AllFreeNovel
Share Us
CHAPTER ONE: DIXIE
“Delphine!” I shout, while pounding on her door. Fuck me. I’ve been here before, too many times. And I’m not talking about fucking déjà vu. No, every time I crash through Delphine’s walls, we have one night of passion, followed by days of watching her rebuild her fucking wall. I’ve thought of giving up, but the times when she lets me in shows me all I need to know. She loves me, but she’s scared to admit it.
The week I spent away from her was hard. Hex and I attended Dante’s wedding in San Diego, the President of our Original Chapter. I missed Delphine the whole time and hoped she missed me. But before I can exit I-10, I get a call from Zip telling me that Delphine set herself up as bait. Rushing to her apartment, I barely make it in time to rescue her. Does she thank me? Fuck no. The minx spits and claws at me for not trusting her to take care of herself. Fucking woman! She’s strong, but she can’t take on four men by herself. What was she thinking?
I laid into her that night. Not only with my words, but with my hand against her ass. She fought me the entire time until the spanking finally got through her thick skull and she sobbed for forgiveness. The sex that night was off-the-charts. But I should have predicted the outcome. Me, standing here banging on her door while she fortifies those walls of hers.
Delphine loves me as much as I love her, but she’s scared. The problem is, she won’t share those fears with me. A man hurt her, hurt her so badly that she’s incapable of trusting. My guess is the man was Hex’s father. Although she’s never confirmed my suspicions. I’ve tried everything to prove to her I’ll never hurt her, but every time I think I’m making progress, I find myself right back here, banging on her door. And as usual, not getting a response. But this time, I’m not here for me, but for a group of children who need a woman like Delphine to help them feel safe.
“Delphine, the kids are on their way here. Hex needs your help. I know you’re mad at me, but I also know you won’t let Hex down.” I curse when she still doesn’t respond. The complete silence has me second-guessing whether she’s inside. “If you’re staying in there because I’m out here, fine, have it your way. I’m heading downstairs.”
I step into quiet chaos. Cleo, Skylar, Nora, my Brothers, and the Kutte Bunnies are busy helping the rescued kids get cleaned up so they can eat. Lake and Pirate meet with each one. Pirate to get their names and Lake to check their condition. The chaos ramps up by decimals when Puma, the larger-than-life President of our Vegas Chapter, crashes into the room. With him are Dante’s father-in-law, Dr. Chambers and a woman I only briefly met at the wedding, Maia. Maia often pilots Dante’s family jet, which is how Puma and the others are getting the kids back to Vegas.
Cleo joins us after Hex, and I greet Puma. I watch Puma straighten to his considerable height. He eyes Cleo as if expecting her to pull out a gun and shoot him between the eyes. But she stuns the big man by wrapping her arms around him before introducing herself and thanking him for rescuing her.
“My pleasure.” Puma beams at her before introducing the couple with him. “Maia has Angela’s jet waiting at the airport. Dr. Chambers can help Lake examine the children before we fly them back to Vegas. If all of them are going back?”
Pirate and Lake have sorted through the children we rescued and all but two confirmed they were living in Vegas before their kidnapping. We also rescued two babies who, of course, can’t tell us where they are from. While Puma and Hex work out the details for getting the children onto Angela’s jet and back to Vegas, I wander over to the babies. They’re both asleep. Their innocence makes my temper spike as I consider the hell they were facing before we found them. Nero’s records didn’t mention any babies, so where did they come from?
As Puma rounds up the kids to leave, I stop several and ask them if they saw who brought the babies onto the ship. None of them can tell me anything except that it was a man. I wish Puma luck and join Cleo, who is talking with the two remaining children. We know they are from here, so Pirate is tracking down their parents.
“How did you end up on the ship?” Cleo asks.
Garrett shrugs, but Mina answers. “We were playing in the park and two men grabbed us.”
“Together?”
Mina nods.
“He threatened to kill our mothers if we caused them any trouble,” Garrett supplies. “Are they going to kill them now because we came with you?”
“Not a chance,” I assure them. “We’ll contact your parents and get you home. We’ll keep you and them safe. Can you describe the men to me?”
Their description matches that of the two men Abra and Zip are taking to The Farm. I can’t wait to help provide some payback to two assholes who terrorized these kids. I can give these kids the reassurance they need.
I smile at them. “You won’t have to worry about them again. We have them locked up so they can’t hurt anyone again.”
“What about the babies? Were they there before you?” Cleo asks.
“They came after.” Mina says. “A man brought them.” She describes Mikel perfectly. Cleo shows the kids an image of Mikel to confirm our suspicion.
I follow Cleo over to Hex, happy to know that we still have Mikel on ice. We’ll be able to get the information we need to return the babies to their families. As I consider how lucky it is that we kept Mikel alive, the back door flies open to let in Abra and Jack. Between them, they’re carrying our other prospect, Irish. Irish is unconscious, with a trail of blood running from his temple down to his chin.
“What happened?” Hex asks, rushing forward, along with Lake. Lake immediately takes charge of Irish, as he and Jack carry him off to the infirmary.
“Mikel’s escaped,” Abra says. “Not sure how long he’s been gone.”
“Fuck!” Hex roars. His shout has Garrett and Mina cowering and wakens the babies. Cleo rushes over to soothe the babies, while Pirate calms the children.
“Hex, you’re scaring the children,” Cleo scolds him, and I see him flinch.
“Sorry, have Delphine find them a quiet room.” Hex frowns and looks around the room. “Has anyone seen Delphine? I thought for certain she’d be in the middle of all this.”
“I tried pounding on her door earlier, but she didn’t answer,” I tell him. “Most likely, she’s still mad at me.”
“Maybe she left,” Cleo suggests, but I shake my head.
“I think her car is still here.”
