Her lack of eye contact and the expression on her face as she pulls a pair of panties from her bag and slips them on says it all.
I sit up. “Hey, is everything okay?”
Lily swallows thickly as she walks back to bed and climbs on.
She takes my hand. “I thought about you a lot when you were gone.”
Foreboding tingles in the pit of my stomach. “I did too. In fact, you were all I thought about. But I can tell there’s something on your mind, and for some reason, you’re afraid to tell me what it is.” I squeeze her hand. “Whatever it is, Lily, you can talk to me.”
“I know, and I’m ready. I just don’t know how—”
Sudden voices out in the hallway cut her off.
There’s commotion in the clubhouse.
“Hold that thought.” I jump off the bed and quickly pull on a pair of jeans. Going by the noise on the other side of the doorway, something has happened, and whatever it is, it isn’t good.
I bolt from the bedroom to the clubhouse bar, where I find Merrick and Ghoul dragging a nearly unconscious Venom over to one of the couches along the wall. He’s hanging limp between them and groaning. He’s busted up pretty bad.
“What the hell happened?” I ask, doing my belt up as I walk over to them.
“Inferno…” Venom croaks.
“Fucking ran him off the road,” Merrick says.
“Three of them,” Ghoul adds.
“You were with him?” I ask Merrick.
“No, we were outside when he rode in and collapsed in the parking lot,” Merrick explains.
“I was coming home from Heidi’s…” he pauses to catch his breath, “… they appeared out of nowhere and pushed me off the road.”
“You sure they were Inferno?” Jack asks, walking up behind me.
Venom groans in pain as he nods. “After I got off my bike, three of them laid their goddamn boots into me. Gave me a message to give you.”
I watch Jack’s hands fist at his sides, but his face is calm. “What was the message?”
Venom winces as I feel around his torso for anything broken. “Said the Kings’ reign is over. That this is Inferno territory now.”
Jack’s jaw tightens. “What’s that fucking psychopath up to?”
He’s talking about Max Stonecypher.
I glance over my shoulder. Lily is standing over by the bar with her arms wrapped around her waist.
“One of them also said…” He winces when I move his arm. “They know Lily is here, and they’re coming for her.”
My eyes shoot to his. “They mentioned Lily?”
Venom nods and I glance over at her again.
All the color has drained from her face.
I quickly establish Venom’s wrist is broken, and he’s more than likely got a few busted ribs. Not to mention some gruesome road rash from coming in contact with the asphalt at high speed.
“We’re going to have to get you to the hospital,” I tell him. He needs an X-ray of his ribs and spine, and until Faith can wave her magic fundraising wand and get me an X-ray machine that can do that, I can’t treat possible spinal injuries here at the clubhouse. The mobile X-ray machine I have just won’t cut it.
“No fucking hospital. Just give me some Kings’ Pride.”
“Can’t do that, brother. Moonshine ain’t going to take the pain away or fix these bones.”
Kings’ Pride is the club’s legitimate business. Licensed moonshine, renowned for its face-melting bang. One shot is enough to make all your problems go away.
Except broken bones.
“Help me get him into Earl’s van,” I say to Merrick and Ghoul.
I follow them, but Jack stops me. “You stay here.”
“We’ve got to get him over to St. Benedicts.”
“Merrick and Ghoul can do that. You need to stay here and sort this shit out.” He looks past me to Lily. She’s leaning against the bar with her hands shoved in her hair, looking devastated.
“She didn’t have anything to do with this,” I say.
Jack’s dark eyes find mine. “Maybe. Maybe not. But her daddy certainly did.” He walks away, and I feel his suspicion wash over me from head to toe.
When I turn back to Lily, she’s gone.
I find her in my bedroom, shoving clothes into her bag.
Feeling the sudden buzz of panic, I try to stop her. “What are you doing?”
“What does it look like? I’m leaving.”
“This isn’t your fault.”
“Of course, it is. You heard what Venom said. They know I’m here. Next thing, they’ll be waging war on the clubhouse.” She zips the bag closed and looks at me. “We both know the best thing would be for me to leave.”
Desperation crashes through me. I don’t want to lose her, not when I’ve just found her again. “That’s not true.”
“They’re coming for me, Doc. They think I belong to them. For everyone’s sake, I need to get the hell out of here. I don’t want to risk anyone getting hurt. Your club didn’t ask for this. You didn’t ask for this.”