Rocket (Hell's Handlers MC 5)

With a yelp, she spun and sprinted outside. The day was truly beautiful. Seventy degrees, sunny, no humidity. There could have been a tornado in her driveway for all she took note. The only thing she cared about was getting outside the walls she could never live within again.

Once she was locked behind the wheel of her car, she pulled out her phone to call Logan. That task took longer than it should have. Her damn hands still hadn’t quit trembling.

As she listened to the phone ring once, twice, then a third time, memories of the most horrifying night of her life assaulted her.

Lefty looming over her.

Lefty laughing and mocking her.

Lefty touching her.

Lefty hitting her.

“You got him,” she whispered. “He can’t hurt you. You won.”

“Clo?”

“L-logan?” No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t keep the hysteria out of her voice. “I need you. Now.”

He was all business immediately. “Baby, you hurt? Tell me what’s wrong.” He sounded frantic. She hated to do this to him. The ride over would be hell on him, and he’d been through enough lately. They both had.

“I-I’m okay.” Throbbing face notwithstanding. “He-he’s here,” she whispered.

“Esposito?” Confusion and anger came through in his voice.

“N-no. Lefty. He was in my bedroom. We fought.” How she managed to get that out without stuttering, she’d never know.

“Motherfucker!” he screamed into the phone. “Where the hell is he now?”

She started to laugh, a slightly hysterical sound. Logan must think she’d lost her mind. “In my kitchen. Unconscious. I tied him up.” She couldn’t keep the smug note out of her voice.

“You tied him up.” Logan said. “Fuck, baby, I’m so goddammed proud of you. Leaving now, Clo. Be there in fifteen.”

“B-but you’re half an hour away.”

“I’ll be there in fifteen minutes,” he said with more force.

“Okay.”

“Are you safe?”

“Y-yes. I think so. I’m sitting in my car with the doors locked. I don’t think he can escape.”

“Good, baby. That’s good. Turn the car on just in case you need to get away. You did great. I’ll take it from here, okay.”

She breathed a sigh of relief. It was done. Logan would call in the club, they’d remove Lefty and it would be all over. The man who hurt her would finally pay. Best part, she’d gotten in some damn good shots. She’d forever have the pleasure of hurting the man who’d hurt her.

“Thank you,” she said as she slid her key into the ignition. Just being on the phone with Logan had steadied her to the point she no longer trembled.

“Fuck, babe, don’t thank me for that shit. Stay on the line with me, okay? Don’t care if you don’t talk.”

“Okay.”

She had no clue how long it actually took him to arrive, but it felt like a lifetime. With the phone pressed to her ear, she stared at her house, and listened to Logan’s even breathing. In some kind of trance, she didn’t hear the rumble of his motorcycle approach. When he tapped on her window, she nearly flew through the sunroof.

“Shit!” she cried, slamming a hand over her heart.

“Sorry. Tried not to scare you,” he called through the closed window.

“I don’t care,” she said as she shoved the door open and launched herself into his arms. They immediately engulfed her with crushing force. Exactly what she needed to feel safe. “He touched my things. I can’t—” She swallowed as she shook her head. “I can’t live in there ever again.”

“Shh.” He stroked the back of her head. “You don’t have to. Hell, you don’t have to step a fucking foot in this house again if you don’t want to. I’ll get him out of here. We might have to wait until the sun goes down.” With his hands cradling her face, he drew back and assessed the damage. Rage darkened his eyes. “Fuck.”

“I’m okay, Logan. Just some bruising and a cut. I’ve had worse.” She gave him a wry grin but quickly realized mentioning how he found her was a mistake of epic proportions.

His face hardened to stone. A shiver ran down her spine as he transformed from a concerned lover to a merciless killer.

“I’m going to take you back to my house while I deal with him, okay?”

“Um, maybe I should stay with you.”

“No. Let me just go in and see what we’re dealing with. Wait here.” He kissed her forehead as she nodded then he started for the front door. He walked like a jungle cat tracking its prey.

Unease washed over her. Though Logan hadn’t said anything, Chloe knew Lefty wouldn’t be leaving her house alive.

“Hold on,” she called out. “Don’t you have to call Copper?”

He looked her straight in the eye and she shivered. His deep blue irises were nearly black with a gaze that promised death. Never before had she seen that side of him. The side that could kill like a well-oiled machine. She wasn’t afraid of him. He’d never hurt her. Even in the lethal mood he was in, she had full confidence he’d never so much as lay a hand on her.