AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Roses, dahlias, peonies, luscious greens, and much more begin to fill the empty spaces. Petals is alive with color again. The only time we take a break is for lunch, when Thunder sends Noah over to Hanna’s to pick up some sandwiches.
Some of the Lady Pride drop by to help out. Camille and Abby come by to help me put together a few bouquets, but before I can even put them in the window to sell, they buy them themselves.
“This store is dangerous,” Camille says. “I can’t seem to walk away without picking up some fresh flowers.” She giggles, and Abby joins in.
“I know what you mean,” Abby says. “I love this vase.” She picks up an ice-blue vase with a gold leaf design in the center.
“That would look wonderful on the fireplace ledge,” Camille urges. “With pink roses.”
I can’t help myself; I take three large peonies and mix them with purple lilacs and arrange them in the vase, adjusting them just so. I add a little boxwood greenery, and by the time I’m done, I’m loving it and decide to make several others similar to the one I completed. I’m sure they’ll sell immediately.
“Yes. Yes,” Abby exclaims. “This is better than roses. It’s beautiful.” She claps her hands excitedly.
Inspiration hits, and when the girls leave, I make wonderful displays for the front window. Willow drops in for a while and brings us coffees. Charli comes in to check on her brother and remind him he has homework to finish. She ends up calling a bride she’s designing a dress for and referring her to me for her wedding day flowers.
I’m so busy that I don’t realize how fast the time has flown by. When I lift my head from the last bunch of flowers, it’s dark outside. Thunder is sending Noah home when the headlights of an Escalade start rolling by slowly in front of the shop. It doesn’t come to a stop, but the passenger door is thrown open and a body flies out and rolls to the curb.
I screech in horror, covering my mouth with my hands. Noah’s about to run out the door, but Thunder yanks him back inside.
“You wait here,” he says.
As Thunder’s about to step outside, I grasp his hand. “Don’t go,” I beg.
“I’m not alone.” He jerks his head to the door, where Saint and Hammer are sprinting across the street. I let him go and watch as he runs out to meet the others. Saint crouches over the body, raking his hand through his hair, then across his face. I can see the anguish in his face. Whoever it is, they’re dead.
Thunder and Hammer are down on their haunches next to him. They slowly stand up, huddled together. Thunder looks back at Noah and me, shaking his head. Noah pulls me away from the door and farther into the room and guides me to a chair. He hands me a glass of water, keeping a soothing hand on my shoulder.
I hear sirens and cars pulling up to the shop with their lights flashing. The police have arrived. I wait for Thunder to come back to me, I’m thinking things just got worse.
* * *
Thunder
Guard stands by my side as the cops ask their questions. We used to have a rough relationship with the sheriff and his men, then they finally saw what the Pride was all about, and they relented. Recently, we’ve even worked together on several occasions, mostly when a skip happens and they call Ghost to find the guy, but we’ve all come to an understanding, respecting each other’s boundaries.
The girl was dead before she hit the ground, beaten to shit, then a bullet to the heart. The person who did this is sending a message. A bloody message meant to rattle Rose.
Whoever this woman is, she has track marks down her arms. A junkie. Her revealing clothing suggests she worked the streets. Saint did a quick assessment of her before the sheriff arrived and confirmed our assumption. They beat her bloody, but why? And who the hell is she?
No purse or ID. Nothing to tell us who she is, which means we need to wait for forensics to do their thing, then have Orion hack into their records to find out. It could be that it doesn’t matter who she is, but the message they’re sending is clearly to obey, or else.
Sofia was called to the scene immediately. Guard takes no chances when a body is dropped off practically at our doorstep. Doesn’t happen often, but we know how to ensure our protection. We have our little pit bull to protect our interests. I think even the sheriff is intimidated by Sofia’s intelligence.
“Go to Rose,” Guard says. “We’ve got this, and she needs you.” The brothers have rallied, and when I scan the street, I see them all. Demon is front and center, but Steady, War, Orion, Risk, and the others are all here too.
“Yeah.” I let out a heavy breath. “This is going to fuck with her head. The phone call earlier was a warning. This fucker is upping his game to screw with her.”
Risk steps forward. “I’ll call Reno. I’ll update him and see if he’s heard anything yet.”
“I took a photo of her face. See if he or anyone can ID the girl,” Saint adds. I didn’t even think of doing that. Jesus! Normally, I would be right on that.
Guard senses what I’m thinking. “Knock it off. Your first and most important task is looking out for your woman. You did the right thing.”
“What do you think this means?” I ask. I know that Guard has this uncanny ability to feel and sense danger and predict what comes next. It used to freak me out, but now I see the possibilities of this gift.
“This blood-soaked, messy message is meant to tell the Pride to get out of the way of what they want. That’s not going to happen. They want a war, they’ll get one,” he declares. Ghost is right beside his brother, and he and Guard exchange glances.
“Is it going to come to that?” Ghost asks, but I think he already knows the answer.
