“Not ridin’ alone. No one rides alone for now,” he states as we start our engines and take off.
Getting back to the clubhouse, I head to Fox’s room so I can shower. I don’t say a word as he continues to do his thing on his computers. My only goal is to take a quick shower and get to my own room. The second I’m out and dried off, I slide the sweatpants I stash here on. Nodding my head at Fox, I shut his door and head to my room.
Gwen is still passed out as I slide back in bed with her. Even in sleep, my girl turns to me. I wrap my arm around her and hold her close to me. Closing my eyes, I let sleep claim me. There’s nothing I can do for now. Not until the guys get back from my house and decide to have church.
Chapter Twenty-One
Gwen
TWO WEEKS HAS gone by. I’ve finally been cleared to go back to work as long as I remain sitting down and don’t get stressed out. However, I can only work a few hours a day. So, Stryker has decided I’m going to be working in the morning so I can make sure the schedules are set, put the supply order in the computer, and answer the phones. I also check in the clients and take their payments after they’re done. Honestly, I’m surprised Killer is letting me go to work. He must realize how stir crazy I’ve been going at the clubhouse.
Plus, when I get out of work today, Killer is taking me back to our house. He wants us to be in our home. It’s not as safe as the clubhouse, but we need our own space too. There’s too much shit at the clubhouse and I refuse to be out in the common room when the house bunnies come out in force to find the brother they want to fuck for the night. Including Killer and any of the other men who have wives or women. Killer’s had to stop me from getting off the couch more than once. So, I made the decision to remain out of there when the skanks come out to play.
I’m excited to be heading home. I want my own space and time away from the clubhouse. It’s still hard for me to be there sometimes with all the house bunnies. They can be pushy and I’m still shy in most aspects. Yeah, I’ve been opening up with Killer and the ol’ ladies, that’s completely different than dealing with the women who are desperate in their attempts to land the coveted role of an ol’ lady to the men of Phantom Bastards. None of those men will claim a single one of them, however that doesn’t stop them from trying. Especially with the officers of the club.
Rich is still my shadow no matter where I go. Even at the house, he’s with us. Killer never knows when he’ll have to jump up and leave on club business, so it’s easier for Rich to stay with us. Killer doesn’t like how close we are, but he accepts it. I view Rich as a brother and nothing more. We annoy one another and roast each other like there’s no tomorrow. We talk about things and he helps me around the house when Killer isn’t home. Honestly, Killer doesn’t trust anyone else to watch over me when he can’t. Unless it’s a full patch member. The Prospects haven’t proven themselves enough for him to trust them with me.
Killer is overprotective of me even more so now than before. I can’t lift anything, including a damn glass of water and carry it from the kitchen to the living room. If I bend over, he’s up my ass making sure I don’t fall over or pull anything. Forget about letting me take a shower by myself. Even if he wakes me up so I can shower with him in the morning, I’m up earlier than I want to. The only good thing about getting up early is seeing Killer naked. He won’t touch me right yet, but I still admire the view for as long as I can. We’re both becoming frustrated, but I’m not fully cleared for everything just yet.
Today I’m sitting in Phantom Ink. Rich has gone to get lunch and everyone in the shop is busy with clients. I’m playing around on my phone while alternately looking out the window in front of me. My lunch won’t be coming from the diner just down from the shop either. From now on an ol’ lady will be making my lunch and Rich will pick it up. No one is taking any chances with my food being tampered with again.
Everyone else orders their food from other diners for the time being as well. We don’t know who’s the one to mess with my food or how they got in the diner to make sure it was done. No one’s claiming to know any information at this point. Since most of the businesses around here understand the club tries to help out the community as much as they can, they’d be talking if they knew anything. Well, everyone except for the women who waitress at the diner. They don’t give a fuck about anyone other than themselves. It’s proven on a daily basis with the way they ignore their female customers and only concern themselves with the men. It’s not attractive at all.
Suddenly, the front door of the shop opens and one of the women from my group comes in. The smile on her face indicates how nervous she is along with her eyes darting all over the place. Kendra isn’t normally a nervous person so I’m instantly on alert.
“Kendra, are you okay?” I ask, wanting to get up and go to her, but I know I can’t.
“Yeah. I just found out some news and it’s about you. I’ve been seeing this guy and I overheard a conversation he was having a little while ago. Apparently, the guy you were talking about at the meeting, Neil, is out of prison. He’s got plans to get you back. There are a total of three men who are going to make the grab; including Neil,” Kendra tells me. “I knew I had to get to you and let you know.”
“Are you sure?” I ask her, needing to know she’s positive about what she heard.
“Yeah. The packages you’ve been getting, Neil’s behind them. He had one of the guys go and pack up different things that were left at the house and is taunting you with them. The food that made you sick, was all because of Neil. He’s been working everything from inside the prison until he got out. No one knows he’s out of prison yet. You should have been alerted to it, but I know he’s got pull and can ensure no one knows anything he doesn’t want them to. The only reason I know is because I found his phone when he got in the shower. There were messages about packages being delivered to you and everything else.”
“Okay,” I tell her, my voice trembling. “What are you gonna do now?”
“I’m getting out of here. If I’d known he had anything to do with coming after you or harming you, I’d have been here sooner,” Kendra says, tears streaking down her face. “I’m so sorry.”
Before I can utter another word to her, Kendra turns on her heel and rushes from the shop. She almost knocks Rich over as he’s about to enter. He looks from her to me and must see something on my face because in an instant, he’s got his phone out and is by my side. I can barely hear him talking as Stryker and the rest of the crew rush to my side. My heart is racing, I can barely get a full breath in, and there’s a roaring in my ears.
I begin taking a few deep breaths to calm the panic and fear rushing through my veins. This is not the news I wanted to hear today. When I’ve got myself back under control enough to look around, I see Rich has dropped our food all over the floor and Rich has bloody hands. What the hell happened to him?
“What happened, Gwen?” Stryker asks me, as he crouches down in front of me and hands me an unopened bottle of water.
“Kendra, a girl from my domestic violence group just came in. She’s apparently been seeing a guy. Today she overheard him on the phone talking about me. Neil’s out of prison for some reason now. He’s been behind everything. The packages, the drugs in my food, everything has been him. He’s not gonna stop until he gets me back,” I inform him, never taking my eyes off Rich’s bloody hands. “Rich, what happened to you?”