“What’s going on between you and Hannah?” Nate sat in the center of the back seat and leaned forward.
How did I explain what I didn’t understand myself? “I like her. She’s a good girl.” I wanted to slap myself up the side of the head. She’s a good girl? I sounded like a stupid camp counselor giving a parent an update.
“Don’t hurt her. She’s had enough shit happen in her life.” His voice was dead calm, but there was more than a hint of a warning in it.
I chanced a glance back to see whether there was some expression that would tell me about his relationship with Hannah. Were they friends? Past lovers? “I never go into a relationship with the intent to hurt.”
“Turn right at the highway and head all the way past Pine Creek. I’m told Mark hangs out at Getty’s,” Silas said.
“What’s the plan when we get there?” I was brought up to plan. My life had been planned out since the day I was born. Planning amounted to success. If we were going to kick ass, I wanted to be on the winning side.
“No plan, we’ll just have a little chat with Mark.” Silas explained that they handle things a certain way in small towns, especially the bikers. If I cared about Hannah, then I’d help her sister, and that meant showing Mark he couldn’t mess with her.
Nate, although dressed like Barbie’s Ken, stretched his arms over the seat and flexed his fists. “I’m itching to kick some ass.” Knuckles cracked beside me. “If we get rid of Mark, then maybe there’s a chance for me. I’ve had a crush on Stacey for a long time.”
Silas whirled toward the back seat. “What the hell happened to Melissa?”
“She wasn’t interested in me, only my bedroom skills.” The soft leather ate up any noise Nate made when he fell back against the cushion. “I bet you get that a lot.” Nate kneed the back of my seat so I knew he was talking to me. “Except it’s probably about your money and not your junk.”
I swerved the car so he’d feel it. “Don’t discount my junk. I haven’t had anyone get up and leave once they saw it.” Why were men so protective of their dicks? You didn’t see women wagging their breasts in public, comparing size. Oh, wait—you did. In fact, women were worse.
“I’m not asking you to whip yours out and show me, all I’m saying is you probably have to ask yourself why women want you.”
Silas broke in with, “What Nate’s saying is, guys like us have nothing to offer women as far as money. So when a woman falls for us, it’s got to be our pricks or our charming personalities.”
“You have a wife, right?” I didn’t have the 411 on Silas. I only knew that he had a woman and a child. That much I got from Hannah. And from how he rushed over to a redhead named Grace and kissed her before we left.
Silas sat a little taller. “I’ve got Grace and Blue. We’re engaged, and if she’d let me, I’d rush her to the courthouse tomorrow and get it all in writing, but she insists on taking off her baby weight before she says I do.”
“She looks great to me.” Nate ducked when Silas tried to backhand him.
“Keep your eyes off my woman,” Silas growled at Nate and then turned to me. His eyes lit on me like an interrogation lamp. “Is this thing with Hannah serious?”
What could I say: I buried myself in her body, and I never want to live anywhere else? That sounded superficial and lame, but it was true.
“It’s early.”
“Screw early.” Silas laughed. “The first kiss with Grace and I was sunk.”
Nate sat forward again. “It’s because you’re a pussy. And I thought you were this tough-ass, eat-ants-for-breakfast Special Forces guy. One kiss from a girl and you become one.”
“The right girl can make a difference.” The cab went silent with my admission. “I kissed Hannah, and it was different from anything I’ve experienced.”
Nate let out a snorting kind of laugh. “When I kissed Hannah, all I felt was yuck.”
Instinct had me slamming on the brakes. A horn sounded behind me as I pulled to the side of the road. “You kissed Hannah.” My knuckles gripped the steering wheel until they turned white. “When were you kissing Hannah?” White-hot jealousy threaded through my body and lodged in my heart, where it hurt like hell to hear that another man’s lips had been on my woman. That’s right, my woman. Hannah was mine.
It took everything in me to not climb in the back seat and beat the human man Barbie to a pulp for touching Hannah.
“Dude, calm down.” Nate rested his hand on the door handle, ready to bolt if needed. “She kissed me, but not because she liked me. She kissed me to make Ryker jealous. She had this long unrequited-love thing going on for him, but Ana stole his heart. You want to beat anyone’s ass, go after Ryker.”
The heat kept building up inside me as I pulled back onto the highway. “Did your brother date my Hannah?” Now I sounded like a father trying to make a man do right by his daughter. I was fifty flavors of messed up when it came to her.
“You’re in love with her.” It was hard to miss the shit-eating grin covering Silas’s face.
“I like her.” I defended my position. “Love? Hardly. How can I love someone after such a short time?” That wasn’t just an attempt at deflection. It was a question I’d been asking myself all day. Yet in my heart, I knew I’d truly experienced something different and real with Hannah.
“I lied to myself too.” Silas slapped me on the back. “You’ll figure it out, little brother.”
Right then, I wished I hadn’t been an only child. What would it have been like to have brothers to share life’s experiences with?
Getty’s came into view just over the last hill. It was perfect casting for a Sons of Anarchy episode or maybe a Wild Hogs scene. The problem was, I was more like William H. Macy, Silas was a dark-haired version of Jax and Nate? He was a young Tim Allen in nicer clothes. We were an eclectic mix of rich boy, bad boy, and pretty boy.
“Are we talking or fighting?” Nate asked. “I need to know if I should leave my watch here or wear it.” He unbuckled his Rolex knockoff and tucked it under the seat. “I suppose a little fist action is warranted.”
We sat in the car for a moment while the guys filled me in about Hannah’s sister’s boyfriend. I didn’t tell anyone that she was pregnant because it wasn’t my story to tell, but any man who would put the mother of his child at risk deserved an ass-beating.
“Let’s do this.” Silas pushed open the door and climbed out. For a second, I put myself in Mark’s place and almost felt sorry for the man. I hadn’t met him, but there was no way he could stand up to Silas’s bigger-than-life presence.
In the little time I’d known him, I’d gotten the distinct impression that he fought for the underdog. I respected that about him. And after seeing him with his brother, Ryker, I envied them for the bond they shared.
Side by side, we walked into the bar like cowboys in an old spaghetti western. There were no revolvers strapped to our hips or spurs on our boots, but we carried ourselves like outlaws walking into a saloon.
The lights were dimmed, and the room smelled of stale cigarettes and mold. Silas scanned the space. It was interesting to watch him survey the surroundings. He was out of the Army, but he was still a soldier through and through. His eyes shifted from place to place as if assessing the situation. Defining the danger. Planning a way forward and considering an escape.
At the bar sat three bikers, tatted up from their wrists to their leather cuts. A female bartender leaned over the old wooden surface. Her breasts spilled over the top of her shirt like an offering. The edge of a twenty-dollar bill poked from her exposed bra.
Nate nodded toward a corner table where one man sat alone. He fit the description. Tall, light-haired, and lanky with a hint of cowardice and a dose of stupidity.
“Drink?” The woman tending bar called over to us.
“No thanks,” Nate said. “We’re here for something else.”
Silas shook his head. “He’s still learning the way of the world. We’ll take three beers.”
I almost changed his order but decided it was best to not draw more attention to us. We weren’t the group from Easy Rider. We were two idiots with a point to prove and a getaway driver.
“You Mark?” Silas swung a chair around and straddled it, coming to sit beside the solitary man.
“Who’s asking?”
I watched with fascination as Silas leaned in and spoke with calm. “A friend.”
Mark tensed and sat up, giving himself three more inches in height, but he didn’t come close to Silas. In fact, none of us lacked in that department.
“You’re not my friend, so what do you want?”
Not one bit riled, Silas leaned back and rose to his full-seated height. Mark’s eyes widened. It was one thing to look at a man sitting next to you and feel superior, but when you lined them up, you couldn’t compare them apples to apples. Mark was more like a grape whereas Silas was a grapefruit.
“I’m here for Stacey.”
Mark looked like he’d swallowed fermented fish guts. “She’s a waste of time and sperm.” He threw back his beer and slammed his bottle on the table. “Bad decision. Bad lay. Bad everything.”
Tension rippled through the air. The bartender approached with three opened bottles.
Nate moved forward. “She’s no longer your concern.”
Mark laughed. It was the kind of cackle heard just before a psycho stabbed his victim. “You gang-banging the whore? You seem a little tame for her. She likes the bad boys.” His eyes settled on Silas. “As long as sloppy seconds are your style, go for it. Just know that I’m not paying a penny for the little whelp I planted inside her.”
Nate sprung forward. “She’s pregnant?” His fist connected with Mark’s nose. The crack echoed through the air. A moment of silence soaked into the bar, and then all hell broke loose.
Nate was pummeling Mark’s face when the three men from the bar entered the melee. One fisted my collar and threw me into the wall. The sheetrock folded behind my head. A sharp edge ripped into my scalp.
Silas fended off two men while the one who tossed me aside went after Nate. Two on one was unfair in any book, so I pushed off the wall and threw myself into the fray despite the blow I’d just taken.
The first punch that connected to my face sent my adrenaline racing. Once the initial sting wore off, I didn’t feel a thing. In fact, each punch I threw released years of pent-up frustration and anger. I didn’t see my father’s face behind any punch. I saw something less tangible. Each hit was retaliation for a life not lived authentically.
In the background, the bartender’s high-pitched scream floated above us, not really connecting with everything happening. This was more than a bar fight. This was justice. It was redemption. And when the door swung open and Ryker stepped in, it was over.
The man plowed through the fight like a bowling ball on a strike mission.
“Jesus, Silas.” Once all the men were on the floor and the bartender was cowering in the corner, Ryker looked at me and lit into his brother. “What the hell did you bring him here for?”
His dismissal stung. He’d set me aside like I didn’t belong, and it pissed me off. “He didn’t bring me. I drove.” I swiped at the sweat running down my forehead only to find out it was blood and that it streamed steadily from a gash to my head.
I reached for the table as the room began to spin. “What kind of brother are you?” Ryker yelled at Silas before everything turned black.
Chapter 22
Hannah
I paced the floor at Boulder General Hospital, waiting for word on Decker. After the call came from Ryker, I rushed right over. I wasn’t the only one.
The waiting area filled up as one by one, the people of Fury started to show. Ana and Grace came first. Ana wrapped her arms around a worried Ryker. He pulled her and Wren into his arms. I no longer felt jealous of what they had; I felt inspired to find that for myself. Something told me Decker would be the pot of gold at the end of my journey.
Grace sat Blue’s baby carrier on the floor beside her and punched Silas in the arm. Then she pulled him into her arms and kissed him.
Everyone was paired up except Nate and me. Grace with Silas. Ana with Ryker. Mona with Marty. Even my mother showed up with Tanner. There was a light in her eyes that had been snuffed out years ago. Despite the somber situation, I felt a sparkle of hope for her.
That spark was quickly extinguished, at least for the moment, when Ryker separated Silas from the crowd and pushed him into a corner. “You messed up big-time.” His voice wasn’t tempered for the crowd. It came out full force like an angry storm.
Silas touched the cut on his lip, making it bleed again. “You should have seen him.” A look of pride replaced the grimace of pain. He swiped a tissue from the table to stanch the slight blood flow. “He’s just like us, Ryker. He totally jumped in when things got hot. He’s a Savage all the way to his bones. We have to tell him who he is.”
Ryker looked at me for a second, then turned the full force of his agitation on Silas. “Make up your mind. You’re like a ping-pong ball. Tell him. Don’t tell him. What’s it going to be?” Ryker swiped at the drop of blood on Silas’s lip. “Is this what you want for him? You want to bail him out of bar fights and rush him to the hospital?” Ryker shoved his hands into his pockets. “He’s got at least a half-dozen stitches coming.”
“He’ll survive!” Silas yelled back. “He wasn’t born into Range Rovers and Rockport shoes, asshole. I’m telling you. He’s a nature-beats-nurture poster child.”
The way Ryker towered over Silas sent a skitter of fear up my spine. I looked over at Ana, who knew him best, but there wasn’t a speck of fear in her eyes. She trusted him.
Grace, on the other hand, looked like she was in Ryker’s corner. It was obvious she was pissed at Silas. It showed from her punch to his arm to the crossing of hers.
Tired of the chaotic emotions swirling inside me, I marched to the two brothers who were in a standoff.
“Stop! Both of you!” I yelled like an elementary school teacher breaking up a recess fight. “You can argue about this later, but right now, all he needs is your support. I don’t care if it comes from the position of a friend or a family member, just get yourselves in gear and figure it out.”
Both men stared at me like there was nothing more frightening than me. And I supposed they were right. I’d glanced at myself in the mirror. With hair that looked like I’d been caught in the eye of a tornado and eyes shadowed by exhaustion, I was a mess. Like a woman gone mad.
I marched toward Tanner and Mom.
“How come I don’t know about this boy, Hannah?”
I shook my head. “Welcome to reality, Mom. I’m so glad you woke up.”
“I’m so sorry, sweetheart.” She cupped my cheek, and I wanted to cry, but there was no time.
“Is there a Hannah here?” a pink scrub-clad nurse called from the doorway.
I raised my hand and headed that way.
“That’s me.”
The nurse named Amber walked a few paces ahead of me. “There’s a handsome young man asking for you.”
It warmed me inside knowing that of all the people in the waiting room, Decker wanted to see me first.
We turned into a room, and sitting in the bed looking black and blue but devastatingly handsome was Decker. The white bandage taped to his forehead didn’t detract from his features at all. Kind of made him sexy in a bad-boy way.
“There you are. Come here.” He patted the bed beside him. “I wasn’t sure if you knew I was here, but then the nurse said I had an entire fan club waiting, and I hoped you were in it.”
I rushed to the side of his bed and pulled a chair close.
He moved his head side to side. “Not close enough. Come up here with me.” He reached for my hand and pulled me into his lap.
“I’m going to hurt you.” My attempt to wiggle away was futile. Decker held on to me like I was glued to him.
“It will hurt me more if you’re not ri
ght here where I want you.” He pressed his swollen lips to mine and winced.
“You’re a worse mess than me.” I ran my fingertips over his bandage. “I’m so sorry. This is all my family’s fault.”
Decker sat in silence for a moment, stroking my hair. “Family is a funny concept. You can be part of one and feel disenfranchised, or you can be with people who have no ties to you and feel this great connection.”
My arms naturally circled his body, and my head rested comfortably on his chest. “Why you guys got involved, I have no idea.”
“Because we love you, and so we love those you love.” He pushed me away and stared. “I love you, Hannah. I don’t know how it’s possible, but I know why.”
All the words I wanted to say rose up and choked me. The only word that got free was, “Why?”
The starched sheets crinkled beneath us as he shifted my body to straddle his. He cupped my face in his palms. “Because when I’m with you, I feel everything.”
“Can I confess something?”
He lifted a bruised brow. “I thought we had all our dark secrets out in the open already.”
I nibbled my lower lip. Too bad that wasn’t true. I knew one of his dark secrets. I knew who he was. And I still hadn’t told him. Part of me didn’t believe it was my job. Another part of me wanted to be the one to give voice to the reason he felt disconnected. His life was a lie, but like the other Savage boys, I found it hard to tell the truth when you weren’t sure which life would be better for him.
“I’m in love with you.” There. It was out in all of its silliness. How could someone who’d been so burned fall in love in such a short period?
He whispered against my lips, “Don’t keep that a secret from me. I need to hear those words more than you’ll ever know.”
“I love you, Decker, from the bloody bandage on your head down to your crooked pinky toe.”
It pained me to kiss him. I felt his pain like he lived inside of me. It had to have hurt his split lip to press against mine. His bruised and bloody knuckles had to have ached with every squeeze he gave my waist, and his head must have pounded with every beat of his heart.
Delivering Decker Page 14
