Chapter 25
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Delaney
My head is killing me. My body feels heavy. Slowly, I blink my eyes open.
At first, I’m confused. I don’t recognize the floral wallpaper in the room. Blinking my eyes several times, I look around the room best I can from my position on my side.
That’s when I see him.
Blaine.
He’s pacing the room as he mutters to himself. That’s when it all comes back to me.
I was in the parking lot at school. My tires were slashed. I called Tank.
Then Blaine was there. We argued, and then like an idiot, I turned my back on him, and he hit me.
I realize that’s why my face and head hurt. I must have smacked my face on the asphalt when I fell.
I close my eyes and try to come up with a solution. Logically, I know that Tank is looking for me. I called him to come help me. When I wasn’t there when he showed up, he had to have figured out something was wrong. I only need to bide my time and keep Blaine away from me as long as I can.
Tank will find me.
My heart is racing in my chest. I’m trying to keep my breathing even, but the pain with each breath has me rasping a little.
“Delaney? Are you awake, honey?”
I keep my eyes closed. I hope like hell he doesn’t catch on to the fact I’m awake. My stomach rolls, nausea hitting me hard.
“You’re awake. I can tell. How are you feeling?” Blaine asks, sitting on the edge of the bed.
It’s not until he touches my chest that I realize something is wrong.
My eyes pop open as I look down. I’m completely naked.
“What the fuck, Blaine?” I gasp, moving back.
He grabs my arm, pulling me closer.
“Shh. I know you’re mad at me. I didn’t want to hurt you. I iced your face for a little while.” He brushes the hair from my face. “Does it feel better?”
“No. It fucking hurts. Did you break my nose?” I ask.
“I don’t think so, but I’m not a doctor. We will get it checked out after we talk.” His fingers trail down my arm, causing my skin to crawl.
“Where are my clothes?” I ask.
“The tub,” he says almost absentmindedly. “They had blood on them. I had to wash them. I cleaned you up too. I can’t have you looking like a mess, Delaney. You know that.”
I swallow hard as he brushes his fingers over my chest. I try to take stock of my body. Did he touch me down there? It doesn’t feel any different, but with how much I have been having sex with Tank, would I even know?
Think, Delaney. Think.
“Thank you for taking care of me, Blaine,” I start, my voice shaky. “You cleaned me up well. Is that all you did?”
“Of course. I’d never harm you. You can trust me, baby. I told you that I made a mistake. I didn’t want to sleep with Deborah, but she threatened my job. I needed to make partner so I could take care of us and the family we will build. You understand, don’t you? Can you forgive me?”
I force a smile as I reach out, grabbing the hand that keeps touching me. I thread it between my own fingers so we are holding hands. I hate the way his fingers feel between mine, but it’s better than him touching me.
“Of course I forgive you. How can I not when you went through so much to show me the truth? You’ve always loved me, haven’t you?”
He nods. “I have.”
“I know that. I’m cold though, so do you think I can get under the blankets? Maybe you can find me something for my head?” I ask.
“I’ll check your clothes too.” He nods as he stands, letting go of my hand.
As he heads into the connected bathroom, I get under the blankets, hissing at the pain in my body. I look around the room for anything that I can use as a weapon, but all I find is a pen in the nightstand. I hide it under the blanket as he walks back into the room.
“The clothes are still wet. I was able to get you a glass of water. I don’t have anything for your pain. I’ll get you something, though,” he promises.
I take the glass of water, sipping it before setting it down.
“What’s the plan?” I ask him.
“We are going to leave the state and start fresh somewhere else. I can pass the bar in a new state and get hired on at a new law firm, one without female partners. I don’t want you to question if I’m sleeping with my boss.”
“That’s very…considerate,” I manage.
“We can get married. Have kids. We will be a perfect little family.”
That sounds like hell. Blaine is delusional. He thinks he wants this, but he doesn’t. Not really. He only likes that he can’t have me.
“If that’s what you want,” I mutter.
“It is. It’s what you want too. Everything will be great. You’ll see. I have it all planned out.”
He looks so serious. It’s quite scary. He looks like he is losing his grip on reality.
I hear the sound of a motorcycle, and my heartbeat picks up.
Is he here?
Blaine pulls away, going to look out the window. He must suspect it might be Tank too.
“What are you looking for?” I ask, trying to distract him from the window.
“That man you slummed it with. He wasn’t good for you. You know that, right? He’s a dirty biker. How could you think he would be good for you?”
I don’t say what I really want to say. If I do, he will get mad and likely hurt me again. He doesn’t seem stable at the moment.
So I don’t answer, but that’s the wrong move. As the motorcycle fades away, he moves closer to the bed.
“I asked you a question. How could you think he would be good for you?”
I don’t know what to say. I don’t think I can lie effectively.
How can I look him in the eye and tell him Tank isn’t good for me when I am hopelessly in love with Tank?
I need to sell it, though. I refuse to leave this world without seeing Tank one more time.
I swallow hard and open my mouth to speak.
Tank
It’s been two hours since Delaney called me. Two hours of not knowing where she is or what is happening to her.
The first thing Fox checked was the school cameras.
We saw Blaine approach and then attack her from behind.
When he picked her up, though, the cameras cut out, so it was a dead end.
She was there one minute, lying limp in Blaine’s hold, then disappeared.
Then Fox checked all the cameras in the area but couldn’t see her leave the parking lot.
He started going through every vehicle in the area, but I knew the truth.
Her stalking ex is the only dumbass motherfucker has her and is two steps ahead of us.
I knew I should have ended the threat long before now, but Delaney kept telling me he was harmless. She didn’t want me to do anything, and my need to always do what she wants overrode my common sense.
We wouldn’t be in this situation if I had gone and looked for him. If I had made sure he went away. That he knew the consequences of touching what is mine.
I fucked up, but never again.
I will find her. I have to.
Thankfully, he was able to catch the dickhead pretending to be a runner, knocking Acid out as he waited on the edge of the parking lot. In broad daylight, he managed to drag Acid to the playground before anyone saw him.
Acid is awake now and almost as angry as I am. He is ready to burn the world.
“Where is he, Fox? I’m getting impatient,” I growl as I pace the clubhouse floors.
“You’ve been impatient. Foxxy is doing his best. You need to let him work,” Jagger says, trying to calm me.
It’s not helping. Not even a little bit.
“If it was your old lady, you would be upset too. He has my girl. He will be lucky if he lives when I see him.” I crack my knuckles as I talk.
“Jagger’s right. You talking isn’t helping Fox find her faster. He’s doing everything he can,” Mac interjects.
“Then I should be out there looking for her. Standing here isn’t helping Fox, so I should be out there searching for her.”
None of them get it. I mean, I thought Mac would be the one on my side. After his old lady’s ex tried to kill her and his kids, I figured he would be the first one out there with me.
“We need a plan in place for when we find her.”
Smoke tries to change the subject.
“The plan is that Fox hurries his ass up and then I get on my bike and go kill the motherfucker before rescuing my woman,” I blow up, tired of their attempts to distract me. “I’m going out there and looking for her. When you have a fucking location, call me.”
I turn to walk out of the room, but Fox finally speaks.
“I got her. She’s at the motel on Highway 90 in East Milton.”
I don’t even wait for more information. I know the motel. It’s a seedy place that mostly hosts truckers and transients. It doesn’t get too much attention because it’s out in the middle of nowhere with no neighbors to complain.
He will know we are coming, but I can’t wait.
Climbing on my bike, I hear Gunner calling me, but I don’t stop. I start the bike up and tear out of there, and I hear the roar of their bikes right behind me.
Whether they agree with my actions or not, they will back me up.
It’s a forty-five minute drive on a slow day, but I break all of the speed limits as I race through Santa Rosa County to reach her.
When I get closer, I pass the motel before I finally pull over.
As out of control as I feel right now, I know rushing in there might get Delaney killed. She is the main focus.
The guys pull in behind me, all shutting off their bikes as we talk.
“What’s the plan?” Smoke asks me.
Usually he is the one who makes the plans. He’s the president, after all. This is my old lady, though, and he knows I’m not in my right mind. I appreciate him deferring to me, but the truth is, I don’t know what to do. I want to barge in there, but is that the right choice?
“Did Fox give us the room number?” I ask.
“He texted it to me on the way here. He’s also sending in calls for the police on the other side of the county. What is your plan?” Smoke poses it as a question, but I hear the demand in his tone.
“We go in there. I deal with fuckface, and you get Delaney out of there,” I spit out.
“So you bust in the door, then what? What if he is holding her at knife or gunpoint? Then what? I’m not trying to stop you from doing what you need to do, but you need to think it through.”
As much as I hate to admit it, Smoke is making sense. I can’t be reckless. Not with her.
“So what do you propose?” I ask.
He nods. “You bust through the door. He will be focused on you. We get Gunner set up as a sniper so he can see through the door. If he has her in a dangerous situation, you try and get him to move in front of the open door, and Gunner will take him out. Mac will be at your six. I will be stationed a bit back with Jagger. Our only focus will be Delaney. You and Mac will take out Blaine. If anything goes sideways, each one of us has the directive to remove Delaney at all costs. Do you agree with the plan, Tank?”
It may seem like he is deferring to me, but what he is really asking is if I am able to get out of my emotions enough to follow the plan. Am I going to fuck it all up?
“Yes. Let’s stop wasting time,” I grunt out.
“You know your roles, everyone get ready,” Smoke calls out.
Mac pulls out his gun. I nod to him as I pull my SIG 1911 from my side. I double-check it is loaded before I pull back the slide, putting one in the chamber.
I don’t plan to use it. Blaine isn’t getting out of this with a bullet to the head if I have anything to say about it.
Everyone looks at one another.
“Let’s go get my old lady.”