“It’s not what it looks like,” he begins as I push him out of my way. Mav stays with him, and I enter the room and spot his wife lying face-down on the carpet. The room is a mess and there’s droplets of blood dotted around the cream rug.
“Don’t tell me,” I drawl, “she fell.”
“She’s cheating on me!” he shouts.
I turn, connecting my fist with his jaw. The crack is deafening in the silence. He groans, gripping his face. “I don’t care if she fucked another man right in front of you. Don’t lay your hands on a woman!”
He nods, unable to speak because I suspect his jaw is broken. “I’ll take care of her,” says Mav, letting me take free rein on this dick. When I’ve landed my last kick, he’s a heap on the floor, just like his wife. “Go get the kid,” orders Mav, holding the man’s unconscious wife in his arms. “We need to get her to the doc.”
“I’ll take her, you get the kid.”
“Grim, now is not the time to give me the ‘I hate kids’ speech. Just get the damn baby so we can leave.”
I huff, stomping upstairs and following the sound of crying until I find the red-faced little thing all tense and angry in its cot. I scoop it up, and it immediately stops the noise. “Thank the lord,” I whisper to no one in particular. “Let’s get something straight,” I mutter, spotting a pink change bag in the corner. “I don’t like babies, not even pretty ones like you,” I pick up the bag and continue, “but I’ll make this exception because you deserve better. And so does your mum. But if you scream like that again while in my arms, I’m likely to freak out, so let’s just be nice to one another and make the best of this terrible situation.”
Outside, Mav has put the woman into a car. Ghost nods in greeting from the driver’s seat. “Put her in the chair,” he tells me, pointing to the safety chair in the back.
I lay the baby in it and stare at the straps with confusion. “How do you know it’s a girl?” I ask.
Ghost frowns. “She’s dressed in pink.”
I shrug. “Makes sense.” Mav shoves me out the way and expertly straps the baby into the chair. “We’ll meet you at the club,” he tells Ghost.
The doc’s been in with the woman for an hour. Ghost is now holding the kid with that dopey look on his face, the one everyone gets when there’s a baby around. Suddenly, the main door opens, and Arthur Taylor stomps in, flanked by two of his brothers. “Gentlemen,” he says, coldly. “We need to talk.”
I follow Mav and Arthur into the office. The two Taylor brothers remain at the back of Arthur’s chair, and I snigger. I hate the whole dangerous vibe they try to give off. If he was so dangerous, he wouldn’t need Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee by his side.
“What can we do for you?” asks Mav calmly.
“Have you just been on Lennon Street?” he snaps, and Mav nods. “At number twenty?” Mav nods again. “You just beat the fuck out of Nick Cambridge!” he yells.
“If you mean the shit bag who hurt his wife, then yeah, it was me,” I admit.
Arthur glares at me. “If you weren’t the fucking VP, I’d slit your throat right now.”
I arch a brow. “Try it.”
“Don’t fucking push me,” he screams.
Mav raises his hand, a sign for us to keep it peaceful. “Who is he?”
Arthur takes a calming breath. “He’s the CEO of Cambridge Enterprises, a multi-millionaire with a chain of high-class casinos and a man I have just associated myself with. He’s put a fucking hit out on the men who took his wife and child.”
I exchange a look with Mav. “You know what we do, Arthur. He was beating his wife. She’s a mess.”
“I don’t care if she’s fucking dead right now. I have to get her back to him.”
“Not a chance,” I say, laughing angrily. “I don’t care who the fuck he is.”
“The police know. The women’s centre called them,” adds Mav. “This can’t be brushed under the carpet.”
“He can sort that out, but I have to get her back. He wants you dead. He offered me a lot of money to find and kill you.” He looks at me.
“Then do it,” I snap, “because that’s the only way she’s getting out of here.”
“Why the fuck would you go into his home wearing your kuttes?” asks Arthur.
“Cos we wanted him to know who the fuck he was messing with,” I state.
“Clearly, you didn’t know who you were messing with.”
“You’ll have to stall him,” says Mav.
“I can’t do that. It’s not how it works. Besides, he might have others out looking for you.”
“And you want the money first?” I mutter.
“Would you still be breathing if that was the case?” he hisses. “Fuck, Mav, we need a plan and we need it now.”
HADLEY
I follow Meli into the room where our newest arrival is lying on the bed. She’s so badly beat, even Meli winces. “Hey, I’m Meli, and this is Hadley.”
“Hey,” she almost whispers.
“Do you need anything?” I ask.
She shakes her head. I peer into the Moses basket and smile down at the tiny baby sleeping soundly beside her mum. “She’s gorgeous. How old is she?”
“Two weeks.”
“She’s gonna be a heartbreaker, that’s for sure. She even had the guys melting over her.”
“Where am I?”
“You’re at the clubhouse of The Perished Riders MC. Our brother is the President here. You called the women’s shelter, but they couldn’t get the police out fast enough, so they sent us instead,” Meli explains.
“You’re safe now,” I add.
“I’m never safe,” she mutters.
“We help women just like you all the time. I’m a lawyer, and I can help you with a restraining order or whatever else you need.”
She half smiles, but it doesn’t quite reach her bruised eyes. “That will never happen. He’ll find me and take me home.”
“Not if you don’t want to go,” says Meli. “We won’t let him.”
“You don’t know my husband. How will you stop him?”
Ghost steps into the room, holding up a baby’s bottle. “I fed her when she arrived, but she’s due again, according to Gracie. And I’ll stop him. Trust me.”
I exchange a smirk with Meli. We’ve seen this before, when his brother, Scar, brought Gracie back to the club. “Well, we’ll leave you in Ghost’s capable hands,” Meli sniggers, hooking her arm through mine and pulling me from the room.
I close my eyes and lean my head back against the large oak tree. I left Meli inside cooking up a plan with Rosey to help keep the new woman here. They both live in a dream world. Rosey is so far off reality, I think she should be sectioned.
I hear his footsteps as he approaches, sensing it’s Grim, then he drops down beside me. I keep my eyes closed, letting my senses take in his manly smell of oil and leather mixed with a little hint of woodsy aftershave. The good news is I don’t smell alcohol, and when I finally open my eyes, he’s staring right at me. He looks happy, like a weight has been lifted. “Everything okay?” I ask.