by Liz Crowe
But I couldn’t fix this for him. I could only try to help him sort through the mess of emotions and thoughts rushing at him.
“Why does your love for me have to affect that, Kick? Why can’t you have loyalty to both of us?”
“Because if shit ever goes down, it could mean that one day I will have to make a choice. You or the club.”
Clarity hit me square in the chest. “That’s the real reason why you kept walking away from me, isn’t it?’ I asked quietly.
He stared at me for a long time, processing that. And then his face contorted in torment and he nodded. “I think so,” he whispered, “but I never realised that until just now.”
I asked the one question that had to be answered in order for us to take another step on this journey together. The answer to this question would determine our future. “Can you get past that anger at me?” I held my breath, waiting for him to reply.
Willing him to say the one word I desperately wanted him to say.
“I’m not angry at you, baby. I’m angry at myself.” His gaze softened, and my heart soared at his admission, but it confused me even further.
My eyebrows drew together. “Why?”
The air crackled with his ferocious love. It blazed for me to see and feel. “Because I love you, and I’ve always fuckin’ loved you. I might not like the power you have over me, but I’m fuckin’ angry with myself for even thinking I should put you second to the club. You’ve always come first, and you always will. I just couldn’t admit that to myself until today.”
We’d had many moments of honesty since we’d found each other again, but I felt this one deep in my heart. This really was a defining moment for us and I needed to find a way to show Kick that I got it, that I understood the depth of his feelings for me.
I moved my hand from his chest to his face, gently placing it on his cheek. Shifting closer to him, I kissed his lips. His arms circled me, pulling me even closer. My arms moved up and around his neck, and my fingers worked their way into his hair. Our kiss deepened, and we expressed our love in the best way we knew how. Our lips, tongues and bodies communicated on a deeper level than our words would ever be able to.
When I ended the kiss, I said, “I want to spend the rest of my life with you, Kick. I want you to love me, and hate me, and fight with me, and make up with me, and do it over and over. I want you forever.”
His arms tightened around me. “Thank fuck, ‘cause you’re stuck with me. You’re mine now, baby, and I’m yours, and there’s nothing that will stop me from fighting for us.”
He spent the rest of the night blessing my body with his love, and I thanked the universe for giving him back to me.
By the time my eyes closed from sheer exhaustion hours later, I knew we’d finally come full circle. The promises we’d made each other as teenagers would be fulfilled.
We’d never give up on each other again.
*****
The next morning, I rushed into the kitchen to grab breakfast before heading out to work. Kick had monopolised my time again this morning, causing me to be late again.
He watched me from the table where he drank his coffee, and gave me a cheeky grin. God, I loved that grin, but fuck, I couldn’t afford to be distracted by him again. “You okay, baby?” he asked, knowing full well I was stressing about running late.
I held my hand up at him. “Don’t talk to me,” I muttered as I rummaged through my bag looking for my phone. I ignored his snicker. When I couldn’t locate my phone, I looked up at him, and asked, “Have you seen my phone?”
He raised his brows. “Oh, am I allowed to talk to you now?”
I put my hand on my hip and glared at him. “Very funny, smartass.”
Chuckling, he stood and came to me. As he moved to pass me, he bent his face and whispered in my ear, “Look on your bedside table, sweetheart, I’m pretty sure that’s where you left it.” And then he kept moving to the sink to rinse his mug. And I was left with desire running through me.
Shit.
I ignored my body and its needs and hurried into the bedroom to grab my phone. He’d been right, and I shoved it in my bag and headed back to the kitchen to say goodbye. He was leaning against the kitchen counter waiting for me, arms and legs crossed, eyes full of heat. I gave him a quick kiss and tried to keep walking, but his hand shot out and grabbed me around the waist, and he pulled me back to him.
His mouth brushed my neck with a kiss, and he spoke into my ear. “Have a good day, sweetheart. I think we need to discuss our future a bit more tonight. And then I think we really need to play with my toys.”
Oh god.
I turned in his embrace. “When you say we need to discuss our future, you’re not thinking of breaking up with me, are you?” I teased, knowing full well he had no plans for that. Not after last night.
“No. I’m thinking of getting us matching rings,” he said in the kind of tone that told me he wasn’t just thinking this, he was already planning it.
“You have the best thoughts, baby,” I said with a smile, and he gave me one back.
And then he smacked me on the ass and said, “Okay, go. But be at my place by five. I’ve got plans for you.”
“Yes, sir,” I promised, loving the wild look his eyes got at my promise.
Ten minutes later, I was stuck in rush hour traffic. I should have felt stressed about it, but all I could bring myself to do was think of Kick. We sat bumper to bumper for what felt like ages, until, suddenly, there was a break in traffic and we all began moving at normal speed again.
Thank goodness.
I changed gears rapidly as I began to finally gain speed. My thoughts shifted from Kick to work and back to Kick again. I couldn’t concentrate on anything but him for longer than a couple of minutes. This was going to be a long day.
And then it happened.
I never saw the car coming.
And I sure as hell never saw the truck coming.
I heard the screeches of tyres before I saw any of it.
All I saw after that were flashes of metal.
And then I saw darkness.
Chapter Eighteen
Kick
Fuck.
I pushed through the hospital doors, heart in my gut, and jogged the rest of the distance to the emergency room. It had been over half an hour since Loretta had phoned me to let me know Evie had been in a car accident.
Thirty fucking minutes too long.
My gut swirled with dread.
How fucking bad was this accident? Loretta hadn’t been able to tell me much over the phone, and my mind had conjured up the worst possibilities.
As I entered the emergency room, Loretta rose from her seat and came to me, a look of sheer panic on her face.
Fuck.
Her arms reached out, and I pulled her close to hug her. “Kick . . . it’s going to be bad . . . I just know it . . .” Her voice cracked, and she started crying.
I let her get it out and then asked, “Have you spoken to a doctor yet?”
Shaking her head, she said, “They haven’t been able to tell me anything. No one’s giving me anything!” Her voice gradually rose to almost a wail.
“Shhh,” I whispered. Loretta wasn’t the most stable woman and I could see she wasn’t coping with this at all. “I’m going to go and see what I can find out. You wait here, okay?”
“Okay,” she said, her voice barely audible.
I left her and approached one of the nurses at the counter. She gave me a bored ‘what-the-fuck-do-you-want?’ look. “I’m wanting information on my girlfriend. She was brought in after a car accident.”
“Name?” Still with the bored look.
“Evie Bishop.”
She typed Evie’s name into her computer and after reading the screen for a moment, said, “Please take a seat. I’ll call you as soon as you can go through and see her.”
I did as she said and took a seat next to Loretta. Fuck knew how long we’d be waiting.
“Did they
tell you anything?” she asked, her voice almost pleading for me to say yes.
I shook my head. “No, I think we’re in for a long wait.”
Thank fuck she was the kind of woman who didn’t engage in unnecessary conversation. I didn’t have the patience for that. Pulling my phone out, I said to her, “I’ll be back in a minute.” I stood and headed outside to ring King to let him know I wouldn’t be back to the clubhouse any time soon.
“Kick,” he answered, “I was just about to call you. We’ve heard rumours that your girlfriend’s accident wasn’t an accident.”
“Keep talking,” I said, more calmly than I felt. My blood was pumping furiously through my veins now.
“It seems this was a hit organised by Gambarro.”
“Motherfucker!” I roared as I turned around and punched the brick wall behind me.
“I’ve got the boys finding out where Gambarro is. We think he’s still out of the country but have to verify that. You stay with your woman, and we’ll let you know once we have the info.”
“Thanks, brother.”
We ended the call and I stalked back inside.
Gambarro would fucking pay for this.
*****
“Evie,” I said softly, trying to wake her up. She’d been exhausted and had been drifting in and out of sleep for the last couple of hours while we’d been waiting for the all clear.
Her eyes fluttered open, then shut, and open again. She gave me a small smile before wincing and placing her hand to her side. Before she could speak, I placed my finger to her lips. “Shhh, baby, don’t try to speak because it will probably hurt.”
She had fractured some ribs in the accident. Besides that, she had whiplash but nothing else. She’d been lucky considering a car had rammed her, causing her to slide into the path of a truck. The good fortune of the day had been the quick thinking of the truck driver who had swerved to miss her, and, in doing so, had only clipped her car.
The doctors had done x-rays and verified it was only her ribs and that in time they would heal by themselves. They’d dosed her up on strong painkillers and had told me I could take her home soon.
Thank fuck.
She ignored my advice not to speak. “When can I go home?” she asked, her face contorting in pain with every word.
Loretta was standing on the other side of her bed and grabbed her hand. “They’ve said you can go home in the next hour or so. They’ve just got to get your discharge ready and your pain medication.”
“Thanks, Mum.” She hissed through the pain.
I frowned at her insistence to talk, and she just pulled a face back at me. My woman was too damn stubborn sometimes.
The doctor came back to us with a smile. Looking at Evie, he announced, “You’re good to go. The nurse will have your medication in a minute. If you experience any of those symptoms I mentioned to your family, you need to come straight back to the hospital.” He waited for her response, and when she agreed, he nodded and left us alone.
I eyed her mum. “Can you give us a minute, Loretta?”
As she left, I raked my gaze over Evie again. Gambarro would hurt for this.
At her questioning look, I said, “Sweetheart, this wasn’t an accident. This was retaliation for me getting your dad’s debt wiped. The guy who organised this will pay, I promise you that.” Her eyes widened, but before she could say something, I silenced her again with a finger to her lips. “I’m gonna take you home, and when I get the call from King, I’ll organise for one of the boys to come over and watch out for you while I go and take care of this.”
I watched as my words sunk in, not knowing how she would cope with that information, but needing to be upfront with her about it.
No more secrets.
She eventually nodded, and I let out a thankful breath.
Once I took care of this, we could all move forward.
*****
I’d just settled Evie into her bed when I got the call from King. “Gambarro’s flying into Sydney tonight. His driver is picking him up and taking him out to his country house. I’ll round the boys up, and we’ll meet him on the way to his house. Can you meet us at the clubhouse in about an hour?”
“Yeah, but can you send Nitro or Devil to watch over Evie? I don’t want to leave her alone and chance one of his guys coming to finish off the job they started this morning.”
“Good call, brother. I’ll send Nitro,” King promised and hung up.
Evie’s gaze focused on me, and she gave me a questioning look. “Are you leaving now?”
Fuck, the pain I could hear in her voice made my stomach roll. To think I could have fucking lost her today. “Yeah, baby, I’ll head out once Nitro arrives. He’ll make sure you’re okay.”
Her hand reached for mine. “Thank you,” she whispered.
“It’s the least I can fuckin’ do . . . for getting you into this mess.”
“No, I got you into this mess, remember?” She gave me a small smile.
I nodded, and tried to lighten the mood. “Yeah, that’s right, and it also means I won’t get to play with you and my toys for awhile now.”
She tried not to laugh, but couldn’t quite help herself. However, the pain in her ribs stopped her, and her eyes welled up from the pain. “You and your fucking toys,” she muttered, and a grin spread across my face.
I leant close to her face, and promised, “As soon as your pain eases, I’ll be fucking you for days to make up for this.”
“That’s going to be a lot of days,” she murmured.
“Yeah, I’m betting on it, sweetheart.”
*****
The dark road stretched out ahead of us, not a car in sight. The silence of the night blanketed us; the only sound to be heard was the rumble of our bikes. King had rounded ten of us up for this job, but I’d made it clear back at the clubhouse that this was my gig. I would be the one to cause Gambarro’s last breath.
His car was visible up ahead, and I gave the signal to hurry this shit along. We all picked up speed and a couple of minutes later we circled his car and forced it to pull over. I had no doubt Gambarro would be well protected, and I hoped like hell all of us left here in one piece tonight, but the other possibility was one all of us entertained when we participated in club business like this.
As the car came to a halt, we all trained our guns on it, waiting. It took a few minutes before one of the back doors opened and a gun was fired at us, narrowly missing King. He got pissed, and being the crazy asshole he was, he ran towards the car after dodging the bullets.
Fuck.
I couldn’t let him go down for this, so I followed him. King reached the car first and he yanked the door open. As he did this, I covered him, and shot at the guy who lunged for King from the back seat. His body slumped out of the car and King shoved him out of the way. He pulled Gambarro out and pushed him hard up against the car.
“Well, hello there, motherfucker,” he greeted him before turning to gesture at me, “I’ve got someone here who wants a word with you.” He stepped out of the way and allowed me full access to Gambarro.
Adrenaline ran through my body, every nerve ending alive with the anticipation of bloodshed. I’d been surprised as fuck Gambarro didn’t have more than one guy besides his driver with him. Devil had restrained the driver, and I was almost disappointed this had been so easy.
Gambarro’s empty eyes flashed at me. “I see you got my message,” he snarled.
“I got both your fuckin’ messages, asshole,” I snapped, my fingers itching to pull the trigger of the gun I had trained on him.
“I only sent one. I trust it got through to you.”
I clubbed him with my gun. Not hard enough to knock him the fuck out, but just hard enough to cause him some pain. Pain he fucking deserved.
His head snapped back into place and blood ran down his face. “Have at it, asshole. You kill me, and you and your club won’t know what the fuck hit you,” he threatened.
“Fuck you!” I roared as I c
lubbed him again, this time a little harder, causing him to lose his balance and stumble. He didn’t fall, though. When he straightened, I took in the blood now covering his face.
Fuck yeah.
“Kick, let’s move this along,” Hyde suggested. He was right; we needed to get this done and then get the hell out of here.
I lifted my gun and aimed it at his forehead. “The world will be a better place without you in it. I fuckin’ hope you rot in hell.”
My gun sounded, and Gambarro dropped. He hadn’t even flinched at my words. So cold and dead on the inside, I bet he’d probably spent his life wondering each day if it would be his last. A lot of people would rejoice at the news of his death.
I stepped away from his body and turned to King. “Are we cleaning this up?”
He shook his head. “No.”
His meaning was clear - this was a message, and we would let it speak for itself.
“Alright, boys, let’s get the fuck out of here!” King yelled out, rounding everyone up. He jerked his chin at Devil. “Let the driver go. It’s not his fault his boss was a prick.” King never failed to surprise me; this kind of decision was rare.
With a deep sense of satisfaction, I headed home.
Killing someone like Gambarro rated highly on my ‘I’ve-had-a-good-day-at-work’ scale. I would never be convinced that ridding the earth of scum like him was a bad thing.
Especially not when my family was threatened.
Chapter Nineteen
Evie
Holy mother of God!
The pain shot through me as I tried to suck in a breath and shift in the bed. My eyes flew open and I stifled the cry trying to push through my lips.
“Baby, are you okay?” Kick’s voice cut through my haze of pain.
I turned my head and found him standing next to the bed, his body bent at the waist, face hovering over mine. His distress at my agony warmed me, that he cared so much, but at the same time I hated to see him so worried. I tried to ease his mind. “I’m okay, but I need some painkillers, please.”
