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Freak jumps up, immediately grabbing the tray from Heartbreaker but not meeting her eyes. I look at her and she gives me big eyes. What the fuck is his problem? Before I can say a word, he looks up, face a slight pink.
“Hey, Heartbreaker, how’s it goin’? Thanks for this, I’m starving. Hey, do you got any energy drinks by chance, forgot to bring one?”
She angles toward me, giving me a look I don’t know. Then I see in her kutte pocket, a can hanging out. Oh, no fucking way, I told her not to. Before I can say a word, I catch the way she’s looking at him. Are these two together? Since when? And of course my mouth runs away before I can think.
“Oh my Lord, are you two freaks bumping nasties? When did this shit even start? I thought you lived in front of the computer, Freak, and, Heartbreaker, you hate computers. Come on, someone start talking. What? Cat got your tongues, for Christ’s sake.”
Heartbreaker turns bright red to match her hair but says not a word. She reaches inside her kutte, grabbing a can of—oh shit—Coke and hands it to Freak. His eyes are looping around the room, but not once does he look Heartbreaker in the eyes. My sister turns to leave then stops and looks at the two of us.
“Raven, no, Freak and I aren’t bumping anything. We barely even know each other and after this he’ll probably not ever want to see or talk to me again. Sorry about her, Freak, she’s got no filter or, at times, common sense, though she’s smart as can be. If either of you need anything, just call me.”
With that she leaves, shutting the door behind her. I hear Freak let out a deep breath so I turn to see he’s staring at the door, looking like a lost puppy. Damn it, I jumped the gun. My matchmaking skills must be off today. When Freak looks my way, I’m stunned. He looks shocked.
“Never thought she’d even look my way. Fuck, with all the other brothers around who are bigger, stronger, and look better than I’ll ever look, didn’t think I had a chance. Son of a bitch, I’ve got a chance, don’t I, Raven? If I wasn’t in here with you, I’d do a dance or kick my heels up. But we got work to do, so I’ll push this awesome feeling to the side for the time being. Oh, thanks for that, Raven, you opened a door. I was too chickenshit to even try to touch the fuckin’ handle. Now back to this shit, that’s gotta be Glory’s kid, right? So if she is, where the hell is Glory’s husband, and the million-dollar question is why are they with that brotherhood? That’s what we need to dig up because without that we won’t get any answers. So let’s put our heads together and get the answers so we can take them to Glory, Tank, and Tink.”
With that he grabs a wrap, taking a huge bite. He pops the tab on his Coke—swallowing a quarter of the can—then whips out his laptop, flipping it open, and I watch as his fingers fly across the keys. I think to myself,what the fuck just happened?Then I grab a wrap, starting to eat as I look through the pictures on my screen, trying to find anything that would lead us to where this young woman is being held, I’m assuming, and more importantly, why.
Looking at Freak then back at my computer, I can just feel this is going to be one long-ass day. Just what my aching back needs. NOT!
FOURTEEN
‘GLORY’
NORA
Not sure what the hell is going on, but Raven told me it’s extremely important and urgent that I get, in her words,‘my fine ass’to her office in the clubhouse. So once again I’m getting ready to jump in my cage to go meet her, then on the way back I’ll pick up Olivia from Taz’s.
Then I hear the roar of pipes that seem to be coming my way. When I see the group of bikes, I know this has something to do with what Raven wants me in her office for. I see Tink, then Shadow, Rebel, and bringing up the rear is Enforcer, Sebastian, and who the fuck is that? Must be one of the newest prospects I’ve not met yet.
I walk to the middle of our front yard and wait. When they all circle me in, they turn their bikes off but remain sitting on them. Well, everyone except Sebastian, who gets off and walks directly to me, pulling me close. Now I’m starting to worry. What the hell has everyone freaked out?
“Ride with me, Bae.”
“What’s going on, Boo? Why are all of you here and why does Raven want me to rush to her office?”
“Do you trust me, Nora? If you do, ride with me and you’ll get your answers. Otherwise, get in your cage and follow your sisters.”
He didn’t say it but I heard what he didn’t say. If I don’t ride with him, he won’t be with me. That scares the hell out of me, so I walk to my cage, open the trunk, and grab a coat. Putting it on, I walk back to Sebastian and he puts his arm out for me. I grab it and lift up onto the back of his bike. All at once they start their bikes up and, in a line, we ride out of our driveway, heading toward our town, Timber-Ghost.
At first, I think it is the cool air and from being on the back of a bike, but then the trembling begins. Sebastian puts his left hand on my calf, squeezing it, letting me know he’s there. Running through everything in my head, I can’t fathom what it could be that has everyone up in arms, so to speak. Unless, oh God, could Oscar have gotten out of jail and no one notified me? I grab on to Sebastian tighter and place my head on his kutte, praying that out of everything my thoughts aren’t right. The thought of that monster back on the streets turns my stomach. We have no idea everything he was into before he lost his mind and attacked my family and took me, where I spent over two years living in his hell.
There isn’t a day that goes by that Lilly and Gino don’t have a place in my heart and, more importantly, in my thoughts. Sometimes I wonder what happened to the two of them. Other times, I hate to say it, try to forget they even existed because then maybe it won’t hurt as bad still. Even with how full my life is, there is a part of my heart that will never heal. I lost my first love and husband, my lovely innocent daughter, and my baby, all because one man was fucking insane. I can’t go back to visit my family because it tears my heart out when I see places we went to as a family. Last time we did a ride out to the Devil’s Handmaidens Atlantic City Chapter, as thrilled as I was to see my sisters Harlow, Pepper and Momma, everywhere we went I was looking for Gino and Lilly, but worse I was scanning to see if Oscar was watching me again. I told Harlow then I’d probably not make the trip again, so she told me it just gives her a reason to jump on her bike and ride out to Montana.
Besides this, the other thing that comes to mind is maybe it’s the brotherhood again. We need to figure out a way to take them down, once and for all. They have so many ties to very important and powerful people in this country that we don’t know the first thing about. With my mind all over the damn place, I’m shocked when we pull down the road to our clubhouse. Sebastian again puts his arm out for me to dismount. Once off, I wait ’til everyone has parked and are all standing together. Tink comes toward me then grabs me, pulling me close to her. I feel her grab my kutte to pull her tiny self up to me.
“Glory, no matter what the fuck is going on, remember one thing always. I have your back, as do all the Devil’s Handmaidens sisters, including our prospects. We’ll figure it out, so please don’t forget that. Now, let’s get this shit done.”
With that she opens the door and we all head inside. Sebastian is hanging on to my hand and that alone gives me some comfort. That is until I see who else is already in our common/party room. Tank, Noodles, Panther, Avalanche, and Ollie, who has a couple of his people—including Phantom and Bloody Mary—or I guess should call her Spirit as that’s the name she gave to Shadow. Also, a couple of others I don’t recognize. Damn, why do we need all these folks here? I have no idea.
Sebastian and I follow Tink and Shadow down the corridor not to Tink’s office, but I’m guessing to Raven’s. Shadow pounds first then scans her eye before putting her left hand on the pad. The door clicks then opens. This office is pretty big, but not with all the people filing in. We are the last to squeeze in, and when I look around, I see Heartbreaker and Freak here too. Well fuck, I was gonna ask what the ever-lovin’ fuck is going on but I hear Tank clear his throat. Enforcer let’s out his piercing whistle and the room goes an eerie quiet. When it’s silent, Tank starts in.
“All right, let’s dive right in. Everyone kinda knows Glory’s story and if ya don’t, it’s hers to speak about, so if she’s not shared, she probably thinks it’s not your business. Now, everyone knows that Raven and Freak have been working on a special project for both my daughter and me. Glory, I think you’re probably the only one who doesn’t know about this project. I need you to try and stay calm now, please. Let me finish before you lose your shit and, believe me, I know you’re gonna lose it. Their main objective is to locate Gino and Lilly. One or both, we needed to find out first if they were alive and, second, where they were. Today, Raven then Freak came upon some footage from the Thunder Club Knuckle Brotherhood. Now this is from multiple compounds, but they each found something that made them look harder. Then they got together and dug deeper. And what they found just about knocked us outta our shoes. Calm down, Glory, told you not sharin’ ’til you’re calm. And believe me, I know how hard it is to be calm.”
I watch as Tank’s eyes flip to Tink and Shadow. I feel a shift as the door opens wide and I see every Devil’s Handmaidens sister in the hallway with stoic, serious faces. Oh God, please don’t let this be something like Taz or Vixen just went through. Don’t think I’ll be able to make it if another drama is about to unfold. Sebastian lets my hand go and pulls me into him so our fronts are touching everywhere. The room goes eerily quiet as he gently lifts my chin with two fingers. When he places his lips on mine, it’s not a hot and heavy kiss or a quick see ya later one. This one means something and I can’t figure out what. When he finally lifts up, he stares at me for a minute before he whispers for my ears only.
“Bae, remember we are in this together. I’ll be here until I die or you kick my ass to the curb. In a minute I’m gonna have you turn around and look Raven’s way. I want you to be aware that I’ll be right behind you, so if you need anything at all, reach behind you, that’s where my ass will be. Ready?”
“For fuck’s sake, Boo, I have no idea what’s about to happen. You are all freaking the shit out of me. Just get it over with, will you, Sebastian? The suspense is giving me a damn ulcer.”
