“I’m sorry,” Thea said and released a sobbing breath. “I know you’re mad at me, but I—”
“Oh, sweetheart. I’m not mad at you.” I said, despite the touch of exasperation that leaked into my voice. “I’m just trying to figure out what to do. Where we can go that will keep you safe.”
Thea lifted her head and gave me a wry smile. She put two fingers on my lips to keep me from talking. Her closeness and delicious scent became too much for me to bear. It felt as though I’d known her for years. I couldn’t picture my life without Thea in it. Her whole presence lit up the room and made my day brighter, and when she laughed, I wanted to bury myself deep inside her. Hell, every fucking second, I wanted to bury myself inside her. Fuck me, if my heart didn’t need her as much as my cock.
An explosion of sensation shot through me as our mouths met and our tongues tangled. Thea bit my lip softly. I was about to relieve her of her towel when I realized something was wrong. Different. This felt like Goodbye.
I pulled back and scowled. “What are you not telling me?” I asked.
Thea’s gaze dropped to the floor and she took a step back, clutching her stomach. But the resolve on her face couldn’t be plainer to see. Fuck! She was gonna make a run for it again. As soon as she could, she’d be gone. “There’s nothing,” she said.
On impulse, I reached out and grasped her hand. “Promise me, you’re not gonna run away again.”
Thea lifted her head and stared at me with those wide, green eyes. “I’m not gonna run away again,” she said. My world shattered as I took in the meaning of her words.
“You are not fucking going back.” Anger burned through me at this whole fucked-up situation, cutting the air around us. I pulled her close. “Don’t you even think about it.”
She yanked her hand from my grasp and pulled away. “It’s not your decision to make.” The venom in her words reverberated around the room. “It’s the only sensible option. Your brother knew it, that’s why he told Tony where I was. Why is it so difficult for you to understand?”
Her words slammed into my gut like a runaway freight train. My fists clenched and my neck corded. Thea took another step back.
Hell, it was time I grew a fucking pair. And stopped acting like a fucking pussy over this woman. After everything she’d been through, she wanted to go back to that fucker. What? Was this all just a game to her? My anger grew.
“I just killed a fucker for you?” I pointed wildly out the window and up into the forests. “Would you have preferred I let him rape you?”
Her hand flew to her mouth to stifle a sob, and a rush of remorse hit me, but left when she said that it might have been better if I had. She grabbed her clothes that had fallen to the floor and took them over to the sofa, perching on its edge. All color drained from her face and her hands were shaking as she tried to put on her jeans.
My anger drained away. She was battered and bruised, and sure as hell didn’t need any extra shit from me. I rushed toward her and knelt by her feet. I stilled her hands and she crumbled against my chest with a tear-stained face. Closing my eyes, I ran my hand over her wet hair and kissed her forehead, before pulling back and looking at her. All the heartache and pain in her eyes slapped me across the face.
“This isn’t your fault,” I said.
“Yes, it is.”
I tilted her chin up until she looked at me. “No. It isn’t. Caleb fucked up in talking to your stepdad, and I killed the guy in the forest.”
“For me.”
“For both of us.”
Tears streamed down her face again, and without knowing what else to do or say, I pulled her tight against my chest and held her. The only things I knew for certain was that I was never leaving her alone again, and that we had to get on the road as soon as possible. Her stepdad would send someone to find out what was going on soon, and we didn’t want to be in the area when that happened.
Chapter Seventeen
Thea
I stared out the window of Bono’s Jeep and at the river stretched beneath the quiet road bridge. Gentle waves glinted in the afternoon sun, flowing along with the current and lapping at the bank with a tumbling burble. The fresh scent of wet earth cleared the ache that had been building in my head, but did little to still the unease in my stomach.
At Bono’s cabin, I’d cried in Cane’s arms for an eternity. No matter what I did the tears wouldn’t stop falling. Eventually, Cane lifted my head and said we had to go. When I opened my eyes to look at him and respond, rays of sunlight cracked through the curtains and I had to blink to clear my vision. Cane’s face was a mask of concern.
“You still need to shower,” I said.
A smile played at the edge of his lips. “Do I smell that bad?”
He planted me by the door where he said he could keep an eye on me before stepping into the shower. The water ran over his bare chest, which heaved with every breath. His hand worked the soap over his body, trailing down to rest on his stomach and drawing my attention to his well-defined six-pack, and his massive cock beneath. I swallowed, itching to touch him. To have a repeat of the last shower we had together. I stood, licking my lips, practically drooling at the thought of finally tasting him. Everything about him was achingly beautiful. From his chiseled body to the lines that etched his face.
Every part of me wanted to stay with him forever. But how could I when I’d bring him nothing but danger? Leaving would be hard enough now. How much worse would it be if I allowed myself to love him?
As if he’d sensed my thoughts, Cane turned off the water and lifted the towel to pat his face dry. I could lose myself looking into the deep, brown depths of his eyes. I wanted to reach out and say I was sorry again, to tell him I’d never go. I wanted to pull him close, touch him, and run my fingers through his hair, tangle them in his beard. I wanted to feel him inside me.
His phone rang as he dressed, and he jumped to answer it. Minutes later, we were in the car and headed for a rendezvous with Bono a hundred miles down the road.
Cane talked for almost the entire journey, making plans, and telling me how everything would be okay, but his eyes stayed firmly locked on the road ahead, and I felt like there was something beneath the words he wasn’t telling me. My stomach was rumbling by the time we pulled off the highway and into town. The streets were busy until we drove to the large parking lot of a nightclub, deserted during the daytime hours, apart from the four bikes parked close to the doors.
“Another business the brothers own?” I asked while stifling a groan at the name Club Tempest sign posted above the wide, double doors that led inside, and hoping that it wasn’t an omen for the turmoil to come.
Cane turned off the engine and we sat in the Jeep, staring at the door for five minutes before I unclipped my seat belt. “I can wait here while you talk if you’re reluctant to take me inside,” I said.
Despite my belief that Cane would be better off away from me, I was surprised to find I meant it. The journey in the car had taught me how much I feared to be away from him. Though that thought had done little to ease the feeling he’d end up dead in a ditch somewhere if I stayed. I needed Cane by my side more than I cared to admit. His close proximity and strong presence gave me fleeting hope that maybe everything would be okay. But it also created new fears. Fears about how I felt when I caught his tantalizing scent, or how the slightest brush of his hand on my leg when he shifted gear sent lightning streaking along my skin straight to my core.
Cane reached out and put his hand on mine. “I am not leaving you alone,” he said. “We’re doing this together.”
But then what? I wanted to ask. How long do you think we can run? Instead, I looked at the warehouse-style building and said, “So, are we going inside or sitting here all day?”
He didn’t say anything as I opened the car door and stepped out into the late-afternoon sun.
Cane ignored the big double doors and instead opted for a side entrance. He banged on it three times and waited. After a few se
conds, a man with bright, blue eyes and dark hair opened it and ushered us through. I recognized him as one of the men from Midnight Anchor. As I knew which ones were Rex and Bono, I guessed this one had to be Jameson or Lucky.
“You made good time,” he said. “Didn’t think you’d get here for another twenty minutes.” His gaze traveled up and down my body, making me feel like a piece of meat being sized up for market.
“Yeah, I drive fast,” Cane answered, not bothering to hide the low, warning tone in his words.
I wondered why I suddenly felt less safe and not more.
We walked along a windowless, narrow hallway. The walls were painted a drab gray that reminded me of Midnight Anchor. It seemed that the staff area of every bar and club I’d been in had the same cold feel. A couple of red-painted doors led off the hallway, but our guide led us through the final door and into the club area.
A giant bar, wide enough to host thirty customers dominated the one side of the room. Backlighting cast the bar in a sparkling haze of color, but the dance floor remained in a shadowy, windowless gloom.
“Where’s Bono and the others?” Cane guided me to a bar stool with a protective hand on my back and scanned the club. The bar countertop was clean to the touch and smelled faintly of disinfectant, and the carpeting was newly vacuumed, as though the cleaners had recently finished their work.
“Like I said, we weren’t expecting you yet. Bono popped to the market to get some supplies. Rex is upstairs, monitoring the CCTV, and Jameson’s with him.”
I couldn’t help but notice how on edge Cane seemed. As though he was waiting for someone to step out of the shadows and jump him. I moved a little closer to him and tried to look less like a rabbit about to bolt across the road with my next breath.
“You heard from Caleb?” Cane asked.
The man, I now realized had to be Lucky, shifted on his feet and rubbed his hand over the back of his neck. “Shit. Yeah.” His eyes darted to me before finding the floor again. “But hell, he don’t know shit. He wasn’t there when,” he waved his arm in my direction and for the first time looked at my face, “well... when you were tripping and screaming in anguish.”
A blush rose on my cheeks. I must have made a complete fool of myself in front of all these guys. But despite his words, I could help but not a touch of accusation beneath them.
The door banged open and I almost jumped out of my seat.
“Bono,” Cane said, visibly relaxing.
“Hey, brother.” Bono walked over to the bar laden with an armful of shopping bags, brimming with food. “Thea,” he said.
I tried not to feel bereft when Cane removed his hand from my back and walked over to Bono before taking some of the burden from his brother.
They placed the bags down and Bono came to stand before me, giving me an appraising look. He brushed his hand over the graze on my cheek, making me wince, and lifted my finger to look at my bandage. “This needs changing,” he said before pulling it off and instructing Lucky to fetch a first aid kit. While he waited, he turned my arm and looked at the bruising that had replaced the welt. “You get hit by a branch or something.”
I shook my head and glanced at Cane. “A belt.” He stiffened and grabbed my free hand, clenching it tight. Bono only nodded and took the kit off Lucky when he returned. After he’d placed a new bandage on my finger and had a quick look at the bruises on my neck, he asked if I needed any painkillers. I said I was fine. Then my stomach growled.
Bono smiled. “You hungry?”
“Starving.”
Bono cleared his throat and stepped behind the bar. “You need to check in with Caleb. There’s more going on than you know,” he said before reaching into the bag and pulling out a pack of ham that mirrored the one, we’d found in his fridge.
Lucky flashed me a look of resentment tinged with anger at Bono’s words, and I couldn’t help but feel guilty about all the trouble I was causing them. They likely wished they’d never met me.
Bono pulled more and more food from his bag while Cane drifted across the room with Lucky, telling him to fetch the other two.
As soon as Lucky left, Cane pulled out his phone and turned to me. “Will you be okay with Bono for five while I call my Caleb?” he asked.
I wanted to say no, but I worried he would think me clingy, so I nodded and tried to focus on Bono making a sandwich. My stomach rumbled again at the thought of some long-overdue food.
A million things ran through my mind, but mostly I focused on ignoring the fear building in my chest. Nothing felt right. Cane had left. Yeah, he had a phone call to make, but not ten minutes ago, he said he wasn’t going to leave, so why did it feel like he had?
“You need a drink to go with that?” Bono said as he handed me my sandwich.
“Thank you. Diet lemonade would be great if you have any.”
He flashed me a charming smile. “This is a bar. There’s bound to be diet lemonade.” He searched behind the counter for a moment and gathered a glass. “Ice and lemon?”
“No, thank you.”
Bono popped open a bottle and poured my drink, while I tucked into the sandwich. After Bono placed my drink in front of me, I took a long sip and let out a satisfied gasp, which quickly shifted to a weary breath. “Are you able to tell me what’s going on?” I asked, wondering if I should have paid more attention to Cane’s plans in the car.
“Not a lot to tell really,” Bono said. He nodded to Lucky, Rex, and a third man I thought had to be Jameson, who entered the bar from some stairs at the back.
My heart pounded, and I resisted running from the room. Where was Cane?
Bono must have noticed my building fear, as he leaned on the bar in front of me. “We’re gonna help as best we can,” he said. “You can count on that.”
Lucky huffed out a breath. “Your brother’s not a nice guy.”
“Stepbrother,” I said. “And no, he’s not.”
“He hurts people.”
“Leave it, Lucky,” Bono warned.
The venom in Lucky’s words shocked me, and I wondered why he suddenly shifted his tone. He’d made me feel like a piece of meat when I’d entered, a few minutes ago. I’d seen the flash of anger on his face before he left, but now he looked like he wanted to kill me himself. I worried that his words in front of Cane had all been an act. My eyes darted to the door, wondering if I would make it out. Until, as quickly as it came, the idea left me. If these guys were going to hand me over to Tony, so be it. At least then, Cane would be safe.
“I’m sorry,” I said, not knowing what else to do. I stared down at my sandwich. No longer feeling hungry, I pushed it away. I frowned as his words echoed in my head and realization struck. “Did Daniel hurt someone?” I asked, fearing the answer.
“Greg’s in the hospital,” Lucky said. “It’s touch and go if he’ll make it. Cherrie’s missing.”
Chapter Eighteen
Cane
I knew I would have to speak with Caleb again sooner or later. Hell, I’d need all my brothers’ help to keep Thea safe. On the ride into town, I’d told her some cockamamie story about heading to Canada, but that was the furthest thing from my mind. The more I talked, the more I realized there was only one way to keep everyone safe, my brothers included. We needed to gather as many of the brothers as we could and go kill Dan-the-motherfucker and his Dad. Hell, we’d be doing the world a favor.
To do that, I needed Caleb on my side.
I lifted the phone and pulled up his details while heading back out to the parking lot, but before I had the chance to hit dial, Caleb pulled up on his bike before me.
Fuck! Whichever one of my brothers had told him where I’d be was in for an ass-kicking. It seemed Caleb thought much the same about me. His fists clenched and he barreled towards me. I swung first. My fist connected, but he swung back and landed a cracker on my jaw that fucking stung like a sonofabitch. We traded a few more punches until Caleb stood back and wiped the blood from his nose.
“Greg’s in
the hospital because of you,” he said and spat on the floor. “The stepbrother of your little piece of ass has taken Cherrie and is demanding a swap.”
Fuck! I doubled over trying to catch my breath and still the adrenaline coursing through my system. “How bad is Greg?” I asked after a moment.
“Really fucking bad,” was all he said.
“Thea might know where he’s taken Cherrie. We have to rescue her.”
Caleb huffed out a breath and looked back at his bike and the town beyond. Given the location of the club on the outskirts of town, the streets were quiet, and no-one had seen our brief fight. “We have to make a fucking exchange.”
I growled and almost punched him again in response. Instead, I gritted my teeth. “When are you gonna get it through your thick fucking head that Thea is never going near her family again.”
“That spoilt little princess has caused enough trouble already. It’s easy for her to run away from her palace and rough it up for a few months before heading back home, but we’re the ones who have to fucking live with the consequences.”
“For fuck sake, Caleb. Not everyone is Amber. What? Do you think Thea has it easy at home? That she ran away to have a fucking holiday or something?”
The vein in Caleb’s head twitched and he ground his teeth. “Yeah, I heard all about how fucking bad she has it. How the longer she manages to stay away, the more fucking gifts her Mom showers her with when she returns.”
“Yeah, and who told you that?”
“Benton’s a fucking prick who’d gut us without a moment’s hesitation, but it’s fucking clear his family mean everything to him.”
“Maybe his precious son means everything to him. His wife too, for all I know. But Thea sure as hell isn’t included under that umbrella of affection.” I scoffed. “Oh, and for the record, the last gift her mother gave her was the fucking tracker they used to find her and bring her home. That was five years ago.” Caleb ran a hand over his close-cropped hair and eyed me as though he was mulling over my words. “Fuck,” I said. “You know her stepbrother drugged her at the club. Do you really think he wouldn’t do worse when he got her home?”
Forever Midnight MC Collection: Books 1-3 Page 10
