by Bella Jewel
“Scar?” I say to her, softly.
“Yes?”
“I can hear you.”
She starts crying now, too. Big fat tears. She swipes them away, and then more come. “Oh, God. You can?”
“Just a tiny bit, but yes. I can.”
“Oh, man,” she continues crying, and hugs me again.
I hold onto her tight.
And I send up a prayer. A prayer of gratitude.
I can hear.
~*~*~*~
MALAKAI
ONE WEEK LATER
“Look into it, harder,” I growl at Koda, running my fingers through my hair. Frustration bubbles in my chest. I might have gotten rid of one problem, but I feel like I just gained another.
Only this one is worse. Much worse.
“Fuckin’ tryin’, Prez. Unless Charlie Andrews ain’t her real name, which is likely, I can’t find fuck all on her. Fuckin’ nothing.”
“Could it have been buried?” I ask him.
“Very fuckin’ likely. If she’s got somethin’ to hide, she may have changed her name for protection. Whatever it is, Treyton managed to figure it out, so I will, too.”
I grunt, and cross my arms. “Charlie has secrets. Big ones. Dark ones. And I want to know what they are. If they could endanger my club, I need to know.”
“Feel you, Prez, but strugglin’ to find anything. Never been so hard getting information on a person before. She’s well hidden.”
“Well, see what you can find. Need to protect this club, now more than ever. We had our suspicions Treyton wasn’t working alone, and was workin’ for someone higher. Startin’ to see that’s the truth, and a dangerous truth. He wasn’t afraid to die. Wasn’t scared at all. Whoever he’s workin’ for, is deadly.”
“You’re tellin’ me,” Koda mutters, exhaling. “I’ll keep digging. I will find out how Charlie is connected. How’s Amalie?”
“Came home yesterday. She’s doin’ okay. Recovering slowly. Not happy about bein’ stuck inside.”
“Poor girl, at least she’s safe, yeah?”
“Yeah, for now. You seen Charlie?”
He shakes his head. “No, but heard she’s doin’ okay, still in hospital, think she gets out tomorrow.”
“When she’s good, we’ll ask her some questions.”
Koda nods. “Yeah. I’ll keep diggin’.”
“We gotta find out who is behind all of this, Treyton gone is one less burden, but there’s someone else out there waitin’ to strike, linin’ all this up, and I don’t have a good feelin’ about it.”
“No,” Koda mutters. “Neither.”
“Gotta get home for a bit, let me know when you find anything.”
He nods, and I walk out of the club and towards my bike. Amalie is at home, Scarlett with her, but the idea of them being there, still makes me uneasy. Even if I have three fuckin’ men watchin’ my house. I kick my bike into action and ride home, parking outside of my front door and throwing my leg over, walking inside.
I can hear music the moment I step in, two soft, angelic voices singing. Fuckin’ sweetest sound I’ve ever heard in my damn life. I follow it down the hall and to the living area where Scarlett and Amalie are both singing softly. Scarlett is playing the guitar, Amalie just singing along. I stop and watch them for a moment, loving the way Amalie closes her eyes when she sings, still not trusting her own voice. Scarlett plays the guitar as if it was born in her arms, and when she notices me, she smiles and stops playing.
Amalie’s eyes pop open.
She’s still beat up bad, but she’s getting better every day.
Nothing could take away from the utter perfection that she is.
Nothing.
“You girls sound fuckin’ amazing.”
Amalie smiles. “We were just practicing for the concerts next month, making sure the sound is right.”
“Not too sure about this concert business,” I mutter.
Amalie grins. “It’s what we do, Malakai. Nothing is going to stop that.”
“You nearly copped a bullet,” I point to Scarlett, then my finger moves to Amalie, “And you got taken by a fuckin’ psycho. Last concert didn’t end well for anyone.”
“Treyton’s gone now,” Scarlett says, studying me.
Girl isn’t stupid. She knows something else is going on.
“Doesn’t mean the danger is gone,” I mumble and both of their eyes swing to me.
“Are we still in danger?” Amalie asks.
I shrug, not willing to give them too much information. “All I know is that Treyton was workin’ for someone, don’t know if that someone has a problem with us, too. Guess time will tell.”
That’s a damned understatement.
“Oh,” Amalie murmurs, rubbing her arms.
I walk over to her, leaning down and capturing her chin in my hands. “Ain’t nobody puttin’ a fuckin’ hand on you ever again, you hear?”
She nods.
And fuck, I want her.
If she wasn’t so beat up, I’d have her.
Every second of every fuckin’ day.
“Love you,” she whispers, her voice soft.
“Love you, too.”
I press a kiss to her lips. Tastes like heaven. Makes it a whole lot harder to stay away.
“Aw,” Scarlett croons. “You softened the old angry biker.”
Amalie giggles and I shoot Scarlett a glare, to which she winks and grins at me.
Pretty fuckin’ pain in my ass.
“I’ll leave you two to get back to your music. I got shit to do, just wanted to check in.”
Both girls grin at me.
And damn if I’m not the luckiest fuckin’ man in this world.
The luckiest.
-19-
AMALIE
“Caiden?”
I blink once, and then twice, because I’m sure I can’t be seeing this correctly.
Sitting in his wheelchair at my front door, looking a little sheepish, and a whole lot nervous, is Caiden. As far as I know, he only leaves his house if he absolutely has to go see a doctor and one can’t come to him, otherwise he hasn’t gone out of those front doors since the accident. He’s alone, which means he got here on his own.
I’m proud of him for that. It couldn’t have been easy.
“Can I come in?”
I glance behind him, and then say, “You’re alone.”
“Yeah, I got a cab here, it wasn’t easy,” he murmurs, a small smile on his lips.
He did that? On his own. Wow.
Wow. Seriously.
“Come in, of course.”
I help push him inside my apartment and I close the door, leading him into the living room and turning to him, “Do you want a drink, or…?”
“No, can we just talk, for a minute?”
I nod, and take a seat. He places his hands on his knees, looking a little uncomfortable, but I can’t say I blame him. I’m busy packing my apartment up to move in with Malakai. He refuses to allow me to have my own residence, saying that he wants me with him every single minute and if I don’t like it, too bad, he’s making it happen anyway. Stubborn ass bikers. Caiden glances around the apartment, then looks back to me. “You’re serious about him then?”
I nod. “I love him.”
“I’m happy for you, Amalie. That’s not why I’m here. I’m here because I wanted to apologise. The way I treated you after the accident was unfair and cruel. We both played our part in it, both of us causing that car to go off that road. Me mostly. It was never fair for it to be put entirely on you, and for that I’m sorry. I can’t take back what I did, but I can tell you that I appreciated you visiting me, and not giving up.”
My heart explodes and I smile at him, fighting the tears. “Consider yourself forgiven.”
He exhales. “And, there’s something else. I know your boyfriend probably won’t like it, but I would like if you still came to say hello every now and then. You’re important to me, and I miss your presence.”
“I’m looking at getting back into the work force,” he tells me.
“That’s incredible, Caiden. I’m proud of you.”
“Yeah, you were right, I can’t live in that house forever. Eventually, I have to move on with my life, as I am now. I’m never going to be what I was before, but neither are you, and you’ve managed to get on with your life. I’ll walk again, they’re confident of that, and my looks could be worse, it’s time to stop wallowing.”
“That’s a big thing, and it takes a lot to get to that point. So well done, you should be proud.”
He smiles. “My mother isn’t too happy. I think she enjoyed all the drama that came with me.”
I laugh. “You’re probably right about that.”
“Anyway,” he tells me. “I wasn’t going to stay long, I just wanted to tell you I was sorry.”
“Let’s put it behind us. I wish you well, Caiden, truly I do.”
I could have made it harder for him, that’s the honest truth. After the way he and his family treated me for the last year, I could have thrown down and told him I wanted nothing to do with him. But I wasn’t in the right frame of mind after the accident, either. I did things I wasn’t proud of. I know his mind wasn’t where it should have been, and there’s nothing wrong with that. He said sorry, and that’s the biggest thing anyone can do.
It’s all that matters to me.
“Your mom called me, and told me she was sorry,” he mentions.
Yes.
My mom called me and said the same thing. Since then, she’s been calling daily. I don’t want to hold too much hope, but it’s nice. It’s nice to feel like she’s trying, and I think she truly is trying. Maybe one day, we’ll have what could be considered a normal relationship.
One day.
“I’m really glad, she didn’t help…”
He nods. “She told me your hearing has improved?”
I nod. “It has, it’s still not the best, but I can hear a lot more so that’s something. I have to wear this sexy little device though.”
I pull my hair back and show him my hearing device.
He laughs.
And I feel good.
Good because all the darkness is slowly lifting from my life, being replaced by sunshine.
Maybe soon, the sun will stay out for good.
Just maybe.
~*~*~*~
AMALIE
“How are you feeling?”
Charlie smiles at me, her face so battered it’s hard to make out her features. Her bruises have gone from being purple, to a pale greenish color, just like mine. She is still bandaged up in a few places, and over all, she looks like she’s on the mend. I’m glad, because I know how hard it is for me some days to feel like I’m healing, and she was a lot worse.
We’re sitting around the fire, the club has organised another cookout, I supposed to make everyone feel better. I’m glad Charlie came along. “I’m getting there,” she tells me.
They’ve basically welcomed her with open arms, after what she did for them. I suppose she showed her loyalty, and they respect that. So, she’s welcome here anytime. I’m glad, because she’s a great girl, and I like her a lot. Scarlett, too.
“I’m glad. I haven’t had much chance to say it, but I’m so grateful you were around when I got taken by Treyton. I couldn’t have gotten through that without you.”
She nods, her green eyes never fully opening up. She’s guarded. Always protecting something inside her. “You’re welcome. I could say the same.”
“You know,” Scarlett says, joining the conversation and shuffling a bit closer. “There are a heap of hot bikers that are single in this club.”
She wiggles her brows at Charlie, who rolls her eyes. “You’re not honestly playing matchmaker, are you?”
“It’s her thing,” I murmur.
Scarlett giggles. “It would do you good to have a biker, they’re worth it, I promise.”
Charlie grins. “No biker could handle me, I can assure you.”
“Koda could…” Scarlett winks.
“Dakoda looks like he wants to murder me on a good day.”
“That’s because he’s all dark and twisty,” I tell her, joining in, because why the hell not? “I think you two would be a good match. You’re both the same.”
“We’d be a good match in a fight to the death, and that’s about it.”
Charlie is grinning, and it has us all doing the same.
“Imagine the sex, though,” Scarlett pretends to fan herself. “With all that built up anger.”
Charlie snorts. “No.”
“Koda has a wild streak. It could be fun.”
I giggle.
Scarlett is wiggling her brows and doing thrusting motions.
Charlie just stares at the two of us.
“You two have issues.”
“So does Koda,” I point out.
She gives me a glare, but it’s playful. “Not going to happen.”
“What about Boston, then?” Scarlett continues. “He’s all broken and secretive.”
“Nope,” Charlie continues.
“Mason?” I add on. “He’s hot.”
“Not going to happen,” Charlie smirks.
“Charlie, it’s not healthy to avoid male company,” Scarlett wiggles a finger at her. “Imagine what one of these men, hell even two, if that’s what you’re into, could do for you?”
Charlie spits out her drink and laughs, glancing at Scarlett. “You’re twisted.”
She beams. “Thank you, I know.”
“I don’t need a biker, or any man, for that matter. I do fine on my own.”
Scarlett pouts, and I laugh. “But how do you…you know…get satisfaction?”
“It’s called a dildo, you ought to try it,” Charlie tells her.
We all lose it. Laughing so hard.
“I think I like you, Charlie,” Scarlett nods. “Yes, I think you can stay.”
Charlie grins. “I wasn’t planning on leaving.”
We keep chatting, laughing and joking, waiting for the men to come out of the club house. They’ve been in there for hours, talking about who knows what. When they do finally come out, it’s apparent right away that something is wrong. Three bikers branch off and go to the front gate, locking it. Two more circle the house and the sheds, looking around, as if they’re making sure no one is here.
Maverick, Malakai and Koda all stride towards us girls, and I notice that Charlie’s face goes pale, and I know, even before Malakai speaks, that something is very wrong.
“Stand up,” he orders Charlie.
She glances at us, and then slowly stands.
“Goin’ to ask you once, and I swear to fuck Charlie, if you lie to me, I’ll drop you here and now.”
“Malakai,” I say, horrified.
He shoots me a look that tells me to back down, and I do. Immediately.
“Like you a lot,” he continues. “Took care of my girl, took care of my club, never shared a word about what you knew. But I got a little word from Treyton before I ended him, something that sparked my attention.”
Charlie looks down at her feet.
Whatever he’s talking about, she knows what it is.
And whatever it is, it’s true.
“Is what I just found out from Koda, true?”
She glances at Koda, and then back to Malakai. “Depends what you found out.”
Her voice isn’t hard, if anything, it’s a little scared.
Whatever they know, it scares the hell out of her.
“Ask you once, and once only. Is your real name Charlene Masters?”
Her face gets a little pale, and she flinches. Then she nods. It’s small, but it’s there.
“Fuck,” Malaki barks. “Fuck!”
“H-h-h-how did you know?” she whispers.
“Took me a lot of fuckin’ diggin’, but I found it out,” Koda growls, stepping for
ward. “Also found out you’ve got a fuckin’ hit for a million fuckin’ dollars on your head.”
The entire club goes silent.
Dead. Silent.
My mouth drops open, and I look to Charlie, who is staring at Koda, her fingers trembling. A million dollars. One. Million. Dollars. How in the world could a young girl have a hit like that on her head? What has she done? Who the hell is she?
“Pack your things,” Koda tells her. “Now.”
“Please,” she whispers, rubbing her arms. “Don’t send me out there on my own. Please. Eventually, he’ll find me.”
Who will find her?
What’s going on?
“Wasn’t goin’ to send you out on your own,” Malakai informs her. “Like I said, you showed your loyalty to us, and now we’ll show you ours. Koda is takin’ you to a cabin up in the mountains. We’re goin’ to sort this issue out down here, and get you safe again.”
She stares at Malakai, then at Koda, then back to Malakai. “A cabin?”
“Yeah,” Malakai grunts.
“In the…mountains?” she continues.
Malakai nods.
She looks to Koda, “With him?”
“Koda is the best we have. His tracking skills are incredible. He can keep you safe as well as find out the information we need. He’s the best man for the job. It’s somewhat of a…passion…of his. You’ll be safe with him.”
Charlie shakes her head. “Can’t you send me up there with someone else? Anyone else? Can’t he stay down here and find his information?”
Malakai grins.
Koda grins bigger.
“Scared of me, darlin’?” Koda says to her, his voice low and husky.
“No,” Charlie snaps. “I just don’t particularly like you.”
Koda’s grin gets bigger, and holy hell, it’s scary. “That makes two of us. Should be fun then, yeah?”
Oh boy.
This isn’t good.
Not only because Charlie must be in some serious danger for them to send her away, but also because she’s going to end up in a cabin, in the mountains, alone, with Koda.
That should be…interesting.
God help them both.
TO BE CONTINUED
DARKEST HOUR
COPYRIGHT BELLA JEWEL 2019
PROLOGUE
