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“Come on, Wylde,” Blaze took my upper arm and tugged me toward the exit. “Let’s get the fuck outta here and back to the clubhouse.”
Chapter Eleven
Danica
“I’m going to be gray headed before this is all over.”
They arrived back at the clubhouse to the whole of the Iron Tzars manning the fence around the compound. Armed men looking outside, watching everyone who approached gave the place a feel of being in the middle of a war zone. I wasn’t so sure that wasn’t an apt description given when we’d just been through.
There were only five of the club members who’d gone to the school while everyone else, including myself, had locked down the compound tighter than a snare. Once the others passed through the gate, Roman met them just outside the club house. I had to watch from a window because the bastard wouldn’t let anyone out until he’d confirmed with Sting all was clear on their end.
“They got her,” Roman said without preamble. “They’ve arrested Jordan. Not only did what you send the police help, Wylde, but it led them to the proof she was behind the cell outage. I didn’t understand it all, but she’s got more skill than we gave her credit for as a hacker. The resource officers and the ROTC teacher who were hit are in the hospital. One of them is fine, minor injuries, but two of them are in surgery now. Both are expected to be fine. This is from Stitches, so no one else is in the know yet.” Roman continued. “Leo is at the hospital too. He has severe head trauma, but he’s alive.”
“Of course, he is,” Lemon muttered. “I’ve got to start lifting weights to build more muscle. If I could’ve hit him harder, the fucker’d be dead. Though brain damage might be just as good.”
“Lemon,” I scolded. “Don’t say things like that.” I pulled her into my arms for a fierce hug. Surprisingly, she not only let me, but she hugged me back just as tightly.
“Don’t worry, honey. There’s a possibility he’s going to have permanent brain damage. Anything legal they try to throw at you will be dealt with by Raven, though he doesn’t anticipate anything,” said Roman.
“Tell me you don’t want him dead too and I’ll take it back.” The girl was going to be the death of me.
“Can’t say that, but I can say that I don’t want it to be you who kills him.” I pulled back to look at her. “I’m so glad you’re safe, Lemon. When neither Apple nor I could get a hold of you…” A strangled sob escaped before I could stop it. Lemon might show some normal emotions like fear or grief in private, but she absolutely wouldn’t out in the open where everyone could see. It was just the way she was wired. Always the protector. The tough one.
“Pull yourself together, Dani,” she hissed. “I’m fine.”
I barked out a laugh. “I’ll get right on that. This is twice in as many weeks. I’m not going to be able to pull myself together for a long fucking time.”
Lemon grinned. “Nice f-bomb, Dani.”
“Brat,” I grumbled with no real heat.
“This could have ended so much worse.” Apple wrapped her arms around me and leaned her head on my shoulder. “We could have all been killed.”
“But we weren’t.” Lemon looked and sounded fierce. “We weren’t, and you’re not even going to think about it.”
“Kinda hard not to. I was so scared he’d shot you, Lemon. We could hear him shooting. How did he not kill anyone?”
“‘Cause he’s a fucking horrible shot. He even missed me with that bigass .357.”
“Wait.” Wylde wrapped his arms around both me and Apple as he confronted Lemon. “What do you mean he missed you?”
“I told you. I saw him and that bitch, Jordan, together outside the school, so I went to investigate. When he pulled a gun, I had to do something. I taunted him. Tried to get him to come after me and leave everyone else alone. It worked. Mostly. He got a couple of the resource officers and one of the ROTC guys. Good thing I lured him in that way instead of through the front door like he’d been going for.”
“I think I’m gonna puke,” I whimpered.
Sure enough…
When I finished, Lemon and Apple were on either side of me as I sat back on my ass and cried, the stress of the day finally crashing down around me. Wylde held my hair out of the way until the girls surrounded me with hugs. Apple cried quietly and Lemon… tried not to. I felt moisture on my shoulder where she tried to bury her face for a moment, but when she pulled back, she’d composed herself.
“I’m sorry, Dani,” Lemon offered. “But I wasn’t letting anything happen to Apple.”
“I know, baby. And I’m proud of you. I really am. But you need to know you matter just as much as Apple. I love you both and don’t want to lose either of you.” I gave her a watery smile. “You’re much stronger than I’ve ever been, honey, but you need to learn there are people all around you who can help you. You don’t have to do it all yourself.”
She shrugged. “I know.” She glanced at Wylde before looking away. “I just don’t trust anyone to do as good a job as me. Except maybe I’ll consider giving Wylde the benefit of the doubt. Unless he starts acting like a fucktard again.”
I barked out a laugh. Wylde just sighed. “Appreciate that, sourpuss.”
That got a scowl from Lemon, but I thought I saw a hint of relief also. Apple was quite possibly the only person she’d ever let see her feelings. Wylde seemed to recognize Lemon needed a way to regain her composure and had given it to her. It made me love him that much more.
