by Lilly Atlas
Chapter Twenty-Six
All patched members arrived at the warehouse about an hour after Striker left Rock’s house. The guys had secured his hands behind him with zip ties and knocked him around a bit, at least that’s how it looked. A prospect drove him in the back of a van to the warehouse, where he now sat in a chair in the center of the room begging someone to let him go.
Dried blood covered the skin from his nose to his chin, and Striker felt satisfied knowing he’d had a part in that. Rock’s cut had been removed, and lay on the ground in front of him. The brothers gathered around the chair in a circle, and the room was abuzz with speculation about what happened.
Shiv stomped his booted foot on the ground loudly to get everyone’s attention. “Looks like everybody is here, so let’s get started. The longer we’re all here, the more attention we risk. We received some unfortunate information from the Grimm Brothers. About a quarter mil of product was stolen from them. Snake claimed it was one of us.”
A murmur of shock and disbelief ran through the room, and Shiv held up a hand to quiet the irate group. He went on to explain the ambush on Striker and Lila, the deal made with Snake, and Rock’s part in causing the situation.
“We need a unanimous vote to take his patch back. He’ll be going to Snake either way, but we decide if he does it as a brother or not.”
There was no way in hell he’d keep his patch, the vote was just a formality at this point. He’d turned against his club, nearly started a war, and got an ol’ lady abducted. No fucking way he deserved to call himself a brother.
“All in favor?”
Every hand in the room shot up immediately. Each man bore varying degrees of disgust and anger on their faces.
“Stand him up.” Shiv stepped forward, and retrieved the cut from the floor. He turned to Striker and held it out. Typically, the president stripped the No Prisoners’ patch from the cut. “You deserve to take this one, Striker.”
Satisfaction flowed through him, this would go a long way toward easing his fury. Striker drew his knife from his boot. The sound of ripping leather echoed through the quiet warehouse as he sliced along the back of the cut. It was a fulfilling noise, and he stared right in Rock’s guilty face as he did it. When it was done he, walked over to stand in front of Rock. “Ready, boys?”
According to the bylaws, when a member had his patch stripped he had to take one punch from each club member. If he fell, they were allowed one kick each. Striker started it off. He plowed his fist into Rock’s face once again, and ignored the man’s pathetic pleas for forgiveness. He wouldn’t be finding that here.
Striker stepped back, and watched as each of his brothers delivered a nasty blow to Rock. He fell to the ground after the fifth hit, and the remaining men used their boots to inflict the punishment. Rock cried out as each man made contact, but no one showed any mercy.
When it was over, Rock was a bloody mess, lying unconscious on the ground. “Go get the prospects from outside. Have them toss him back in the van.” Shiv spoke to Gumby, who jogged outside. Three prospect came in and dragged Rock out by his feet.
Striker rubbed across the back of his neck. At some point during this miserable day the muscles had knotted and a dull ache settled between his shoulders. He should have been able to spot the weak link in the chain before it broke. Rock slipped past his defenses and made it through a year of prospecting. It never should have happened.
Lila’s nerves were stretched so tight she feared she’d shatter if she tried to sit down. She’d been at the Grimm Brother’s clubhouse for about seven hours, and didn’t have any idea what was going on outside the four walls she’d been locked in.
As soon as they’d arrived at the Grimm’s clubhouse she’d been dragged off the bike and into a small room. The door wasn’t locked, but there were two men standing guard outside. She knew this because after two hours of sitting in a room by herself she’d been brave enough to try and open the door.
She’d recognized Mohawk immediately from the night he came to the hospital, and when he winked at her she slammed the door closed and sat back down on the floor. She should be grateful they left her alone, but she was going crazy wondering what was happening.
The room they held her in was bare, no furniture, no windows. Just four blank walls that closed in on her a bit more with each passing minute.
When the doorknob turned Lila couldn’t suppress a yelp of fear. The door swung open and Mohawk filled the doorway with a grin on his face. “Sorry, princess, didn’t realize you were so jumpy. Snake would like the pleasure of your company in his office.”
Oh God. Why was she complaining about being left alone?
Mohawk stayed in the doorway as Lila passed. She had to turn sideways and press herself against the doorframe to avoid rubbing against him. When she squeezed by she heard an audible inhalation and his arm came down to block her path. “Mmm, lady. You smell good. Striker buys you the good stuff, huh?”
“I buy it for myself, asshole.” The words were out of her mouth before she thought better of it. His comment caused some of her fear to be replaced by anger.
“Oh well, excuse me, doctor. Sounds like Striker lets his woman have a little too much freedom. Me? I like my women obedient. You know how to obey, Doc?”
“Enough! I asked you to bring her to me, not make a move on her.” Snake’s voice came from somewhere down the hall.
“Yes, sir. After you, princess.” He extended his arm down the hall, and Lila walked in the direction of Snake’s voice.
When she stepped into his office he pointed toward a chair opposite him at the desk. “Sit. Close the door on your way out,” he called to Mohawk.
Lila sat in the indicated chair, her posture stiff and rigid. Snake, on the other hand, looked right at home. He leaned back in his chair and hefted his boots onto the desk, crossing his legs at the ankles.
“Just wanted to check in, Doc. How are you enjoying our hospitality?”
“Well, considering I was supposed to be sipping a margarita on the deck, I can’t say that I’m thrilled with this turn of events.” Where was this defiant side coming from? Striker had warned her not to mouth off to Snake. His MC wasn’t like the No Prisoners. Women were not treated with respect.
Snake frowned at her retort, and she wished she’d kept her mouth shut. “Well, Doc, I’ll fill you in on how this is all going to go down. We’ll leave here about eleven and head out to the abandoned mine. If Striker manages to find what was stolen, and gets it there by midnight, we’ll make an even exchange, and I’ll hold up my end. If he’s so much as ten seconds late, you and I will leave, and the rest of my crew will open fire on the No Prisoners. Either way I feel it’s a win for me.”
All the hair on Lila’s body rose as Snake spoke. His eyes shone, as though the idea of gunning down the entire MC pleased him. Lila wanted to reach across the table and claw his eyes out of his head, but she remained motionless, frozen with fear for Striker and fear for her own life. The life that she had just taken control of and started to love.
“You listening to me, Lila?”
She started and looked at Snake again. “Yes.”
“Good. I wanted to present another option to you.” His eyes grew hooded and his tone lowered. “As I said, I’m without an ol’ lady at the moment, and, well, you intrigue me.”
Lila’s skin crawled and her mouth dropped open in shock and horror.
“I’d like you to consider staying here regardless of tonight’s outcome. Though I’ll warn you now you’ll need to be a little more, shall we say, willing to accommodate.”
Lila jumped up. She couldn’t stay in his presence another second without becoming sick. “Please bring me back to that room now. I’ll just wait there until it’s time to leave.”
“You’ll consider my offer?”
Was he crazy? “Sure.”
He nodded. “Good.” He stood and called out. The door opened, and Mohawk escorted Lila back down to the room.
After he
closed her in, she sank to the floor and covered her face with her hands. Hot tears burned behind her eyelids but she blinked them away before they could fall. How had her life spun so out of control as to get to this point?
She needed to make a plan. That’s what she did before she moved to Arizona and it helped her keep her sanity and sort out her feelings. And right now she needed to plan a way to end her relationship with Striker.
His life wasn’t what she wanted. Lila wanted to work at the hospital. She wanted to run her sports safety program and live a quiet life. She wanted to meet a sedate man with a nine to five job who would give her a few kids and grow old with her. A frown crossed her face. That all sounded so dull.
It wasn’t dull. It was safe. Smart. True, Striker had a lot of qualities she admired in a man. He was intelligent, loyal and worked his ass off for the club. He also supported her work and her project at the high school one hundred percent. Not to mention she was wildly attracted to him, but being with Striker was neither safe nor smart.
That’s exactly what she would tell him. She not only needed to feel safe, but she needed to make intelligent life choices. She couldn’t choose a path where people would whisper behind her back about the company she kept. She couldn’t choose a man who could end up in prison or dead. He’d understand. He had to realize all these things were true.
With a sigh, Lila closed her eyes and rested her head against the wall. She felt a fraction of a percent better at having come up with a plan to fix one part of this out of control situation.
She didn’t realize she’d fallen asleep until she heard a chuckle from right above her. When she opened her eyes and looked up, Mohawk’s grin filled her vision. “Wakey, wakey, princess. It’s time to roll.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Lila kept her eyes closed while Snake sped through the night toward their meeting location. When she was with Striker, riding at night was one of her favorite activities. Tonight the blackened sky felt anything but wondrous. It felt like a shroud, and she couldn’t bear to look at it.
The bike slowed, and then came to a complete stop, and Lila finally allowed her eyes to open.
“You stay on the bike until I tell you,” Snake ordered, swinging his leg off the motorcycle.
She pushed a button on her watch and glanced down at the glowing face. Eleven twenty. Snake had wanted to arrive before Striker and the No Prisoners. He’d said it would give him the upper hand.
Lila took a breath, and wiped her palms on her jeans. Her heart danced a nervous rhythm in her chest and she felt a bit dizzy. This exchange had the potential to turn into something deadly.
Still astride the bike, Lila checked out her surroundings. The night was so dark it was almost impossible to see more than five feet from her face. As she stared straight ahead she thought she saw something flash just a bit ahead of them. Was that—
In the next instant Lila’s hands flew up to cover her face as she was blinded by the high beams of a staggering number of motorcycles. Oh my God. The No Prisoners had arrived before Snake, and were lined up across the road. There had to be at least sixty bikes. Who were all these guys?
“Your shit is halfway between us, off to the right. It’s all there. As is the other package we agreed on.” In that moment, Striker’s commanding voice was the most comforting sound she’d ever heard.
Lila looked off to the right where headlights of a bike illuminated packages of drugs stacked neatly behind a bruised and bloodied man. She gasped at the sight of him, and her first instinct, as a healer, was to run to him. But she tamped down the impulse, and tried to locate where Striker’s voice was coming from. The lights were too bright and she couldn’t see a thing.
“Lila, baby, walk straight across to me. Once she’s here, Snake, you can take your shit and leave.”
Snake stood about fifteen feet ahead of her, his face a mask of fury. He had to feel humiliated by Striker’s show of force. Satisfaction flowed through her. His hands clenched and unclenched at his sides. Good. She hoped the bastard was embarrassed by how Striker beat him at his own game.
Lila scrambled off the bike and started toward the lights. She wanted to run, but was afraid to move too quickly. As she walked, she heard Snake yell after her. “Too bad, Lila. We coulda had fun.”
She shivered with revulsion at the thought.
“What did you do, Striker? Call in the National Guard?” Snake called across the gap.
When Lila drew close enough to see over the glare of the lights, she was shocked to discover how many men accompanied Striker. There were more bikes than she’d originally thought, and looked to be about a hundred men. Who were they?
“You should try being nicer to people, Snake. You might make some friends that way.”
Lila still couldn’t see Striker, but she searched the crowd noticing that each man wore a No Prisoners cut. The patches on the front indicated different locations, Vegas, Joshua Tree, Santa Fe.
After another two steps she swung her gaze up and down the line again and locked eyes with Striker. He stood right in front of her. A wave of relief hit her with the force of a semi when she saw him standing there looking fierce and protective. The flood of emotion was so strong that she stumbled and would have fallen if Striker hadn’t reached out and grabbed her.
He crushed her to him, and she wrapped her arms around his waist just as tight. “I’ve got you, Lila. You’re safe. Did he hurt you?” Striker whispered against her ear.
“No. Scared me a bit, but mostly they left me alone in a room. Who are all these people?”
He chuckled in her ear. “Family, baby. We put in a few calls to charters in nearby states. They rushed here right away. My bike is right behind us. Go sit, and we’ll be out of here soon.”
His family. The moment the word came of Striker’s mouth all the pieces fell into place for Lila. She released her hold on Striker, and moved toward his motorcycle. When she was seated, she looked at the men who’d come to support him. They stood together in a row, weapons trained on the ten Grimm Brothers who’d come with Snake, an impenetrable wall.
A family was exactly what they were. Not a conventional one, but one that instilled loyalty and respect. She had a conventional family. Two parents, a sister, and all the high society perks she could ever want. But they didn’t support each other, they weren’t loyal to each other, they probably didn’t even love each other.
This group of outlaws had her back more than her own blood ever had. They respected Striker, they loved him, and while Lila was with him that extended to her as well. No matter what happened, this family would take care of each other. They would be there for each other no questions asked. They’d ride hundreds of miles in one day to rush to the aid of a brother and his woman.
A warm feeling of support and acceptance replaced much of the fear she’d felt throughout the day. Where before she’d been prepared to walk away, convinced there was nothing here for her, she now saw the opposite might be true. This could be everything for her.
She looked up, surprised to see Snake and his gang riding off into the night. Lost in her own musings, she’d missed the final words between Striker and Snake. It didn’t matter. For now, it was over, the score settled and she was free to resume her work and her life.
As she watched Striker approach the bike, and his brothers mount up and ride off she smiled at him. She wanted him in her life, him and this crazy family that came along with him. The good, and the bad.
It didn’t matter if people in town didn’t understand their relationship. Lila had spent over twenty years concerned about what others thought of her. It was time to give that up. What mattered was how she felt about Striker, and she was pretty sure she was in love with him. The rest was just details they could work out together.
“You ready to go home?”
She let out a weak chuckle and reached for his hand. “I was ready to go home yesterday morning.”
Striker didn’t laugh at her attempt at a joke. He didn’t smile or
take her hand. The man who had held her like he couldn’t breathe without her just seconds ago was gone, replaced by a hardened version Lila didn’t recognize. What had happened in the five minutes she’d zoned out?
Without another word, Striker climbed on the bike and they drove off. Lila had the distinct impression something had shifted in him, something that affected his feelings for her.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
As he drove them back to his house, Striker steeled himself for what he was about to do. When he first saw Lila tonight, walking across the distance from Snake’s crew to his, her head held high, he realized he loved her. But keeping Lila alive, and in one piece, was infinitely more important than either of their feelings.
Once he was home, Striker climbed off the bike and waited for Lila to do the same. When her helmet was off, he followed her into the house. She stood ramrod straight and stiff, no doubt a result of his cold treatment.
“I need to go to the clubhouse to talk to Shiv. He stayed behind, and I need to fill him in, in person. Plus we have a lot of brothers staying in town and I need to help get them settled.” His words were clipped, emotionless.
She nodded, but remained silent.
“Jester and Hook are on their way to stay with you. Don’t know when I’ll be back, but they won’t leave you alone.” He walked to the kitchen without another word.
Striker reached out to open a cabinet and noticed a slight tremor in his hands. His body was reacting to the unfamiliar emotions that filled his head and his heart. It wasn’t acceptable. He needed to get himself under control.
With a grunt of frustration, he snagged an open bottle of Jack Daniels, sunk into a chair at the table, and took a long drink. Lila stood in the doorway and came into view as he lowered the bottle. Her arms were folded across her chest and a frown of disapproval was clear on her face.
