“Is he here?” I whispered, glancing around for my former boss.
My brother shook his head. “Ain’t coming back either.”
I let out a sigh of relief. I knew better than to ask, but I really wanted to know what had happened to Luke. I swallowed my questions and dove into why I was showing my face at the garage. “Can I get my paycheck?”
Wyatt grabbed the checkbook from under the counter, thumbing through it for my measly payout for the few days I’d been employed there.
“How do you feel about bartending?” Wyatt asked, handing me the slip of paper.
“Beggars can’t be choosers, I guess.” I shrugged, shoving the check into the back pocket of my jeans.
“Some of the guys just bought the Red Crow and they are looking for people.” Wyatt leaned on his elbow, awaiting my reply.
Tapping my finger on my lips, I let the prospect rattle around in my brain. “Do you really think it is a good idea for me to work with your friends again, Wy?”
He let out a hearty chuckle. “I’d rather you work there where I know you’re safe than some dive diner off of the highway.”
Touché.
I smirked. “An interview never hurt anyone, right?”
“That’s the spirit. Jett is expecting you.”
Chapter 6
Jett
“Jett, visitor.” Maccon tapped on the door of the office I had locked myself in to try to get the paperwork finally finished before Katherine chewed me out about it again.
“Coming.”
Walking out into the bar, I was struck with something I had never felt before. Right when I saw the woman standing at the far end of the wooden bar top, it felt like my heart had started beating for the first time in years. It took one glimpse—one second. Her long, dark auburn curls cascading down her bare shoulders, the tight white tank top that hugged her curves perfectly, her plump red lips, her dark brown eyes, her long legs, her tight jeans making her ass look amazing—none of that truly mattered. It was a feeling of presence. It was a wave of something…what? I didn’t know, but it was there and palpable.
“Can I help you?” I choked out, leaning on the worn mahogany next to her.
“Wyatt told me to come in. Are you Jett?” Her soft smile sparked something within me.
“I am. Are you Raven?” I held out my hand awkwardly.
As her soft fingers brushed mine, I felt my knees get weak.
What the fuck is happening to me?
“When can you start?” I spit out quickly.
“No interview?” She blinked at me.
I shook my head. “You were interviewed to work at the garage—that’s good enough for me.”
“I’ve never worked in a bar before,” she admitted, peeking around the large room with wide eyes.
I let out a little snort. “There’s a first time for everything.”
“I can start right now.” She giggled, pulling her hair up into a ponytail.
“I like that answer.”
“Let me just call Wyatt and see if he can get my kid from school later.”
I handed her my phone. “Just press seven.”
She narrowed her eyes. “I don’t know if I will ever get used to the life y’all live.”
A booming laugh echoed out of my chest. “All in due time, darlin’. All in due time.”
I took a few steps away from her to give our newest bartender a little privacy to talk to her brother.
“Well, look at you go, big brother,” Katherine teased, standing behind me.
“She deserves a break after being treated like a piece of meat by Luke,” I offered, throwing my arm around Katherine’s boney shoulder.
“You will never cease to amazing me, Jett Cowen.” She giggled, shoving away from me.
“Good,” I whispered with a little wink.
Raven closed the phone and walked it back over to me. “We’re all set. Thank you.”
I nodded toward my sister. “Katherine will get you all set up. I’ll be in the office if you need anything.”
I escaped with one breath left in my chest. Standing in the doorway to the back office, I watched Katherine show Raven around. I was in serious trouble with this one, and she was off limits. I had to prove myself to Katherine. I needed to be better…but Raven was different—felt different. How was I going to stay away from her when I felt like there was a magnet yanking me in her direction?
I wasn’t that type of man. I had never wanted to get to know a woman. I used them, threw them away, went on to the next. Shit, I could barely remember their names. Maybe everyone meets their match sooner or later.
As the night got to the close, I ambled into the bar.
“Good night?” I asked Raven as she counted out her first shift’s tips.
Her lips twisted into an intoxicating smile. “I think I am going to like it here.”
I leaned over the bar to grab two beers out of the trough. “That is exactly what I wanted to hear.” I twisted off the caps on the brown bottles. “To you, Raven. May this job be better than your last.”
“Here, here.” We clanked our bottles together.
I knew that was all I could do. Have a beer with her and then send her on her way. I wanted to lick the residue of the liquid off of her strawberry Cupid’s bow, but I resisted.
Can I really pull this off?
Chapter 7
Raven
A few weeks later
Life started to settle into a wonderful little routine. I knew I wasn’t going to win any parent of the year awards, but every day Wyatt would pick Emma up from school and bring her to the bar to hang out with me for the last hour of my shift.
It all seemed to fall into place. Jett was a wonderful boss and let me set my hours so I could be home at night for Emma. Katherine was a powerhouse who was teaching me the art of slinging drinks like a pro. Emma even seemed to enjoy getting to know all her uncle’s friends while she worked on her homework.
I’d never thought I would be a bartender in a biker bar, but it was the closest to normal I had felt since I was with my ex planning our wedding.
I ambled back into the office, tapping lightly on the open door. “Jett?”
He glared up at me with smoldering eyes, not in a mean way, but there was something behind those storming gray irises.
“What’s up?” he finally asked, stroking his long dark beard as he leaned back in his chair.
“I need a keg swapped. Bud Light just blew.” I folded my arms over my chest, feeling overly exposed under his gaze.
“Sure thing, darlin’.” His gravelly voice echoed in my mind as I watched his broad body ascend from his seat. Until that moment, I hadn’t taken much notice of my elusive boss. He mostly kept to himself, letting his sister handle the majority of the front-of-the-house bullshit. I hadn’t realized how handsome he was. His bulging muscles, his inked skin, his intense eyes—it had all been lost on me until I was scrambling to get out of his way as he walked to the keg room.
After pouring a couple of pitchers for patrons who were playing pool in the back of the bar, I noticed Wyatt rushing through the front door.
Instantly, I noticed he was missing a key element—my daughter wasn’t with him.
“What’s going on?” I barked as he fought to catch his breath.
“Something’s wrong,” he howled.
“What do you mean wrong?” Panic erupted in my chest. My knees went weak. My hands shook. “Where’s Emma?” I screamed.
Every eye was on me as I grabbed Wyatt by the shirt collar across the bar.
“She wasn’t at school when I went to get her. Her teacher said Seth picked her up hours ago,” he explained quickly.
“Go!” Jett yelled over to me, flying up behind the bar to my side. “Call if you need anything.”
Thrusting a burner into my hand along with my purse, Jett shoved me toward the entrance of the narrow bar.
“Thank you,” I muttered, starting to run for my car.
“Let
me drive.” Wyatt grabbed my keys out of my hand.
“What the fuck is Seth trying to pull,” I screamed as I slid into the passenger seat of my sedan.
“We’re about to fucking find out.”
My body was buzzing as I raked my fingers through my hair.
“We’re going to get her, Raven. I promise.” Wyatt let his hand land on my knee. With a gentle squeeze, he looked over at me with all the love he could muster building in his dark eyes.
“I will kill him.” I was resolute in that one fact. I would shoot him in the face if he was trying to keep my daughter from me.
“Not if I get to him first.”
* * *
Banging on Seth’s front door, I hollered out for him. I didn’t care that I was making a scene, didn’t care if Emma heard me. I should have, but I was too terror-stricken to think it all the way through.
Wyatt was standing beside me, his gun hiding in the back of his jeans under his cut.
Without the door opening or a word from my no-good ex, cops were pulling into the driveway.
“Raven Foster?” asked the older of the two police officers as they made their way up to us.
“Y-Yes?” I stammered, completely confused.
“We were called because of a domestic disturbance. We’re going to have to ask you to vacate this property immediately.” His voice was so level and cold; I could barely wrap my head around it.
“My daughter is in there!” I spun around, continuing to bang on the door.
Wyatt wrapped his arms around my middle, carting me away. “Come on, sis. We’re going to have to figure out another way to get Emma.”
“But my baby!” I started hysterically crying.
Just as my brother was forcing me back into the car, the younger cop lifted Wyatt’s cut.
“Sir, do you have a permit for this firearm?”
Wyatt put his hands high in the air.
“Not on me, sir. I left my wallet with my bike when I met up with my sister. It’s parked in front of the Red Crown.”
“Likely story. You’re going to have to come with us.”
Everything went into a blur while they were handcuffing Wyatt in Seth’s driveway. All I could focus on was Emma pounding on the window, screaming as Brigette yanked her back from watching the shit-show unfold in the front yard.
“Please, officers, there has to have been a mistake. My ex does not have custody of our daughter, only visitation.” I tried to reason with them to no avail as they escorted Wyatt to the back of the squad car.
“Call Jett!” Wyatt yelled at me. “He’ll be able to fix this.”
I dove into my car, only able to drive a few blocks before the tears in my eyes made it impossible for me to see the road.
Pulling out the burner Jett had given me, I pushed one with shaking hands.
“Where are you?” Jett’s gruff voice boomed into the receiver.
“Down the street from my ex’s house. I don’t really know.”
“What’s your ex’s address?”
After I rattled off the street address for the house, Jett’s voice broke into my flustering brain. “Don’t move. I’ll be right there.”
It didn’t take long for a gigantic Ford to pull up behind my car.
Jett dove into the passenger seat, waving to the truck to leave.
“What happened?” he asked without missing a beat.
“I don’t know,” I wailed, trying to compose myself as much as possible.
“Do you want to do this the right way or the fast way?” Jett tugged me into his arms, wrapping me close against his broad chest.
“I want my girl back,” I whimpered into him.
“Then let’s go get her back. I need to make a call first, though.”
I wiped my eyes, shifting away from him.
“What can I do?”
“Just breathe. Everything is going to be all right. Did they take Wyatt?”
I nodded.
“Was it the cops?”
I nodded again.
“Hold on.”
He got out of the car, pacing on the sidewalk as he made a couple of quick calls.
Within five minutes, Jett was joining me again.
“Let me make sure I have this story completely straight.” His hand landed on my cheek, instantly making me look directly at him.
“Okay.”
“Your ex took your daughter, didn’t open the door when you got there, and called the cops when you tried to talk to him.”
How did he know all of that already?
All I could do was continue to bob my head like an idiot.
“A friend of mine is going to meet us at your ex’s house. He’s a cop and should be able to at least get them to open the door.”
“How am I ever going to thank you enough for this?”
Grabbing my hand, he kissed the back of it tenderly. “Just know that you and your daughter are part of this family and we do anything for family. Now let me drive. You’re too emotional right now.”
After doing a Chinese fire drill, Jett was racing toward Seth’s house.
Sitting in the driveway, I trembled, staring at the front door.
“I can’t go up there again. Emma will hear me,” I whispered, more to myself than to Jett.
“She’ll know her mother is fighting like hell for her. Your little girl is young—she’ll barely remember this years from now.”
“What if she wants to stay with her father?” As the question broke out of my mouth, I felt bile threatening the back of my throat.
“That’s an issue for another day.” Jett looked over his shoulder as an unmarked cop car pulled in behind us. “Showtime.”
Chapter 8
Jett
“Hughes.” I nodded to my buddy as he leaned into the car window.
“Cowen, been a while,” he murmured while waving to Raven in the passenger seat.
“Her ex is refusing to give her daughter back,” I explained, lacing my fingers with Raven’s, trying anything to calm her down.
“Fucking douchebag,” Hughes stated while shaking his head. “Was there a court order or any paperwork that you know of?” He leaned into the car farther, addressing Raven directly.
“I haven’t gotten anything,” she replied while continually wiping her eyes.
My heart broke for her. I knew calling Hughes had been the right move. I knew making sure we did this by the book would be the best move in the long run. My body was screaming to bust down the front door and take the little girl for Raven, but that was the wrong way to handle the situation.
“Ma’am, why don’t you come with me and we’ll see if we can get to the bottom of this.”
Hughes made his way around the car to Raven.
She gaped at me, gripping my hand for dear life.
“I’ll be waiting right here for you. Hughes will make this right.”
Leaning over, I kissed her forehead before popping open the door for her.
“Thank you.”
I watched from the driver’s seat as Hughes escorted Raven up to the house.
When I saw her ex, rage exploded. White-knuckling the steering wheel, I damned the yards between me and that front door.
I kept the windows of the car up, knowing hearing the conversation would only escalate my anger. Finally, Emma was jumping into Raven’s arms.
Raven ran her daughter to the car as quickly as she could, buckling her into the back seat.
Diving in after her, Raven hugged Emma to her chest.
Without question, I put the car in gear and started to drive away.
“He said…” Raven started to explain.
Holding my hand up, I stopped her. “Let’s just get Emma home and to bed. We will have plenty of time to talk about this after that.”
Looking back through the rearview, I could see Raven’s dark eyes locking on me. As she blinked away the tears, we settled into a calm understanding for the rest of the drive to Wyatt’s house.
* * *
I waited in the kitchen, sipping on three fingers of Wild Turkey while Raven calmed her daughter and put her down for the night.
Once she finally joined me, I poured her a glass and dragged out the seat next to me for her to collapse onto.
“I don’t even know what happened today,” she admitted, her head falling into her hands.
“What did your ex say when you and Hughes talked to him?” I didn’t know what to do with my hands. All I wanted to do was tuck her into my side and kiss away her distress.
What kind of pussy-ass feeling is this bullshit?
“He said he is going to fight for custody. He believes Emma is better off with him.” She was blubbering again.
“Drink.” I forced the rocks glass into her hand. “Quiet those nerves a bit.”
“What’s happening with Wyatt?” she questioned through sniffles.
“Hughes is on it. Since Wyatt has a permit for that gun, he should be out in the morning.” Brushing the long bang that fell into Raven’s face behind her ear, I let my fingertips linger on her face for a second. “He’s going to be fine. A night in the slammer might even do him a bit of good.”
She forced a laugh at my ill-timed joke. “Maybe.” She paused for a moment. “You probably need to get back to the bar.” Raven cocked her head to the side, looking at me with bloodshot eyes.
“I’m not going anywhere until Wyatt is home. I am not about to leave you and Emma alone while your ex is out there being a piece of shit.”
“I just don’t understand what changed. Everything seemed to be fine with our arrangement until today. I’ve even been getting along with his slut of a wife.”
I leaned back, running my thumb over the rim of my glass. As my eyes darted from the dark liquor to Raven, it clicked. “The bar.”
She slouched her shoulders. “The bar? What does that even mean?”
I shifted in my seat to look directly at her. “He’s probably going to try to say working at an outlaw bar isn’t good for a single mother.”
Unwounded: An Unacceptables MC Standalone Page 3
