Page 30 of My Wild Biker

Outside the air is thick and hot and the cicadas are screaming. A truck pulls up and Tate gets out, takes one look at my face and his jaw tightens.

"She okay?" he asks Chuck.

"She will be." Chuck loads my suitcases into the truck bed. "Get this cleaned up. I'm taking her to the clubhouse."

"She gonna need to talk to cops?" Tate asks.

Chuck shakes his head. "She was never here. Called from the clubhouse when she couldn't reach me. I got here, found them breaking in, defended property. Self-defense, clean."

Tate nods. "I'll call it in. You get her out, I've got this.."

Chuck helps me into the passenger seat of his truck and then we're pulling out of the driveway. I watch my rental disappear in the side mirror and think about how I'm supposed to be leaving tomorrow for Millbrook, how this was supposed to be simple, how three days ago I met him at a bar and now there are two dead men in my living room because of me.

"This isn't because of you," Chuck says, and I realize I said some of that out loud. "This is because Marrow wants leverage against me and you were available. That's on them, not you."

"They broke into my rental."

"Yeah."

"They were going to hurt me. Leave me alive with a message but hurt me first."

"Probably." His hands are tight on the steering wheel. "But they didn't get the chance."

"Because you got there in time."

"Yeah."

I look at his profile in the passing streetlights. His jaw is set, his eyes on the road, but I can see the tension in his shoulders. "How'd you know to come back?"

"Cain got intel that Marrow was splitting up. Most went to the location we were watching but two broke off heading toward Bloomfield. I put it together." He glances at me briefly. "I broke every traffic law between the clubhouse and your place."

"Thank you."

"Don't thank me. This is my fault. I brought you to church, made you visible, made you a target. Should've kept you separate."

"Chuck—"

"We'll talk about it later. Right now I just need to get you somewhere safe."

The clubhouse appears out of the darkness and there are more bikes out front than I've seen before. Every light in the building is on. We park and Chuck comes around to help me out of the truck. My legs are shaking and he steadies me with a hand on my elbow.

Inside everyone stops and looks. I see Clint, Cain, Roan, Holt, Diesel, Knox. All the brothers from church this morning. And all their women too. Sydney, Natalie, Anna, Katherine, Carina, Sienna, Francis.

Katherine reaches me first. "Oh honey." She sees my face and her expression goes soft with concern. "Come here."

She puts an arm around my shoulders and guides me toward the bar area where the other women are gathering. Sydney's already pulling out a first aid kit. Natalie has ice wrapped in a towel.

"Let's get you cleaned up," Sydney says gently.

I sit on a stool and let them tend to me like I'm a child. Sydney cleans the blood off my face with soft hands. Natalie holds ice to my cheek where it's already swelling. Katherine sits next to me and doesn't say anything, just stays close.

Across the room the brothers are gathered around Clint in some kind of emergency meeting. I can hear pieces. "Two down." "Both Marrow." "They were there for her specifically."

Chuck is in the middle of it, gesturing, his voice too low for me to catch words. But I see his face and the tension in his whole body.

"He feels responsible," Anna says quietly. She's sitting on my other side, her dark eyes knowing. "But this isn't his fault. Marrow would've targeted someone eventually. You just happened to be visible."

"They knew where I lived. They knew my name."