Joy (Hell's Handlers MC 7)

“Y-you mean like for the night?”

“No, sweetie,” Toni answered. “We mean for as long as you’d like to stay. Forever even.”

“So you’d be like my parents? Do you want to adopt me?” Her shocked gaze shifted between the two of them.

“We’d be whatever you want us to be. Any role you need us to play, we’ll do it,” Zach said.

Toni met his gaze. “Thank you,” she mouthed. “I love you.”

He shot her a wink. Though he’d do anything for his woman, this was no longer just about granting Toni’s wish. Lindsey was a sweet kid, given the rawest of deals. Were she to say in the Chrome Disciples grasp, her life would be complete and utter shit. She’d be whored around like nothing more than a common street hooker, no matter how hard she fought it. Any hopes and dreams she had would never come to fruition. After meeting her and seeing the way she interacted with Toni, Zach knew in his bones she’d be the perfect fit for them. She’d help make them into even more of a family than they already were.

He looked forward to making Blade and Crank pay for the terror and pain they caused this sweet girl.

“Is this for real?” she whispered, tears for a new reason now.

“It’s very for real,” Toni whispered back.

“Yes! Yes, please! I’d love too.” Her arms came out from under the heavy blankets and hugged Toni back.

“But wait, what about the MC?”

“You just let us worry about them, okay?” Now that she had the Handlers at her back, he’d do everything he could to lift the burden of constant fear off her shoulders. Though it might not be easy. Chances were high, the club would try to get their property back.

Lindsey nodded, then seemed to sag into the bed as though no longer having to worry took all the air out of her.

“You think they’ll try to come get you back?” Toni asked.

Lindsey shook her head. “I don’t know. Probably not. Mostly they just always seemed annoyed by me. Blade threatened to kick me out on the street a lot. I think he just kept me around to mess with my brother’s head. Pete is always trying to get back in with the MC.”

“Will your brother come for you?”

The girl snorted. “Uh, no. He hates me. He was so mad when my parents died. Not because he cared about them either, but because he got stuck with me. Nah, he won’t care.”

“All right, then it’s settled,” Toni said with a smile. “You’ll come home with us when you are released.”

Hopefully it would be just that easy.

What started out as a grin, quickly morphed into a yawn as Lindsey’s eyes began to droop.

“Come on, baby,” Zach said to Toni. “Let’s go home. She needs to rest.”

Toni glanced down at Lindsey, who’d already fallen asleep. “I don’t know,” she whispered as she gently extricated herself from Lindsey’s arms. As she dropped her feet off the side of the bed, Zach tugged her up to stand with him, ignoring the deep ache in his shoulder. “I think I should stick around while she sleeps.”

“Babe,” he said as he pulled her flush against him. “We’ll come back. Give me two hours. You can take a warm bath and a nap.”

One of Toni’s eyebrows arched. “A nap, huh?”

With a playful grin, he glided his hands down her back to her ass, where he gave a sensual squeeze. “That’s right. A nap.”

Toni bit her lip as she glanced over her shoulder at Lindsey. “I don’t know. What if she wakes up and she’s scared?”

“Thunder is right outside her door. We’ll be back in two hours, I promise. And if she wakes, Thunder can call and hand her his phone, so she can talk to one of us.”

Toni still looked doubtful. “I’m just worried about—”

He cut her off with a soft kiss. The kind Toni melted into. Breaking it off before he actually wanted to, he brushed his lips against her cheek on his way to her ear. “Please,” he whispered. “I need this. I need you, naked and in my arms…well my good arm. I know you’re safe, but it was way too fucking close, baby. Please come home with me now.”

By the time he drew back to gaze at Toni, her eyes had changed to a warm melted chocolate. She pressed her lips to his, and he let his eyes drift shut as he absorbed the wonderful feeling of his woman in his arms.

Whole. Safe. Unharmed.

Just as the kiss began to grow a little too heated for a hospital room, Toni drew back. “I’ll come home with you now on one condition?” she said with a seductive smile.

Zach tilted his head, holding her against his erection. “Oh yeah? What’s that?”

“You join me in the bath.”

Fuck yeah. “Baby, you couldn’t keep me outta there if you tried.”