Wounded (Dogs of War MC Book One) (16 page)

“That went well,” Demon’s step had a bounce in it as he walked towards Red.

“All things considered, yes. Now we just have to figure out which unit they’ve got them stored in, which shouldn’t be too hard.”

“They in F89,” Demon pointed his bloody knife down a row of storage units.

“How do you know?”

“Let’s call it a hunch, eh? Just go get your kid, I’m going back to the Clubhouse for some food and some sleep. Have I mentioned I rode all night to get here?”

Red looked away, he was in debt to Demon now, something he’d hoped to never be. “Fine, I’ll see you there.”

He walked down the aisle Demon had indicated, the rest of the club following behind him, listening closely for sounds of movement. He didn’t want to get too cocky now and miss something that would screw up everything. But he heard nothing.

Pausing in front of F89 he said a small prayer to whoever might be listening to a creature such as himself before he crushed the lock in his hand and raised the door.

Three heads turned towards the sound, but only one pair of eyes was without blindfolds to see who had opened the door.

“Daddy! Daddy!” the little girl ran into his arms and he scooped her up, holding her close. He could smell the cherry shampoo in her hair, still fresh from the bath she’d had the night before. Thank God he’d gotten there in time. “I was so scared Daddy, they came in and they tied up Grammy and Papa and they told me I had to go with them or they’d hurt them.” Tears filled her big blue eyes and his heart broke that she’d been so scared and without him.

“It’s alright though now darlin’, I’ve got you and I’ll never let anyone hurt you again.”

“Or take me?”

“Nope, they won’t take you either.”

“You promise.”

Red covered his heart with one hand, “Cross my heart and hope to die.”

Morgan nodded, her trusting little soul believing every word he said, “But where have you been? I’ve missed you so much. And I got a boo boo on my leg and Papa doesn’t kiss it better the same way you do.”

He hugged her close to him, swearing to himself that he’d be a better man, a better father, for her. And that meant eliminating anything that might be dangerous to her.

Red couldn’t bring himself to put Morgan down, he wanted to keep her as close to him as possible, reminding himself that she really was safe and alive. He watched as Moose freed and untied Maria, crying and holding her close, their hands touching and grasping at each other. The relief clear on both of their faces. He hated that anyone had to go through when they’d gone through last night, imagining their loved ones tortured, killed, or worse. Someone was going to pay for it too.

“Has anyone heard from Big Dog yet?” he yelled back at the guys as they got ready to leave, he had a few questions that needed answers. And he was going to get those answers no matter how he had to do it. Trainz, BillCo, and Big Dog might have underestimated his determination to live, but it’d be the last time the underestimated his need to protect his family. 

Tomato sauce, Sidney decided, was inherently drawn to the bottom of the pot. It must be because it kept sticking to it and when she tried to stir, big clumps of darkened goops stuck to the end of her spoon and littered the rest of the sauce with black dots. She was trying to make spaghetti, something she had assumed would be easy because the directions were printed right there on the back of the label. Unfortunately she was obviously too dumb to follow them because one pot kept getting too hot and scorching the sauce and the other pot wasn’t getting hot enough to boil the noodles and Sidney was about ready to quit and order a pizza. It was her attempt to be considerate. The guys would, hopefully, be coming home any time and they’d probably be hungry. A big pot of spaghetti would have helped out, fed the group, and made her feel less useless. Cooking it was also taking her mind off of what might be happening.

She hadn’t known Red, the man, for very long, but she wanted to know him. Wanted to spend time with him without fear clouding everything that happened between them. Or at least she thought she did. His life was a lot different than hers, but it couldn’t always be this way, kidnappings and violent fights to the death in the parking lot, she’d probably just met him at a… hectic time in his life. Things would settle down and they’d have time, plenty of time, to find out about all the things in each other’s lives. She wanted to see pictures of him from when he’d been in high school, she grinned to herself thinking about it, he was gorgeous now, but back then he probably had all the perfection without the rough edges. Sidney liked the rough edges, the scars, scruffy beard and unkempt hair. They spoke of a story, of a person who lived his life to his own standards, not anyone else’s. All the men in her life before, including… especially David, had been meticulous about their appearance. Oh, they might grow a little five o’clock shadow now and then just to change things up, but you could look at them and know three things. One: they were rich. Two: They spent more time looking in the mirror than you did. And three: they were used to getting what they wanted.

David had spent hours working out, tanning, even getting mani-pedis and facials some weekend mornings. She tried to imagine Red getting a mani-pedi and giggled.

“What are you giggling at? The horrible smell of whatever is burning in that pot is no laughing matter.”

Sidney jumped, turning quickly to see who had entered the kitchen. It was Demon, half of his face covered in blood spatter along with the rest of him. Smirking he leaned casually against the door frame as if he didn’t look like a mass murderer returned from a rampage.

“Cat got your tongue?” he walked around her, took the lid off her simmering sauce, and winced as the steam rose to meet his nose. Without asking permission, he grabbed the spoon out of her hand and tested the churning red goo, “Fuck. That’s awful,” he slapped the spoon back into her hand and quickly turned both eyes off on the stove. “I’ll be back in a minute.”

Sidney plopped down at the table, she’d only been trying to help, he didn’t have to come in and be such an asshole about it. And nobody had asked his opinion anyway. His grimy sweaty sexy dark good looks didn’t mean he got to just come in and insult her cooking and sashay out again just because he could.

Sexy? Where had that thought come from? And who cared what he looked like anyway, he was a dick. She could tell that by the way he’d talked to Red when he’d come in, and he’d just confirmed it again.

Red. If Demon was back that meant Red should be coming back soon too… if he wasn’t already. She hoped up from the table and bolted into the commons, but no one seemed to be there. She checked the parking lot through the window and the same bikes and cars that were there when they’d left were still there. Except for Demon’s, his was there now, and she knew it had to be his by the big flaming pentagram painted on the side. He must take his nickname very seriously, she mentally rolled her eyes. She sat there waiting for a few minutes, hoping they’d show up, but felt restless. Like she should be doing something instead of just sitting around waiting. Waiting was horrible, probably less horrible than having to fight but it was still nerve-wracking.

She wandered back down the hall, intending to get her phone out of Red’s room and call in an order for a pizza but she came up short when she encountered Demon walking down the hall, dripping wet and wearing nothing but a low slung towel over his hips, clearly displaying a tantalizing v cut and a thin trail of hair that disappeared below the ratty old terrycloth. Water trickled from his hair, running down the plains of his abdomen, and Sidney’s mouth went dry.

“Like what you see?”

Sidney did, she really did, but she didn’t like him at all, “No,” she crossed her arms over her chest, “I just came to get my phone out of Red’s room.”

“Ah, Red’s room. So you’re his old lady huh?”

“I’m only 26 thank you very much.”

Demon raised one eyebrow in a look that was much the same as the look Red so often gave her, “Um, ok, whatever.” He walked around her and into Red’s room.

“Hey, why are you going in there? That’s Red’s room,” she followed him in.

“I know.”

“Well get out.”

“I’m just going to borrow some of his clothes, no need to get all huffy, I’m not going to steal his,” he looked around the room, “Poster collection.”

“Red’s clothes won’t fit you,” Sidney pointed out, suspecting he had ulterior motives for being in the room.

“Oh I think they’ll do just fine for today,” he grinned at her, his white teeth flashing in a devastating grin. “I’m only bigger in
certain
areas,” he looked pointedly down at the hand that held his towel up right below his waist.

Blood rushed to Sidney’s face, flustered, she grabbed her phone off the bed, “Whatever, I’ll be sure to tell Red you were in here when he gets back.”

“You do that, sweetness,” he drawled in the most obnoxious manner possible, grin still firmly in place.

Sidney didn’t know how to react to him, she really felt like he might benefit greatly from a kick to the crotch.

“You staying for the show?” he made the motion like he was going to remove the towel, shocking her out of her silent wish to do him bodily harm.

She huffed and turned around, leaving his stupid grinning face behind her, as she fumed out of the room. He was probably the most infuriating person she’d ever met. She was pretty sure she hated him on some instinctive gut level… but she wouldn’t have minded seeing what was under that towel.

Bad Sidney
she rebuked herself. Red. She’d forgotten to ask him about Red and when everyone else would be back.

She returned to the kitchen and sat down at the table again, sliding her finger across the screen of her phone. The least she could do was call in an order for pizza, Three River’s didn’t have a chain pizza place that delivered, but maybe she could talk that lady at the place Red took her to into bringing them out some food. Now if she could only remember what the name of the restaurant was she could google it and call. She drummed her fingers against the table looking at the Google app icon, mind completely blank. How could she not remember? It had only been last night?

“Mario’s Famous Pizza,” Demon said from the door, fully clothed in form fitting black shirt she was almost positive wasn’t Red’s, and a pair of dark jeans. She looked up at him sharply, “If you’re going to try to call in an order somewhere, that’s the only place that will deliver.”

Was he a mind reader now too, on top of being a giant asshole? Her eyes turned into slits, she didn’t trust this guy at all. “Where’s Red? Did they find everyone, were they ok?”

“Yes,
we
found everyone, and everyone is ok.” He went to the refrigerator and examined the inventory therein, “They really should get some better food. Everything is prepackaged, no fresh food at all. Such a shame.”

“Will Red and the others be back soon?”

He shrugged, “Soon enough I guess. I didn’t stick around and get a detailed itinerary for his day. Look in that cabinet over there and see if you can find any other pasta, I’d hate to think you ruined the last of it.”

She stayed where she was.

“Fine, I’ll look myself. But if you’re just going to sit there and not call in an order,
someone
is going to have to make some food.”

She opened her mouth to respond, damn it, she’d tried to make some food, but before she could say anything he amended his statement.

“Edible food, I mean.”

She closed her mouth and folded her arms. He bustled around the kitchen pulling meat out of the freezer, and an assortment of things out of the cabinets and refrigerator, dishtowel slung over his shoulder as he sampled the foods as he opened them.

“Umm, that’s pretty good,” he said as he tasted whatever concoction he was stirring. He looked back at her, she was still watching him, lips closed in a firm line. “You know, cooking isn’t really
that
hard, I bet even you could do it if you tried.”

“Of course I could, I’m just not interested.”

His eyebrow went up again, “Well, it’s a useful skill to have. You know, in survival situations or when you’re expecting a pack of wolves back, hungry from a fight.”

He waited for a response she wasn’t going to give him.