Consumed: A Devil Chaser's MC Romance (4 page)

The fact was, I’d never loved anyone like I loved him, and it was hard to let him go. I wondered if I would ever feel that way about someone again. It didn’t help matters when the nurse told me he’d been calling several times a day to check on me. I needed to stop thinking about him. I’d made my decision, and I had to throw on my big girl panties and live with it.
Crap
. I needed to get out of that damn hospital room before I completely lost my ever-loving mind!

I was stuck, though. The doctors wanted to keep me for a few days to monitor my progress. Over the past few weeks, I’d lost some muscle tone, and they’d told me it might take some time to build my strength back up. Truthfully, I was feeling pretty good and didn’t think it would take me long to get back on my feet.

Tessa called several times, and that helped distract me for a little while. She apologized over and over for not being there with me. Apparently the club was on some sort of lockdown, whatever that meant. They’d even sent one of their “prospector guys” to stand outside my door. Something had happened with Myles, but Tessa wouldn’t tell me much about it. I knew it had something to do with the club, but I didn’t push her to tell me. I’d learned not to ask. She would’ve told me if she could.

Several days later, Bishop finally brought her by to see me. I was so excited. I felt like we hadn’t seen each other in months, and I missed her more than I’d realized. She was my best friend and had always helped me through the hard times in my life. I needed her then more than ever. After being cooped up in that hospital bed for so long, she was my lifeline to the outside world.

“Hey there, sweetie! How are you feeling?” she asked as she raced over and gave me a big hug.

“Better now. It’s so good to see you! I’m about to lose my mind in this place. I’ve missed you all so much,” I told her.

“I’m so sorry that I haven’t been by sooner. The doctors didn’t want me to expose you to the flu. Izzie was really sick, and none of us wanted to risk it,” she told me.

“I hate that she was sick. Is she feeling better?” I asked.

“Yes, much better, finally. Now we just need to get through this whole lockdown thing. It has been a total nightmare,” she said with frustration.

“Does the lockdown have anything to do with the guy that’s been standing outside my door the past few days?” I asked.

“Well… yeah. That’s Levi. He’s one of the prospects from the club. I can’t really go into it, but it’s for your safety. There will be someone else coming to take his place when you’re released from the hospital.”

“
Seriously
? Is that really necessary? It’s not like Bobby and I are still together,” I told her.

“I know, honey, but we all consider you part of the family. And you know, Bishop is all about protecting his family,” she said, her pride evident in her smile.

“Well, Mr. Hot-in-Leather is being overprotective. I don’t think he has anything to worry about with me.” Tessa just shook her head and laughed. She knew it was true. Bishop was totally hot, and I loved picking on her about it. “So, who are they sending to babysit me?” I asked.

“Well, ummm…” she stammered.

“Do not say Bobby, Tess. You know I need my distance from him right now. I know we’ll have to cross paths eventually, but I’m gonna need some space right now,” I told her.

“It’s not Bobby, Court. Bishop knew you wouldn’t want him to do it. I can’t really go into all the details… but John Warren’s dad, Maverick, is going to be staying here for a while, and Bishop thought he’d be….”

“Maverick? Wait, no. I don’t know anything about the guy!”

“It’ll be fine. You’ll really like him, Court. Something bad was going on in his club back in Washington, and he needed a place to lay low,” Tessa explained.

“Ha! Lay low? Look at you talking all Biker Bitch,” I told her, laughing. The truth was I really didn’t care who they chose to watch over me as long as it wasn’t Bobby. I thought it might actually be nice to have something to take my mind off of things, and maybe Maverick would be just the distraction that I needed. “It’s fine. I trust Bishop, and I know he wouldn’t ask Maverick to do this if he didn’t trust him.”

“Bishop cleared him. It might be a little weird having him there at first. Just remember, he’ll be there to watch over you and make sure you’re safe. Do what he says, and everything will be fine,” Tessa said with a warning in her voice. I knew she was worried about me, so I’d do whatever they needed me to.

“Besides, Lily said that he’s really sweet. You might just end up liking him,” Tessa said as she brushed her hair behind her ear.

“Don’t even think about it. No more bikers for me. Besides, I need time to get myself together. I might even take some online classes,” I told her, trying to change the subject.

“That sounds like a great idea. You should do that.”

“I need to get out of here first, and school starts back next week. I have so much to do,” I told her.

“Don’t rush things. You need time to get back to your old self. Besides, Bishop may not want you going back to work yet,” Tessa said with concern.

“Why not?” I asked.

“It may not be safe for either of us to go. We’ll have to wait and see what he says. He’ll do whatever it takes to keep us out of danger, and you could always use the extra time to get back on your feet,” Tessa replied.

“Maybe you’re right, but I need a distraction. The kids would keep my mind off of things with Bobby,” I told her.

“You know, Bobby hasn’t been himself the last few days. Are you sure…?”

“Yep, so don’t start with the motherly advice thing you do. I know I did the right thing. It’s just gonna be hard for a while. I miss him…
a lot
, but I can’t keep making the same mistakes over and over again. It’s time to grow up and stop wishing for things that aren’t gonna happen. Now, how’s Myles?”

“He’s fine. He was a little upset about what happened, but he’s doing better. His wrist was fractured, but it wasn’t bad. They gave him a brace to wear for a few weeks,” she explained. She still didn’t tell me exactly what had happened, but I could tell she was really freaked out about it.

“Tell him I’m thinking about him. I miss everybody so much. I can’t wait to see Drake and Izzie. It’s been too long.”

“The kids miss you, too. They ask about you all the time. We’ll have movie night as soon as you get home,” Tessa promised.

“I’d really like that.”

Bishop tapped on the door before he walked in. He gave me one of his sexy smiles before he said, “Hey there, stranger. Nice to have you back.”

“It’s nice to be back,” I told him.

“Tessa tell you about Maverick?” he asked.

“Yep. I don’t think all that is necessary, but I know you do. So… I’ll roll with it.”

“Good. You’re club, Court. I don’t know why this happened, but you have my word, nothing will happen to you again. We will protect you. Be sure to give us a call when the doctor releases you. I want Maverick to go over and check out your place before you get there.”

“Okay. Fingers crossed that they’ll let me go home tomorrow, and then I want a movie marathon with the kids,” I pleaded.

“You got it.” Tessa leaned over and gave me another hug. “I’ll see you soon. Love ya, girl.”

“Love you, too. Take care of her, Bishop.”

“You know I will,” he said as he reached for her hand. The room seemed so empty as soon as they walked out. I reached for the remote and tried to find something to watch. I was in dire need of a scary movie -- the freakier the better. I was flipping through the channels when a group of motorcycles crossed the screen. I froze. My heart stopped for a minute as the memories of my accident came rushing back to me.

“You ready to go, little man? We better get going, or Lily is going to think I’ve run off with you,” I told him as I lifted him out of his high chair. I quickly changed his diaper and slipped on his warm clothes. The temperature had really dropped over the past few days, and I didn’t want him to get cold.

“I know you hate wearing hats, sweetie, but you’re gonna need it. Trust me on this one,” I told him as I slipped the small toboggan over his head. I zipped up his coat and placed him in his car seat. I carefully lifted the carrier and threw his diaper bag over my shoulder as I walked out the door. Once I got him settled in the car, I started the engine and eased out of the driveway. I hadn’t driven far when I noticed bright lights in the rearview mirror. When I looked closer, I saw that the lights were coming from several motorcycles. At first, I assumed it was just the guys heading to the clubhouse, but I quickly realized that I was wrong. I didn’t know those men, and they were driving really close to my car. Too close.

My heart started to race when I looked over to my side window and saw the handles of a motorcycle near my car door. Panic surged through me as I saw the dark eyes of a strange man staring right at me. I’d never seen him before -- I would have remembered seeing him. He had one of those faces a girl could never forget. He gave me wicked smile as he steered his bike closer and closer to my car. Two more bikes pulled around to the front of my car, and the three bikes behind me started pulling up to the side.

“Oh god! John Warren… hold on, baby. I’m gonna try to get away from them. It’s going to be okay,” I told him, trying to sound calmer than I really was. I was just a few miles from the clubhouse. Surely I could just speed up, and they would give up and leave me alone. I pushed the gas pedal, but the man beside me eased closer and started to shake his head. He reached into his side pocket and pulled out a gun. A gun! I was in shock. The whole world seemed to freeze in that moment. I couldn’t take my eyes off of him. What the hell was he doing? I couldn’t understand why he was doing this to me. He continued to smile at me as he pointed the gun in my direction. A thousand thoughts rushed through my head as I looked at the barrel of the gun. I held my breath and waited for him to pull the trigger.

It all happened so fast. I couldn’t do anything to stop it. The steering wheel shook, and the sound of crashing metal filled the small space of the car. It was so loud -- like a diesel truck slamming into a concrete wall. I felt my body lift from the seat as the car flipped high into the air. Everything moved in slow motion. I watched the car break apart as it crashed into the ground over and over. John Warren began to cry, and my heart broke. I wanted to cover him, protect him, but I couldn’t reach him. I couldn’t even call out his name. I was totally powerless. I gripped the steering wheel with all my strength as the car continued to crash down into the deep ravine. There was nothing I could do to stop it. I prayed that John Warren would be okay. I clenched my jaw and felt my body tense as I was jarred from side to side in my seat. Even with my seatbelt, I felt like I was being tossed around like a rag doll. Then, as quickly as it had started, it all ended. Everything went silent. Totally and absolutely silent
.

My heart was racing, and the tightness in my chest made it hard to breathe. Panic surged through me as the memory of what happened raced through my mind. Those men tried to kill me. It wasn’t an accident at all. It was finally all coming together, and I didn’t like it. I didn’t like it one damn bit.

Chapter 4

The most powerful weapon on Earth

is the human soul on fire.

Ferdinand Foch

Bobby

I hated being on lockdown. It made the one place I loved seem like a goddamned prison. The tension levels were building among the brothers, and supplies were running low. Sheppard and Otis had taken Cindy and Brandie to load up on groceries and liquor, but we’d gone through most of that in the first few days. I was getting stir crazy. I hadn’t been out of the place since the night we’d met with Snake.

It was over a week ago when we’d met up with him in a hole-in-the-wall biker bar outside of Murray, Kentucky. They said it was considered neutral territory, so Bishop agreed to the location.

Snake wasn’t there when we arrived, so we sat at a small table at the back corner of the bar and placed our order. The waitress had just brought over our beers when Snake and two of his men walked in. None of them spoke as they made their way over to us. Snake didn’t look like a happy man. Without saying a word, they sat down at the table. The tattoo on Snake’s neck pulsed as he glared at Bishop. I didn’t have a good feeling about what was about to go down.

He gave Bishop a harsh look and said, “You wanna tell me how the Black Diamonds know I talked to you? We got a war on our hands, brother?”

“You got it wrong, man. No one outside of my club knows that I’ve even spoken to you. You gonna tell me what the hell is going on?” Bishop snapped.

“Two days after I called you, those motherfuckers started causing all kinds of problems in
my
town. Today, they ran my VP’s sixteen year old daughter off the road and almost killed her.”

“They’re playing the same shit with us. First, it was my VP’s son and his sitter, and today it was my son,” Bishop told him.

“Looks like they’re going after the kids. Lowlife motherfuckers got no code. Women and children are off limits,” Snake said as his face flashed with anger. “Doesn’t matter. They’ve fucked with the wrong goddamn club now. There’s no fucking way I’m gonna let them pull this shit,” he barked as he slammed his fist against the table.