“I got a message for your club,” the man growled.
“What club?” I whispered, staring into the deep-set brown eyes of my attacker.
He cocked his head, pressing his hand into my mouth harder again. “Bitch, you got a fuckin’ death wish? Close your fucking eyes.”
I frowned, closing my eyes as I bit back a whimper.
“Tell them the Beast is coming for them.”
I took a labored breath.
“You fuckin’ hear what I’m sayin’?” he sneered.
I nodded. Then he was gone. I slammed the door closed and locked it, then pulled out my phone, dialing bestie number one. “Willow?”
“Hey, honey, you okay?”
“No. Someone just broke into the shop.”
I burst into tears and filled her in on what had just happened.
“Lock your doors,” Willow demanded. “Right now. Dash is coming.”
Dash was an officer in the Dogs of Fire Motorcycle Club, and he’d married Willow a few years ago. Since Alamo was the Sergeant at Arms, I should probably have called Jazz first, but I knew she was meeting with a new marketing company this morning, and I didn’t want to interrupt.
“Parker!” Willow snapped.
I jumped, then whispered, “Yes?”
“Did you lock your doors?”
I glanced behind me. “Um…yes, the back.”
“Go lock the front, honey.”
“Right. Okay.”
It took me a second to convince my feet to move, but I was finally able to put one foot in front of the other and reached my front door just as it was pushed open. I couldn’t stop a scream and I dropped my phone, but then strong arms were wrapping their way around me and I was pulled against a hard chest.
“I got you, Pebbles,” Rabbit said, and I fell against him, bursting into fresh tears as I slid my arms up his back, under his cut, feeling immediately safe.
He held me as he guided me further inside the shop, locking the door behind him.
“How did you get here so fast?” I whispered.
“Working at the shop today,” he said.
“Oh.”
Rabbit worked with Doom in his body shop most days, but he was also a trained mechanic, so would work for Alamo as well. Their shops were next door to each other, so it was convenient for the people who floated.
“Tell me everything,” he ordered.
I shook my head, holding him tighter.
He cupped the back of my head gently. “Parker, I need to know what happened, so I can fix it.”
“I need a minute,” I whispered, relishing his touch. This wouldn’t last for long, so I needed to take comfort in his arms while I could.
He stroked my hair and kissed my temple. “Okay, baby, you got a minute.”
I held on tight, knowing this wouldn’t happen again. We’d had our chance and it was gone. Once I felt like I could stand on my own, I pulled away from my human security blanket, and stepped back, taking a few deep breaths. “A man pushed me against the wall and told me to tell my club the Beast was coming for them.”
“Jesus Christ,” he hissed, reaching for me again, but I shook my head. “You’re bleedin’.”
I frowned, realizing I’d bit my lip when the man shoved his hand over my mouth. I dabbed at it with my hand and asked, “Who is he?”
Rabbit crossed his arms with a scowl. “We’re workin’ on that,” he spat out.
A bang at the door had me rushing to Rabbit’s side again and he guided me behind him as he glanced out the window. “It’s Dash.”
I relaxed and unlocked the door, pulling it open.
“What the fuck happened?” Dash demanded.
“Pull up the footage and we’ll find out for sure,” Rabbit demanded.
I glanced at Rabbit. “Pull…”
“…up the footage, Parker,” Rabbit prodded. “From your security camera. Unless, you’re okay with me doin’ it.”
“No. It’s okay. I’ll get it,” I said, and headed for my office.
Rabbit followed.
In my haze of fear, I didn’t think to enquire how he knew where the footage was stored, or how to access it, but I figured I’d probably ask that very question at three a.m. one morning when I woke up screaming from a nightmare, as was my tendency to do when my brain tried to work difficult shit out.
I sat behind my desk and opened my laptop. I hovered the cursor over the folder for the camera footage, realizing immediately I couldn’t look at it.
“Parker?”
“I…ah…I can’t,” I whispered.
“Up, baby, I’ll do it.”
My hands shook as I settled them in my lap.
“Parker?”
“He asked me if I had a death wish,” I rasped, and Rabbit turned my chair to face him as he hunkered down in front of me. “I thought he was going to kill me.”
“We’re gonna fix it. You’re safe now, but I need to deal with this and then you can totally fucking melt down on me, but give me a second before you do, okay?”
I stared at his beautiful face, desperately wanting to crawl into the shelter of his arms, but knowing those days were over for us. I licked my lips, tasting blood, and realized I needed to take care of my lip. I nodded. “Okay.”
He stood, leaning down and I thought he might kiss me, and I stupidly raised my head to receive him.
He didn’t.
But he didn’t miss my action and smiled as he stroked my cheek gently. “Up, baby. Let me do my thing.”
God, I was such an idiot.
I rose to my feet, grabbed the box of tissues, and stepped away from my desk, suddenly freezing. I headed toward the door because I’d left my hoodie in our breakroom.
“Do not move,” Rabbit ordered.
“I need my hoodie,” I argued.
“You cold?”
I nodded, and he stood, shrugging off his leather jacket and wrapping it around me. “Stay put, Pebbles. Need to keep my eyes on you.”
I pulled the leather tighter around me and sat in the chair in the corner, leaning my head against the coolness of the exposed brick.
Rabbit smacked his hand on my desk. “Fuckin’ little prick. I’m gonna—”
“What?” I asked, but Rabbit didn’t answer me as he shoved the chair back and leaned out of my office door.
“Dash!”
“Zane, what’s going on?” I demanded.
“What’s up?” Dash asked, stepping into the room, and Rabbit turned the computer screen to face him, pointing to it.
“No shit?”
“Yeah,” Rabbit said.
“What’s going on?” I practically screeched.
“Give me a second,” Rabbit said.
“Doom’s gonna want to know ASAP,” Dash said.
“Fuck that,” Rabbit countered. “Lyric’s gonna want the kid’s nutsack in a sling.”
I stood, fisting my hands at my side. “Stop talking about me like I’m not here!”
Rabbit’s eyes met mine and his expression softened.
“I’m gonna let you deal with that,” Dash said, and walked out of the room.
“I’m telling Willow on you,” I yelled to his back.
“Pebbles?”