Gabe leaned over, his face getting right into mine. His grey eyes narrowed, but in them, I saw compassion and understanding.
“The only thing you have to do is go find your girl, Rafe. Let Angie’s family take care of their daughter. She wasn’t your problem three years ago and she isn’t now. You have a woman that loves you, upset and pregnant. That is your only priority as far as I can see.”
Getting up, Gabe held out his hand to me, taking it, I grinned when Deke, Kodah, Bastian, and Cole did the same, then all of them hauled me to my feet.
“Go get her, Rafe. Work out your shit with Peyton above everything else. If you don’t, and you lose her, it will eat you alive, mate,” Gabe asserted, giving me a chin lift.
“Plus,” Kodah began, “we have had four weeks free of missions, we know a call is–”
“Shut the fuck up, Kodah!”
“You fucking wanker!”
“Now, you have jinxed it, you stupid cocksucker!”
Insults flew thick and fast, and so did I. The men weren’t wrong, Kodah just jinxed our time off. It was now just a matter of time before our pagers went off, calling us to some foreign hell hole to fix a problem we had nothing to do with in the first place.
I had a bigger problem to correct before that happened.
I had to mend not only Peyton’s broken heart but mine too.
Running out of the gym room, I sprinted down the long hall to the main room in the compound. All the original members of the club were gathered around the pool table, all of them looked pissed off and worried. My military training and years of reading body language through the scope of a sniper rifle kicked in.
Something was wrong.
“What?” I roared, looking directly at Booth. My captain’s father, one of the finest men I had the privilege of knowing, stood tall, his grey eyes zeroed right on me.
“Justin has been spotted.”
“Where?”
Then his next words rocked me to my core.
“Here, in Ballarat.”
Fuck, no.
Peyton.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
PEYTON
Thinking things through was definitely not my forte. If it were, then I would have driven myself instead of insisting Seb take me to the compound on his bike. The upside was it was still light out. The downside, I was wearing my animal-themed scrubs and walking in a very industrial, very male-driven territory.
Not my best decision.
You weren’t thinking clearly because you found out your boyfriend had a wife in a coma. My conscious allowed.
Ah yes, but you know now that he isn’t. You aren’t a homewrecker, and he is the father of your baby. The voice of reason argued.
“Oh shut up! Both of you!” I yelled, tapping my palms against my temples, attempting to shut up the voices. The last thing I needed was logic and a level head. No, I wanted to be mad and pissed off. I did not want the vision of Rafe’s tears or the haunted look on his face when I accused him of not trusting me. And most of all I didn’t want the memory of the man I love sitting on the mat, looking like I shattered his heart into a million pieces.
I was the one that has been wronged, not Rafe. He lied to me, and I came clean. I told him about Dean. And how did he repay me? He deliberately deceived me, kept something so important from me, but for what reason? All the time we have spent together where he had plenty of occasions to spill, especially at the beach when we really started to connect on a relationship level. He listened to me, asked so many questions, told me things about himself and his team—
In the back of my mind, memories of Rafe looking torn, like he had something he wanted to say … like he wanted to tell me something, started to plague me. The first night we kissed, and I broke down about Dean after he comforted me, Rafe looked as though he had something to say too, something important.
Was he—suddenly, a car coming towards me veered to the wrong side of the road, skidding to a stop only inches from me.
“What the hell!” I shouted angrily, ready to give the idiot driver of the black Mercedes a piece of my mind, when the driver threw open the door.
“Justin!”
“Scream and she gets a bullet between the eyes,” he threatened, yanking open the back passenger door to reveal Charlotte bound and gagged cowering on the seat. Her blonde hair was askew, and there were dirty tear tracks staining her cheeks.
“Charlotte!” Whipping my head back, I looked to see how far I was from the compound. I had been so lost in my head, I had not realised that I was nearly at the end of the no through road. The only part of the club I could see was the high concrete wall.
“In the time it will take you to scream for your boyfriend and those filthy outlaws, dear old Aunt Charlotte will be dead. Now, get in the fucking car, bitch.”
Justin didn’t wait for me to move, his hand wrapped cruelly around my upper arm and roughly pushed me at the car, shoving me in, my head hitting the door frame of the low slung vehicle, making me cry out in pain.
“Shut up, you stupid mole, you were supposed to die in that fire, you and that redhead bitch. She took the money that was meant for me for my business. A fucking outsider!” Falling into the car, Justin slammed the door, catching my foot. Excruciating pain broke out and raced from my foot up my leg, a loud cry tearing from my lips.
A frightened whimper from Charlotte had me spinning in the seat, my pain not important.
“Charlotte! Oh my god, are you okay?” It was a stupid question, of course, she wasn’t alright. Her hands were bound tightly in her lap with a thick black cable tie, the knees of her jeans were torn and ripped, showing scrapes and scratches and oozing blood on her skin.
“Oh, Charlotte,” I sobbed, rubbing my hand gently over the red welts on her wrists, the cable tie was far too tight, so tight it had to be cutting off circulation. Looking up at her face, I saw that there were several red marks, and one eye was puffy and partly closed, a bruise already forming.
“Oh my god! Did he punch you?” I was incredulous that a man would inflict so much pain on such a gentle woman like Charlotte Johnston, or any woman!
Behind the gag in her mouth, Charlotte sobbed, her head bobbing up and down.
Tears streamed uncontrollably down her face, her breaths were coming out in heaving pants due to her crying and the pain she had to be feeling from her injuries.
I was crying hard, as well. How was this happening? What kind of insane person did this to his own family? Why did I tell Seb to bugger off and leave without him? So stupid!
“Yeah, I punched the bitch, she fucking bit me, so I gagged her,” Justin spat out, his eyes glaring at me in the rear-view mirror.
“I’m taking it off, she is having trouble breathing.” I didn’t wait for permission. I reached out and, as carefully as I could, pulled what looked to be a tea towel out of her mouth, letting it fall to her neck. Charlotte heaved a sigh of relief, immediately sucking in deep breaths.
“Oh Peyton, I am so sorry. I couldn’t stop him, he just wouldn’t listen to me,” Charlotte blubbered through her sobbing, leaning into me awkwardly because of her tied arms.
“You animal!” I screamed at Justin, “Charlotte is your family! How could you raise your fists to her? This is kidnapping Justin. Don’t you know how much trouble you will be in for this?”
“Family! She ain’t no family to me. She is nothing more than a prick relation. Treated like some fucking queen all because she rides my uncle’s dick.” Justin’s deep-rooted hatred for his uncle was palpable. I heard the venom in his voice, and it scared me. His foolishness and brazen stupidity grabbing Charlotte told me just how desperate he’d become since he disappeared.
“Deck is going to go postal when he finds his wife missing, Justin. You have to turn us loose and get out of town before the club finds out you are here. You know they will, you have to know that,” I pleaded, hoping beyond hope there was still the tiniest amount of decency left in him.
A violent and evil laugh came
from the front seat. “That is what I am counting on, bitch. Because of the club, I can’t live in my own town now. Hiding in hovels, crossing into other states in the cover of darkness. They have eyes everywhere!”
“You burnt down the vet clinic!” My protest to his so-called unfair treatment loud and instant. “You nearly killed two people and dozens of animals.”
“Yeah, and I would have succeeded if it had not been for your fuck buddy and his mates, firemen at the club’s beg and call, police, even the locals run to the aid of the club when they need it.”
“They were doing their job! That is what the CFA and the police do, Justin.”
“Because the club says to do it. They even have their commando team at their disposal. I fucking hate the way they all band around each other, the club doesn’t have a problem opening its arms to the likes of Gabe’s team. Your boyfriend isn’t even a relation, yet he has a room at the club and the respect from that fucker Booth.”
Hearing Justin talk about Rafe in such a hated way both tore at my heart and angered me. No one had a right to talk about him in such a way except me. Rafe was mine, stupid decisions and lying, notwithstanding. When I walked out of the compound, angry, hurt and pissed off, deep down, I knew I was going to give him a chance to grovel before forgiving him. At the time, my mind might have been working against my heart, humiliation and disbelief, driving me to walk away from him. I also felt bad for making this all about me, and didn’t even bother to care about the fact that someone’s life support was going to be turned off. Each step I took from him felt wrong, but damn it, why did he have to lie about being married. I had a past, everyone did, hell Rafe certainly had one. Why he thought it necessary to hide it from me was dumbfounding. Surely he had to know it would come out eventually? Had I not received that phone call, how long would he have left it before telling me? These questions I needed answers to before he and I could try to move forward. Our unborn child depended on his or her parents working it out.
I loved Rafe. Wanted him in my life. His love for me was undeniable, I knew that every time he looked and touched me. However, trust was just as important in a relationship. I trusted him to protect our baby and me, and until this morning, I trusted him with my heart. Rafe had to get me back to that place, and I couldn’t do that for him. That was on Rafe.
I got so lost in my thoughts about Rafe and me and worrying about Charlotte, I hadn’t been paying attention to where Justin was taking us.
Staring out the window, I was surprised to see the car pull into my own driveway, Rafe’s Kingswood sitting under the carport. Since he had been home, he had been dropping me off at work in the mornings and going to the club every day. Working half of the day with his team in the gym and the rest of the day helping out wherever Shiloh needed them. The club had many businesses, bike shops, eateries, a tattoo shop, a construction business and a gun shop. And that was just what the men owned, the women had their own successful businesses as well.
“What are we doing at my house?” I asked, confused. This wasn’t exactly a good hiding place; in fact, I was almost positive this would be the first place Rafe will look when he finds out that Justin is back in town. And I knew that knowledge would already be in the hands of the club.
Turning off the engine, Justin quickly turned in his seat and glared at me with glinting blue evil eyes.
“This is where the three of us are going to die. The club will come to your rescue, your boyfriend and his pathetic team will think they can save you, but this time they will fail.” Justin got out of the car and raced around to the side and ripped open the door, once again roughly grabbing me by the arm and dragging me out of the car, then doing the same to Charlotte. My foot fiercely protested any weight on it, and going by Charlotte’s pained scream, she wasn’t doing any better than me.
“Now move!” Justin ordered, taking a gun out of from the back of his slacks, shoving it hard in Charlotte’s ribs, making her cry out again.
“When the club gets here, I will shoot you, then her. Watch my uncle lose the only person he loves, and then I will shoot myself. Give those fuckers a never-ending life of post-traumatic stress, and they will never come back from this.” Chills ran down my spine, freezing me still. Murder? Suicide?
Oh God, help us, please.
My only thought hearing Justin’s horrendous plan to end not only Charlotte’s and my life but his own as well, was Rafe would not survive if I died right in front of him.
He just wouldn’t, and now he knew about the baby. Losing both of us, I couldn’t even fathom his pain. My hands went to my belly, cupping where my unborn baby was safe inside me. Since this morning, I’d barely had a chance to stop and contemplate being a mother again. I loved being pregnant the first time, loved seeing the changes in my body, the first fluttering’s, then the strong kicks and tumbles while I was trying to sleep. I hadn’t even had the opportunity to freak out about having another baby, the chances of my baby being taken from me as Dean had been.
When I saw the pink line, the only thought that crossed my mind was how happy Rafe was going to be and how soothing and comforting to me when I admitted my fears. Every thought had been of Rafe.
Rafe.
Oh baby, I need you, please save us.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
RAFE
The war room was a familiar sight to me. Not unlike other strategic rooms I had been in all through my military career. Normally, I listened, observed and accepted my orders, all without saying a word unless asked. Today was completely different; today, this was all about Peyton’s safety and I had plenty to say.
“Do we know for sure Justin is in town?” I demanded, looking directly at Booth.
“Yes. Ford’s camera software clocked him an hour ago about two kilometres from here. The idiot is still driving his own car, a black Merc isn’t rare, but one with personalised plates is, MONEY isn’t exactly hard to keep track of,” Booth drawled, not looking impressed.
“So, where is he now? Peyton left the compound fifteen minutes ago, on foot in a huff and not waiting for detail according to Seb.”
When I raced out of the gym and into the main room, Seb informed me that he had brought my girl to the compound on the back of his bike. It irked me that she had her body wrapped around him, sitting behind him on his bike. I may not be a patched member or wear a leather cut, but like the men that are and do, I carried many of the same traits. Peyton was mine, when it comes to her, I was territorial, alpha and fiercely in love with my girl. She was the air I breathed, the reason I wanted to be a better man and the only one for me.
And the father of the baby in her belly, and soon her husband.
To my right, Steel stepped up. The big mountain of a man towered over most of the men in the room, and he was one of my heroes. Cooper Steel and Creed Stephens held legendary status in the army. They founded the Team Five original sniper unit, along with a few others. They even designed the tattoo that all commando snipers had now. Mine was on my back, a more incognito and safer position so it could not be seen by the enemy.
“Ford just called. Apparently, Deck is on the warpath. Charlotte has gone missing, she hasn’t returned from the dance school. Ford is trying to locate her now—”
A loud thundering of booted feet came rushing down the hall, then suddenly the massive frame of Deck Johnston, former weapons and hand to hand expert of Team Five, burst into the room. His face pale, but his eyes were firing sparks.
“Justin has Charlotte, that fucker has my wife!” Deck shouted, his body heaving with anger.
The room fell silent, every man had a look of outrage, but no one moved because the bad news hadn’t finished coming yet. Ford entered the room, an open laptop in his arms.
“He has Teach and Peyton,” Ford announced, looking at me, “Peyton just used her security code to enter her house. Outdoor cameras show the black Merc in the driveway.”
Booth slammed his fists down on the table, his control slipping, but he glanced down at a monitor an
d the tension radiating off him lessened just a bit.
Not mine, my entire being shook with rage and unbridled terror. Peyton, my Bunny, was with Justin, the man who tried to kill her by setting fire to the vet clinic. Shutting down every exit, splashing petrol all over the rooms, making sure neither her nor Addy would make it out on their own. And now he had her again, trapped in our home, and I wasn’t there to protect her.
“Rafe! Lance Corporal Walsh!” Gabe yelled at me, fully in captain mode. Whipping my head around at his stern tone, I breathed in deeply once, then again, getting control of my emotions. I would be no good to Peyton if I let the man in love go out there instead of the soldier and trained sniper.
“Yes, sir?”
“Dad and the club are moving out, as an active team, we can’t do anything other than follow and observe. Is that understood, soldier?”
“Are you fucking kidding me? My girl is with that madman, and you expect me to–”
“I expect you to take orders from your commanding officer,” Gabe growled, “ we don’t pick up a weapon, we don’t engage. Copy that.” Gabe’s tone left no room for arguing. Logically I understood, but try and tell my heart that.
“She’s pregnant Tank, and he has her,” I whispered brokenly, “she needs me.”
“Yeah, she does. She needs you to be there for her when the Souls get her and Charlotte out. Prison and a dishonourable discharge won’t help her or your child, mate.” Gabe softened his voice, his grey eyes sympathetic. No doubt thinking of his own love, Devon, and his aunty, who was with Peyton.
“Bastian has been told the same thing, if either of you can’t stand down, then you stay back here at the compound. No arguments.”
Rafe (The Wounded Sons Book 4) Page 15
