Joy (Hell's Handlers MC 7)

“Oh my God,” Toni said on a gasp. “He’s using the same—"

“Keep moving.” Zach circled his arm around her shoulders. “It’s not our business, babe.”

After a good fifteen more minutes of continued searching, Toni turned to him. “She’s not here. Zach, she’s not here.” The high pitch to her voice let him know how close she was to panicking.

They’d—well he and Louie had—looked in every ramshackle shelter and under every blanket they came across to no avail. Lindsey wasn’t there.

“What if something happened to her?” A cloud of white drifted from her mouth each time she spoke. “What if she’s hurt somewhere? Zach, I never should have let her leave.” Her cold hand gripped his with a crushing force.

Shit, he hadn’t realized she didn’t wear her gloves.

“Shh, babe, breathe.” Rubbing her hands between his as he guided her back to the warmth of their car, Zach said. “We don’t even know for sure she was staying here. She may have a home, Toni.”

Her shoulders sagged, and Zach wanted to take Louie, run back under the bridge, and wail on someone until they coughed up information on Lindsey. But it’d do no good. Chances were high not a single person there even knew who the girl was. That place didn’t exist for socializing. It was a place to hunker down during the long, frigid nights and nothing more.

When they reached the truck, Toni turned and slammed into him. He caught her with an arm around her back as his senses went on immediate alert for danger. The harsh sob that tore from her throat nearly wrecked him and had him relaxing his guard. Nothing had hurt or scared her. At least nothing out there with them tonight. This was her internal distress.

“Shh, babe, she’ll be okay. She’s come by the diner every day, right?”

Toni nodded against his chest.

“Okay, then we’ll talk to her tomorrow. Find out where she’s living and what help she needs. We’ll make sure she knows she’s welcome to stay with us even if she has a home. Because it sure doesn’t sound like the fuckers she lives with take care of her.”

“We?” Toni asked, but the word was muffled by his shirt.

He gripped her upper arms with a bit more force than necessary, resisting the urge to shake her. “Of fucking course, we. Shit, babe, don’t you know by now that we’re a team?”

Toni lifted her tear-stained face and finally gave him a smile. “Yeah, Zach, I know it. It’s the best thing in my life.” She shivered and the tip of her nose shone bright red from the cold. At some point during their embrace, she’d wormed her frigid hands under his shirt and used his skin to warm herself.

He kissed her, long and hard until she whimpered into his mouth and her nails curled into his stomach muscles. “Come on, baby. Let’s go home so I can get you out of these clothes and warm you up.”

She smiled against his mouth. “That sounds really nice.”

Tonight, he’d do what he could to keep her mind from spiraling, and tomorrow he’d meet this girl who’d been lucky enough to capture his woman’s heart.

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHLOE

Chloe inhaled the crisp, chilly air as she curled her hands around her large peppermint mocha latte. That’s right; she’d sold out for a trendy seasonal coffee. And it tasted fantastic.

A sugar rush in a cup.

Some might call her crazy for lounging on a bench in the park on a day where the high had been estimated to only hit forty-five degrees, but ever since Chloe had begun frequenting more public and crowded locations, she’d come to this park to settle her mind and find quiet. Rocket knew where she was, and no one had seen a Chrome Disciple since they’d showed up at the diner, so her ol’ man had allowed her to head to the park.

A peaceful sanctuary to breathe, regroup, and ensure she wasn’t feeling panicky or overwhelmed, she’d developed the habit of spending time in the park after a particularly anxiety-producing task. And three hours in a crowded shopping mall less than a week out from Christmas certainly counted as anxiety-producing. Especially for a woman who’d been only a few panic attacks away from full-on agoraphobia about six months ago.

Since she’d gotten together with Rocket, and begun learning to fight from Izzy and Jigsaw, her ability to spend time in locations full of strangers had greatly improved. But that didn’t mean the task was without its drawbacks. Exhaustion and frayed nerves being two of them.

So she came to the park to breathe the clean mountain air, soak up the sun, and revel in the peace, quiet, and precious feelings of safety in solitude. Rocket knew where she was and always demanded a text when she arrived, left, and returned home.

With the hustle and bustle of the holidays keeping her busy at every turn, finding time to quiet her mind had never been more important. It was more than a year ago now that Chloe had been kidnapped and violently assaulted, leaving her to think she’d never have a normal social life or healthy relationship again. While not everyone would consider falling in love with an assassin turned outlaw biker a healthy relationship, it certainly beat out what she’d been doing to control her panic before she met Rocket.