Chapter 9 Bella
“How does that feel?” Falcon asked, using his fingertips to palpate the lower portion of my calf, ankle, and foot. “Any pain?”
“Only when you keep pressing on it,” I hissed, almost kicking him when he applied pressure to the area around the side of my ankle bone.
“Sore? Stiff? Throbbing pain? Dull ache? Which describes the injury?”
“I don’t know. All of it?”
He smirked, still pressing down on the sensitive hunk of swollen flesh. “And now?”
“A little stiff and a dull ache. Doesn’t hurt like it did when I first twisted it.”
He kept rubbing, lightly pressing in a circular motion.
My shoulders relaxed, and I closed my eyes, leaning back as I heard him laugh.
“What?” I asked, opening my eyes.
“Still hurting?”
“Of course, it’s, uh, wait.” I slowly moved my foot back and forth, then up and down. Wow. “The pain is gone.” I stared at him, blinking as he nodded. “How is that possible?”
Falcon shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe I have a magic touch.”
“Seriously. I think you do. I’m going to try standing on it.”
He helped me slip down from the counter, and I carefully placed my weight on the ankle, testing it. No pain. How odd. Even the swelling seemed to disappear.
“Maybe it wasn’t as bad as you thought,” he suggested. Something about the way he said that made me wonder if those words held a hidden meaning. Falcon seemed almost amused.
“Well, whatever you did, I’m grateful. The last thing I needed was an injury right now.”
“Yeah, I couldn’t help overhearing about your sister. Crow won’t let that slide. None of us will.”
“Thank you.” Just hearing his sympathy made me feel better, but I still worried about Bree. “I hope Crow comes back soon. I don’t know what to do next, and I have no idea what’s in that package.”
“He’s got Raven, Hawk, and Talon with him. Ain’t nothin’ gonna hurt the pres.”
“I’m sure you’re right.” Anxious, I began to pace, pulling out my phone. I hadn’t checked it in hours. There were multiple notifications, most from social media and unimportant. Just one caught my eye, sending cold tremors down my spine—a single text with a photo of my sister.
Bree was tied up with rope around her wrists and ankles.
No!
Her tear-stained face was streaked with mascara and a few red blotches of skin. One side of her face seemed bruised and swollen. Some of her clothing was torn and dirty. I never saw her like this. Bree always had her hair and makeup done and clothes clean and wrinkle-free.
My hand flew over my mouth as I stared at her, noticing the text beneath the picture.
Drop the package tonight. Boris will meet you at midnight. Don’t be late.
Your sister dies if you don’t follow these directions.
All the air in my lungs left in a whoosh as I began trembling, sinking to my knees on the hardwood floor of Crow’s living room.
Falcon called out my name, rushing to my side as I doubled over, screaming my sister’s name. Boots pounded the stairs, and I heard Crow’s voice, but I couldn’t answer.
They were going to kill my sister. Once they learned I told Crow the truth, Bree was going to die.
“No, no, no,” I wailed, clutching my phone to my chest, sucking in a deep breath. “They can’t, Crow. They can’t kill her.”
“Baby, look at me, please.” He dropped low in front of me, waiting for me to obey.
My head slowly lifted as he tugged me closer, brushing my hair out of my eyes.
“We’ll find her. I swear to you, we’ll find Brianna.” The conviction in his voice was the only thing keeping me from completely freaking out.
“I have to meet Boris at midnight. If I’m not there, they’ll kill Bree.”
Crow’s gray eyes turned frosty cold. “Not gonna happen, Bella.”
“Which part?” I asked, suspicious of the way his jaw tensed and the look he sent to the guys in the room.
Until now, I didn’t pay attention to the other bikers who followed him upstairs. There was an older guy with a salt-and-pepper colored beard who must work out because he was solid muscle with biceps as big as my head.
Another guy, probably close to Crow’s age, with a mohawk and tons of dark ink on his body, including skulls, vines, and a crow spanning the length of his left arm. Now that I paid attention, the older guy had a raven tattoo that stretched from his bicep down to his wrist.
Crow’s ink was a little different but no less impressive.
I hadn’t seen him shirtless, but I could tell there was plenty of art on his body beneath the fabric of his t-shirt.
Full sleeves covered both arms as I noticed the night we met, but the tiny bird with black wings tattooed above his right eye stood out the most to me.
I found it incredibly sexy, and I wasn’t even sure why.
Despite the attractive men in front of me, I wasn’t the least bit interested in anything other than saving my sister. Crow’s statement sounded a little too forceful.
“All of it.”
“Are you telling me,” I began, taking great effort not to get annoyed, “that I’m not going to meet Boris?”
“Fuck yeah, that’s what I’m sayin’.”
“Crow, that isn’t your call.” I pushed away from him and stood up, planting my hands on my hips. “I don’t know what caveman mentality runs through your biker head, but I’m going to help save my sister, and you can’t stop me.”
He didn’t argue. Crow never uttered a reply, but the look on his face proved he was forming a plan in his head, and I wasn’t going to like the outcome.
“I’m serious, Crow.”
“I know you are, darlin’.”
“Then why do I feel like you’re going to do something I’m going to hate and get pissed about?”
The other three bikers in the room laughed.
“I like her, Pres.”
I turned to the guy with the mohawk. “Who are you?”
“Hawk. I’m the Sergeant at Arms.”
“And I’m the V.P., sugar. Name’s Raven.” So the silver fox was Raven. Good to know.
“I wish I met you all under better circumstances, but my sister is scheduled to die after midnight if I don’t show up and meet Boris.
” I clicked the side of my phone and swiped to open it, showing the text with my sister’s photo.
“They’re already hurting her,” I choked out, turning back to Crow.
“Bree needs me, and you’re not stopping me from meeting Boris.
” I shoved my phone into my purse, taking a step toward the door.
Crow’s hand shot out as he reached for my arm, tugging me against his body.
“Bella, I can’t let you do this, not alone.
I don’t fucking like it, but I won’t stop you from meeting Boris.
” He sighed, lowering his forehead to mine.
“This thing growing between us, I’m getting fucking addicted to it.
I don’t want anything to happen to you. Putting you in danger doesn’t sit well with me, especially after what happened to my pops. ”
Shit. My hands rose, and I placed them over the stubble on his face, taking a moment to breathe with him as I let his words sink in.
“I know that, Crow. I love that you want to be my champion. It’s sexy as fuck, baby.
” His lips twitched with a half-smile. “But I’m not weak.
I can help rescue my sister. I’m going to need all the help I can get from you and your club to do it.
So what do you say we do this together, huh? ”
“Goddamn, where did you find this chick, Pres?” Hawk asked as Crow flipped him off. “I’m in love.”
Raven chuckled, slapping Crow on the back. “If you change your mind about him, honey, I’m right here.”
“Back off, fuckers,” Crow snarled, tossing a dirty look in their direction.
“She’s mine.” As soon as the words left his lips, his mouth swooped down and covered mine in an unexpected kiss.
The kind that shut down all awareness of the outside world.
That punched a hole in your gut with its intensity.
It wasn’t the longest or most erotic kiss I’d ever had but the promise it held, of both a future and of standing by my side, had a more significant impact than any kiss I’d ever received.
The big man holding me in his arms had walked into my life and turned it upside down. Despite the fact that we didn’t know one another for long, there was no doubt that I could fall deep and hard for this rough, charismatic outlaw.
“What was in the package?” I asked, noticing he seemed unscathed.
“A message for the club.” His tone was brusque, nearly guttural.
“Anything I should know?” I asked, feeling a bit left out. I brought the damn thing to him. He could attempt to explain a little to me.
“Possible intel about who put the hit on my father. Club business, darlin’.”
Right. Frustrated, I pouted.
“Hey, the shit in that envelope was there to cause trouble and rile us up. I’ve got a lot more questions than answers.”
“Oh.”
“That means I’ve got to knock a few heads together and figure those answers out. Feel me, baby?”
Yeah, violence. “I suppose so.”
“That’s why we’re going to leave now and set a trap for Boris. He’s going to tell us what he knows, and that’ll be a start.”
Nodding, I saw where this was going. “And my sister?”
“We’re gonna find her, Bella. I swear I won’t come home without her.”
“Okay.”
He pressed a soft kiss on my lips. “I think leaving with you a second time qualifies as another date. After all, at midnight, it’s gonna be a brand new day.”
“I don’t think that counts,” I teased.
“I’m gonna override you on that, darlin’.”
“I’m not surprised.”
Despite the growing tension in the room about going after Boris and Brianna’s kidnappers, Crow let out a chuckle. “You’re a fast learner, beautiful. Let’s roll out. I want to reach your place before eleven.”