Drax (Iron Thunder MC Book 3)

by Kasey Krane

  I still had no idea what I was supposed to do with Crash.

  I couldn’t tell her about it.

  The others had filled up the Clubhouse. Someone turned on the music. The bar was busy again, with drinks flowing. Even though most of the other guys were just as battered as me, this was also technically a celebration. We’d won. Was the war over?

  “Drax, please, just stop. Look at me. I’ve been worried sick!” I heard her voice again, just as I was about to push open the door and go in. I turned to look at her, feeling another wave of exhaustion go over me.

  “What?” I growled. I didn’t mean to be irritable with her, but I wanted to avoid her eyes. I didn’t want her to see the conflict brewing inside me. Her eyes grew wider. She was sad. Did she know about her brother? What did she want from me? I didn’t know what more I could give her.

  “You need to see a doctor,” she said.

  I was relieved she didn’t ask me about her brother.

  “Yeah, I know. It’s just one bad wound. I’ll live,” I said. Mary-Beth came toward me, threw her arms around me and held me close. The fact that she still hadn’t asked about her brother made me feel better. She reminded me of what was important. Our relationship was important. She trusted me. I was more important to her than her brother.

  I held her by her waist and kissed her. She let me kiss her, softly and deeply for several moments. She was waiting for me. She was the one I came back to.

  When we pulled away, she was nodding.

  “We can talk later. I don’t want you worrying about anything. Go inside. Get that wound looked at.”

  I wanted to pull her into my arms and kiss her again, but also, I was very tired. I was beginning to feel weak now. I didn’t know how much longer I could continue like this.

  So, I went inside. I didn’t turn to see if Mary-Beth had followed me in. I looked around the Clubhouse and saw the chaos and commotion. These guys were celebrating in the middle of getting treated. This was a big day for us. The Silver Knights had been forced into their dark hiding places.

  And I had Crash.

  I looked over my shoulder to catch Mary-Beth walking in. She tipped her head in the direction of one of the doctors. He was sitting at a table dressing a wound. She was trying to tell me to go over to him and get the wound looked at.

  I went up to the doctor’s table. The two guys sitting with him jumped up and scattered away. I sat down on a chair with a thump.

  “Wow. What do we have here?” Doctor Miller said. He was one of our in-house doctors, one of the guys who was always called whenever one of us got injured. Which was often.

  “Looks like someone took a bit of a beating,” he said.

  I wasn’t in the mood for small talk so didn’t respond.

  Mary-Beth came up behind me and placed her hands on my shoulders. Her hands were small and soft. Supportive. Loving. And the longer she touched me, the guiltier I felt about how close I had gotten to killing her brother. I still didn’t know what I was going to do with him tomorrow. Or the next day. I couldn’t hold him forever.

  What did she think had happened? Why hadn’t she asked me about it? Did Ghost tell her?

  “Fuck!” I growled. I hadn’t realized the doctor was cleaning my wound, pulling the bullet out with a pair of tweezers. I wasn’t paying attention.

  “How much blood has he lost?” Mary-Beth asked the doctor. She’d decided she was going to do all the talking since I had no questions for him.

  “He won’t need a transfusion, if that’s what you mean. But he will need to rest up and get lots and lots of nutritious food in his system.”

  “I can take care of that,” I heard her say.

  There was a splash of some stinging liquid on my wound next and then he was stitching me up. I clenched my jaws tightly. Very soon, I was numb and could barely feel the needle going in.

  She reached for my hand and held it. I didn’t need her holding my hand, but I felt like she needed it more than me, so I let her hold it.

  “All done. Let the wound heal naturally. Keep an eye on it and make sure it doesn’t get infected. That’s about it.” The doctor spoke while peeling off the surgical gloves he had on. Mary-Beth was nodding her head.

  I looked down and saw my stitched-up wound. My shirt had a big gaping hole in it, and I was drenched in my own blood.

  “We need to get you cleaned up and in bed,” she said and started tugging me up.

  “I got this,” I said with a growl and stood up. But immediately, I felt light-headed. I needed something to lean on and felt like my legs were about to give way.

  Mary-Beth leaned into me. Pushing me with her own body to straighten me up. Fuck! What was happening to me? I felt like an invalid. Was I getting too old for this?

  Both Mary-Beth and the doctor must have seen the sudden fear in my eyes because they exchanged looks too.

  “You’ve lost some blood. You’re just weak. You need to rest. That’s all. You’ll be back to feeling like yourself in a few days,” Doctor Miller said. I grunted a response.

  I had no choice but to lean on Mary-Beth. I hated having to do it and didn’t want to lean on her. I didn’t want her comforting me. It should have been the other way around. But I didn’t even have the strength to fight it. Another wave of nausea took over my senses and I thought I was going to double up and throw up.

  “Come on. Let’s get you upstairs. Please, Drax.” She was speaking in a quiet pleading voice. I nodded because I had no other choice. Slowly, she started leading me, weaving around the others in the room. I avoided all eye contact. I hated knowing my men were seeing me like this, in a sorry state. It was just one fuckin’ gunshot wound!

  She led me down the hallway and up the stairs.

  “I’ll get the bath going,” she said as she shut the door behind us in my room.

  I sank into the water in the tub.

  At first, I wanted to fight Mary-Beth on this too. I just wanted her to let me go to sleep. But the water was the perfect temperature and now that I was immersed in it, I never wanted to get out.

  She was fetching fresh clothes for me and I waited in silence for her to return. We hadn’t really ‘talked’ yet. Whatever we’d said to each other was purely functional so far.

  She returned sometime later, with clothes, a fresh towel and a plate of sandwiches.

  “Sophie’s been busy in the kitchen feeding the army,” she said and brought the plate over to me. I greedily took two big pieces off the plate and chomped down. I didn’t even realize how hungry I was.

  She stood by the bathroom door, watching me. I knew she had questions, but she was holding back. She didn’t want to trouble me. And for that, I was relieved.

  The Mary-Beth I used to know wouldn’t have missed this opportunity to pick a fight. To barrage me with all the questions she had. But tonight, she seemed calmer. More mature.

  Maybe it was me angling for the fight.

  “I am sorry if you feel ashamed or embarrassed, Drax, but you shouldn’t be,” she said. The silence between us had gone on too long and now her voice sounded almost hollow. “About your wounds. About feeling weak. You got hurt. Badly. You lost blood, needed stitches. You’re human. I want you to remember that.”

  I knew she was right. I nodded. She came toward me and knelt beside me by the tub. I reached for her and stroked her hair, dampening it. But she didn’t care.

  “I’m just happy you’re safe, Drax. I’m so happy you’re back here in one piece. That is really all I care about,” she continued.

  I breathed in deeply. I wanted to tell her. I wanted to tell her everything. That her brother was right here. In this building. Being held and guarded by my men.

  “I didn’t mean to fight with you, before. At the store’s reopening. I shouldn’t have gone there. I shouldn’t have put all of us at risk.”

  “It doesn’t matter. It’s over now,” I said, and she nodded.

  “We won,” she added, and a soft smile stretched her lips. But there was so
mething else. I knew what she was thinking. She was thinking about her brother. I knew she was. I shifted in the tub, splashing water everywhere. I needed to get out. I was too restless.

  I stood up.

  “I need to sleep,” I growled, and she hurried for the towel and the clothes.

  “Of course. Yes. You should rest. We can…talk more tomorrow. Or whenever. You need to get your strength back.”

  I took the towel from her and started drying myself.

  “Yeah, thanks,” was all I managed to say.

  The bath had relaxed me, and the food had made me a little less anxious. Now the only thing I could hope for was that a good night’s sleep might help me think better tomorrow.

  18

  Mary-Beth

  Drax was out cold within minutes of his head hitting the pillow. A bundle of his bloodstained, bullet-torn clothes was lying on the floor beside the bathroom door. I watched him sleeping for a few minutes and then put the clothes in a plastic bag to throw away.

  My heart hadn’t stopped thudding frantically. From the moment I heard the sound of the bikes coming in, I was in a tizzy. I didn’t know what to think, how to act, what to say. I was so afraid that he was badly injured.

  Drax was badly injured. As much as he tried to prove he wasn’t, I knew he was in pain and suffering. The doctor had slipped me some pain meds for him. He said he knew the guys in this MC didn’t like to take any drugs. They wanted to keep their brains clear and not foggy, but if the pain got too intense for him to handle, I should do something about it.

  I hid the meds in my purse, knowing he would hate me if I tricked him into taking them. For now, I was just grateful that he’d managed to fall asleep. It was amazing what some food and rest could do for the human body and mind.

  It was what Drax needed and I was going to make sure he got lots of it, no matter how much he protested. And now that he was sleeping and safe, my mind wandered to my other worry—where was Crash?

  What had happened to him?

  We hadn’t had a chance to discuss it. I’d been so focused on Drax feeling better that I didn’t bother him with questions about my brother. I wanted him to see he was my priority. But I couldn’t just snap away all my feelings toward Crash either.

  Danny. My older brother. The guy who used to watch over me when I was a kid. He was acting crazy now, but I couldn’t just let go of my memories of him.

  I didn’t know when Drax would be awake or ready to talk about him. I had this horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach that something bad had happened to him.

  Before I left the room, I kissed Drax on his forehead. He continued sleeping undisturbed.

  I carried the bag of clothes down and out to the back to the dumpster. Back in the Clubhouse, I saw that the party had started to wind down. Everyone was exhausted. It had been a long day and an even longer night. People were injured. They’d been drinking. Now everyone needed to sleep.

  But I just needed to find one person who was willing to talk. Willing to give me the details of what happened at the strip club tonight.

  I saw Ghost sitting by himself in front of the fireplace in the common room. I peeked around the door and saw him sitting on the rug with a bottle of beer in his hand. He had his back to me, so he hadn’t caught me spying.

  When I stepped into the room, he jerked his head around to look at me.

  “Fuck! Mary-Beth!” he snapped, startled.

  “Sorry. Everyone’s a little jumpy tonight,” I said and stepped toward him.

  He took a big swig of his drink and turned back to the fire.

  I didn’t know Ghost well. When Drax and had I first got together, Ghost had kept his distance from me. I always thought he didn’t approve of me, maybe thought my relationship with Drax was never going to work. And he was partly right. The first time around.

  “Are you doing okay?” I asked and stood over him. He nodded but refused to say more.

  I cleared my throat and looked around. “Do you mind if I sit down?”

  “Is he resting?” he asked.

  “Yeah, he’s asleep. He got something to eat and took a bath. He’s doing well.”

  I sat down on the couch and noticed how Ghost was still avoiding looking at me.

  “I can see you guys have had a tough night,” I continued. He was the only person still around who could give me the answers I needed. But I wished it was someone else. Someone a little less protective of Drax.

  “Yes. It was tough but we got through it. Drax is a good Captain. We just follow his lead.”

  I nodded along, feeling a wave of pride.

  “He is fearless,” I added, to which Ghost didn’t say anything again.

  A few more minutes of silence went by. He continued to sip his beer and I continued to stare at the fire.

  “I know you don’t approve of me,” I finally said. I had to start somewhere, and we weren’t going anywhere with this silence. Finally, Ghost turned to look at me over his shoulder.

  “I never said that.”

  “No, you didn’t use those words, but are you going to deny it?”

  “Drax is passionate about what he does and who he wants to protect.”

  “And you think he’s making a mistake by protecting me?”

  He shook his head lightly and then put the empty bottle away.

  “I think you both belong on different planets.”

  I felt my nostrils flare, could feel a rising need to defend myself but I didn’t want to lose this opportunity. I didn’t want Ghost to walk away.

  “But I’m in love with him. Don’t you see that? I will do anything for him. And he will do anything for me.”

  He clenched his jaws and let out a deep sigh.

  “He already has. He has done a lot for you.”

  I gulped. My throat was dry. I knew I was finally on the brink. All Ghost needed was a little push to tell me everything.

  “Tell me what he’s done for me, Ghost, please, I want to know,” I urged him. I was leaning forward, hands on knees, staring straight at him.

  Ghost stared at me. The fire was burning bright behind him, throwing his face in darkness.

  “I’m sure Drax will tell you what you need to know. When he’s prepared to do so.”

  I gulped. My heart was thudding again.

  “Yes, he will, but he won’t punish you for telling me the truth either.”

  “I’m not afraid of punishment from Drax.”

  “Yes, I know. So, tell me.”

  “But I’m not going behind his back.”

  “You are not. I’m asking you. This is not gossip. This is about my brother!”

  I could hear my voice tearing up. Ghost’s face was stony and hard. He was like every other guy in Iron Thunder. He wasn’t going to be moved by a show of emotion. And he was fiercely loyal to his President.

  I tried to calm myself again. I clenched my fists on my side.

  “Please tell me what Drax did.”

  “He made a decision for the MC based on his feelings for you.”

  Maybe a part of me wasn’t expecting Ghost to ever tell me, ever crack. But he did and now I heard his words—but I didn’t know what to think.

  “What does that mean?”

  “He had the opportunity to kill Crash, but he didn’t. He was right there, alone in Crash’s office. Standing over him with a gun pointed to his head.” While Ghost spoke, my hand rose up to cover my mouth. I pictured the scene in my head, and it sent shudders down my spine.

  “This motherfucker was on the brink of taking everything from us. He would have killed any of us if he got the chance. He tried to. Many times. He wanted complete control of this city. And Drax could have eradicated him with one gentle squeeze of the trigger.”

  I jumped up from the couch. I felt like my own heart had climbed up my throat. I didn’t know how I was ever going to feel normal again, knowing how close to death Crash had come in the hands of my own lover.

  But I tried to keep cool. I tried to make sure Gh
ost didn’t see how crazy I was feeling.

  “But he didn’t. He didn’t kill my brother.”

  Ghost turned back to the fire and shook his head.

  “No. Instead, he dismantled the strip club and made sure none of the Silver Knights were in sight.”

  “And what about Crash? Where is my brother now? What did he do with Crash?” My voice was high-pitched. I was nearly yelling.

  Ghost turned to me again. He kept a straight face. I was begging him to tell me the truth, but I knew he wasn’t going to.

  “I can’t give you any more information. You will have to ask Drax,” he said and with that; the conversation was over.

  Ghost left. All I could do was just sit there on the couch in silence while he walked out of the room. I couldn’t stop him from leaving. I stared at the fireplace in silence. I didn’t know what to think or do. Ghost had told me as much as he was willing to say. And now I would have to wait for Drax to wake up and tell me the rest.

  If he was even willing to do that.

  I wasn’t sure how long I was standing there in the room. Then I heard footsteps behind me. When I turned, I saw Sophie. She had two cans of beer in her hands.

  “I thought you might need this,” she said and handed one over to me.

  “Why did you think that? How did you know I was here?” I asked and took it from her.

  “Ghost told me. He found me at the bar. He told me what he said to you.” She sat down on the couch with a plonk. I couldn’t sit. I couldn’t move. But I brought the cold can of beer up to my lips.

  “I think he was concerned for you,” she added.

  I blinked at her rapidly. “I thought he hated me.”

  Sophie sighed and shook her head. “I think you don’t realize how much people care for you. Despite everything. The breakup, your brother…people know who you are. All the other stuff doesn’t matter.”