Forsaken - Book 2 (Star Crossed MC Lovers) (13 page)

Chapter 17

Selene

Seeing Dane only compounded how ready I was to help out. My father had drawn his last straw, and I was ready to start unwinding his empire from the inside. It was going to be a slow process at first,  namely because Rafael Delgado was too fucking smart to pull a fast on over.

"You okay?" Dante stuck his head back in the room.

I nodded, trying to keep the sarcasm out of my voice. "Yeah. Thanks."

"That cop stopped by here, didn't he?" He walked into the room and moved to stand in front of me. I was glad he was keeping his hands to himself. Where I appreciated his help, I in no way welcomed his advances.

"Yeah. He just wanted to ask some questions." I reached up and touched the side of my face that was funny bandaged. I sounded funny thanks to my nose behind wrapped up pretty good too. "I told them that you beat me."

He gave me a tight smile. "I would rarely hit you, if ever."

"Rarely? I'd stab you in your sleep if you hit me." I growled and hopped off the table. My depression due to my father's treatment of me was hidden behind layers of much needed revenge.

"That turns me on." He moved aside and let me walk through.

"Keep it to yourself. I'm not interested."

"Not yet." He touched the small of my back and walked me to the door. Everyone we passed gawked at me in horror. The bandages must have made me look like a monster. It was almost fitting, seeing who my father was.

We rode home in silence, and I was grateful for it. My phone buzzed in my pocket a few times, but I wasn't interested in talking to anyone. I was not sure what to think about Lucky turning so fast on me. Some part of my heart wanted to wilt and die over it, but that was over-dramatic. He'd been through a lot over the last few years, just as I had.

Us  getting back together left him raw and scared. It did me, too. I tried not to think about it, but rather focused on the long night of fucking. He'd been so good to me, so dirty and rough at times, and then soft and sensual at others.

I could tell myself all day long that if he left that I would heal, but it was a damn lie. I would let the dust settle between us and then go to him. I couldn't not see him. He would be furious about my face, but I'd simply lie. He'd kill my father if he knew I got hit in the face. A bike wreck would work just as well.

We pulled up to the house and Dante stopped just outside the large gate. A group of men stood on the lawn, and from what I could tell, they weren't Stone Wolves.

"What the fuck?" Dante pulled out his phone, speaking into it a few moments later. "It's me. We're at the house. What the hell's going on?"

I leaned forward in the car, trying to see if I could recognize anyone, but I couldn't.

"Ah. I'm not surprised by that. We'll come in the back way. I don't want anything to happen to Selene." I hung up and glanced over at me. "Mr. Banks family finally realized who might have offed the asshole."

I leaned back in my seat and let out a shaky breath. "I hate this life sometimes."

"Then just focus on school. Let us boys deal with the MC." He reached for my hand and squeezed softly.

"Yeah, maybe you're right." I turned to look at the window closest me, hating the lies I had to say. Letting any of them think that they were stronger or better than me because a cock swung between their thighs was upsetting, but I needed to separate myself from the gnarlyness of my family's regular dealings or I wouldn't make it through to help Dane. I couldn't keep putting myself in harm’s way, either. If my father tried to hurt me again, I was, without a doubt, going to press the barrel of my gun to his head while he slept.

Love or no love. He wasn't going to hurt me again.

"Just got to school like you wanted to. I'm sure Rafael will still let you be a patched member, Lena." He released my hand and pulled up to the back of the house. "Alright. Go up to your room. You don't want any of this, and honestly? You look like hell."

I nodded, biting my tongue. Getting out of the car, I didn't turn to look back at him, but made my way into the house and walked up the stairs, taking them two at a time.

After closing and locking my door, I got onto my bed and stretched out. My head hurt, my eye and nose throbbed, but I was glad to be home.

Dane was thrilled with my decision to help out, and I knew it was the right move to make. I wanted freedom for all of us, but for Lucky especially. I'd heard my father talk to the rest of the MC about wanting to come up with a plan to take Lucky out. There was no way I could let that happen, but keeping away from him wasn't going to work either.

A scream brought me from my thoughts, and I got up, walking to my bedroom door, and opening it, but only slightly. Thomas and Paz wrestled a pretty blond girl into the room across the hall as she screamed for help. I moved out of my room, ready to fuck both of them up, but Dante caught me and moved us back into my bedroom.

"Lena. It’s none of your business." He pressed me against the wall as I fought to get around him. He was like a fucking mountain.

"I know that, but fuck, Dante. There's no reason to rape a woman."

"They aren't raping her." He pushed harder. "I don't want to hurt you. Stop it. Now!"

I stopped, too tired to push anymore. "You would know, you sorry bastard."

He walked me toward the bed and forced me to get into it. "Should know what?"

Turning away from him, I curled up on my side and tried to think of way to help the poor girl across the hall. "What raping someone looks like."

"Lena. I didn't rape that girl." He tugged on my shoulder, forcing me to turn over. "I'm a bastard enough that I would have, but I didn't. She wanted a dick in her ass, and I gave it to her."

I shuddered and pulled from him. "That's disgusting."

"No, it's not. It's human nature.  I seduced her quite nicely." He brushed my hair back from my face before I jerked away from him.

"Get out and leave me alone!" I swatted at him and tried not to concentrate too much on how bad I was hurting.

"Fine, but I'm right outside of this door. Stop acting like a child and get some rest. You'd think, after having the boss manhandle you that you'd be willing to back off a little. I swear you have a death wish." He got up and walked to the door.

"I didn't have the boss manhandle me. My father punched me in the face." I sat up and glared at him through my good eye.

"You need to think about what I said. About just going to school." He watched me for a minute more and then disappeared back out into the hall.

I lay down and pulled my phone to my face as hot tears burned my eyes. I couldn't lie there all night and listen to my cousins wreak havoc on someone.

Lucky answered on the first ring. "Baby?"

"I need you to get the Stone Wolves and get over here." I choked on a sob.

"What? Why? Are you okay? Dane told me--"

"Lucky! I need you guys to come now. We took out Zachary Banks a week or so ago because he was fucking with Papa's money. His whole crew is here now, and they were dumb enough to bring some of their women. I'm locked in my room, but they’re raping some poor girl across the hall. Just get here. Please."

"Shit." Lucky let out a long sigh. "Yeah, alright. We'll come under the pretense of the fire."

"That will work." I hung up before he could say anything else. I wasn't ready for apologies or anything else. These people needed help, and it wasn't going to come from me. I was virtually helpless.

I moved to look out the window, though I knew better. There was a lot of screaming going on between the group of men that stood on my side of the house, and the Banks' boys. "Who the fuck is the girl?"

The fight was still going on by the time the Stone Wolves pulled up, and everyone had their weapons drawn. I tried not to get too excited about Lucky and another small guy running toward the back door.

Opening the door to my bedroom, I was surprised to see that Dante wasn't standing there. He must have gone down when the Stone Wolves showed up.

I could still hear movement in the other room across the hall, though I was almost sick with the thought of going in there.

Turning as someone bounded up the stairs, I moved back as Lucky and his friend stopped at the top of the stairs.

"Lena? What the fuck?" Lucky moved toward me, but I lifted my hands.

"Just help the girl. She's in there, but I think two of my cousins are with her." I pointed and turned to look at the wild-eyed guy who was standing beside me looking crazy.

"I'm Animal. You're pretty," he whispered reverently.

"Fuck you, dude. Get in here." Lucky tugged at his first chest and headed for the room.

I walked back into my room and closed the door.

Chapter 18

Lucky

Seeing Lena bandaged up left my heart beating far too fast. The fear of entering into the unknown in the next room was nothing compared to needing to know what happened to my girl. Animal moved in first and grabbed Paz by the back of the hair, slinging him off the crying woman he had bent over the couch.

I pulled my gun and lifted it to Thomas. The little shit stood up from the couch and lifted his hand.

"I didn't touch her." He shrugged like it was no bid damn deal.

Animal threw Paz across the room as I moved toward Thomas. He didn't even try to fight me off as I picked him up and sucker punched him three times in the face. He dropped like a sack of potatoes and I moved in to kick him two or three times in the stomach.

I walked toward the girl, who was scrambling to get dressed and crying loudly.

"Hey. I'm here to help."

"Get the fuck away from me." She swatted at me with a wild look in her face.

"Alright. Just be careful. There's still a lot of bad people on the porch." I reached for her again, not able to help myself. She was terrified and scrambled toward the door like an animal.

"I'm going to help her," I yelled over my shoulder and jogged out into the hall. Lena's door was closed and the girl was on her feet, running down the stairs. I should have followed, her but I wanted to see Lena. I knocked on the door, and pushed against it as she opened it.

She closed it and locked it before narrowing her eye on me. The rest of her beautiful face was hidden behind gauze. I pulled her close as emotion choked me. My voice was nothing more than a hoarse whisper.

"Baby. What the fuck happened?" I touched her neck on both sides, moving town and carefully brushing my lips by hers.

A gunshot sounded in the front of the house and she pulled from me. "Shit!"

"What the fuck?" I moved up behind her and peered out to see the pretty blond dead on the ground between the two families. The Stone Wolves pulled guns at that point. More shots were fired. I realized that we needed to get the fuck out of there. I could stay and help my guys, or get my girl to safety.

"We need to get out of here." She turned to look up at me. "We'll take my bike."

"Can you drive? Let's take both of them." I touched her back and tried not to let my expression show just how worried I was about her. She looked awful.

"Yeah. Let's go." She moved to the door, opening it and peeking out in the hall before walking out and turning toward the back of the house. "Special staircase over here."

"Hey, I'm sorry about earlier. I was out of my fucking head to think you were involved in any of this shit with the club house. Please forgive me." I moved in behind her as she opened what looked like a spare bedroom. I was shocked to see the staircase that descended toward the first floor.

"Shut up and concentrate. We can talk later." She jogged down the stairs, losing her footing near the bottom. I reached out and caught her before she fell.

"Please be careful. You sure you're going to be okay driving the bike, baby?"

"Yes." She pulled from my hold and stuck her head out of the door that, from what I could tell, opened to the side of the house..

"Me first." I pushed past her. "Where is your bike?"

"In the garage. I'll sneak over there. Meet me at Grandma's."

I nodded. "Be careful."

She ran around me and took off for the trees. I turned to watch the action continue near the front of the house, and realized that if I was going to go, now was my chance.

I took off, running toward the back of the house in hopes of hitting the tree line. I was surprised to find Animal standing beside a tree just under the covering of the forest. He glanced up as he panted, his coloring a little off. "You alright?"

He gave me a wicked grin and sunk to his knees. "Yep. Just bleeding out, I think."

"Oh fuck." I moved toward him, laying him back and finding the source of his pain. A bullet hole, just below his left pectoral muscle. "I'm grabbing my bike and we'll get the fuck outta here."

"No, man. I'll walk it off. No worries."

"Shut the fuck up." I ran toward my bike and got on, revving it and turning in the forest to race toward him. His eyes were closed when I got back, and damn if my heart didn't almost stop.

I helped him onto the bike, putting him in front of me and forcing him to lie back against me. He would die if he knew how ridiculous he looked, like a half drunk idiot.

Racing into town as best as I could with him falling in and out of consciousness, I made it to the ER and flipped the kickstand. I didn't even get the bike turned off before three paramedics ran from the sliding glass doors and started barking orders at each other, and at me.

I moved out of their way, and went to park the bike as they rushed him into the hospital. A quick text to Lena to check in with her and tell her I was going to be late, and I dialed Blade's number, praying like hell that they were away from the Black Heart's clubhouse by then.

"Hey. You okay?" His voice was gruff.

"Yeah. I'm at the hospital. Animal got hit." I let out a long sigh and walked into the ER waiting room. After finding a chair, I sank down in it and leaned my head back.

"He with the doctors now?"

"Yeah. Send someone up here. I think he's going to be okay, but I need to get going. Something happened with Lena." I rubbed my hand down my face and turned to watch the chaos of the ER moving around me.

"Alright. I'll be up there shortly. We're all back at the clubhouse. Shit got ugly, but only a few people lost their lives."

"Any of our guys?" I cringed at the thought.

"No, not unless Animal doesn't pull through."

"He will. He's a tough mother fucker."

"This is true. Be there shortly. Hang tight."

I hung up and tucked the phone into my back pocket, closing my eyes and trying to rest for the few minutes I had to myself. The tension and stress had been too much a part of my life as of late, and something told me that it wouldn’t be ending any time soon.

              ***             

I drove over to Lena's Grandma's house as soon as Knife and Blade showed up at the hospital. Animal wasn't the kind of guy that would be thrilled to have someone waiting in the waiting room for him, but it didn't matter. We were a family, a brotherhood, and there was no way that we could not show him that we cared.

After locking up my bike, I jogged up the concrete stairs to the little old house and knocked twice before opening the door and walking in.

Grandma was in my line of sight as she sat at her kitchen table with her hands wrapped around a coffee mug. "Lucky."

Lena moved toward me so fast that I almost didn't have time to react. She wrapped me in a tight hug and pressed everything but her face to the front of me.

"Hey, baby." I wrapped my arms around her and kissed the side of her mouth carefully. "Tell me what the fuck happened to you now."

"I will. Come in here and sit down with me and Grandma." She released me and walked toward the kitchen.

I couldn't help but admire the way her jeans hugged her perfect ass. I knew exactly what was under those jeans, and damn if I didn't love her even more for sharing it with me.

"Come in here, boy." Grandma reached up and touched my cheek as I leaned down and kissed hers.

"Scary day, Grandma." I let out a sigh and pulled a chair up right beside Lena's. "Animal is at the hospital."

"What kind of animal?" Grandma asked as her eyes widened.

"No, it's one of my biker brothers. We call him Animal." I laughed, unable to help myself. Turning a little, I slid my hand over Lena's shoulders and rubbed the top of her back. "Baby. I've had enough with you not talking to me. What happened to your pretty face?"

"It's still pretty." Grandma got up. "You want something to drink, Lucky?"

"No, ma'am." I brushed my knee by my girl's thigh. "Selene."

"I got upset about my father setting fire to your place, and I was a little mouthy about it." She shrugged and picked up her glass, taking a quick sip and avoiding my eyes.

"What?" It was as if someone poured a glass of ice water into my veins. "Someone hit you?"

"Yeah." She turned toward me. "Did Dane tell you that I'm all in? Just thought we should take a--"

"Who?" My voice was like steel and I couldn't seem to blink away the crimson in my line of sight.

"My father." She reached out and touched my face. "I'm fine. It was a good thing."

"No it wasn't,
meja
." Her grandmother moved to sit back down. "That sorry bastard punched my baby in the face. Her nose is broke and her eye is busted and swollen shut."

"Grandma," Lena said.

"Un-fucking-believable." I stiffened as rage raced through me. "I'm gonna to kill him. Without a doubt."

Lena touched the side of my face and nodded. "Yes. You are, but not right now. I need to make sure Dane and the good guys have everything they need to close down his operation. If you killed him, they would just push Dante to the boss’s seat and they would kill us both. We're not going to be stupid about this. We can't afford to."

I softened because of the way she spoke to me, softly, lovingly, mature. "You can't stay there anymore, Lena."

"Yeah, I can. I just can't mouth off and shit." She leaned in and kissed me soft as Grandma cleared her throat.

"You can stay here more often, you know." Grandma glanced from Lena to me.

"I like that idea much better." I brushed Lena's hair back as my heart beat far too fast. "I'm so pissed I could break something in half."

"Well, let it go as best you can. I want you here with me, not lost in a rage. Besides, you were a dick this morning. I deserve one hell of an apology."

"Lena. Language. Good grief." Grandma got up, and I chuckled at her calling my girl out.

"Right. What do you want?" I asked, not willing to let her feel anything but love from me from there on out.

'Your dick' she mouthed and smiled.

"All yours, baby." I pulled her close and pressed my lips to the side of her neck. "Tell Grandma we're going to go tell stories in the bedroom."

"I'm right here. I can hear you both." Her voice was shrill and dramatic.

We both laughed as I stood up and pulled Lena with me. "Well good, then you'll know not to bother us unless you want the shock of your life."

"Oh honey, please." Grandma shrugged. "I didn't fall off the turnip truck yesterday. Just be careful with my baby, and take your storytelling elsewhere."

I touched Lena's face. "Wanna go to the garage and chill?"

"Yeah. Anywhere, as long as it's with you."

Grandma's mumbling followed us out the door. "Kids these days... complete hoodlums."

She had no idea.