by Brook Wilder
Maybe she already did.
But there was still a worry in the back of her mind that she could screw this up. Drake had been in her life for three years and Maddie had made the mistake of going back to him every time. The last time had been the straw that broke the camel’s back and Maddie wasn’t about to get herself into that mess again.
What if it had messed her up? What if she was going to struggle maintaining a proper relationship with someone else? Maddie was scared that she was going to screw this up like Drake had screwed her up.
She was startled out of her thoughts, staring at Jace, when there was the sound of someone trying to open the door. Maddie froze. Jeremy was the only one who had a key, but he would have called already. And it sounded like someone was fiddling with the lock.
Someone was trying to get in. In the middle of the day.
Jace stiffened. Then he tugged her to her feet and pushed her towards her bedroom.
“Get into your room and lock the door. I’ll deal with this.”
Maddie wasn’t about to argue with that. She didn’t think she was in any state to fight back. Even so, she hurried into the bedroom, grabbed her gun from the nightstand, and crouched in a corner. Her hands shook on the gun and she braced herself, waiting for someone to charge into her room.
That was when she heard the crashing.
Chapter Thirteen
Jace grabbed his gun from the couch and crouched beside it as the intruder jiggled at the door lock. His heart was pounding. Someone had the balls to try to break into Maddie’s home, which was in a suburb, in the middle of the day. Someone would see what was happening, surely.
Someone was trying to harm Maddie and their baby. Jace wasn’t about to let that happen.
Finally, the door opened and Jace heard footsteps. The door closed and there were more footsteps moving along. Feet came into view and Jace found himself looking up at a tall, Hispanic-looking man with a shaved head wearing leathers. He hadn’t seen Jace yet.
Jace started to rise. Then the other guy turned and kicked out, catching Jace on the arm and knocking him against the couch. The gun flew out of Jace’s hand and hit the opposite wall. Then the intruder was on Jace, trying to pin him down. Jace managed to get his legs between them and flipped him over his head. The guy landed on the coffee table and the glass shattered and broke. He groaned and tried to get up. Jace spun around on his back and kicked out. His foot hit the guy on the side of the head, right over the ear. Then he was lying still, his head lolling back as his body began to sag through the coffee table.
Jace had expected a fight but he hadn’t expected it to be over so quick. The man looked big, bigger than him. If his opponent had gained the upper hand, Jace wouldn’t have been able to fight back at all.
“Jace?”
Maddie was in the doorway to her room, her gun clutched in her hand. Jace got to his feet and hurried to her, sweeping her into his arms. He kissed her before Maddie could react and Maddie clutched at him, kissing him back. Jace couldn’t tell which one of them was shaking or if it was the both of them.
Maddie pulled back, her eyes wide, breathing heavily. Still gripping onto his arms, she looked over at the unconscious man in the middle of the broken glass.
“Is he dead?”
Jace didn’t know. He didn’t really want to check. The adrenaline was making him lightheaded. He went to where his gun had fallen and brought it over, keeping it trained on the man’s head. The attacker didn’t react and just lay there with his limbs draped over the coffee table and his backside touching the carpet. There was blood on the carpet, showing up easily against the light green. Glass crunched under Jace’s feet. He knelt beside the body and checked for a pulse.
“No. He’s unconscious but bleeding.” Jace stood and moved away with a growl. “I wish the bastard was dead, though.”
“He’s a Wild Leopard.”
Jace stopped and stared. He hadn’t seen any tattoos.
“How do you know?”
“That’s Jorge Gutierrez. He and I went to school together. His dad was a Wild Leopard.” Maddie gulped. “He got the tattoo for the gang on his left hip when he turned eighteen.”
Jace raised an eyebrow.
“How do you know?”
Maddie’s face went as red as her hair. She looked like she wanted to be somewhere else right now.
“I dated him for a few months in our senior year. When he showed it to me, I realized that we were not going to last as a couple, considering who our parents were, so I ended it then.”
Jace growled. He didn’t want to think about whether Maddie and this man Gutierrez had had an intimate relationship. That left a nasty taste in his mouth.
He turned back to Gutierrez, who still hadn’t moved.
“Sounds like the Wild Leopards aren’t fussy about breaking into people’s homes now.”
Then Jace saw something sticking out of Gutierrez’s pocket. It was close to falling onto the carpet. Gingerly going back, he crouched down and withdrew the offending piece of paper.
It wasn’t paper. It was a photograph. Taken with a high-end camera, if Jace was going to guess. He turned it over and his blood went cold. This was not what he wanted to see. A woman coming out of a store, taken from a distance. It was clear she didn’t know she was having her picture taken.
Photographs could always tell a thousand words. And it was telling him that this was far more serious than a simple breaking and entering.
“Oh, shit.”
“What?” Maddie hurried across the room. “What is it?”
Jace stood and tried to shove the picture into his pocket.
“You don’t want to see this.”
“Jace, I’m not a child.” Maddie managed to snatch at the photograph. “What is it?”
Jace let her take it. He couldn’t hide it. Maddie looked at the picture, her expression going from worry to confusion to horror. The color drained from her face.
“It…it’s me.”
“Yes.” Jace said grimly.
“I…” Maddie floundered. It took a moment for words to form. “I don’t remember anyone taking this.” Then a hand went to her mouth. “Oh, God, this was when I had that lunch with Beth, the day I found out I was pregnant.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, that’s pharmacy I’m coming out of. I recognize the outfit.” Maddie’s hand trembled. “I didn’t get the pregnancy test put in a bag. I slipped it into my purse when I…”
“When you left the store.”
Jace took the photograph back and looked. Sure enough, there was the box being slipped into her purse. It was clearly a pregnancy test even with half the words missing.
“Shit. They know you’re pregnant now.”
Maddie nodded. She looked like she was close to having a panic attack. Jace went to her, grabbing her arms as she swayed.
“Take it easy, sweetheart. Take it easy. Deep breaths.”
Maddie did, but the breaths were unsteady. Seeing that photograph was hard-hitting for Jace; he didn’t even want to think about how Maddie was feeling.
He didn’t want to think about how Gutierrez could have raped, possibly tortured, and murdered Maddie if she had been alone. If he hadn’t been there…
He took Maddie’s head in his hands and made her look up at him.
“Maddie, look at me. Look at me, sweetheart.”
That was the second time in as many minutes that he had called her sweetheart. Jace had never called a woman that before. Maddie looked up at him, her eyes shimmering with tears. Jace felt it hit him in the chest. The strong, tough Maddie he knew was gone and a fragile, frightened girl had replaced her. Jace wanted that strong woman back again.
“I need you to get dressed and pack a bag. Take whatever you need for a few days.”
“Okay.” Maddie sniffed. “Where am I going?”
“The clubhouse. Until this is cleared up, that’s the safest place for you to be.”
That was the best place for Ma
ddie to go right now. She would have protection around her and Jace would feel safe knowing she was there. Wild Leopards members wouldn’t be stupid enough to go into a rival biker’s clubhouse to carry out a hit.
Then again, they were stupid enough to go after the president’s little sister.
Maddie’s bottom lip trembled. Jace wanted to kiss her right then but stopped himself. Now was not the time to be led by his wants. Maddie was his priority now.
“Jeremy’s going to know about this, isn’t he?”
“About what?”
“You, spending the night.”
Jace couldn’t stop himself from barking out a laugh. That was the part Maddie was worried about?
“Maddie, are you serious? I think he’ll be more worried about the fact someone tried to kill his sister than over me spending the night. Besides, he was there when I said I’d look after you.”
“He was?”
“Yes, so stop worrying about what your brother is going to think and focus on yourself.” Jace kissed her head and turned her towards the bedroom. “Now get dressed and pack. I’ll call for reinforcements.”
This time Maddie went without a word. Sighing, Jace gave Gutierrez one last glance and hurried to the kitchen. Their barely touched food was going to waste now. Jace didn’t think either of them had the stomach to eat, not with an unconscious body in the room.
Even so, he was sad to see the food go into the trash can.
Chapter Fourteen
Jace wasn’t about to kill the man. Gutierrez had come with the intent to kill, but Jace didn’t do that. He had done a lot of things in his time, but he had never killed anyone. He wasn’t about to start now.
Schuman and the others could deal with the little shit.
Maddie was silent as Jace led her from the house, tossing the key to Schuman as he went in the other direction. More men on bikes pulled up on the curb, a truck joining them. Men from Broken Hounds came up the path and into the house in silence. Some of them nodded at Maddie and Jace, and Schuman squeezed Maddie’s shoulder before moving past. Nobody said a thing.
Jace got Maddie onto the bike behind him with a helmet and hopped on, revving the engine. Maddie’s arms wrapped around his waist and she held on tight as Jace drove them through the city to the clubhouse. Jace could feel her grip tightening as they got closer to their destination. He was sure he could hear her crying over the hum of the engine.
His Maddie was falling apart, and it was taking a lot to keep her composure. He had never felt so angry before.
Jeremy was already outside the clubhouse when Jace pulled up. He was at Maddie’s side as she climbed off. His face was white.
“Dear God, Maddie.”
He pulled his sister into his arms. Maddie clutched on to him, her eyes shut tight. Jace climbed off and took the helmet from Jeremy’s hands once the president had managed to get it off his sister’s head. Maddie glanced back at Jace and then up at her brother.
“You’d better kill that bastard, Jeremy,” she said in a low voice, almost at a growl. “Or I’m going to do it.”
“Understood.” Jeremy’s expression said he knew Maddie meant it. “But your safety is more important right now.” He kissed her head and directed her towards the door. “Speak to Cole at the bar. He’ll take you up to Jace’s room.”
Maddie went without arguing, giving Jace one last look before she went inside. Jace thought she looked so vulnerable and that didn’t sit well with him. He was beginning to hate the people of Tucson for stripping Maddie down.
Then he remembered that he had been one of those people, and that left a heavy weight in his stomach.
Jeremy snapped his fingers, getting Jace’s attention, and pointed at the door.
“Office. Now.”
Jace wasn’t about to argue. He followed Jeremy through the bar, aware that they were getting stared at, and into the office. What Jace really wanted to do was go upstairs with Maddie, lock them both in and wait until the problem had been dealt with. But Jace wasn’t a runner, he was a fighter.
However, Maddie was his priority. And Jace wasn’t about to let her get hurt.
Jeremy let Jace go into the office first and shut the door behind him. He did not look happy. Jace knew why. He had been there to look after Maddie and someone had attacked them.
“Look, Jeremy, I…” he began, but Jeremy cut him off.
“Just tell me what happened.”
Jace did. Including Martin Roberts’ sudden visit. He didn’t leave anything out. When he had finished, Jeremy was silently scowling. He sagged onto the couch and ran his hands through his hair.
“Shit. This is not good. I knew Jorge and thought he was a little hot-headed but, overall, a good kid. He also adored Maddie, despite our backgrounds. I didn’t think he’d hurt her.”
“Well, people change and so do the rules,” Jace said grimly.
“You got that right.” Jeremy held out a hand. “Can I see the photo?”
Jace handed it over. Jeremy looked at it with his face paling.
“And you say he had this in his pocket?”
“Yes. Maddie recognized it as the day she brought the pregnancy test.”
Jeremy swore under his breath. He tossed the photograph onto his desk.
“So, the Wild Leopards know about her pregnancy. And this attack on Maddie means our deal is null and void. I won’t make a deal with anyone who goes after my sister.”
“Do you think Archer’s playing you?”
“I didn’t think Archer had the ability to be this abhorrent. He’s father himself. Anyone goes after his children and he’s a fully-fledged dangerous Papa Bear.” Jeremy rubbed at his jaw. “If he knew Maddie was pregnant, he wouldn’t do that to her. I’m sure he wouldn’t.”
“So, you think it’s a rogue?” Jace guessed but Jeremy was shaking his head.
“Rogues don’t exist. MC members do as they’re told.” He gave Jace a pointed look. “I don’t know what to think right now with regards to that. But I do know I want to tear that bastard Gutierrez apart piece by piece.”
“I’d better get in line then,” Jace muttered, aloud. “Well, Schuman’s got the guy in a truck and I’m sure they’ll bring Gutierrez here. I’ll let you take charge on that.”
Jeremy arched an eyebrow at him.
“I was expecting you to want a piece yourself. You don’t want to have a turn?”
Jace wanted to. He really did. But he didn’t want to leave Maddie alone. Even though everyone treated Maddie like their little sister and they would protect her, Jace couldn’t trust anyone else but himself with being at Maddie’s side.
“Maddie’s my priority now, Jeremy. And I’m going to go to her.”
He was almost at the door when he heard Jeremy stand.
“I want to trust you, Jace.” He let out a heavy sigh. “And I’m going to trust you with protecting my sister. You don’t get to walk away now.”
Jace knew the threat. Jeremy would put him alongside Gutierrez if he attempted to walk away from Maddie now. And he would happily put himself in the firing line of Jeremy’s wrath if there was even a sniffle of him leaving. He threw Jeremy a look over his shoulder as he opened the door.
“Trust me, I’m not going anywhere.”
Chapter Fifteen
Maddie hadn’t been expecting to be in the same room as Jace. She had thought Jeremy would have given her one of the other rooms. To have him say they were going to be together was a big step for him.
If Maddie was honest, she was glad. She didn’t want to be alone.
She put her backpack on the floor and looked around. What surprised her was the lack of personality in the room. Jace had been in Tucson for three months. He had stayed here the whole time. And yet it looked as though nobody stayed there, with the exception of a duffel bag sitting on the floor by the bathroom door.
Maddie began to put her things away. She didn’t need much, and she had her laptop, phone and both chargers. They would keep her busy while she w
as holed up in Broken Hounds’ version of protective custody. Jace’s clothes weren’t in the drawers and there was only a razor, toothbrush and toothpaste in the bathroom. Glancing at the bag, Maddie could see all of Jace’s clothes in there. A lot of the toiletries were in there as well. From what Maddie had seen, looking in the closet, practically the only thing hanging up was his suit.
It was like Jace was ready to leave at a moment’s notice and didn’t want to waste time packing.
