by Evie Monroe
As we both screamed into the intersection, he braked to a sudden stop, tipping to the side and skidding on his bike.
When I saw that happen, I slammed on my brakes. They screeched and the car barely came to a stop before I threw open the door and ran to the guy, cocking my gun. He was struggling on the ground, trying to get out from under the weight of his machine. I fisted the back of his kutte and helped him out, yanking him up.
As I did, I saw the curved Hell’s Fury prospect rocker on the lower back area of his kutte. A little pussy, with something to prove. He had no idea what the fuck he’d just done.
He tried to shake himself loose, but I held him firm, gripping his jacket harder. It only took him a second to realize he was beaten. He slowly raised his hands.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” I seethed at him, whirling him around and shoving the barrel of my piece up under his chin. “What the fuck—”
The guy was even smaller and wirier than I’d thought; he barely came up to my chin.
He couldn’t have been more than eighteen. Hell, probably sixteen.
I frisked him under his kutte and down his legs. “You got more weapons?” I found the gun he’d shot at me, but other than that, he was clean. I pocketed the gun and shoved him around as my men came up behind me. I shoved the kid forward. “Get the fuck down on the ground.”
Cullen walked up and crouched in front of the kid, who was now lying on his stomach in the middle of the intersection. “Jesus. He’s just a kid.” He looked at us. “Put your weapons away.”
The other guys did, but I stood firm.
“But he’s Fury,” I growled out. “And he was fucking taking pot shots at Nix and me. Who the fuck cares if he’s a kid? He knows what he’s doing.”
The kid pushed off the ground, pulled his knees up to him. and clasped his hands together like he was praying. “No. I mean, I didn’t!” he breathed out. “I swear! I don’t know anything. I was just out and saw the cobra cuts on your jackets and I . . . I didn’t see anything. I’m not from here. I got lost.”
“That’s bullshit,” I muttered.
The kid’s face grew redder yet. His eyes were wide and I could almost see his heart beating underneath his dirty t-shirt, it was going so fast.
Cullen mumbled, “Take it easy, Jet.” With the adrenaline wearing off, I started to cool off. I’d been that kid once, trying to prove myself. Still was, some days. I backed off as Cullen put his hands on his knees and came level with the kid. He said, “You know where the rest of your club is at?”
He shook his head. “No. No clue.”
“You talk to anyone from the club about this? About what you saw?”
He swallowed, telegraphing his fear. “No. No one.”
Cullen straightened and scrubbed a hand over his face. “What’s your name, kid?”
He sniffled and wiped his nose with his hand. “Joel.”
“All right, Joel,” Cullen said, grabbing him by the arm. “You’re coming with us.”
Joel stumbled to his feet but dug his heels in. “Wh-what?” he stuttered. “Where are we going?”
Cullen didn’t look at him. “Clubhouse. Now.” He motioned to me. “Leave the car and get a ride back with Drake.”
I nodded and went to Drake’s bike and slipped onto the back of it. Drake muttered, “I don’t know why he’s being so soft on the kid.”
But I did. Cullen had a soft spot for the young kids. He’d done the same for me when I’d wanted to get into the club when I was barely eighteen. It was the reason he always put up with my bullshit and let me get away with talking back to him. He knew what we were up against.
“Let’s go,” I said to him.
Drake asked, “What about Nora?”
Yeah. That was the question. Her house was on the way. “You think Cullen would mind if we swung by?”
“Yeah,” he said with a shrug. “But he’ll get over it.”
He gunned the motor and tore off toward Nora’s house. When we got there, the sun was just breaking over the buildings. I jumped off the bike and took the steps two at a time, punching on the doorbell as hard as I could.
My breathing was all fucked up. I wanted that door to open more than I’d wanted anything in my life.
But it didn’t. I slammed a fist into the door, then pushed hard on the doorbell again. No answer.
Scraping my hands through my hair, I paced on the landing as I scanned the parked cars on the street. I wasn’t even sure which, if any, car was hers. “Not there?” Drake asked.
I shook my head. It was fucking five in the morning. Where the hell could she be?
Something about this did not sit right.
If the fucking Fury had gotten to her . . .
“Come on. We’ve got to get to the clubhouse,” Drake urged.
We did. There was nothing I could do, now. I had no fucking clue where she was. I kicked the railing, then marched down to the street. Our best bet was our new hostage. I didn’t care how much of a kid he was. If I had to, I’d beat it out of him.
I couldn’t let anything happen to Nora.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Nora
When I was studying to become a surgeon, my biggest fear was failing. Of not being good enough or smart enough. Of not having the intestinal fortitude to take on such a demanding career. I’d lived my entire life worrying what I’d do if I couldn’t make this dream of mine come true.
But as I sat on the pier, in my Yaris, staring out onto the calm Pacific Ocean as the sky lightened behind me, I realized that I didn’t even care.
It turned out that the fear of losing my career was so much worse than what had actually happened.
In fact, I was relieved. I didn’t believe Michael when he said I was finished. Sure, I might not ever be a surgeon again, but I could still work as a doctor, helping people in some capacity. I still had my wealth of education and was still damn good with a scalpel. So what if I didn’t work in a hospital alongside the best and the brightest? So what if I wasn’t making big money? None of that mattered to me.
What mattered right now? Jet. My heart skipped full beats as I thought of him. I wanted Jet to be okay. If he were, if by some miracle he survived this night, I’d devote my life to taking care of him. Plenty of people needed the help I could give, but he and his men? They needed it most of all.
The thundering sound of motorcycles jarred me from my thoughts. I threw open the door to my car as the men parked alongside the warehouse and started to pull off their helmets.
My breath hitched. Jet was not among them.
A couple of them looked at me as they got off their bikes, but they didn’t wave or welcome me. One of the really jacked guys had a smaller, wiry guy on the back of his cycle. The bigger guy grabbed him by the arm and led him into the clubhouse. It was clear whoever the kid was that he didn’t want to be there.
I started to run toward them, and as I got closer, I saw the flames on the kid’s vest. He was from the rival group.
They all filed into the clubhouse, and the door started to close. “Wait!” I shouted.
One of them held the door open and looked back at me, a scowl on his face like he didn’t want to be bothered.
“Where’s Jet?”
His eyes went toward the street, and he shrugged. “Don’t know.”
Then he slammed the door in my face. Great.
These were Jet’s brothers. Surely they would know if something bad had happened to him? And I was here to help them. Were they really going to treat me like this?
Gathering my courage, I marched over to the door and shoved it open.
No one noticed I was there. They were too busy staring at the kid, who was sitting on the ground, cross-legged. “Well, what the fuck do we do with him now, Cullen?” one of the guys asked.
The man who’d dragged the young kid inside took a drag of his cigarette. “We keep him here. Until we figure out what we’re doing.” His eyes suddenly flickered to me. “What are
you doing here?”
“I’m looking for—”
Just then, the door swung open. Jet stood there, holding his hand in front of him. My heart jumped.
“Nora!” he said, rushing over to me. He stooped to look into my eyes. I wasn’t sure he’d kiss me in front of his brothers, but he leaned forward and captured my mouth without hesitation. “I went to your house, but you were gone. I thought the Fury had gotten to you. You okay?”
I smiled as all the words poured out of his mouth in a babble. “Yes, I’m fine.”
He pulled back to inspect me, cupping my face with one of his strong, callused hands.
As he did, I noticed his other hand hanging limp in front of him. I saw a huge red gash on the palm and grabbed it in both of mine. “What’s this, Jet? You’re bleeding!”
“It’s nothing,” he mumbled, trying to be strong, as usual.
“Don’t give me that.” I pulled the bag off my shoulder and unzipped it, revealing its contents. “You’re going to sit your butt down and let me take care of it.”
He smiled. “All right.”
I walked him toward the table, while the rest of the guys just stared at me.
I barked out, “That goes for all of you. If you need medical treatment, get in line. That’s what I’m here for. To help you assholes.”
Jet’s eyes widened in amusement. The rest of the men looked stunned, then began to mumble amongst themselves. One of them mock-saluted and said, “Yes, ma’am.”
Then they all left me to my work.
I kneeled in front of Jet and examined his hand. “How did you do this?”
“Climbing through a fence,” he murmured. I glowered at him, reaching into the bag for an antiseptic pad. “But your surgical wound?” I complained as I ripped open the gauze pad and dabbed it gently on the wound.
“It looks worse than it is,” he said with a cavalier grin.
“Let me be the judge of that. Have you had a tetanus shot recently?” I asked.
He looked at me like he’d never heard of the word. “What?”
I shook my head. “You should get one.”
I leaned in to inspect the injury. The bleeding had stopped, and it had started to clot. “I don’t think you need stitches,” I told him, grabbing a roll of bandages. I covered the wound with ointment and gauze and wrapped it up, binding his hand and tying the gauze at his thumb.
When I looked up to see one of the other men watching me. “Geez, Drake, she’s going to put you out of business.”
The other guy, Drake, took a swig of his beer and shrugged. “Fine by me.”
I motioned Jet forward, then lifted his shirt and bandage so I could check on his abdominal injury. I was relieved to see that despite his suspect activities, it continued to heal well. I touched his abdomen, making sure the muscle tone was good and that the staples were holding. “Looks great,” I said to him.
Jet looked down at me. “Fuck yeah. I’d much rather get the bedside treatment from you than that asshole.” He nodded toward the one known as Drake. “But I’m not sure I want you touching any of them.”
“Don’t worry. I am a professional,” I teased.
He leaned in and took me by the waist, sitting me on his lap. He buried his face in my neck, scenting me. “Except when it came to me?”
I nodded and giggled a little as he nibbled on my throat.
“Hey. You two. Get a room, okay?” Drake said, eyeing us darkly.
Jet smacked my ass. “Fuck yeah. Let’s get out of here.”
I blinked and looked at their hostage. “But what about . . . “
Jet shrugged. “Dude’s not going anywhere.” He reached over and patted the kid’s cheek. “Right, J-bone? You know if you do, we’ll find you, right?”
The kid’s chin fell to his chest.
One of the other Cobras held out a hand. “Cut it out, Jet. We’ll keep him here until we figure out our next move.” He came up to Jet and said, “Can I talk to your girlfriend for a minute?”
Jet looked over at me. “She has a mind of her own, Cullen. She can let you know if she wants to talk to you.”
Cullen shrugged, took a drag of his cigarette, and looked at me. “All right. Nora, can I speak to you?”
I nodded and followed him to a corner of the room by the door. He said, “I’m not sure if I properly introduced myself, Nora. I’m Cullen, president of the Cobras.”
I shook his hand. “Jet has told me a lot about you.”
“And we know all about you. As you probably know, some of the things we do would not, strictly speaking, fly if the police caught wind of them. You understand?”
I nodded. More than he knew. “You mean they’re illegal.”
He tossed his head to the side and let out a stream of smoke. “Right.”
“Yes, I know very well. My father was in a motorcycle club, down in L.A.,” I explained. “I’m not a stranger to the injuries that can happen to your guys.”
“Then you can help us. If we need you to patch my guys up from time, no questions asked. Can you do that?”
“I heard that you already had a doctor in your ranks. Do you need two of us? Are you planning for an all-out war?”
His eyes met mine, lingering there, and I realized he wasn’t looking at my eyes. He was looking at the bruise I’d suffered at the hands of the Fury. “We’re already in the middle of a war, in case you didn’t know. And even if you didn’t want to be, you’re involved now.”
I touched the side of my face. “Yes.”
He cleared his throat. “It’s good money, if you’re willing to say yes. All you have to do is be on call for when we need you and keep your mouth shut about it. I figure you’d be good for it, since you’re already doing it for Jet.”
I looked over his shoulder at Jet, who was talking to Drake and glancing over at me every few seconds. Was he really jealous of me, touching other men? Didn’t he know that he was the only guy I wanted? Couldn’t he tell how crazy I was for him?
When he saw me looking at him, he walked over.
“I’d be honored to,” I said as Jet took my hand. “As long as Jet has no problem with it.”
Jet shrugged. “Completely up to you.”
I smiled. “All right. It’s settled. I’ll do it.”
I shook Cullen’s hand and then Jet and I went outside. We got into my car and drove away from the pier. “What are they going to do to that kid?” I asked.
Jet exhaled and pushed his hand through his hair, then tugged on his bandage. I noted it wasn’t bleeding through, which was a good thing. “I don’t know. He saw us trying to dump Slade’s body. He knows too much.”
I gasped. “So, what? You guys are gonna kill him?”
He nodded slowly.
“Oh, God. Jet, no. He looks so scared,” I said, gnawing on my lip. “He’s just a boy, practically.”
“That boy shot at me.”
“So?” I gave him a look. “If you’re going to play that close to the fire, you shouldn’t be surprised when you get burned.”
He was silent, and when I looked over at him again, he was studying me with an amused, What-am-I-going-to-do-with-you? Look. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“It means that he was walking the walk. He wants to be in a club. So he was doing what he had to. But maybe his loyalty isn’t set in stone. Maybe if you guys convinced him, he could be swayed to your side.”
Jet shook his head doubtfully. “I don’t know. That could be risky.”
“What? You never heard of a guy jumping sides? I don’t know much about my dad’s club, but I got the feeling that happened all the time,” I argued. “All you’ve got to do is give him a better deal than the one he’s got with the Fury.”
Jet drummed his hand on the armrest. “Well, yeah. Zain was a prospect for the Fury, once.”
I didn’t know who Zain was, but it didn’t matter. “See? It’s a better option than killing him.” I stopped at a stoplight and looked at him, begging with my eyes. “Please.
Tell me you won’t hurt him.”
The corner of his mouth turned up in a smile. “All right. I won’t. For you. At least, I’ll go to bat for him. But ultimately I’m just one guy. If they decide otherwise . . .”
I nodded, then leaned over the console and kissed his stubbled cheek. “Thank you.”
He motioned with his chin. “Light’s green.”
I started up again and drove us back to the house. When we walked inside, he looked around the living room, at all the progress I’d made. “Coming along,” he said.
I smiled proudly. No, it wasn’t a showplace. But it felt like home. Especially now that I had Jet here with me.
He walked over and picked up the picture of me with my dad. He smiled. “You and your dad, huh? You were cute. You can tell he loved you. Just from this picture.”
My heart warmed as he set it down, still gazing at it.
“Well, I’m glad I’ll be able to keep this place,” I murmured, sinking onto the sofa.
He glanced at me. “Did you have any doubts?”
“Yeah. Michael saw me when I went in to get those supplies. He told me that he wouldn’t cover for me. So I’m out of a job at the hospital. But your President stepped up. Said I could work with the Cobras.”
His eyes snapped to mine. “Seriously?”
“Yeah.”
“Fuck, girl,” he said, sitting beside me. “You gave all that doctor shit up for me?”
I shook my head. “No. I didn’t give it up. I love you, Jet. And I want to keep you safe. If I can do that, then all of the stuff I learned will be put to very good use. It was all worth it. Every last thing. Because I love you and I can help you.”
His gaze locked and held on mine, his blue eyes warming me to my core. Then he snaked a hand around my neck, pulling me to him, resting his forehead against mine. “I never thought getting shot would be the best fucking thing that ever happened to me,” he rasped. “You take such good care of me, baby. But right now, I want to take care of you.”
He took my head in his hands and kissed me hard, his tongue ravishing my mouth, flicking in and out and controlling me like no man had ever had. When I was nearly dizzy from want, he reached for the hem of my shirt.
