Chapter 11
Chapter Eleven
VIPER
“Hello?” I rasp, answering and putting it to my ear.
“Prez, Kierra’s apartment building just burnt to the ground.
It’s a total loss according to the chatter coming across the scanners,” Dexter appraises as I try to wrap my head around what he’s telling me.
Looking down at the mop of hair on my chest, I realize how very differently this conversation could be playing out if Kierra wasn’t here safe behind the compound walls.
Wrapping my arm around her back, I hold her just a little bit closer, thankful that she’s safe.
“I’ll let Kierra know. Keep an ear on what the cause is determined to be, will you?” I ask him.
“You got it, Prez.” He disconnects the call.
“Let Kierra know what?” Kierra looks up at me expectantly.
“Your apartment building burned down tonight. I’m sorry, Kierra, but it was a total loss from what Dexter is hearing.”
“George!” she cries out, shooting up and attempting to climb out of bed.
“Fuck. I’ll send Legend over there to look for him and bring him back to the clubhouse. Just relax, yeah?” I immediately grab my phone and shoot off a text with instructions to find Kierra’s friend and bring him back to the compound. Seconds later I get a reply that he’s going now.
“Legend is leaving now. He’ll let me know as soon as George is at the clubhouse. Don’t stress yourself, it’s not good for the baby.” I place my hand on her stomach.
“Thank you, Draven. George doesn’t have any family, so we gotta look out for him,” she asserts.
“We will. Let’s go back to sleep, and we’ll deal with the rest of this shit in the morning. Nothing we can do about any of it tonight.”
“Ok. But what about all my stuff?” She yawns and lays her head back down on my chest before promptly passing back out. Ever since we found out that Kierra is pregnant she can fall asleep at the drop of a hat and pretty much anywhere she lands.
Picking my phone back up, I send off another text asking Rock and Storm to go by her place and see if there was anything that was salvageable.
I had no intention of ever letting her go back to that fucking dump anyway so this solved my dilemma on how I was going to convince her to let her place go.
Minutes later, I get a reply from Storm that he will get on it and a smartass reply from Rock about his beauty sleep.
I’m going to have to do something about him soon.
He’s been toeing the line of disrespect with all of his brothers, and everyone is about fed up with him.
I don’t know what is going on with him. He needs to figure his shit out soon before I send him off to another charter for a while to teach him a lesson, which is something that I don’t like to do.
With that taken care of, I set my phone back down and pull my woman tighter into my chest before closing my own eyes and giving in to sleep.
It’s been a week since we brought George to the clubhouse, and he can usually be found down in the basement with Dexter. The two have become good buddies, and Dexter says the guy is actually very fucking smart when it comes to computers and anything having to do with technology.
When Legend arrived that night, he found George sitting on the curb looking lost and panicked. Kierra had mentioned that he wasn’t much for leaving the safety of his apartment so being displaced was probably more than he could handle at that moment.
Kierra said the only thing she ever really knew about the man was that he had primo weed, and he would share it with her in exchange for a look at her tits. They used to get high together on her fire escape but other than that, she doesn’t know much about George.
The boys got a kick out of introducing him to the club girls and let’s just say that since he’s learned that the girls are available when called upon, he’s been a busy bee.
The man doesn’t say much but he seems to be a Casanova with the women.
The only thing I really care about is that him being here makes my woman happy.
Thinking of my woman, I look around the common room and don’t see her anywhere.
Just as I’m about to get up and go looking for her, she comes out of the kitchen with a bottle of juice in one hand and a box of cheese crackers in the other.
In the last few days, she’s been having a tough time keeping much down.
Of course, I called the doctor concerned.
He said that it’s most likely morning sickness which apparently can occur all fucking day long and not just in the morning.
“How are you feeling?” I ask as she moves around the table and plops her ass down on my lap almost making me spill my beer.
“Hungry,” she grumbles around a mouthful of crackers and turns her nose up at the beer in my hand. “Ever since I’ve been pregnant the smell of beer has been so gross. Which is weird because I never minded it before.”
“I think I read that’s normal,” I say while taking another sip of my offensive-smelling beer.
“Aww, babe. Are you really reading the book I got you?”
“Of course, I am. It’s my fucking kid too, ain’t going to sit back and let you do everything,” I tell her honestly.
“Drink your beer, Viper. You’re being snappy for no reason, and I’m not in the mood to verbally spar with you.” She waves me off and continues stuffing her face with crackers.
Pulling her to my chest, I kiss her cheek and apologize for being an asshole. “Sorry, baby. You know I didn’t mean nothing by it.”
“I know. Usually, I find your bluff and bluster cute, but I’m too hungry to go a few rounds right now,” she claims cheekily.
“I’ll give you a few rounds, woman,” I growl into her neck, biting down and making her laugh. That’s what I want to hear. My baby happy, without anything stressing her out.
“Hop up, Kierra.” I pat her thigh. Climbing from my chair, I make my way to the bar to grab another beer, but before I can, Dexter comes flying out of the kitchen like his ass is on fire.
“Hurry! Help! Get to the gates!” he roars as he races straight out the doors. Dropping my bottle on the ground, I pull my gun and take off at a sprint following behind him, while shouting, “Get down in the basement, Kierra! NOW!”
Running at full speed, I make it behind Dexter in a few seconds and can’t believe what I’m seeing.
One of our dancers from HD has been strung up on the gates and whoever did this worked her over bad.
Her body is completely black and blue, and there’s no doubt in my mind that she was violated in the worst way.
“Fuck!” I shout, fisting my hair in my hands.
“Get her down,” I bellow to my men who are already climbing up onto the gates to get her.
“Got a pulse! Call an ambulance!” Wrath yells, and Knox quickly pulls his phone to call for help and hopefully for Detective Deacon, who’s on our payroll.
I send Kidd back into the clubhouse to let the girls know they’re going to have to stay in the basement for a little while longer.
I don’t want this upsetting Kierra and bringing back the nightmares she’s just recently stopped having.
It takes twenty minutes for Deacon and the paramedics to arrive, but everything happens fast after that.
We give Deacon our statements, and Dexter lets him know that he will forward our surveillance footage over as soon as he has a chance to pull it.
Taking a deep breath, I head back into the clubhouse trying to figure out how I’m going to break it to Kierra that her friend has been badly hurt.
Once everyone except club members have left the property, we close the gates back and I head down to get Kierra praying I can keep her calm.
The second I open the heavy metal door she comes flying up the steps and throws herself into my arms bawling her eyes out.
“I saw everything on the monitors,” she sobs into my chest holding onto me tightly.
“Shit,” I curse. I was trying to prevent this, and it didn’t even occur to me that Dexter has screens that cover every inch of the property.
“I need to go to the hospital and check on her. Please, Draven,” she begs, and when she turns those big brown eyes on me, I know that I can’t deny her.
“Yeah. Ok,” I concede, not wanting to take her outside the safety of the compound walls but knowing I don’t have a choice. Guiding her into the common room, I set her in a chair while I gather a small group of my men to go with us for added protection.
Walking into the hospital’s emergency room, we go to the desk and Kierra asks for Temperance Davis’ room, and a nurse spends long minutes looking over her computer before asking us to have a seat and telling us a doctor will be with us shortly.
From the look on her face, I’m not getting a good vibe, but I am really hoping that I’m wrong.
“Family of Temperance Davis?” A man in scrubs asks, coming into the lobby. Kierra quickly stands and I follow behind her, wrapping my arm around her shoulders as we wait for the doctor to inform us of the status of Tempy.
“I’m sorry to inform you that Ms. Davis came in with injuries that were inoperable.
Sadly, she and the fetus didn’t survive,” he discloses, clearly hating having to deliver the news of her not making it.
“You have my deepest condolences. If the staff or I can be of any assistance, please, don’t hesitate to reach out,” he finishes, before heading back behind the double doors.
“Oh god. He said fetus, Draven. She was pregnant. That means, Sparrow…” she sobs, looking at me with shock in her eyes that probably resemble the look on my own face.
“We need to call him and tell him—“
“No! He’s on a run and I don’t want his head not where it needs to be,” I tell her, not wanting to explain club business but needing her to know we can’t tell him yet. This run he’s on is very dangerous and very important to all our survival.
“What? But…”
“Trust me, Kierra.” I am begging her to let it go for now.
“I do,” she whispers; thankfully dropping it temporarily.
Dexter: Need you back here NOW!