by Addison Jane
I frowned. “Really?”
“Yup,” she answered happily.
Leo turned to me. “She saw me come in before she went outside. Probably figured you’d find me before you made it to see Chelsea.”
“She’s sneaky.”
He laughed. “You don’t know the half of it.”
“We’re on dinner tonight, thought you might wanna start a little earlier since there’s extra mouths to feed,” Skylar said.
I nodded, grabbing my shoes off the floor as I headed to the door. Skylar disappeared back down the hall. Just as I went to step out the door, Leo wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me back inside. His beard brushed against the sensitive skin of my neck, tickling me.
“I’m gonna go spend some time with my baby. I’ll see you at dinner,” he spoke softly.
“Mm-hmm.”
His free hand turned my face toward his, and he claimed my mouth. My rush to get to the kitchen to do my duties and help Skylar, seemed to disappear as I melted against him. Whatever feelings he’d had when I’d stepped inside this room, appeared to have vanished, and the confident man I knew was back in place.
I hated seeing him look so broken, thankful that he was back now.
A sharp slap on my ass had my body jolt, and I pushed him away with a glare. “Ow!”
He smirked. “Go… do your shit. I’ll see you for dinner.”
I poked my tongue at him, his laughter following me as I dashed down the hallway to the stairs.
Skylar was already pulling things from the pantry and fridge by the time I rushed in, apologizing profusely.
“It’s okay.” She giggled. “I know how those guys can get.”
My stomach twisted as I thought of her words. She’s right. I wasn’t special. I was just another club girl like her. I tried to fight back the uneasy feeling inside and switch my focus.
“How was school today?” I asked Sky as I started attacking the potatoes with the peeler.
She shrugged. “It was okay. I need to talk to Op about having the night off, though. I have a test tomorrow, and I’m completely unprepared.”
“What are you studying again?” I asked.
“Chemistry.”
Pausing, I looked over to where she met me with a wide smile. “Ew.”
Sky laughed. “Yeah, most people see me as a dumb blonde.” She flicked her long wavy blonde hair behind her shoulder and giggled loudly. “I play the part pretty well, huh.”
“So why a club girl?” I asked, turning back to my potatoes.
“It’s everything my family hates.” She snickered. “My dad is the pastor at our local church. And my mom, well, don’t even get me started. To them, science is practically a sin, so they refused to pay for college.”
I grunted. “Science is the reason we have medicine to keep people alive.”
“Exactly!” Skylar crowed. “It’s a crazy world but I love it. So if they weren’t gonna help pay for it, I was going to find my own way. And being here, I get to piss them off twice as much by spending all my free time either screwing or studying.”
I laughed at her enthusiasm to make her parents angry. “That’s the spirit!” I joined in.
We prepped dinner in silence until the door to the kitchen flew open, and Slider slipped inside with a quiet smile. “Hello, beautiful ladies.”
We both rolled our eyes and continued with our food prep. “Hadley, can I talk to you for a sec?” he asked, walking closer. I looked over to Skylar, who gave me a smile.
Sighing, I turned to Slider. “It’ll have to be quick.”
He pressed his hand against my back, guiding me through another set of doors and into the empty dining room. His body slumped the second we were alone, and I instantly felt bad.
I reached out and touched his arm. “How are you feeling?”
He had held himself so sure and solid a minute ago, but the moment no one could see him, it was like he could almost drop to the ground.
“Every day I feel worse. I almost passed out last night while I was coming back from X-Rated on my bike,” he answered softly.
I looked him over, his skin was slightly pale, and the beads of sweat were gathered on his hairline. “Slider—”
“Don’t say it, Hadley.”
“No, this is stupid. And I’m gonna say it until you start to listen. Tell them…” I said sternly. “What if you do crash your bike next time?”
He snorted. “Rather go out like that than let this shit kill me slowly.” He was giving up. I could tell. Slider couldn’t see the future anymore, it was blurred by unsuccessful medical treatments and doctors’ visits and the idea of death.
“You’re gonna be okay. Just keep fighting,” I told him softly, taking his sweaty hand in mine.
He looked down at our hands. “I just want it to be over, Hadley,” he whispered sadly. “I hate this.”
Tears welled in my eyes. “If you talked to them—”
He snatched his hand away. “I’d rather ride my bike off a cliff, and them never know how weak I was.”
“You aren’t weak!”
The door from the kitchen flew open, and Slider instantly straightened his back. Laughter flowed in followed by Skylar and Camo.
“Hadley! The boys want fucking burgers now.” Skylar groaned. Camo grinned. He groped at her ass and she swatted him away.
“We don’t have shit for burgers,” I told her, stepping around them and walking back into the kitchen.
“Well, the boys want burgers,” Camo laughed.
I grabbed a potato off the counter and pointed it at him. He held his hands up in mock surrender. “You’re telling me, we’re halfway through dinner prep and now you want burgers, which we don’t have meat or buns for.”
“Just the messenger, Had!” He grinned before ducking around me and out the swinging doors.
Skylar sighed. “Fucking men. Never happy.”
I huffed, taking my potato with me as I headed out the doors after Camo. Voices carried inside from out on the patio so I followed them outside. “Burgers? Really?” I asked loudly, gathering the attention of the group of brothers.
Harmony laughed. “Uh-oh.”
“Last minute thing,” Kit answered looking somewhat apologetic.
Harmony piped up again from her place on his lap. “Tell them to fuck off, Hadley.”
The boys all laughed loudly.
I huffed and looked over at Leo, who was sitting on the ground doing a puzzle with Macy. He smirked up at me.
“Give me your keys,” I demanded, holding out my hand.
He laughed loudly, Macy startled for a second but soon joined her father, giggling with him.
“I’m gonna need something to drive if I’m going to go all the way into town to get shit for fucking burgers,” I growled.
A cheer went up from the other boys, and they started chanting. “Burgers! Burgers!”
I couldn’t help but laugh, shaking my head.
Leo rolled his eyes and pulled his keys from his pocket, tossing them to me. “You hurt my baby, it’ll be the last thing you ever do.”
Macy jumped up off the ground, ran over and clung to my leg. “Drive!”
I looked over at Leo, who just shrugged. Picking her up and settling her on my hip, I smiled. “Come on then, let’s go. Maybe we should get ice cream, too. Lots. Just for us. None for these assholes.”
“Asshowes!” Macy beamed loudly.
I cringed, backing back through the doorway before I saw the look on Leo’s face.
Ham followed us into town on his bike. Standing outside the supermarket while I tucked Macy into a cart and zoomed her around the store, much to her delight. After filling the entire thing with meat, hamburger buns and a bunch of other shit that I thought the boys might like, we checked out and loaded all the crap back in Leo’s truck. The trip was only short thank goodness, and on the plus side, the men always grilled the burgers outside, which meant I didn’t have to cook.
I drove extra slowly, not car
ing if Ham got annoyed following behind me because I wasn’t about to put any kind of scratch or mark on this truck and have to feel Leo’s wrath. That, and it really was quite a beautiful vehicle. It would be a shame to hurt it.
Macy sung loudly in the backseat to The Wheels On The Bus, and I joined in occasionally, laughing as she la, la, la’d her way through the words she didn’t know.
Just as we were heading out of town, a car floored their engine and pulled out to pass us. Because I was driving reasonably slow, and the road was basically empty, I didn’t take much notice of them as they flew by the window. But suddenly they swerved right in front of me and slammed on their brakes. I followed suit, praying in my mind that Macy was strapped in tightly and that Ham had quick reflexes and could brake in time without hitting us from behind.
Unfortunately for me, I couldn’t quite stop in time and ended up nudging the back of their car. Cursing under my breath, I quickly turned to check on Macy, who was a little stunned by the sudden stop but looking around. I took a deep breath, glad I didn’t break both of Leo’s babies.
The people in the car hadn’t got out yet to check the damage. I hoped they weren’t hurt, but I hadn’t hit them that hard and it was their fault for cutting me off.
The passenger’s door flew open, and Ham ducked his head in frantically. “You guys okay?”
I nodded. “I think so. Don’t think I can say the same for Leo’s tr—”
As I was talking, my eyes caught movement from the car and my heart stopped. “Gun!” I screamed.
Ham heaved himself inside the car just as I threw it into reverse.
The tires screeched loudly as they fought to find traction on the road. There was a loud crunch and I cringed, knowing I’d just hit Ham’s bike.
I started to apologize, but the sound of the windscreen smashing and covering us both in glass instead caused me to scream. Luckily, the truck had a reversing camera, so I ducked below the dash as bullets pierced the vehicle.
“Get Macy!” I yelled at Ham over the revving engine. He instantly scrambled with his head down, through the center of the seats. I could hear her crying as Ham laid himself across her, attempting to protect her from any loose fire.
The loud booming of the gunshots ceased, and I slammed on the brakes. Taking a careful peek over the steering wheel, I saw the two figures running back toward their car.
“We need to get to the clubhouse,” Ham said frantically over Macy’s frightened cries. I heard him trying to smooth the little girl, but she was scared.
We were all scared.
I sat up straight and pushed the truck back into drive. There was no way in hell I was letting her get hurt. She was all Leo had left. Macy was his everything. He wasn’t going to lose her today. “Hold on to Macy. Don’t you dare let her go,” I told him fiercely as I slammed my foot to the floor. The truck picked up speed. The car parked across the road in front of us was an older model, and significantly smaller than Leo’s monster. Wind hit my face harshly through the holes in the windshield, but I blinked away the tears that burned in my eyes.
The car began to turn, attempting to follow us. I braced myself as I swerved to the left and pressed my foot to the brake. The front of the truck collided with the back end of their car, spinning it across the road and onto the grass verge. The impact tightened the safety belt against my body, forcing a whoosh of air out of my lungs as I jolted forward. I sat stunned for a moment. The loud crunching of metal against metal and smashing glass ringing in my ears.
“Go!” Ham screamed from the backseat. I jumped before forcing my foot to the floor once again. The smell of burnt rubber followed us as we sped down the road.
“Is she okay?” I asked loudly, checking in my rear vision mirror to see the damaged car once again turning back onto the road and coming after us. “Macy, baby. Sing with me, honey,” I called over the noises that invaded the broken truck. Wind whooshed in, the motor screamed loudly as I speed down the road, trying to keep at a speed that was fast but wouldn’t get us killed.
Macy continued to cry, so I started singing loudly, hoping it would ease her. “The wheels on the bus go round and round…” my voice shook noticeably, “…round and round, round and round.”
Ham’s head popped up between the seats, his phone to his ear and his head flicking back and forth between the road in front of us and the gaining car. “Open the gates! We’re coming in hot!”
“The driver on the bus says please—” My eyes flicked up to check how far they were behind us, and I spotted a man with his head and arm out the passenger’s window. “Get down!”
Ham dived back behind the seats, just as a bullet flew through the back window, shattering the glass and coating both him and Macy. I tried to keep my head down, but I needed to see where we were going. Another bullet hit the wing mirror and I yelped, pulling on the wheel and causing us to swerve before righting it again.
“The wheels on the bus…” I continued loudly.
Ham yelled into his cell phone, “I don’t know who they are!”
“I can see the club road, hold on,” I told him loudly. The car behind us was coming up fast, I slowed down a little and threw on my blinker.
“Why are you indicating?” Ham yelled in disbelief.
“It’s a fucking habit, okay!”
I tried to slow down a little for the corner, but there just wasn’t time. The back end of the truck started to slide, and I cursed loudly, hoping I’d be able to hold it. “Fuck, fuck, fuck.” We hit the curb with a bump before I managed to pull us back onto the street.
Seeing the clubhouse gates open up ahead, my foot hit the floor again. Car tires squealed behind us, and I knew now I’d make it inside before they got to us.
Men ran out the gates toward the road, large guns in their hands.
“Oh shit!” The truck hit the curb and bounced inside as I slammed my foot on the brakes, trying my best to pull it to a stop before I ran through the long line of bikes in front of the clubhouse.
Ham was out the door before the truck had even come to a complete stop. I took a breath, inhaling deeply through my nose, my foot pressed down on the brake so hard my foot ached.
Just as I began to allow my body to relax, the sound of automatic weapons being fired caused me to throw my arms over my head.
Macy’s cries filled the car, and my body seemed to come alive. Putting the truck into park, I wrestled with the seatbelt, ripping it off my body before throwing myself over the broken glass and debris, into the back seat. I struggled with Macy’s buckle, her little arms reached out to me as bullets still rained heavily outside.
Hooking my hands under her arms, I lifted her to my chest and sunk both of our bodies into the small space on the floor between the back of the driver’s seat and her car seat.
“The wheels on the bus go round and round…” I sang loudly, cradling her against my body, her head tucked under my chin and my eyes focused on the door in front of me, “…round and round, round and round...”
Her tiny body shook, and I felt tears forming in my eyes as I tried my best to stay strong for her, ready to protect her from anything.
“Where are they?” a voice called from outside.
“In the truck!”
A shadow moved across the door I was watching, my body instinctually wrapping my arms tighter around Macy as it flew open.
“Fuck.” The sound of Leo’s voice caused me to release a loud sob, and the tears began to stream freely.
I looked up at him, his large body filling the doorway, his hands braced on both sides and his head hung low. A large semi-automatic rifle was strapped over his shoulder and hanging loosely in front of him.
His eyes met mine from beneath his tense, furrowed brow. “Fuck,” he muttered again as his eyes moved over us, searching every inch.
Macy began to squirm, seeming to realize that her father was right behind her and desperately seeking the safety of his arms. He passed the gun off to someone beside him, and I lifted Macy t
o her feet, the light crunch of glass under her shoes sending shivers through my body. Leo quickly reached in and lifted his baby into his arms, crushing her tightly to his chest and closing his eyes.
Even through the tears, the smudge of red across the side of her cheek stood out brightly, causing me to gasp. “Oh my gosh, Leo, she’s bleeding.”
He pulled back, much to Macy’s protests and ran his hand across her cheek.
His eyes then moved to me. “It’s not hers, it’s yours,” he said quietly.
I held my hands out in front of me, there were small pieces of glass embedded in my skin. The knees of my jeans had small blood spots from where the glass had poked through and pierced the skin underneath, no doubt from when I’d rushed into the back to Macy. My senses now more alert, I could feel the pain and the warm blood that had trickled down the side of my face.
Up until that point, the adrenaline of the chase had kept me oblivious to any of it, but now it was all becoming so real.
“I broke your truck,” I whispered, finally taking the chance to look around at the aftermath.
“I know, baby,” Leo agreed, his voice soft and sympathetic.
“Ham okay?”
Leo nodded. “You did good, Hadley.”
I bobbed my head in agreement. “I got us back.”
“Yeah, baby. You did,” he said, offering me a smile like you would give a child when they had done something brave. “Now come on, Doc is on his way to check you all out.”
Leo shuffled Macy onto his hip and held his hand out to me. I wiggled myself out from between the seats, trying to use my elbows to push myself up and avoid more glass in my palms. I took his hand, and he didn’t even flinch as he helped me to shuffle across the seats and step out on the gravel of the clubhouse grounds. He pulled me against his body and his lips lightly brushed against my hair, the tension in his shoulders releasing and causing him to slump.
I swallowed harshly as I saw all the men, standing around us and the truck, watching as I emerged. They didn’t say anything, but they did nod their heads as Leo guided me toward the clubhouse, Macy tucked into one side and me into the other.
