injuries besides the one on her head, while calling out to her.
Zoe softly moans, her eyes flutter open, and the overwhelming relief I feel was almost too much.
“I’m sorry for running off and not telling you. I was worried for my dad.” She groans, hissing in pain when she felt the bump on her head from being pistol whipped. “Emma was in on everything, she even shot me” she whimpers, her face scrunching up in pain.
“Stay still, baby. I know it hurts, but we’re gonna get someone to look you over, okay?” I tell her, trying to comfort her even though my hands itched to wrap themselves around the bitch Emma’s throat and squeeze the life out of her.
“I’m fine. My head just hurts, that’s all.”
The next few minutes were a whirlwind of activity; the police storm in, and seeing the woman lying on the floor and all the blood, they look at me sceptically.
“She’ll live, more’s the pity. I just incapacitated her. But my woman needs medical attention.”
Half an hour later, the police had taken Emma away to jail—we were driving home in a cage, since I decided Zoe shouldn’t ride on the back of my sled, even though the doctor who looked her over determined she didn’t have a concussion. Despite her assurance that she was okay riding on my sled, I won”t risk her well-being again.
My mind was still reeling from what we’d learned from Zoe’s father, who had been in a secret relationship with Emma, a good friend of Zoe’s, but who decided she wanted Zoe out of the way. The crazy bitch teaming up with Caleb to get rid of her, planning to send her to some sex traffickers overseas before my brave woman took matters into her own hands, forcing the car Caleb was driving off the road.
It was safe to assume that her father, lying to her and seeing her friend behind her back, royally pissed my girl off. She barely even looked at her father while at the hospital getting seen to by the doctor.
Arriving home, I picked Zoe up in my arms, ignoring the eye roll she gave me, and strode to our room before placing her gently on the bed. She refused to postpone the cookout for tonight, since the brothers and their wives from the Washington chapter will arrive for a visit. Something Sage was looking forward to since becoming close with Dash’s ol’ lady Aurora.
I agreed not to postpone if she took the rest of the afternoon off and rested in bed. She agreed, and there we had our happy medium.