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“He’s in surgery,” Cole responded from the back. “Just got a text from Demon. He and some of the brothers are there.”
I relaxed slightly, recalling how savage Bronx had been when he’d stabbed Klutz, how he’d dug the knife in to the hilt and then twisted it with satisfaction on his face. Knives could do a lot of internal damage to organs through the belly, but if Klutz had made it to the hospital that was a good sign. I was going to hold on to that.
“Thank God he’s alive.”
No one responded, because we all knew that it could go either way. “I knew there were evil people in the world, but I’ve never been this close to one.”
“Bitch, please!” Tamara clicked her tongue from the back, and I could just imagine her eye roll. “You think the men in this truck are good, kind, law-abiding people? When they’re not fucking club whores they’re out kill—”
“One more word, and the tongue comes out,” Savage threatened in a chilling tone.
I swung my head toward Kelly to gauge her reaction to his threat towards Tamara, but she just sat there staring out the window as if she were lost in her own little world. I gave Savage a warning glare over my shoulder, which he returned with an unyielding one of his own, not the least bit intimidated by me. Cole’s expression was just as stone cold with indifference. With a sigh, I turned back to face the front.
A few minutes later I realized that the direction we were taking was leading us to the clubhouse.
Liam squeezed my hand. “Snake’s going to drop us off at the clubhouse. I need to examine you both and treat your wounds after you clean up. Then we can get something to eat if you want.”
Kelly’s grip tightened around my hand, and I instinctively knew that something Liam had said had triggered her. I squeezed her hand back reassuringly. “Liam is a doctor, honey, and I’m a nurse. We won’t do anything you don’t want us to do, okay?”
She responded with a slight nod.
“Let’s just focus on bathing and getting into some clean clothes for right now. And something to eat?”
“Food sounds good,” she admitted with a little enthusiasm. “I haven’t eaten in a couple of days.”
“Good. And then we’ll take you home.”
She smiled at the sound of that.
“We should call her parents first,” Liam suggested.
“It’s just me and my mom,” she volunteered.
“You know it’s getting late.” Liam and I exchanged a look. “Maybe you should consider going home in the morning.”
I actually liked that idea, but Kelly had to be okay with it. She’d already been away from her mom for a few days. “Would you be okay with going home in the morning?” I asked her.
She hesitated for a few minutes, staring outside the window again. There wasn’t much to look at now that we were in the desert, but the skyline was on fire. I was about to tell her to forget that I’d asked, that we would take her home tonight, when she said, “Yeah. I guess that’d be okay.”
Fifteen minutes later, we arrived at the clubhouse. Snake pulled up in front of the door.
Cole climbed out of the back when the three of us vacated the front. “We’re gonna go back for the bikes and stop off at the hospital.” He and Liam stopped to face each other and exchanged a few words. “Send someone out so they can go with us to bring your bike back.”
“Keep me informed about Klutz.”
“Soon as we hear something I’ll text you.”
“Ah, Doc,” Savage called from the back seat. “Have whoever you send out meet us in the back. We have some garbage to unload first.”
I sensed the garbage that he was referring to was Tamara, Monk, and Bronx, but I wondered what else was in the back apart from the playground and a few picnic tables. What had I missed? There was also a garage where they worked on their bikes. I’d never had a reason to go inside it. Deciding that Kelly and I didn’t need to be around for this, I picked up her hand.
“Honey.” I waited until Liam turned his attention on me. “We’ll be in your room.”
He took the few steps that separated us and cupped my cheek, and then his lips were on mine in a brief and tender kiss. “I’ll be right in, babe.” He kissed me again before releasing me.
Despite the number of bikes parked outside, I was relieved when we stepped inside the clubhouse and found that it was unusually quiet. A few of the men in the bar area looked our way, but immediately went right back to what they’d been doing. I knew that it would soon be busy and noisy though, because it was almost dinner time, and as far as I knew, we were still on lockdown. Sounds carried from the kitchen, revealing that the women were busy preparing food.
I pulled Kelly directly to Liam’s room. Once inside with the door closed, we both released a sigh of relief and then smiled at each other. “Why don’t you get a shower, honey, and I’ll find you some clothes.” I opened the bathroom door. Sensing her hesitation, I added, “You’re safe here, Kelly. I promise you. These are good people, and they only want to help you.” I held her gaze so she could see the truth in my eyes.
