Unfortunately, I’d have to hand him off to my second chair, Georgia Slidell, but this would give her the chance to rise to the occasion.
“You’ll figure it out,” Melody encouraged. “And I can help with the benefit. I’m home for two months.”
“You have to get ready for your tour.”
She shrugged. “It’ll all work out. You’ll see.”
“I hope so.”
I was exhausted, so Melody hung out in my room while I dozed, trying to put aside my worries, at least for a little while.
* * *
Doom
“What’s all that?” Alamo asked, nodding toward the small box on the club dining room table.
Alamo was the Sgt. At Arms for the Savannah Chapter of the Dogs of Fire MC, and I was technically under him as Road Captain.
“All the shit from Lyric’s car,” I said.
Alamo twisted off the top of a beer, handing it to me before taking a swig of his own. “Lyric?”
“The woman who got hit yesterday.”
“Why do you have it?”
I shrugged. “Just didn’t want her stuff to walk away with some asshole.”
“You gonna get it back to her?”
“Was thinkin’ about it.”
Alamo raised an eyebrow, but didn’t respond.
“What?” I challenged.
He smiled, taking another swig of beer and swallowing. “What, what?”
“Fuck you.”
Alamo chuckled and walked away. Jesus, he was a dick. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and called Marney.
“Hey, Doom. You okay?”
“Yeah,” I said. “Just checkin’ on the woman you guys took in yesterday.”
“I can’t give you any information, buddy.”
“I just need to get her shit back to her. Is she still in the hospital?”
“I think that’s a good assumption.”
“Thanks, I appreciate it.”
“No problem. Are you coming out for the charity dinner?”
The local emergency services departments put on a ball every year and the Dogs served as security for the event. This year was a little different for me, because I’d be doing double-duty as a pawn in their live auction, “Win a Date With a Firefighter.” How the fuck I got roped into that, I don’t know.
Oh, yeah I did, Alamo signed me and Rabbit up. I needed to remember to put laxative in his coffee.
“Yeah, I’ll be there,” I promised.
“See you then.”
I hung up and loaded the boxed items into my saddlebags, before heading to the hospital. I hoped they didn’t give me a hard time about seeing her. I was admittedly in the mood for a fight and pretty much anyone would do.
* * *
Lyric
I awoke to an empty room, and in unbearable pain. I couldn’t stop a whimper as I shifted in the bed to find the call button for the nurse.
“Shit,” a deep voice hissed. “You okay?”
My gaze flew toward the sound and I gasped. “You.”
“Yeah, me,” he said, his eyebrows furrowed in concern. “You need a nurse?”
“Yes,” I cried out as I sat up and my leg protested the movement.
He rushed into the hallway and yelled for a nurse, and one came rushing in within seconds.
“She’s in pain,” Lincoln explained.
The nurse checked my chart, then shot something into my IV and I was no longer in pain. “Thank you,” I rasped, smacking my lips together.
“I’m Shauna and I’ll be here with you until the morning. You can’t eat or drink anything, but I can get you some ice chips to help with the dry mouth.”
I nodded and Shauna left me with the ridiculously hot stranger. “What are you doing here?” I asked, but I’m pretty sure it came out as, “What kdjkdkdjkdjjfjk, phhht?”
He smiled. “I brought everything I could rescue from your car.”
“You did?”
“Yeah.” He nodded toward the window. “It’s all there. Your purse and laptop, along with some notebooks.”
“Thank you,” I whispered. “Those were all of my case notes. I’d have been screwed without those.”
“Case notes?”
“I’m a lawyer,” I explained. I think. I had no idea exactly how it was coming out of my mouth.
“You don’t take notes on your computer?”
I shook my head. “I remember better when I write them down. Plus, no one can hack the information.”
He smiled.
Lordy, he’s a beautiful man.
His eyes crinkled deeper and he chuckled. “Thank you.”
“Oh my god, did I just say that out loud?”
“You absolutely did.”
I blushed squeezing my eyes shut tight. “It’s the drugs.”
“No doubt.”
I heard the squeak of leather and opened my eyes again. “Are you leaving?”
“Yeah. You take care.”
He suddenly sounded angry. “Okay. Um, thanks for saving my life…and my stuff.”
“Yeah, no problem. See you around.”
“Wait!” I called, I have no idea why, but he turned to face me slowly. “Thank you, Lincoln. Truly. What you did was incredibly kind and I appreciate it. If you ever need anything, please don’t hesitate to call me, okay?”
He nodded, the cloud surrounding him growing darker, then he was gone and I was left surprisingly bereft and confused by his departure, but was so tired, I fell asleep before I could unpack those emotions.
* * *
Doom
What the fuck did I just do?
I headed back to my bike and paced for a few minutes in an effort to calm down. Jesus, she’d called me Lincoln. No one had called me Lincoln in ten years.
Goddammit!
I needed to figure out a way to stay far far away from this woman.
Climbing on my bike, I got the fuck outta Dodge and headed back to the club. Walking in, I found our president, Doc, in an epic, knock-down-drag-out with his woman, Olivia. This wasn’t new. All they did was fight. Well, all they did in public was fight. But tonight was something a little different. Tonight, Olivia was crying. This was not normal. Or right.
“What the fuck, Doc?” I demanded.
I usually didn’t get involved in things of a personal nature, but when a woman I cared about was crying, I tended to investigate.
“It’s not him, Doom,” Olivia rushed to say. “It’s been a shitty day and I took it out on Tris.” Doc threw his hands in the air and walked away, and Olivia cried harder. “Tristan!” she called.
“At some point, Liv, you’re gonna have to pull your head out of your ass.”
“Fuck you, Doom.”
I crossed my arms and leaned toward her. “You offerin’?”
She let out a snort of derision. “You wish.”
“You might wanna go deal with that,” I said, and gave a chin lift in the direction Doc headed.
She rolled her eyes, but finally made her way toward Doc’s room.
I headed to the kitchen for a bottle of beer.
Lyric
Three weeks later…
PT SUCKED. CRUTCHES sucked. Everything sucked and I wanted out of my damn house. Melody had gone back to her twelve hour rehearsals, so I had no one to talk to but my cat, Booger. And Booger was an asshole.
“Meow.”
I glanced down at Booger sitting at my feet, his tail flicking back and forth and asked, “What?”
“Meow.”
“In case you haven’t noticed, sir, I’m unable to cater to you right now.”
“Meow.”
“Booger, seriously.”
He stood, turning his butt to face me and looking at me because I just knew he was plotting my death, then with another swish of his tail, he walked away.
“You really are a dick,” I muttered. “Even though you’re showing me respect right now. I’m not impressed,” I called.
“Meow.”
“Always have to have the last word, don’t you?” I complained, then groaned. “I’m sitting here talking to my cat. Jebus, I have officially become a cat lady.”
My phone buzzed and I snagged it off the side table. “Hello?”
“Hey, LiLi,” Harmony said, and I let out a sigh of relief.
“Hi, NiNi. How are you?”
Harmony was the sister between me and Melody and she was absolutely my best friend. She was currently living in Portland, Oregon with her FBI husband and two kids, Skyler and Ares, and was happy, which was all I’d ever wanted for her.
“Well, I’m driving up to the house. Are you okay with me parking in the garage?”
My heart raced with glee. “What?”
She chuckled. “You heard me. Process faster, LiLi, I’m almost home.”
“Yes, you can park in the garage,” I rushed to say, even though I was too nervous to believe she was actually here.
“Okay, I’ve got my app on my phone, so don’t you dare get up. I’ll be in in a minute.”
Less than five minutes later, my sister walked in and I burst into tears.
Harmony dropped her purse on the floor and rushed to me, kneeling in front of the recliner I’d been stuck in. “Oh, honey, is it that bad?”
“I’m an introvert, god damn it! I should be okay being alone, but I’m so incredibly bored, I’ve started having conversations with Booger. And they’re deep, NiNi. Solve the problems of the world deep.”
Harmony bit back a laugh, her eyes dancing with mirth. “Well, I’m here, so we can let Booger go back to being a dick and I’ll help you fix the world.”
I nodded and smiled through my tears. “How long do I get you?”
“One week. Jaxon and I just closed a huge case, so I got a week’s reprieve.”
“And you came here?”
“Yeah, sissy, I came here. Jaxon’s coming in a couple of days if that’s okay with you. We left the kids with Aidan and Kim, although Cassidy has threatened to steal them, so they’re going to be spoiled while I boink my man hard and often. I hope that’s okay.”
“That means you’ll be here for the benefit,” I whispered, ignoring the boinking information.
Harmony grinned. “Yep. We sure will. I can help with any last minute logistics and Jax will be here for heavy lifting.”
I burst into more sobbing again and Harmony hugged me. “I got you, sissy. Everything’s going to be okay. I’m going to get the rest of my stuff, okay? You good for the moment?”
“Yes,” I said with a sniff, and smiled again. Harmony headed out of the room and I let out a deep sigh of relief.
Once she settled her stuff upstairs, Harmony forced me out of my chair and made me move a little, then we turned on some old Journey on vinyl and sat down to finalize the plans for the best charity dinner ever.
By the time Melody got home from rehearsals, I was feeling a lot more human, especially after Harmony cooked. My sister and I both enjoyed cooking but Harmony loved it with her whole being and her creations showed that.
* * *
Saturday morning arrived, and I’d barely slept the night before. As much as we’d managed to accomplish this past week, we still had a shit ton to do and I was using a walker or forced to be in a chair, unable to move freely on my own.
Thank God for Harmony. And Melody as well, really. She’d figured out a way to get a night off so that she could do a private concert, which meant we sold twice the amount of tickets than last year. Plus, according to Wynn, who was handling both the silent and live auctions, she had some amazing donations, not to mention gorgeous men, to auction off.
Jaxon had arrived on Wednesday and rallied a few of his FBI buddies to help with some heavy lifting, which was more valuable than he could know, and I probably thanked him twelve times a day.
I was currently sitting at my dining room table, going through my final checklist when Harmony walked in. “Are you ready to head over to the Convention Center?”
“Yes, give me five,” I said, distractedly.
She chuckled. “You said that half-an-hour ago.”
“Did I?”
I was forced to move my hands away from my keyboard when Harmony closed my laptop on me. “Yes. We have everything in the car. Let’s go.”
“Okay, okay, I’m coming.” I grabbed my crutches and hoisted myself up, following her slowly out to the car. I was in a T-shirt, shorts, and flip flops, which Harmony had objected to, but I just couldn’t shove my good foot into a sneaker. It was too hot. And there was no way I was going to put my formal gown on until the very last minute. I just had to be extra careful and make sure I didn’t trip on anything.
Jaxon met me at the top of my porch stairs, took my crutches from me, and lifted me down before handing me back my crutches. God, he was a good guy. Gentleman to the nth degree and I was so glad my sister and he had found each other.
He helped me into the back seat of his rental and then we headed down to the convention center where we’d be watching Melody rehearse and take care of any last minute details.
We parked close to the side entrance and I hobbled inside and bumped into something hard. I looked up to find my savior standing with a group of rough looking bikers and I let out a quiet gasp. “What are you doing here?”
Lincoln frowned. “Should you be on your feet?”
“I need to be up and moving a few hours a day,” I said.
Oh my god, he looked incredible. Last time I saw him, he wore torn jeans, a leather jacket, motorcycle boots, and a beanie covering every inch of his head. I had no idea if he had hair or what color it was.
The man had hair. A lot of it. It was dark. It was long…shoulder-length…and thick with a slight curl. It gave him a Jason Momoa look, if Jason Momoa was an angry motorcycle type. It complemented his full beard perfectly and made my girly bits long for things it shouldn’t. Shit, he was gorgeous.
“Maybe you should sit down,” he said.
“I’m good,” I said, surprised by his demand. “Why are you here?”
He rolled his eyes.
“He’s one of the auction items,” his friend answered. “You’re Lyric, right?”
“Ah, yes.”
“I’m Alamo. You crashed in front of my shop.”
“Oh,” I breathed out. “Thank you so much for all your help.”
“Did you get another car sorted?”
I shook my head. “I figured I’d wait until I could actually drive again.”
“Good plan,” he said, and nodded toward Lincoln. “You need help findin’ another one, Doom’s your man.”
Lincoln shook his head and glared at his friend. “Alamo,” he growled.
I smiled, feeling incredibly insecure all of a sudden. “I’m sure I’ll be fine on my own.”
“Alamo?” Jaxon walked in with a huge grin on his face.
“What the fuck are you doin’ here, Jax?” he asked, giving him a brotherly greeting.
“Helping Lyric out with the event. What are you doing here?”
“Doom and Rabbit are getting auctioned off, and there was no way in hell I was gonna miss that.”
“You know each other?” I asked.
“Aidan and Carter are members of their MC in Portland. I met Alamo a couple of years ago when I was helping out on a case.” Jaxon turned and reached his hand out as Harmony walked over to us. “This is my wife, Harmony.”
“No shit?” Alamo said. “You two sisters?”
“Guilty,” I said, and stole a glance at Doom who was watching me closely with a scowl on his face. Weird.
“Melody’s the third sister,” Jaxon said, almost in warning.
“Melody Morgan?”
“Yes,” I said. “We should probably get to work.”
“Lyric Morgan?”
I lifted my head to see Quinlan Westgate walking toward me. Actually, I wasn’t sure if she was still Westgate, as I’d heard through the Savannah gossip line that she’d gotten a divorce. “Quin? Hi!”
�
�What the heck happened to you?”
“Drunk driver,” I said.
“Holy crap. That looks painful.”
“Yeah, it kind of is. More a pain in the butt,” I admitted. “I don’t have time for this, you know?”
She smiled gently. “I get it.”
“Did you get roped into volunteering?”
Quinlan had been part of Savannah Society for as long as I’d known her, and we’d met at a charity event almost ten years ago. She was always helping someone with something. She was one of the sweetest people I’d ever met.
“I’m here with my husband, actually.”
“Wait.” I tried to keep the disgust of my face. “Didn’t you and Michael get divorced?”
“Oh, we did. I’m remarried. To Knox.” She gave a chin lift to the group of bikers. “He’s the drop dead gorgeous blond man watching me like a hawk.”
I chuckled. “Well done.”
She grinned. “Thank you. We’re here for moral support for Doom, but seriously, if you need anything, please let me know. Jasmine’s on her way as well. She’s married to Alamo.”
I nodded. “Thank you. I’ll definitely let you know. We’ll be inside watching Melody until I can’t take it anymore.”
“You don’t live to watch your sister gyrate on stage?”
“Can’t say that I do, no.”
Quin laughed. “Hey, let’s get together for dinner sometime. Better yet, I’ll let you know when we’re doing a girls’ night.”
“That sounds fun,” I said. “Thanks.”
“I’ll text you.” She hugged me, then made her way back to her husband. Doom was still watching me, his face scowling, and I couldn’t for the life of me understand what I’d done to offend him.
Harmony and Jaxon were still chatting with the group, so I continued on, my leg on fire with every step, but I really didn’t want to take anything that would cloud my mind. I needed to be alert and on top of everything tonight.
I stopped my hobbling and took a few deep breaths.
“You in pain?”
I jumped, seriously jostling my tentative hold on gravity, and found strong arms wrapping around my waist to steady me.
“You need to get off your feet,” Lincoln growled.
I tried to push him away, but he didn’t budge. “I’m fine.”
Quieting the Biker's Rage Page 2
