Wrath (14 page)

Emma

I opened the door expecting to find my tall, muscular soldier standing there waiting for me.  Instead, I had to adjust my sights downward towards the tiny woman who had knocked.  It was Layla.  She was twirling her keys gently and steadily, and smiled at me, her eyes bright as I let her into the room.

“Thought I might take you up to work today while your car is in the shop.”

“Is that thing
still
in the shop?”  Kim asked, almost incredulous.  “Honey, he’s hot but he takes forever.”

That’s kinda the point
, I thought, my cheeks warming pleasantly.

Meanwhile, Layla ignored the insult to the MC’s mechanic, all without baring a single claw.  She just smiled and turned her attention back to me. 

“Aidan said it should be ready in a couple of days,” she explained matter-of-factly.  “They don’t make Tempos anymore, so we had to special order all the parts.”

‘We
…’

Kim was quick to open her mouth, but she wasn’t dumb.  ‘We’ meant she’d insulted Layla, too.  She shut up at that. 

“We’ll be back later,” I told her, swooping down to hug her and grabbing a jacket for when the sun went down.  Kim had her quirks, but she was a great roommate and she meant well.  I was glad Layla hadn’t bitched her out.

I caught sight of Kim shaking her head though.  She was getting more and more suspicious of anyone attached to Aidan.  I’d been dodging her questions about him for too long.  I needed to stop that. 

Meanwhile, Layla seemed sweet as a nebby but she had a sharp eye.  She noticed Kim’s unease and introduced herself, getting Kim to share more information in five minutes than I’d been able to learn about her in a month. 

I just watched in awe, my mouth hanging open a little.

Layla would’ve made a great negotiator.  Hell, she already was one – but for the MC.  MC’s weren’t known for their finesse.  They needed more women like Layla.  Hell, as far I was concerned, they needed to let their ladies shine for them with more than just good looks. 

Layla had already explained to me that some did.  I had a feeling she was trying to help me ease into Aidan’s new world.

“We ladies need to work together,” she’d said.

She meant it, too. 

Never mind the insult to her shop, she had Kim charmed within five minutes, and I would have bet she meant every bit of it.  Layla was shrewd but she was honest.  It was a powerful combination. 

Kim turned to me and said, “See, this one I like, Emma.  She actually comes around and talks to me.  That James Dean you got on your hands, though.  I’m not so sure about him.” 

“He’s a tough nut to crack,” Layla said.  “But he’s a good guy.  And he’s only got eyes for you, Emma.”

Kim’s brows went up high as she looked at me. 

Layla caught my discomfort and changed the subject, complimenting Kim.

“Your dorm is really cute!”

“Thank you!” Kim’s family had enough money to keep her comfortable.  She rattled off where she had gotten the decorations. 

Layla nodded politely, finally saying, “This is really nice.  I had to live with my Aunt when I was going to college, but I wish I could’ve lived on campus.” 

I could tell by the look in her eyes that she meant it.  She had the same kind of ache inside her that I recognized in myself.  It came from going without.  I might not hate all the “have”s, but I was never truly as comfortable with all the trappings as they were.

As much as I liked Kim, it was nice to know someone who got it.

“Thanks! We’re doing pretty good.”  And just like that, Kim stretched and snatched up her bag and shawl.  “Okay girls.  I have to get to class, but I wanna hang out again.”  She looked at me and announced, “Like I said, this one is a keeper.”  She jerked her thumb at Layla and grinned. 

“Layla.”

“Kim.  Nice meeting you.”

They hugged, Kim leading and Layla accepting. 

When Kim sauntered out, Layla turned to me with a serene smile.

I gawked at her and laughed.  “Damn! She doesn’t like
anyone
.  Well, except me.  You have a way with people.”

“Just the standoffish ones.”  She tucked her hair behind her ear and stood there waiting, completely sincere.

I dashed over to dump the dishes in the sink and looked around for my stuff.  “I’m almost ready, just one sec.  You’re a little bit early.” 

“I know.”  She took a seat and looked around.  “Actually, I wanted to get a chance to talk to you.”

“Shoot.” 

“Well, I don’t actually know any women around here.  I mean, the biker bunnies are off limits when it comes to conversation, and I get why.  They’re decent girls, but I don’t trust them not to talk.  They’d never intentionally share our secrets, but they… Well, they aren’t always careful where they gossip.  And I don’t really know anyone else around here…”

She trailed off, awkward for the first time since I had met her.  I was amazed.  I was also confused.

“Wait.  I thought you were from here?”

“I just moved back.  Lived in Chicago for almost a decade.” 

“Wow.  I get that.” 

I grabbed my bag and opened the door to my room letting her out and locking up behind us.  As we walked down the hall, I went on.

“Yeah, I’ve been so busy between work and school that I just kind of kept to myself.”  I shrugged, trying not to blush, thinking about the number of men I turned down in favor of my studies lately.  Until Aidan.

Well, he’d been kind of hard to ignore, what with those eyes and all that… I grinned, remembering that gorgeous body.  It wasn’t often a loyal man that hot came along.  And his disability and everything that went with it didn’t faze me at all.  I was going to be a physical therapist, for goodness sake. 

No, it was his connection to the MC that bothered me.  I wasn’t sure how to explain why though, so I’d kept that worry to myself. 

Layla and I were out of the building and walking towards her truck, when the conversation turned from goals to boys. 

“No boyfriends or anything?”  she asked, searching for her keys. 

“Honestly?  No.  I didn’t date in high school.  They all called me ‘unapproachable.’” I laughed now, remembering that.  I hadn’t cared too much what they thought of me then, but it had been annoying.  And at times, it had been dangerous. 

I was surprised at how easy it was to talk to Layla.  I didn’t mind her questions.  It was like she was an old friend.  Someone I was catching up with.

Her car was illegally parked in front of the curb.  It was old, a hulking monstrosity from the sixties, but it was nothing like Aidan’s Chevelle.  The immaculately kept Chevy had been painted midnight blue and there was a little white decal on the bed that said ‘Beast.’

I didn’t ask about the decal.  It wasn’t my business.  But I was starting to wonder if any of my new friends had a car that was from this century.

We slid into the cab of the truck and she turned it on, the engine roaring to life.

“And there was no one that really stood out to me in college.  Not until –”

“Not until Aidan, huh?” 

“Yeah.”

Apparently, it was a familiar story to her.  Maybe it was similar to her own.  The look on her face was kind and a bit dreamy, as if she was remembering her own discoveries.

“I get that,” she said.  “It’s easy to lose everything else while you’re trying to better yourself.  I was dead set on my own plans.  But in spite of all my efforts, I couldn’t resist Rage.  Love is so… It’s wonderful.  You can’t walk away from it.  Is it like that with Aidan?”

I blushed.  “It’s like, no matter what I do, I gravitate towards him.”  I’d never felt like this before – and good thing, too.  This was scary as hell.

Layla hummed an agreement.  “Yes.  That impossible pull.” 

She nodded, the two of us sharing a moment that no one else could really understand. 

Our men were dark and dangerous, and they were filled with secrets, but that made us want them even more.

“How can you live like this?  With the club shaping your whole life?  I don’t know you well, but it seems like you’re really independent…” I meant that she was no biker bunny. 

I hadn’t actually been in the MC headquarters, but I knew the type of woman she had been referring to.  I saw them every night on the stage, dancing and twirling, some of them giving the men exactly what they wanted, and more. 

They weren’t bad people or anything, but I knew neither of us could be like them, even if we tried.  We had different needs, different strengths.  Different weaknesses.

Layla knew what I meant.  “Not all of us are so pliable.  I think that’s why Cullen likes to have me around.  I help them stay out of too much trouble – which keeps the guys out of trouble.  And Cullen knows I won’t put up with his bullshit.” 

If I had to guess, she didn’t put up with
anyone’s
bullshit.  It was what made her a great woman for Rage.  She was as tough and as smart as he was.  And she loved him, so she made sure to back him up. 

What made me happy was that her man seemed to back her up as well.  I wasn’t sure what I thought of Fire and Steel, but I had never seen anything but trust and respect from Rage towards his woman.  And Layla wasn’t the sort of woman to tolerate a man undermining her. 

As nervous as I was about Aidan’s involvement with Fire and Steel, I felt a little better knowing their President was a truly strong man.  Strong men didn’t need to break their women.  They knew a good thing when they found it.

Layla grinned, but the happiness faded away, replaced with seriousness.  When she spoke, she was brutally honest with me. 

“I’m not in love with the club.  Hell, sometimes I am the greatest champion against it.  But it’s a part of me.  It always has been.  Always will be.  My dad, my uncle, my brother.  Me.  We’ve all been with the club.  I gotta live with that.  Gotta make it better.”

I nodded.

“And Aidan, is he really a part of the club?  I know he’s your mechanic, but I’ve never seen a cut on him.”

“He will be.  He’s the type.”

“They don’t do illegal shit, do they?  Because I’ve seen what that stuff does… I don’t think I could -”

She just smiled.  “They’re a biker gang.  Hell yes, they do stupid, illegal shit.  But they’ve got a code of honor, you know?  No hurting women or children, and no hard shit.  Not unless it is temporary and for a good reason.  It’s one of the things I respect about them.  They aren’t your average club.”

“I don’t want Aidan mixed up in anything crazy.  A decent club, that’s one thing.  But Aidan… He’s been through enough.” 

I didn’t know exactly what had happened or what he had seen, but I knew it was something that haunted him, and I didn’t want to see him brought low by the only thing that seemed to be giving him a purpose.

She nodded.  “We understand.  Aidan is a special case, anyhow.  He’s a good man.  And he’s strong material, you know?” 

I knew. 

“Think of it this way.  I trust Cullen.  You have to learn to trust us, too.  He’s a good man.  Aidan is a good man.”

Aidan was also a broken man.  A man I cared about more than I was ready to admit.  I’d fight for him.  I’d bare my claws, and I’d be loyal until there was nothing left.

The intensity of it all was unnerving. 

But that didn’t mean I felt comfortable with all this.

Layla went on quietly.  “Life in the MC isn’t easy for the men, or the women.  It’s a lot of sacrifice.  But I think you can do it.  And I think Aidan can, too.  You both have the kind of strong, loyal personality we need.  I’d like to see you give it a chance.”

She looked at me out of the corner of her eye, checking on me as we pulled into the lot.

“Emma, can I say something?  It’s a little personal.”

“Sure.”

She put the car in park and tapped gently on the wheel, choosing her words carefully. 

“Aidan… He’s a strong guy, but he has demons he has to wrestle with.  That will always make him a little… blind to his weaknesses.  He needs a woman to challenge him.  To build him up and help him actually acknowledge when he’s wrong so he can conquer the problem. 

“I know men like him.  I’m around them every damn day.  It isn’t an easy thing to do.  It will never be easy.  All I can tell you is that, if you are both meant for one another, it will be worth it.  If that’s what you want…”

I nodded, but I didn’t need to think about it. 

I was his, and he belonged to me.

Aidan

“They get you here early and then make you fucking wait forever,” Mick groused.

He sunk into the seat in the waiting room of the respiratory center and threw his travel tank in the seat next to him.  I watched him check the oxygen level before he sucked in a deep, disgruntled breath.

“How many appointments do you have today, old man?”  I asked as I looked up at the clock.  My appointment wasn’t for an hour, and I had nowhere else to go.

“You don’t need to babysit me, you know.  I didn’t need you to bring me here in the first place.”

“Were you going to come on your own?”  I asked, but I knew the answer.  Fuck, no.  I’d gotten to know him a little better in the car, and I knew his type.  Old man wouldn’t have come at all unless someone made him go.  If it wasn’t me it was going to be Rage or Layla.

Now I got it, why Rage had asked me to bring the old man.  He might want Mick protected, but the biggest threat to the geezer was his own stubbornness. 

I knew better than most – you had a problem?  You needed a doctor?  You’d better get your ass in there.  You got fixed up, then you got the hell out.  Otherwise, shit got worse.

I realized I’d been falling into the same trap myself lately, ignoring my problem, telling myself it would just go away.  It was just a little discomfort.  Rage was right, though.  I knew if I got it fixed, I’d be a stronger member of the team. 

Mick was still wrestling with his own problems.  “Don’t need to come down here,” he grumbled.

“Judging by the list of appointments that they scheduled on the same day, you really do.” 

I knew how the system worked now.  The VA sent out lists of appointments to your address and expected you to bring the paper with you when you came in.  I’d seen the length of it, but I snatched it from his hand and scanned through the listings: cardiologist, pulmonary specialist, podiatrist.  He had a long litany of things he needed, and the only person he was successfully lying to was himself.

Just because we had to be here didn’t mean I was thrilled by it all.  Me, I just had the specialist appointment.  But I was going to be here all fucking day waiting on this old man to get done with his shit.  I gritted my teeth and settled in.

“How’d you get that anyway?”  he asked, pointing to my leg.  “Sucks coming in and out of here at any age, but as young as you, with that?  You’re going to be tethered to the VA for life.”

He was blunt and nebby in his discontent.  I bristled.  I didn’t like talking about it to people I liked, and Mick?  I barely knew him.

So I was amazed to find myself answering him. 

“Car-bomb.  Was on a vehicle recovery mission.  Bomb went off.  Blew me one way, my leg another.”  I didn’t add anything to that.  I didn’t have to. 

He nodded, slapped the tank at his feet.  “This, it ain’t just from smoking.  Yeah, I smoke.  I drink, too.  But that ain’t how I got this.  Got this when I got home from Nam.  Wasn’t too bad at first, but over time.”  He shook his head.  “Fucking Agent Orange.” 

“Damn.  I’m sorry.”

“Ain’t nothing to be sorry about.  It is the way it is, and I don’t need pity.  Suspect you don’t either.”

I nodded.  “Gotta roll with what you’re dealt.”

“Ain’t that the fuckin’ truth.  Layla don’t know, and neither does her Aunt.  It’s easier for them to think I caused this shit.  Easier for them to blame me.  Truth is I got it bad, and then I made it worse.”  He shrugged.

I wasn’t sure why this old man was telling me all this, but I listened.  I’d learned long ago that old geezers might yammer on a lot, but they usually had a point, and that point was sometimes something I needed to know

Mick tilted his chin at me.  “You.  You’re a part of the club now, and your job is to help keep it safe, to protect them.  I think you’re a good kid.  I think you’re a soldier through and through.  Am I right?”

Oh, so that was it.  He was sizing me up.  Geezers did that, too.

A wry smile flickered across my face for a moment.  “Yes, sir.”  I looked him straight in the eyes as I said it, and waited to see what the hell he was up to.

“Good.”  He settled deeper in his seat, pulling his hat lower over his eyes.  “Cuz that’s my family, and I want to make sure anyone we bring in will do it right.” 

I don’t why he riled me up, but he did.  “Look, I’m not about to do shit.  I never abandoned my team.  Not once.  I fucking took a damn bomb for it.”

He just peeked out from under his hat, giving me an approving eye.  “Calm down, kid.  I know.  You think I didn’t see shit like that?  You’re good.  I trust you.  Approved you.  I just wanna make sure.”

Fine.  “I get it.”

“Good.  And if you ever need to talk… I know the shit you’ve been in.  I’ve been there myself.  My ears are open.  For the price of a beer, of course.”  He chuckled and stood as the nurse called his name.

“Don’t you got an appointment to get to, or are you going to skip it playing nursemaid?” 

He winked at me and then started walking away, carting his oxygen tank.

What a bastard.

I grinned.  Damn it all, but one of these days I might actually get along with the old shit.