Angel Unseen: An Unseen MC Novel
Page 26
I will never look at that sunshine girl the same again.
He opens the car door and slides in, handing me a burrito and a bottle of water. "They'll be here soon."
I nod and then stupidly ask, "Sorry, who?"
He looks out over the empty fields. "My sister. She's on her way to come take you home. I can't drive into Coldstone... I'm too recognizable."
I nod and carefully bite into my food, extremely conscious of not making a mess in his pristine car. It's like a freaking show car, immaculate. I doubt he eats in it.
He speaks without looking at me. "Poe eats in here all the time. She got cheese on the seats last summer.”
Oh.
Okay.
I still keep a careful watch on my crumbs and when I finish I open the car door to brush the crumbs off, right as another car pulls in.
It's a freaking Ferrari.
Okay, I know nothing about cars but I know a Ferrari when I see one and I'm sure Poe would pee herself in excitement over this car if she saw it with her own two eyes.
Then the passenger side door opens and I realize she's definitely seen it before.
Her sister gets out of the car.
Those exact same eyes, holy fucking shit.
Along with a hot blond guy and a hot dark-haired guy. Oh, and Blaise motherfucking Morrison.
"Holy fucking shit," I croak and the Devil tilts his head.
"I don't see the appeal but his music isn't my style."
Right.
Of course I'm sitting here discussing music preference with the Devil himself. Of course, because that’s not completely fucking insane.
He gets out and stares over at the guys standing by the other car, silent and completely terrifying.
Poe's sister walks over to me to crouch down and check the battered state my body is in. "Jesus, they got in some good swings."
I shrug. "It's not the worst I've gotten."
Her lips purse and she nods. "You'll live. Arbour can take a look, make sure there's nothing that needs more attention."
She straightens up and speaks to the Devil over the roof of the car, "Thanks for grabbing her. We would’ve been too late."
"I'm always happy to gut some Demons. You know that."
She shrugs. "Still, I know you were on a job and it was my turn to keep an eye out. I'm tempted to move Poe a little closer to the Bay."
He moves around the car towards her and the guys she's with all shift like they're uncomfortable.
"Coldstone is where she wants to be. I've tried to move her but she's not interested, I warned you the biker would get in the way.”
Oh shit.
Oh holy shit, that’s Rue they’re talking about for sure and I feel like I’m going to fucking puke at the dead tone in the Devil’s voice. He could just… walk into Coldstone and kill the biker for fun. For daring to catch his sister’s eye.
He could come kill Tomi too.
Speck.
Keely, Trink, Hawk, fuck, any of the Callaghans, he could just drive his ass into Coldstone and take out the entire fucking MC to get his sister back if he wanted.
“Hey… hey, Angel, breathe. Breathe, ignore Nate being grumpy. He’s just twitchy about Poe being so far away from us while the Demons get fucking worse. No one is dying, kid. We’ve got a close eye on Coldstone.”
My mind slowly comes back online to find my hands clutching at Poe’s sister’s arms like a crazed fucking lunatic. “Oh God. I’m sorry.”
She shrugs. “It’s fine. My name is Lips, by the way. Grumpy over there is Nate, the guys are Ash, Harley, and Blaise.”
The Devil’s name is Nate.
He doesn’t look like a Nate, he looks like a fucking Lucifer.
Morningstar suits him perfectly.
The blond guy stalks over and gently moves Lips out of the way. His eyes are assessing as he looks me over. “Can you move to the Ferrari or do you need help? Morningstar is late for a job and we should let him get out of here.”
I nod and get up slowly, my legs shaking a little but not so bad I can’t walk. The guy stays close enough to catch me but doesn’t try to touch me so that gets him some brownie points.
I feel like I shouldn’t be rude and thank the Devil but talking to him is fucking terrifying and I don’t want to piss him off.
So I keep my mouth shut.
I guess I can thank him through Poe later and pray I never have to stand in his presence again.
“She already knows the score. She speaks about us, I carve her up until there’s nothing fucking left.”
I trip over my own feet and the guy has to catch me.
“Nate, for fuck’s sake, she’s Poe’s friend! If she’s willing to sacrifice herself for her then I’m sure she’ll keep her mouth shut,” Lips says, scolding him which clearly makes her the fucking bravest woman to ever walk this Earth.
“I don’t believe in hoping for shit. I mean what I say, better she knows to keep her mouth shut. Call me when you’re home, there’s too many Demons on the fucking road these days.”
The guy holding my arm snaps, “Ash, get the fucking engine going on this thing. I want to get the hell out of this fucking town and get some miles between us and that fucking psycho.”
Right.
So Blondie is Harley, the dark-haired one is Ash, and I’m very aware of which one Blaise Morrison is.
I have a bag back at The Boulevard full of shirts with his face on it.
Harley gets me sitting on the front seat to poke and prod at my cheek, looking for breaks I guess. I wince but the way he's handling me is so clinical that I don’t have the chance to freak out.
When he gets out a stethoscope and starts listening to me breathe he explains where he’s going to touch me each time, waiting for me to nod each time before moving.
I feel really safe now.
Which, after the Devil is a fucking miracle.
He gets out a penlight and says, “Follow the light for me."
I do what he says and when he finally clicks the penlight again he says, "You'll live. You need painkillers and sleep but that's about it."
I nod and he helps me swing my legs around to sit in the passenger seat properly. Two minutes later we’re on the road, Ash driving and the other three squished into the backseat.
“The— uh, I mean… Nate has already told me not to tell anyone about him. My lips are definitely sealed.”
Ash scoffs as he changes gears and gets us back on the highway to Coldstone.
I can’t wait.
“Ash will drop us off somewhere before he takes you back to the clubhouse. It’s safer that way.”
Uh.
What?
Ash glances at my face and smirks at me. “I’m the least recognizable person in the car.”
I glance back over my shoulder and Lips shrugs. “Blaise is obvious but everyone knows the lost O’Cronin heir belongs to me and I’ve been pretty fucking careful about making sure no one ever knows Poe and I are related. We’re never in public together, I avoid the Coldstone charter when they show up in the Bay… it’s hard work but it keeps her safe.”
I still have no fucking clue what they’re all talking about and Harley finally huffs and says, “Lips is the Wolf of Mounts Bay, the fabled fucking assassin and one of the founding members of the Family. You might not recognize her but there’s a few members of the MC that would put shit together and we know all about their rat problem.”
Oh God.
Holy fucking shit.
My stomach bottoms out. "So you're the Wolf of Mounts Bay. Your brother is the Devil, and Posey Graves is your sister. The smiling, cheerful, rainbow of a girl I'm friends with is the single most dangerous person in Coldstone, not because of who she is but because of whose blood she shares?"
Blaise cackles and Lips shrugs with a grin. "I dunno. I've taught her a lot about how to kill people. Nate also showed her how to skin a man alive last summer so she's not exactly helpless."
Holy Jesus.
Oka
y, Rue has definitely underestimated her. So has his entire family, fuck. I'm vaguely scared of her now.
Actually, you know what?
Fuck that.
I’m fucking terrified of her.
Lips scoffs and leans back in the seat. “Just go to sleep, Angel. We'll get you home safe. That’s what family does.”
Chapter Twenty Eight
Tomi
We ride back to Coldstone as fast as we can fucking manage.
We still have to stop over in a roadside hotel for a night but it’s only really a five-hour stop. I can’t fucking shake the need to get home. I’ve kept in touch with Angel the entire time we’ve been away and she might be fine but that doesn’t stop the need to get home to her from clawing at my gut.
Rue gives me a running commentary of her days and she keeps to every last one of my rules while we’re gone.
Fuck.
Maybe she is fucking perfect for me. At the very least she’s trying and if that doesn’t make me wanna step the fuck up, nothing will.
We get back to the clubhouse just before dawn, the parking lot overflowing with hogs and all fucking types of rigs.
Rue’s bike is there.
Angel’s truck is too, thank fuck, and my plan is to bypass the entire party and just fucking eat her the hell up for the night. Fuck her so long and hard that she can feel me for days and know that she’s marked as mine. My mouth waters a little at the thought of her in those tiny scraps of black lace she’s been teasing me with.
Fucking perfection.
The high of thinking about being in her lasts for as long as it takes me to swing off of my hog, the truck Hellion is parking catching and keeping my attention.
The fucking rats lost us another shipment and almost our fucking lives.
I could set fire to this fucking building with the heat of the rage in my blood.
“Get that look off of your fucking face before it gets you and the rest of this club dead. We can’t do a fucking thing until we know who the rat is,” Hawk says, his voice pitched low so no one hears us.
I jerk my head in a half-nod and then I say the words that have been choking me for weeks. “They’re further up than we thought. That mess we were just in proves it.”
He grunts under his breath, just as fucking pissed off about it as I am especially since we can’t just fucking deal with it. I hate the mind games, the fucking lies and deception, and knowing that your brothers are supposed to have your back and instead they’re twisting a knife there instead?
Fucking guts me.
King shoots us both a look and jerks his head to get us all moving, get us back into the clubhouse that should be our solace and yet we’ll all be walking on fucking eggshells, watching our mouths and doing everything we can to not say something that might get our family and brothers killed.
The bar is full of Unseen from both Coldstone and the Shreveport charter but way too quiet. Damn near fucking silence in the room. My blood turns to ice in my veins.
What the fuck has happened now?
Rue comes walking up, thank fuck, and I’m relieved to see that he’s fine until I get an eyeful of his face.
Angel.
“What the fuck happened?”
He holds out a hand like he’s trying to approach a fucking bear and not get his face ripped the hell off. “Demons came into town… they took her, been gone almost three hours.”
“Three hours? Three fucking hours?! And what exactly have you fucking assholes been doing while she’s been gone?”
Rue doesn’t flinch but half the men around him start shifting on their feet, uneasy with being so close to my rage.
Good.
I’m about to start fucking shooting.
“They took over The Boulevard, more than fucking forty of them at once. I didn’t even know she was gone until we got it back. Twenty-five of ‘em made it out alive, ten are dead, and five are trussed up in the back waiting to get their teeth ripped out for information. Brother, we will get her back. I fucking swear to you, I won’t sleep until she’s back here.”
Three motherfucking hours.
She might be dead already.
I can’t think, my mind is a whirling fucking mess of rage and sorrow and, fuck it, panic.
She might be fucking dead.
King starts snarling out orders at the guys around me, mobilizing them and getting together an army to get out there and fucking find my girl.
Poe is over by the bar, hollering at Rue and trying to get his attention but there’s no fucking time to fuss after her mood. I need to find my girl. I’m already armed to the teeth and fuck protocol, I’m going to fucking Texas.
I can’t fucking lose her before she’s even mine.
Lights hit the side of the clubhouse as a car pulls into the parking lot.
“Stop fucking freaking out, I told you I had it covered,” Poe calls out but I barely register her words. What sort of drug dealer has just showed up here in a fucking Ferrari?
She shoves me out of the way to get to the door and snaps, “It’s my sister’s boyfriend. If any of you fucking assholes would listen to me, you’d know he has Angel. She’s fucking safe.”
That gets me moving, hightailing it the fuck out of the club and ignoring the fucking ruckus starting up behind me at Poe’s words but the kid is practically flying down the stairs.
The car pulls up outside the front steps and Poe rips the door open before the engine cuts out, pulling Angel into her arms and sobbing all over her. I’ve never seen the kid cry like that before, the fear in her over her friend is fucking jarring.
Angel’s beat the hell up.
Fuck, her lip is busted and her cheek is bruised all over, fingerprints down her throat and I’m going to lose my fucking mind.
A snarl tears out of my throat in time for the driver door to open and a guy to get out. He’s tall, dark haired, and clean cut. When he steps around the car in time to catch Poe as she throws herself at him I catch sight of the holsters and the guns he’s got tucked under that tailored jacket of his.
Definitely a drug dealer.
Rue steps up beside me, his eyes fucking full to the brim with loathing as the guy tucks Poe into his arms a little more securely, murmuring quietly to her so we can’t hear a fucking thing. Angel struggles to get to her feet, wincing as she moves and I snap outta the fucking trance this whole mess has put me in. I ignore the asshole holding Poe and glaring at me, fuck him, and pull her into my body. She stiffens a little but it’s not one of her flinches so I’ll call it a goddamn win.
I’m so fucked.
“You been checked out yet? I’ll call Mom to come have a look at you.”
She shakes her head and clears her throat, pulling away from me a little goddammit. “I’m okay. I’ve already been looked at by a medic.”
“Who the fuck is that?” Rue snarls and Angel jolts in my arms.
I don’t like that reaction.
I’m leaving Rue the fuck out here to deal with that shit by himself. I don’t know who the fuck Poe’s sister is, who the fuck that drug dealer is either, but all I can smell on Angel is the blood that’s trickling out of her lip and her legs are still fucking bare because she was obviously taken between dances.
I want my girl fucking resting and I don’t give a fuck about this medic, I need to hear it from Keely that she’s okay.
“Angel.”
I turn around with her to look at the guy. The way he fucking dismisses me has my teeth clenching violently, I want to beat his stupid face in. The tone he uses with her has me seeing fucking red.
“You know where to find us if you need help.”
Ex-fucking-cuse me?
“Aw hell,” Poe says, and moves in front of the guy.
I shoot Rue a look that could strip paint. “Fucking deal with him before I do because I’ll start a fucking war, brother.”
I get an arm around Angel before she can argue with me, leading her up to the clubhouse and trying my best not to rush her
and risk hurting her more. There isn’t a patch of skin on her that isn’t fucking bruised and now, now I’m fucking pissed. Enraged. Rage pumping through my blood until I’m vibrating with the need to bleed those gutless fucks out.
“I’m fine,” she whispers, and I shake my head at her.
“Clearly you’re fucking not.”
A hushed silence falls over the bar as we walk through, only the sound of Monroe’s giggling breaking it and my control isn’t even fucking visible from where I’m at.
“I will rip your throat out with my bare hands, Monroe. Don’t fucking push me.”
No one tries to stop us or speak to us which, really, is for the best.
I get Angel into my room and lock the door behind us. She’s trembling a little and I have to stop myself from crushing her against my chest to get her to quit. I don’t know what’s hurting her under the torn up hoodie.
“Can… is it okay if I have a shower? I’m… there’s dirt all over my legs.”
Deep breath. She’s scared and she always reverts back to meek and fucking hesitant when she’s scared but I hate her asking me like that. It makes me feel like she thinks I’m going to stop her from taking what she needs.
“I’m going to call Keely to come have a look at you as well but we’ll get you cleaned up first. Have you taken anything for the pain yet?”
She nods and I walk her into the bathroom, shocked at how clean it is in here but then I realize she’s been living here while I was gone.
I like that feeling way too much for this to be nothing but infatuation, she’s mine and I’ll do whatever it takes to fucking keep her.
I now fully understand why both my uncles tried locking the women who ‘struck them down with a baby because that sounds like a fucking plan.
“You need help in there?”
She shakes her head and just stands there, clutching at the towel like it’s gonna fix shit. “I just… need a minute.”
Right.
She needs space and even if it fucking kills me I’ll give it to her. I step out of the bathroom and wait there until I hear the water start running. Then I dump my shit onto my desk because I don’t need to be walking around fully armed where some asshole might run his mouth about her and end up with my knife sticking through his fucking eyeball.