Wild (Diamondback MC 2)

“I’m assuming this isn’t up for debate?” If it didn’t hurt to smile, I’d have done just that when his lips tip up.

“You’d be right about that. Come on, this may take you some time, and if you’re up to it, we’ll talk. If not, it’ll hold until you wake up from a nap. Your body needs as much rest as it can while you’re healing.” Yep, he’s not going to let me walk out of here and keep him away from the shit that will surely knock on his door.

“Alright, but just for right now. We’ll come back to this discussion when I’m clean and more coherent.”

“Fuck. Come on, babe. Not liking that you’re already getting tired again. When you get out of the shower, I’ll have Doc see if it’s time for more pain meds.” Definitely should have left Kyle sooner rather than later. That’s my cross to bear though, and I’ll be living with those ramifications my entire life. It just shouldn’t need to land on Shovel too.

Five

Shovel

“You find anything out yet?” I ask Ruger after helping Persephone get in the bathroom, waiting while she did her business, then bandaging shit. It took an act of God not to lose my shit seeing the way this son of a bitch shot her, beat her, with bruising coming in the form of purple tinged with red, and through it all, as she let the remainder of the scraps of her dress go, Persephone was rock-fuckin’-steady. Perfect fuckin’ Ol’ Lady material. And whether she knew it or not, that’s exactly what she is. And don’t even get me started on pretending to be a gentleman when she stripped out of the rest of her clothes. Fuck, I turned my back, but that doesn’t mean the mirror didn’t give me a damn peek of Persephone’s slender back leading to her curvy ass and legs.

After her shower, another ten minutes of fuckin’ torture as I helped her into a pair of my boxers and a shirt of mine that took some finagling since she could barely use her left arm. Then it was putting her ass back in bed, having already changed the sheets since Doc worked on her on my bed. By the time I had the covers pulled on top of her, she was yawning non-stop. A quick nod to Doc in the hallway had him bringing her some pain pills, and then she was out.

“Kind of. Like she said, no missing person’s report. I found one Persephone in a one-hundred-mile radius, and you aren’t going to like this, Pres.” Ruger is sitting at the bar along with Cannon, Doc, and Razor.

“Alright, I know the others aren’t back yet. Let’s go to the meeting room. We’ll see if we can’t get them on the line.” Dice, Crank, and Bullet stayed behind while Razor and Rage were already on their way back after I found Persephone. When we’re on the road, it’s radio silence unless you’re stoppin’ for gas. And I know Razor he wouldn’t stop until he was back here where Raven would meet him.

“Raven, you feel like watchin’ Persephone?” I ask her.

“Sure, I’m going to need Cannon to make a run to the grocery store if we’re all staying here.” Raven was the only Ol’ Lady we had down here. Now Persephone will be right there with her. Little does she know it.

“Make a list. This won’t take long.” The boys are already clearing out and heading down the hall.

“Will do.” She kisses Razor and then heads to the kitchen.

“Heard you’re claimin’ the girl. Is it because she was hurt or somethin’ else?” Razor asks since we’re alone now.

“Somethin’ else along with some piece of shit droppin’ a woman for dead in our territory.” I lift my chin, and he gets it. We walk down the hall and make our way into the meeting room. Razor more than anyone here, even Ruger, fuckin’ gets it.

“Guess we oughta make the boys quit waiting on us while we gossip. Gotta say Raven will be happier than shit havin’ another woman in the clubhouse.”

“I have no doubt, brother.”

“Alright, Ruger, spill it. I’ve got about thirty minutes until Persephone wakes up, and even though Raven’s pretty damn convincing, I have a feeling she’ll be flying out of here,” I state.

“Persephone Chapman, daughter to the belated Judge Johnson Chapman and his wife, Jemma Chapman, lives a quiet life with her boyfriend, Kyle Landers.” Ruger holds my eyes with his and keeps going, “Paralegal to Schmuster and Schmuster. Parents were carjacked a year ago, still haven’t found the murderer. Enter this Landers fella a month after her world has been rocked to its core. I imagine he was what she imagined a life raft would be. That’s all I have for now. Again, like she said, there’s no missing person’s report. There’re two reasons for that—it’s been less than twenty-four hours, or something is really fuckin’ fishy.”