Consumed: A Devil Chaser's MC Romance (5 page)

“How did you get word that they were coming to Paris?” Bishop asked.

“There’d been talk among the other charters about the Black Diamonds expanding their territory. Some even thought our club had ties to ‘em, trying to branch out with them. Word was they were looking to the Tennessee River to transport their weapons.”

“There are over 2,000 barges that move along that river,” Bishop told him.

“And they planned to use ‘em. If they played it right, they could distribute their weapons across three states,” Snake said as he pulled his pack of cigarettes out of his front pocket. He lit a cigarette, and after taking a long drag, he said, “It didn’t take much to put two and two together. That’s when I gave you a call. Wasn’t even sure they’d head your way.”

“There has to be more to it than that. Seems to me these guys have some kind of grudge,” Bishop said with concern.

“I don’t give a fuck what kind of
grudge
they got. They think they can do this shit in my town?” he said shaking his head. “Not gonna fucking happen. I’ll take those motherfuckers down.”

“We have a few leads, but we need to have an understanding before I share,” Bishop demanded.

“What do you have in mind, brother?” Snake asked suspiciously.

“We need an alliance. We work together to bring down these fucking Black Diamonds,” Bishop said as he sat back and crossed his arms over his chest.

“Consider it done,” Snake replied with a nod. “I look forward to making these fuckers weep.”

“We need to play this smart, Snake. They’re coming after our families, and I intend to do whatever it takes to keep them safe,” Bishop said with concern in his voice.

“You got my word, Bishop.”

We talked for over an hour and shared everything we knew. We didn’t gain a great deal of new information, but we did secure some help. Snake made it clear that he had no intention of going easy on those guys. He wanted them taken care of by any means necessary. We’d have to decide as a club how we would pursue it. We’d worked too hard to clean up our club to throw it all away dealing with scum like the Black Diamonds.

Bishop had called for church as soon as we got back home so he could let the others know what we’d found out during our meet with Snake. Nothing had really happened since then. The club was still under lockdown, so I spent my time searching through the security feed from the Black Diamonds’ clubhouse. There was some talk about an upcoming delivery in Northern Kentucky, but they hadn’t mentioned any specific details yet.

I was getting restless. Courtney appeared in my every thought. It had been over a week since I’d walked out of that hospital room, and it was killing me. I’d checked with her nurse every day to see how she was doing and found out that she was about to be released.

Bishop had sent Maverick over to her house to check things over. He’d needed to check her place out and make sure everything was ready for her when she got home. Bishop also sent Brandie to pick up groceries and whatever else they would need when Courtney got home. The whole situation made me feel uneasy. I had to admit that after getting to know Maverick during lockdown, he seemed like a nice enough guy. That didn’t mean that I was happy about him being with Courtney twenty-four hours a day, though. It was hard to accept that I wasn’t going to be the one taking care of her. It didn’t matter who was there. I knew it should’ve been me. Regardless, I had to trust that Bishop knew what he was doing. He’d cleared Maverick and believed he was the right guy for the job. Nevertheless, I planned to keep an eye on things. I needed to know for myself that everything was okay with Courtney. She was my woman, and I planned to do whatever it took to keep her out of harm’s way.

Chapter 5

Courtney

I paced around my hospital room, gathering up my belongings, feeling relieved that I was finally being released. Everyone had been so nice, but I felt like the walls were about to close in on me. I was ready to get the hell out of there. I should’ve called my parents, but I’d decided not to let them know I was being discharged. I felt a little guilty about it, but I just wasn’t up for all the melodramatics. Mom would’ve been a nervous wreck hovering over me every two seconds, and my dad would’ve run around the house trying to fix stuff that didn’t really need to be fixed. I just didn’t have the patience to deal with all that on my first day back at home.

As I packed, there was a knock on my door. Instead of waiting for me to answer, a man I’d never met before just walked right in. He stood by the door and stared at me with a curious look on his face. I stared back, trying to figure out if I knew him. After a few seconds, I realized he had to be Maverick. There was no mistaking those gorgeous green eyes. They looked just like JW’s. I smiled, but I got no response from him. I couldn’t figure out why he was looking at me that way. It was like he couldn’t decide what to say… or that he smelled something really bad. I couldn’t tell.

“What?” I asked sharply.

“You’re Courtney, right?” he asked as he cocked his head to the side.

“Yep, that’d be me. I take it you’re Maverick?”

“Yeah, I’m Maverick,” he said as he shook his head. From his facial expression, I could tell he was mulling something over.

“
What
?” I asked impatiently. “Is something wrong?”

“No, nothing’s wrong. You just aren’t what I expected.” He took a step closer to me and continued, “For a girl that just got out of a coma, I wouldn’t expect you to be so beautiful.”

“I don’t know if I should take that as a compliment or not,” I told him.

“You should,” he said with a smirk. “Tessa and Lily told me a lot about you. Seems like the next few weeks are going to be… interesting.”

      
“Well, now you have me curious. What exactly did my
friends
tell you about me?” I asked.

“Let’s see…” he said with a big grin. He crossed his arms across his chest before he continued, “You have a thing for scary movies, but only if you have the right snacks. You love to dance, you tend to get out of hand when you drink too much, and you fidget and talk a lot when you get nervous. They also mentioned that you have a problem with texting and driving. There’s more, but you get the idea.”

“Damn,” I said as I felt the rush of heat creep across my face. I placed my hands on my hips and looked to the ground to hide my blushing. “I’d say my girls know me pretty well.”

“Yep. So… you ready to bust out of here, Cheeks?” he asked with a sexy smile.

“Absolutely,” I told him smiling back.
Cheeks?
Oh well. Guess I didn’t hide the blushing thing after all. I shook my head as I packed the last of my things into my overnight bag. Maverick picked it up and headed for the door. I decided that having him around might not be that bad after all. He actually did seem to be nice, and it didn’t hurt that he was good looking. That scruffy look, with his day old beard and shaggy brown hair, worked for him. Under different circumstances, I could’ve even seen myself falling for a guy like him. Sadly, just the thought of being with another man made my heart ache. There was no denying the fact that I still missed Bobby. Hopefully having Maverick around would help me keep my mind off of him for a while.
 

Once we were in his truck and heading to my house, I turned to him. “So, how is this whole thing going to work?” I asked.

“I’ll do my best to stay out of your way, but I’m here to keep you safe. I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure no harm comes to you,” Maverick said seriously. Serious Maverick was sexy. I liked
serious
Maverick.

“Will you be staying at my house?” I asked.

“Yeah. You’re stuck with me for now. Hopefully it won’t be too bad, though. I’ll stay in your guest room until this thing blows over.”

“How long do you think this
thing
is gonna take?” I asked.

“You ready to get rid of me already?” he asked laughing.

“That’s not it at all. I just hate putting you out like this. I’m sure you have more important things to do than babysit me.”

“Right now, keeping you safe
is
the most important thing to me. Besides, being here will give me a chance to spend some time with John Warren.” As he turned into my driveway he said, “Now, let’s get you settled, and I’ll make us some dinner.”

“That sounds great. I’m sick of hospital food. There’s only so much Jell-O a girl can eat.”

When we walked into the house, the first thing I noticed were the flames glowing in the fireplace. Damn. My thoughts went straight to Bobby. He always made sure to light a fire for us whenever it was cold outside. It was just one of those little things he did that meant so much to me.

As I walked further into the living room, I saw Bobby’s red fleece blanket folded at the end of the sofa. He would make fun of me every time I curled up with that old blanket. I’d even tried to steal it from him on more than one occasion, but he always ended up taking it back to his house. He said it was the only way he could make me stay at his place. There was no denying it. Bobby had been there, but I tried not to make a big deal out of it. I shook my head and followed Maverick as he carried my bag to my room.

He put it on the dresser and said, “Why don’t you get settled while I go get dinner ready?” he asked.

“That sounds good,” I replied as he turned and headed for the kitchen.

I felt such a sense of relief just being back in my own room. It felt so good to be home. I wanted to crawl into my bed and try to forget everything that had happened over the past few weeks. I pulled the covers back on my bed and found a square box sitting on the pillow. I picked it up and slowly opened it. It was a new iPad with a note from Bobby.

Thought this might make your time at home go by a little faster.

Love, Bobby

I stared at it for a few minutes, almost scared to see what was on it. I pressed the power button, and the main screen filled with tons of my favorite movies. He’d even found several that I’d told him I wanted to see but hadn’t been able to find. It also had some of my favorite magazines and songs downloaded on it. Damn it. Why did he have to be so stinking thoughtful? I tossed it to the other side of the bed and tried to block it from my thoughts, but I couldn’t help it. I felt the smile slowly spread across my face as I thought about how sweet it was of Bobby to do that. I couldn’t believe he’d taken the time to do something like that for me.
Get your shit together, Courtney!
I shook my head, trying to clear Bobby from my mind.

I took a deep breath and decided I needed a hot bath. It was the perfect way to end a crazy day. I walked into my bathroom, and then stopped in utter shock. My pulse quickened, and I could feel my chest tighten as I slowly reached out for Bobby’s t-shirt that was folded on the sink. It was the shirt I’d always worn when I stayed at his place. Oh,
hell no
. I shook my head as I tossed that sucker clear across the room. He was playing hardball, and I wasn’t going to let him get to me. It was going to take more than a few movies and an old damn t-shirt to change my mind.

A few hours later, Maverick called me into the kitchen. He’d made my favorite Italian pasta for dinner. I was impressed. The table was set, and it smelled incredible. It turned out to be the best chicken alfredo I’d ever eaten. We talked all through dinner. I was amazed at how easy he was to talk to. It was like we’d know each other forever. Without thinking, I blurted out, “I remembered what happened the night of the accident.”

He leaned back in his chair and looked at me thoughtfully. “You wanna tell me about it?”

“I couldn’t remember anything at first. It was so frustrating laying in that damn hospital and not knowing what really happened. I tried to remember, but everything was just a haze. Then, it came rushing back to me all at once. Truthfully… I wish I hadn’t remembered.” I spent the next half hour telling him everything I could recall.

“Can you tell me about the guy that came up to your window? What did he look like?” he asked.

“It was dark, but I could still see this large, jagged scar that went down the entire side of his face. I don’t think I’ll ever forget it. His long hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and he had one of those beards like old guys wear. He gave me the creeps.”

“Any idea how many guys were with him?”

“At least six, maybe seven.”

“You did good, Courtney. I need to call Bishop. It’ll help him know which guy he’s looking for,” Maverick said.

“Why do you think they were going after me? I’m really not part of the club. I know I was dating Bobby, but we weren’t official or anything.”

“There’s more to it than that, but I can’t go into it with you right now. Just know that we’re going to do everything we can to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

“I guess I’ll have to take your word for it. I hate that I don’t know what’s going on. Will you at least tell me if I need to be worried?” I asked.

“There’s nothing for you to worry about. I got this, and with Bobby’s security system, nothing will get by us. I’m going to give Bishop a call. Let me know if you remember anything else,” he said compassionately.