by Brook Wilder
“Nat!”
“Here!” I yelled back, waving my arms around in the air, my voice coming out in a choked whisper. “I’m here!”
“Got her!” someone else yelled as a light was shined on me, blinding me temporarily.
I shielded it with my arm as a shadow walked closer.
“You alright? You shot anywhere?”
I shook my head, feeling the sudden rush of emotions start to overtake me. I was safe. I had been found.
The sigh of relief could be heard a mile away, and he walked toward me.
“So, you’re Nataliya, huh? I can see why Lawrence has his panties all in a wad now.”
“Where is he?” I asked, swallowing the tears.
“Right here.”
I had scarcely taken another breath before Fox was crushing me against him, his comforting smell overwhelming me.
“God, I thought you were dead,” he said near my ear, his strong arms cradling me to his chest. “Are you…?”
“I’m fine,” I cried, holding him tightly.
I didn’t care that the tears were flowing down my cheeks now, the relief at having been found actually a reality now instead of just a wish.
“I’m fine.”
He let out a shuddering breath before scooping me up in his arms.
“We are gonna talk.”
“I-I know,” I said, wrapping my arms around his neck. “I know.”
He nodded in the dark, turning toward the other man.
“Tell Jack and the others we are going to the mansion before her father burns the damn town down.”
“Got it,” he said, winking at me. “I’m Derrek, by the way, and if this asshole doesn’t live up to your expectations, I can make myself available.”
You don’t give up, do you?” Fox muttered, walking away.
“You’re welcome!” Derrek called after us, causing me to giggle through my tears.
“He’s such a pain in my ass,” Fox added as we strode to his bike. “Can you ride?”
“Anything to get out of here,” I answered, as he carefully set me on my feet.
I wanted never to see this place again.
He cupped my face with his warm hands, forcing me to look in his eyes.
“I was so damn scared, out of my mind,” he whispered, his thumbs wiping away the streaks my tears had left.
I pulled him close, brushing my lips over his.
“I’m fine. They didn’t…”
I couldn’t finish. I knew he had thought the worst, and had he been any longer, then I might have been a goner in more ways than one.
He rested his forehead against mine briefly before releasing me, shrugging out of his leather jacket.
“Here, put this on.”
I did, the leather material warm from Fox’s body, and climbed on the back of his motorcycle barefoot. The metal was cold on the soles of my feet but I ignored it, just glad that I was going home.
Fox climbed on, and I wrapped my arms around his waist, laying my head on his strong back. I wanted to stay here, never to leave the comfort of him again, and once we got back to my parent’s house, I was going to make sure I made my intentions known.
Everyone else… Well, they could kiss my ass if they didn’t like it.
Chapter 18
Fox
She was safe.
I told myself that over and over again as I maneuvered the motorcycle through traffic, rewarded by the death grip that Nat had on my waist. I knew she had to be cold, even in the warm night air and I wanted nothing more than to take her to my house and warm her up in every way imaginable.
But first, there was one stop we had to make, and I knew I couldn’t ignore it.
I gunned the bike up the tree-lined drive, seeing the mansion ablaze with lights. I knew that Zebrovskiy wouldn’t have just sat back and let me go for Nat alone, but that his own men were likely to be combing the town, looking for her as well.
I had gotten to her first, and the relief in my chest when I had seen her standing there, still in her short dress from the rehearsal dinner, had made it hard to breathe. When we had approached the shoe shop, the Cazadores had come out guns blazing, and though our guys had been wounded, we had taken down more of them in the hail of gunfire. Jack had been grazed by a bullet, and one of the other guys had taken a bullet to the thigh, but there had been no deaths.
All the deaths had been on the Diablo side.
Slowing the bike in front of the mansion, I couldn’t even shut off the engine before people were starting to pile out of the front door, led by Zebrovskiy himself. Damn, word spread fast!
“My daughter!” Zebrovskiy shouted as I helped Nat off the bike, keeping her close to me.
She let out a sob and tore away from me, running into the arms of her father. Surprisingly, I saw tears streaming down the older man’s face as he hugged his daughter tightly.
“You’re home.”
“I am, Papa,” she said in return.
I watched as he pulled her back, giving her a once over looking for injuries.
“Come, come inside, both of you.”
I followed the reunited pair into the house and into the living room, where her mother and Bryan were already on their feet and heading toward Nat.
“My baby,” her mother whispered brokenly, grasping her shoulders and pulling her into the most awkward hug I had ever seen. “Oh, my baby.”
Nat extracted herself from her mother’s hug, only to be wrapped into Bryan’s arms next.
“You’re safe,” he said, kissing her temple.
I growled, not liking the fact that his hand was roaming over her back protectively.
“Yeah, she’s safe.”
Zebrovskiy turned toward me, a grateful look on his face.
“You found my Nataliya. I will never forget what you have done for our family. We are forever in your debt.”
“Pay him his money,” Nat’s mother said, as Nat removed Bryan’s arms from around her body, stepping back a few steps, “so he may leave. Nataliya is safe. We do not need his services any longer.”
She nearly spit out the words, and I crossed my arms over my chest. Now was as good of time as any.
“I got something to say.”
Nat stepped closer to me, silencing me with a look.
“I want to say something first. Fox isn’t going anywhere. I-I love him, and I want to marry him, not Bryan.”
“What?” Bryan exploded, his face turning mottled. “You are to be my wife, not his! He can’t offer you half of what I can.”
Nat’s hand found mine, and we interlaced our fingers.
“I don’t care,” she said, lifting her chin toward her mother, who was in a state of shock. “Keep the money. I don’t need it, not with Fox.”
I couldn’t help but grin. She was choosing me. She wanted to be with me and was willing to give up a hell of a lot of money to do so.
“B-but he’s not suitable,” her mother finally forced out, looking at her daughter oddly. “You can’t marry him. You cannot!”
I watched as Nat took off the ring that had graced her finger since the day I had laid eyes on her and held it out to Bryan.
“I’m sorry, Bryan, but I can’t marry you. I don’t love you, and we would only make each other miserable. Surely you see that.”
Bryan raked a hand through his hair, his eyes wide.
“You are seriously going to choose this… this… asshole over me?”
“I think you got it backwards,” I said lightly. “You’re the asshole, my friend.”
He started toward me, but Zebrovskiy snapped his fingers and one of the guards grabbed him from behind, holding him back.
“Enough,” he said in a deadly calm voice, looking at his daughter. “Is this truly what you want? You are willing to give up millions of dollars for him?”
Millions of dollars? We hadn’t discussed how much money she was looking at. I wasn’t worth millions, not by a long shot.
“Nat…” I started.
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She held up her hand, looking at her father.
“Yes, I am. I want to be happy, Papa. I want to wake up with a smile on my face, looking forward to my day, not dread it. I want to love, and I love Fox.”
Zebrovskiy eyed me.
“And you love my daughter, yes?”
“Very much so,” I answered honestly, raw emotion welling up in my chest. “I’ll do whatever it takes to make her happy.”
“I can’t believe this!” Bryan raged, looking at Nat’s mother. “Aren’t you going to stop this?”
“Nataliya, please,” her mother swallowed. “Nikolai, surely you see the issue here.”
He looked at his wife.
“What I see is my daughter in love with a man who would move this earth to rescue her. If that is unsuitable for you, then perhaps you need to look at your definition of ‘unsuitable’, Yelena.”
Nat’s mother’s lips tightened, and she walked past her husband, exiting the room without a word. Bryan followed close behind, his eyes shooting daggers at me.
“This isn’t the last you are gonna hear from me, biker.”
“Bring it on,” I challenged, dropping Nat’s hand. “We can go now if you like.”
He looked around the room, a smirk on his face as he shook his head slowly.
“Soon.”
“I’ll be waiting,” I growled as he exited the room.
Next to me, Nat let out a sigh of relief, placing the ring on the coffee table.
“Well, I’m glad that’s over with.”
Her father exhaled a breath as well, rubbing a hand over his face.
“I need to discuss this with your mother. I trust that you will keep her safe?”
I nodded, ready to get the hell out of the mansion.
“Yes sir.”
He nodded in return, winking at his daughter.
“You have a good one here, Nataliya. You have my blessing.”
“Thank you, Papa,” she said softly as he exited the room.
I blew out a breath, glad that was over with. He hadn’t shot me on the spot, which had to account for something.
“Well,” Nat said lightly, pulling my jacket tighter around her body. “What now?”
“We need to talk about this, Nat,” I said, swallowing.
She was giving up everything to be with me, and I wasn’t worth two dimes rubbed together.
She held up her hand.
“There’s nothing to talk about, Fox. I’ve made my decision, and you can’t talk me out of it.”
“But I’m nobody,” I tried again, my heart hammering against my chest. “I live a dangerous life.”
She gave me a soft smile.
“I’m the one that has been kidnapped, not you. Do you not want to be with me anymore, Fox?”
“Hell, yes, I want to be with you,” I said, forcing a hand through my hair. “But millions?”
Nat laughed.
“I think it will all work out, and if it doesn’t… Well, I won’t change my mind. I want to be with you.”
I stared at her, shocked that she would even pick me over all the men that she could choose from. Me, Adam ‘Fox’ Lawrence, had just gotten the girl.
“So,” Nat continued, grinning. “What do we do now?”
I growled. There was only one thing to do.
“Now I take you home.”
“Home?” she asked softly, her eyes softening. “That sounds great.”
I eyed her clothing, her missing shoes.
“Would you like to get your things first?”
She looked down at her bare feet and laughed.
“I guess so.”
My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I pulled out it, seeing Jack’s number on the screen. Likely an update on the injured. Reaching for Nat, I pulled her close to me as I answered.
“What’s up?”
“Where the fuck are you?”
“I’m at Nat’s,” I said slowly. “What’s wrong?”
He sighed into the phone.
“You need to get your ass to the club pronto. The Cazadores just burned down one of our stores on the southside. We lost a shit-load of weapons.”
“Shit,” I muttered, my hand tightening on Nat’s waist.
She looked at me with a question in her eyes, and I tried to give her a smile, but failed.
“I can be there in twenty.”
“This is war, Fox,” Jack said in a low voice. “You might as well get ready.”
I ended the call, my insides churning. It looked like Nat and I’s reunion would have to wait. Pulling her into my arms, I sighed loudly.
“I gotta go.”
She placed her hand on my t-shirt, right above my heart.
“What’s going on?”
Placing a kiss on the top of her head, I clenched my jaw.
“Cazadores are declaring war. I-I have to go to the club house.”
Nat looked up, her expression grim.
“It’s because of me, right? If you hadn’t come after me…”
I silenced her with a hard kiss.
“No,” I answered, framing her face with my hands. “This has been a long time coming. Don’t blame yourself. This is the life I live, and I… Well, I hope you can deal with it.”
She gave me a little smile.
“Oh, I can deal with it. I just… I will worry about you until you get back. You will come back, right?”
I grinned.
“You know I will. I just got you back. You think I am gonna let you go now?”
Nat’s smile grew wider.
“I hope not.”
I winked at her before walking out of the room, feeling ten times lighter than I had been this morning. Nat was choosing me, some lowly biker, to be her love. I couldn’t believe it. I felt like a teenager who had just finished getting lucky in the back of a car. Once this business was over, I would be coming back to get her and taking her away from the cold mansion she was living in. At my place – our place – she would never feel the way she did there
Swinging my leg over the bike, I fired it up, gunning down the driveway. I couldn’t wait to come back, knowing that she was waiting for me.
**
I walked into the clubhouse fifteen minutes later.
More than the usual crowd had gathered. Jack was seated at the bar, an untouched drink in front of him, as he spoke urgently into the phone. I slid onto the stool beside him, waving off the bartender. He looked over and held up his finger, finishing up his conversation before hanging up.
“Damn, man, the shit has really hit the fan.”
I rested my forearms on the scarred top.
“It was just a gunfight. They shouldn’t have taken my girl.”
Jack raised a brow.
“Really? Your girl? You think this has to do with you?”
I gave a shrug.
“Maybe.”
He chuckled, clapping me on the back.
“You might be something special, boy, but you ain’t that special. This has been brewing for a while, but I do think they took your girl to give them a reason to retaliate.”
“What’s next?” I asked, feeling a fight coming on.
He shook his head, letting out a heavy sigh.
“We go to war, apparently. I got the guys doing gun checks now. I’ve also reached out to branch chapters, to see how many men we would have, just in case.”
“What can I do?” I asked.
Things moved like wildfire when it came to Jack. I wasn’t surprised at what he had already done, but I was surprised he hadn’t already fought the fight in the fifteen minutes it had taken me to get here.
“Go fuck your woman,” he grinned, pushing off the stool. “Then be prepared to get her the hell out of Dodge if need be. You saw. No one is off limits. And I am afraid that she will be a mark like the rest of our families.” He stretched his back. “But before you go, let’s rally the troops.”
