Chapter 11
TAMSIN
Ifroze because his tone didn’t leave room for anything else. Tipping my head back, I noticed his smile had been replaced by an intensity that worried me.
His gaze was locked on my truck. “Step back. Behind the loading barrier. Now.”
I moved quickly, waiting until I was behind the concrete before I asked, “What do you see?”
“There’s a device under your truck.”
I hated that he was still out there, but he wasn’t the only one at risk. Pulling out my phone, I called the front desk.
“Bellamy Pyro—”
There was no time to lose, so I cut our receptionist off. “Keep everyone away from the parking lot and move them toward the opposite side of the building. Now.”
A month ago, Beth probably would’ve questioned the demand.
But after everything that had happened over the past couple of days, she didn’t ask for more details.
Without hanging up, she activated the loudspeaker and announced, “We’ve got another emergency, guys.
Head to the west side of the building for your safety. ”
With that accomplished, I peered around the corner to see what Gavin was doing. He was checking the cars on either side of my truck, his thumbs moving on the screen of his phone while my knees went wobbly with fear.
He must’ve sent word to his club brothers because they swarmed the area. Bikes cut off the entrance, stopping anyone who tried to pull in.
“Is the warehouse empty on this side?” I asked.
“Almost,” Beth replied. “They’re checking bathrooms now.”
I spotted two guys from the corner of my eye, heading toward their cars with their keys in their hands.
“Stop,” I yelled. “Back inside now. It’s not safe out here.”
“Shit,” one of them mumbled, pulling the other back into the building.
“That’s everyone,” she told me a moment later.
“Good job, Beth.”
I hung up and put all of my attention on Gavin.
He returned to my truck, tension clear in his muscular body.
He checked the ground around it, then dropped to a crouch.
As much as I wanted this to be over soon, nothing about what he was doing looked rushed.
Which was important if he was dealing with an explosive device, but I felt like it took forever while he worked.
He went down on one knee first, then flat on his side so he could see under the running board. He fiddled with his phone again, and a small beam of light clicked on, crawling along the frame before it stopped.
He studied whatever he’d found long enough that I wanted to yell at him to get away from my truck.
He didn’t reach under it right away. The light held in one place, then it shifted an inch and stayed there.
His boot scraped on the pavement as he adjusted, getting lower, and every Black Crown in the lot went still with him.
I counted to twenty. Then I lost where I was and started over.
When he finally stretched his arm under the truck, he moved slower than I thought possible. His shoulder blocked what little I could see, but the muscles in his back stood out hard under the shirt.
He froze like that long enough that I bit down on my lip so I wouldn’t make a sound that could startle him. He finally pulled out something dark and compact, setting it on the pavement a long way from the gas tank. When nothing happened, he sat back on his heels and looked at me.
The smile that he aimed my way was smaller than usual. “Device is neutralized.”
He got to his feet and crossed the lot before I could make it to him. I stroked my hands up his chest with a sigh of relief. “That was scary.”
“Would’ve been a fuck of a lot worse if I hadn’t noticed it.” Pure fury shone from his eyes as he gripped my hips. “Damn thing was built with stock from your warehouse. Wired to go when the engine turned over.”
My gaze darted toward my truck. “They knew what I drove.”
“And that you were working today.”
There was only one possible conclusion. “Someone wanted to kill me.”
My legs almost went out from beneath me, but Gavin kept me standing. Then he pulled me against his chest, burying his face in my hair for a moment before he regained control.
“I listened,” I mumbled against his shirt, trying to lighten the mood now that the danger had passed.
“You did.”
I tilted my head back to look up at him. “Because you stopped smiling.”
“My pretty girl is so damn smart.”
His hand settled at the back of my neck, but none of his earlier humor had made it back to his eyes.
I wrapped my fingers around his wrist. “I’m here.”
“You’re gonna stay that way.”
I dug my keys out of my pocket and put them in his palm. “I think you won the driving argument.”
Shaking his head, he chuckled and pocketed them.
My parents and Len came running across the parking lot. Mom reached for me first, stifling a sob as she hugged me.
Dad’s gaze went to the device sitting on the pavement, then to Gavin. “Is it—”
“Handled,” Gavin promised.
Len stared at my truck and shook his head. “This has gone too far. We need to stop the audit. Until we know who has access to the stolen material and the employee list, Tamsin should stay away. Before she gets hurt.”
I refused to let an attempt on my life remove me from the work that may identify the attacker. Especially since I had to be getting closer to figuring out who was behind this if they targeted me this way. “As soon as Gavin and the club say the building is safe, I go back to the files.”
“They know too much about you, Tamsin.” Dad shook his head. “Come home with us. Keeping the family together feels safer.”
“I want my house.” Dad looked shocked by my answer. “I’m not letting them run me out of my own home. After all the chaos, I need somewhere that still feels like mine.”
“What if they know your address too?” Dad asked.
Gavin made the decision before my father could come up with more reasons for me to hide. “She wants to go home. We’ll secure it for her.”
Although I hadn’t thought he’d want me to go to my parents’ house, I was surprised that he was supporting my choice rather than using the attack as an excuse to relocate me.
“We’ve already been guarding the place for the past two nights.
We’ll just tighten things up even more,” he explained.
“Black Crowns will do a full sweep of the house and property before she walks in. They’ll strengthen the exterior security and maintain a rotating presence outside.
I stay inside with her. Your place and the company properties will also be watched until this is done. ”
A muscle jumped in my dad’s jaw. “You can make her house safe, even if they already know where she lives?”
“By the time we’re done, knowing the address won’t help him.”
Gavin’s certainty did more than a long speech would have. My dad’s shoulders slumped, and he pulled my mom against his side. “I’m going to hold you to your promise.”
“You should.”
Something passed between them, and my dad nodded. “Okay.”
When my parents and Len headed back inside, I looked at Gavin. “You’re really not going to argue with me about going home?”
“Only because I’ll be home with you.”
His choice of wording was interesting. “You live at the clubhouse.”
“I sleep there.”
I tilted my head to the side. “There’s a difference?”
“There is now.”
Heat filled my cheeks, but before I could decide whether to push it, he turned toward Stryker and organized things so some of his club brothers would be at my house before we left the lot.
And even though he’d made sure my truck was safe, he asked, “Can you have someone take her truck back to the house?”
“Sure,” Stryker agreed before he stalked off, leaving us alone.
“C’mon, pretty girl.”
Wrapping his hand around mine, he led me to where his motorcycle was parked. The helmet I’d used was in the saddle bag, and I put it on when he handed it to me. I climbed on behind him, my arms going around his waist tighter than they had that morning.
As we rode away from the warehouse, I was glad he’d decided to put me on the back of his bike again. The familiar warmth of his body and the steady control of the bike began easing the fear left by the device he found beneath my truck.
Several Black Crowns were already at the house when we pulled in. One of them gave Gavin a quick update. The yard had been searched. Brothers were checking the road, driveway, windows, and rear approach. Cases of equipment sat by the porch.
It was a little intimidating until Gavin walked me around the property. He asked me questions about the doors and windows, then explained the upgrades being made to make sure I was okay with everything.
I watched one of the guys unpack another camera. “Are they putting those inside too?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
Gavin looked at me like the answer was obvious. “I’m inside.”
I couldn’t argue with the fact that having him in the house with me was infinitely more reassuring than being watched by a camera. “Good.”
“If there’s anything you don’t want touched, let me know.”
“The trim.” I glanced up at the casing around the window directly above us. “My grandmother chose it.”
He glanced at the proposed mount for the camera that was about to go up, then tipped his chin at a different stretch of siding. “Move it.”
While the brothers worked outside, we went inside. Another bag sat on the couch.
I looked from the new duffel to the small one he brought. “That one’s bigger.”
“Threat level changed.”
Crossing my arms over my chest, I quirked a brow. “Apparently so did your wardrobe.”
“Preparedness saves lives.”
I pointed at the shirts near the open zipper. “Those are protecting me?”
He slung the bags over his shoulder and smirked. “You’ll appreciate them more when I’m not wearing one.”
My cheeks filled with heat over how right he was, but I didn’t mind because his real smile finally came all the way back.
He headed toward my bedroom.
I trailed him. “You know there’s still a couch.”
“I remember.”
“You slept there the first night.” As much as I wish he hadn’t.
He set the bags beside the dresser. “That was before I knew how well you fit against me.”
We both knew I had slept better wrapped up in him, so I stopped arguing as my cheeks got even hotter.
As he unpacked, his things mingled with mine. The attack hadn’t taken my home from me because Gavin made sure I was safe here.
He checked the bedroom window, then turned and caught me watching him. “What?”
“I’m deciding whether you moved in.”
His gaze swept the room before coming back to me. “Take your time.”
He closed the distance between us, slid a hand around my waist, and pulled me close. “I’ll be here while you figure it out.”
I didn’t find that alarming since he made me feel safe. So I soaked up the comfort of having his arms around me for a little bit before stepping back. “I’m going to take a shower.”
The invite sat right there on the tip of my tongue, but I chickened out.
He nodded and left to check the rest of the house, so I grabbed one of his shirts and a pair of sleep shorts and shut the bathroom door behind me.