After closing up the grill and eating two plates of the best MC food cookout ever, I’d run upstairs to take a quick shower. Working the grill for two hours had me smelling like a grease fire, and I planned on giving Lexie a ride home later. There was no way I was letting her drive her babycycle in the dark.
But after I’d showered and changed, I’d stopped to help out at the bar. Those damn prospects were shirking their duties again, most likely sneaking a quickie while they thought I wasn’t looking. Ginger and Cherry, two of our slightly more responsible bunnies, were handling it, but they couldn’t do much more than pass out beer bottles before they got distracted by dick.
Jordan had just returned to his post when I saw some guys rushing outside, yelling about a fire at the dumpster. I grabbed the extinguisher from behind the bar and ran out with them, hoping it wasn’t anything serious.
I’d dropped the extinguisher somewhere in the parking lot when I realized the situation was much worse than a dumpster fire.
“Fire! Fire! Fire!” Lexie’s voice shouted above the noise. I stopped, frozen in place as I took in the sight of her. She leaned over Tracker, who was clearly in a bad way, although not on fire. But I couldn’t think about my brother when faced with the vision that was Lexie. For some reason, she’d lost her shirt and was leaning over Tracker in just her lacy white bra and tiny shorts. Her hair blew wildly in the wind and blood was smeared across her face and chest. She looked like a goddamn Valkyrie, stolen straight out of my filthiest wet dream. But she was my fucking Valkyrie, and right now she was in the middle of some serious shit.
“Come with me, pixie,” I’d said, pulling her up and away from Tracker. She was practically feral as she protected him, and my chest swelled with pride. I’d known she was a sweetheart. That was obvious to anyone with eyes. I hadn’t known she possessed such fierceness, a commitment to keeping others safe that rivaled my own. I held her close until she calmed down.
She turned to face me and folded her arms across her chest. Yeah, I needed to get her covered. I shrugged off my cut and handed it to her to hold while I reached behind my neck to pull off my shirt.
“You want me to put this on?”
My heart stopped in my chest at the sight of Lexie holding my cut against her chest. I let go of my shirt.
“Yeah, baby girl. I want you to wear my cut.” I eased her arms through the holes and stood back to admire her. This was so much better than my shirt. And at this moment, I needed to have my claim on her. Several brothers had already asked me if she was single, despite Mav declaring she was off-limits. He didn’t want one of the guys breaking her heart and then having herrefuse to work for us. But now she was in a bra and covered in blood after saving one of my brothers. If I didn’t put my name on her right now, someone else would.
“Lexie! Holy shit, are you okay?”
I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her close as Dan ran up. I’d have let her go if she’d seemed uncomfortable, but based on the way she burrowed into me, I thought she needed the touch as much as I did.
“I’m good, thanks.” She twisted in my arms to face him.
He reached out his hand as if he wanted to touch her, but my glare had him thinking better. That and the big fucking enforcer patch on the cut that she now wore.
The wail of an ambulance siren grew louder until it entered the compound. Fuck, it must be bad if Stitch called it in.
I stood with Lexie as Stitch greeted the paramedics.
“Twenty-five-year-old male had too much to drink. Tripped over his feet and hit his head on the dumpster. Then he fell and impaled himself on a broken beer bottle.”
The female paramedic looked at Stitch, then Tracker, then the rest of brothers. “Is that what you’re going with?”
Mav stepped forward from the crowd and crossed his arms. “Yeah, that’s what we’re going with.”
She shrugged and bent down to Tracker. “Works for me.” With help from her partner, they maneuvered Tracker onto a stretcher and carried him into the back of the ambulance. Stitch jumped inside with them, and I guess they realized there was no point in arguing.
“Brothers,” Maverick shouted after the ambulance drove away. “Church! Now! Baller, get Sinner on the line.”
Lexie stiffened, and I squeezed her again. Poor thing was probably in shock.
Mav turned to face me. “Bring the girl.” The brothers dispersed back into the clubhouse, and I reluctantly stepped back from Lexie.
She looked up at me, her blue eyes regaining some of the brightness that had been lost earlier. “Are we going to have a prayer vigil or something?”
God, this girl was too sweet for me. But I was too selfish to care. “Or something. We’ve got to figure out what happened out here, and that starts with you telling us everything you know.”
She blinked, shaking her head. “But I don’t know anything. I was taking out the trash and found him. In fact, that was the last bag, so I should probably go.”
I placed my hands on her shoulders. “You’re not going anywhere, darling. Maverick needs to question you about what happened.”
“Since I don’t know anything, that will take all of two seconds. Then can I go?”
My chest tightened at the thought of her leaving. If I thought it wasn’t safe for her to drive that scooter before, it damn sure hadn’t gotten any safer since we had a would-be killer on the loose.
“You sure you’re ready to get on that toddler bike of yours? Five minutes ago, you were in shock. You saved a man’s life, his blood is smeared all over your body, and you’re about to be questioned by the vice president of the most feared motorcycle club in the state.”
