Chapter Twenty-Eight
Carly
Chance sinks into the chair in the corner of the clubhouse and pulls me onto his lap. I let out a squeal and as I turn a playful glare to him, he grins and claims my lips.
“Jesus, it’s getting too cutesy in here for me,” Smith says, looking from me to Ali, splayed out on the couch with her head in Logan’s lap. He curls his lips in mock disgust and I snort as Ali laughs.
“Be careful or you’re next,” she teases and he recoils.
“Now, why the hell would you put that on me, woman? I’ve got too much shit to deal with to meet a woman.”
Ali shrugs, a smile teasing her lips. “I’m just saying.”
“Yeah, well, next time don’t,” he grumbles but I catch the hint of a smile teasing his lips before he turns away. The more time I spend with these bikers, the more I’m beginning to think they’re just big teddy bears. Unless, of course, someone they love is in danger and then, there’s no length they wouldn’t go to.
“So,” I prompt, glancing over at Ali. “How’s wedding planning going?”
She shrugs. “It’s not, yet. Nothing concrete anyway.”
“Except that it is going to happen,” Logan interjects, pinning Ali with a hard stare and she laughs.
“No one ever said it wasn’t going to. Relax, caveman.”
“Now there’s the name we should have given him,” Kodiak says, leaning back in his chair with his arms crossed over his chest. He’s been so quiet that I’d almost forgotten he was here. Guess he’s not much of a morning person.
“I’ll keep my name. Thanks.”
Logan flips him off and Kodiak throws his head back and laughs before turning to me.
“Glad y’all could make it last night. I know it must be hard to get out with what’s going on with your sister.”
I nod, a lump in my throat. It’s been almost a week since I gave Rosie the phone and we still haven’t heard anything from Ivy. My only hope is that she’s okay and looking for her way out. At first, it was hard to leave the house or do anything else but worry but after a little while, life has to start going back to normal… or as normal as it can be right now. I’m always worried about her, but I can’t just sit by the phone day and night, either. It’s been a hard lesson to learn and some days, Chance has to teach it to me all over again but nights like last night help.
The guys decided to throw a little party and sitting around with all of them, drinking beer, I was able to really relax for the first time all week. They’re all so different than I assumed they would be and after spending even a little bit of time with them, it’s easy to see that they really are family. Not that I have much to compare it to but it’s the kind of family I always wanted for myself. I also think it’s telling that I feel more comfortable here in this clubhouse than I do in my own apartment. I’m finally building a life for myself and it’s the one I always dreamed of.
“Yeah, it is but hanging out with y’all definitely helped,” I say and he grins.
“Good.”
“Shit,” Smith hisses as the click of heels on the hardwood floors fills the room. I glance over my shoulder and tense when I see Chance’s ex-wife walking toward us.
“What the hell are you still doing here?” she spits out when she sees me and I roll my eyes. Oh, I’m so not doing this with her. Climbing out of Chance’s lap, I plop down on the couch next to Ali and cross my arms over my chest. She’s Chance’s ex so he can deal with her.
“Why the fuck are you here, Trix?” he asks, standing from the chair and she turns a smile to him.
“I miss you, baby,” she purrs, running her fingers down his chest and I want to cut them off. I’m pretty sure I saw a big ‘ole butcher knife in the kitchen the last time I was here.
“Who is that?” Ali whispers in my ear.
“Ex-wife.”
Her lip curls. “Skank.”
I laugh out loud and Trixie narrows her eyes at me. “I thought I told you to stay away from my man.”
“Yeah, I decided I didn’t want to and last time I checked, divorce papers make him not your man anymore.”
“He’ll always be mine.”
I chuckle as my fists clench. “Yeah, that’s not what he was saying last night when he was balls deep inside me.”
“Oh, shit.” Smith laughs, covering his mouth with his hand.
“Bitch,” she seethes, taking a step toward me and I laugh again. I’m not scared of this trashy hoe and after what she did to me, after what she almost cost me, I’ll happily ram her face into a table a couple of times.
“Enough!” Chance shouts, stepping in front of her. “Even if you hadn’t almost ruined the best thing that’s ever happened to me, I still wouldn’t be yours. You made sure of that by fucking anything with a dick. Our divorce has been final for a while now and it’s time you move on.”
“I miss you, Chance. What if we made a mistake?” she asks, pouting, and I glance over at Ali, who pretends to gag on her finger. He lets out a sardonic laugh.
“The only mistake I made was marrying you in the first place. Leave now, Trixie, and if I ever see you in this clubhouse again, I’ll throw you out myself.”
“Chance,” she whines and he shakes his head.
“Now.” His voice leaves no room for argument and she stares at him for a second before stomping her foot and spinning toward the door. As she marches out of the clubhouse, the guys start laughing.
“Thank God, your taste in women has improved,” Smith spits out in between laughter and I extend my hand for him to give me a high-five as everyone else laughs. Chance sinks into the chair again and holds his hand out to me.
“Will you come here?”
I wrinkle my nose as I stand. “I suppose.”
As I sit in his lap again, he squeezes me tight as I sigh.
“I fucking love you, Princess,” he whispers in my ear and I melt.
“I love you, too.”
He rubs his nose against mine. “I’m sorry about her.”
Before I can say anything else, my phone rings and I pull it out of my pocket, my heart jumping into my throat as Ivy’s name flashes across the screen. It continues ringing in my hand and I just stare at it, my heart thudding in my ear and my breath shallow. Chance nudges me and I glance down at him.
“Answer it, Princess.”
Nodding, I do as instructed and press the phone to my ear. “Hello?”
“Carly, I need help,” she whispers, her voice full of panic and it snaps me out of my daze. This is it. This is the moment that I’ve been waiting for since I first got that note from her and I need to get my shit together. She needs me.
“Vi, what’s going on?”
“I’m at this restaurant and I slipped into the kitchen to hide from the guards Julian hired. There’s three of them and they follow me everywhere. I need you to get here now.”
I jump up and Kodiak, Chance, Smith, and Logan follow suit as I turn the speakerphone on. “What restaurant are you at?”
“Um… I’m not sure. It’s right by the bridge. He was going to take me somewhere.”
“Is Julian there with you?” Chance asks and there’s a pause on the line. All of the guys except for Chance jump into action, grabbing God knows what as they work out which vehicles to take.
“Who’s that?”
“Ivy, it’s not important right now. Is Julian there with you?”
“No, he got called into work, so he was just going to meet us there once he was done.”
I sigh. God, this is already a mess. I guess I should be glad Julian isn’t there but he could show up at any moment. “And where are the guards?”
“Still at the table, I assume. I told them I was going to the bathroom.”
“You’re in the kitchen?”
The sound of metal clanging in the background makes my pulse spike. “Yeah. The cooks are hiding me, but you’ve got to hurry.”
“We are, Vi. We’re coming right now. We just need to know the name of the restaurant.”
“Hold on,” she says and I hear whispering in the background. “It’s called Patrick’s.”
I nod and glance over at Chance. “Okay. We’re on our way, Vi. Just hang on.”
“Hurry, please,” she whispers into the phone before hanging up and my shoulders sag as I press my hands to the table and hang my head. After sucking in a breath, I look up.
“All right, let’s go.”
Chance shakes his head. “No way in hell, Princess.”
“You are not going to stop me,” I tell him, my voice firm. He has zero chance of getting me to wait here while he goes to save my sister. It’s not going to happen.
“We ready to go?” Ali asks and I nod.
“I don’t think so, Kitten,” Logan growls and Ali turns, leveling a glare at him.
“Try and stop me.”
The whole scene would be comical if my sister wasn’t hiding in a kitchen, waiting for us right now.
“We don’t have time for this,” Blaze snaps, storming out of the office with Kodiak on his heels. “Everyone is going.”
Ali and I nod before storming outside and leaving our men behind with gaping jaws. They catch up to us after a moment and I peek over at Chance, but I can’t tell if his stern expression is because I wouldn’t listen or because of what we’re about to walk into. Probably both.
I hop into the truck and Chance slips behind the wheel as the sound of engines fill the air. Most of the guys are on their bikes but Smith and Storm are driving the big white van Ali’s riding in. We pull out of the parking lot in a single file line and my knee bounces as I set the GPS and check to see how far away we are.
Three miles.
It could be worse, I suppose. Hopefully, the traffic is light and we can get there quickly. Those guards won’t wait much longer if they haven’t already gone to check on her and I don’t know how long the cooks can hide her. God, what will Julian do to her if we don’t get to her in time? And how far are these cooks willing to go to protect her? Chance’s hand lands on my knee and I glance over at him.
“It’s going to be okay. We’re bringing her home today.”
I nod, tears of relief filling my eyes. I know it’s not over yet but we’re so close that I can taste it.
“We’re bringing her home,” I whisper. Time ticks by slowly and the three miles to the restaurant feel like a hundred as I scan the streets. I don’t even know what the hell I’m looking for, but it feels like the right thing to do in this situation. When we finally pull up in front of the restaurant, I jump out, ignoring the screams from Chance in the truck. A door slams and footsteps echo behind me but before I can reach the door, an arm hooks around my waist. Chance spins me around and I glance up at him as his nostrils flare.
“Wait,” he grounds out, his expression making it clear I shouldn’t argue. This is probably the only time he’ll win this fight. Blaze walks over to us with Storm and Kodiak trailing behind him.
“Carly, you need to go get her, but we’ll be right behind you. Don’t worry about the guards, we’ll cover them. If they haven’t already called Julian, they will as soon as we leave.”
I nod. “Okay.”
Chance takes my hand and nods to me, giving me the kick in the ass I need to move forward. We walk into the restaurant, Chance and I in front with Blaze, Storm, and Kodiak behind us. As I stop at the front counter, they fan out behind us, blocking Chance and I from the dining room where three large men sit at a table, watching us closely.
The waitress’s eyes widen as she comes out from the kitchen and approaches us. I glance down at her nametag as she takes us all in. “Can I help y’all?”
“I’m here for my sister, Alice. She’s hiding in your kitchen,” I say softly, glancing at the guards in the dining room before focusing back on her. She nods.
“Of course, follow me.”
“We’ll hang out here,” Kodiak says, his gaze locked onto the three guards who are now standing.
Chance nods. “Thanks.”
I suck in a breath and we follow Alice back to the kitchen, where two big burly men stop and stare at us.
“This is her sister,” she says and the guys share a glance before nodding. One steps forward and holds his hand out.
“I’m Vernon and this is Adam.”
“Carly,” I reply, shaking his hand. “And this is my boyfriend, Chance.”
“Follow me,” Vernon says and I nod as he turns and starts walking away. When we get to the hallway, he turns back to look at us. “Knew as soon as I saw her she was in trouble. I’m just glad y’all were able to get here so quickly.”
“Me, too.”
He points down the hallway to a closed door. “She’s in there. Asked me to tell you to knock twice, wait a second, and then knock once more.”
“Thank you,” I say, grabbing his arm as he starts to turn away from me. I’ll forever be grateful to him. Who knows what would have happened if these people hadn’t stepped up to help Ivy.
“Don’t mention it. I just did what anyone else would do.”
I shake my head. “No, not anyone else. I’ll always remember what you did for us.”
He studies me for a second before nodding toward the door. “She’s waiting for you.”
I turn back to the door and release a breath before peeking over at Chance. “I think I should go in there alone.”
“That sounds good, Princess. I’ll wait out here.”
He gives me a quick kiss before releasing me. I stare at the closed door for another second before walking down the hallway and knocking twice. I wait a beat and knock again just before the door flies open.
“Carly,” Ivy sobs, throwing herself into my arms and I hold her tight, tears building in my eyes as I thank God she’s still safe.
“Are you okay?” I ask, pushing her away from me so I can see her face. Gasping, I cover my mouth at the bruise on her cheek and she shrugs my other hand off.
“It’s not as bad as it looks. I’m okay… really.”
“Baby, we can catch up later,” Chance calls from down the hallway and I turn to look at him, nodding. He’s right. We can’t be hanging around here.
“Baby?” Ivy asks, her brows shooting up and I roll my eyes as I tuck her under my arm.
“Now is so not the time, Vi, but I’m glad to see there’s still some fire left in you.”
Blaze walks back into the kitchen and meets my eyes. “It’s time to go.”
His eyes give away everything he doesn’t want to say and I know Julian is already on his way. He won’t give Ivy up without a fight, but neither will I.
“You got a back entrance?” Chance asks Vernon and he nods, pointing over his shoulder.
“Over that way.”
Blaze pulls his phone out and calls Smith, telling him to bring the van around the back. When he hangs up, he turns back to us.
“Just wait here a second. I’m gonna go make sure our friends out front aren’t causing any trouble.”
Ivy starts trembling in my arms and I rub my hand over her skin, trying to calm her down. “You doing okay?”
“I just want to get out of here,” she whispers. Chance meets my gaze, offering me a reassuring smile but I can’t bring myself to reciprocate. Ivy might be here right now but she’s not safe. Not until Julian is behind bars and out of her life for good.
“Let’s go, y’all,” Blaze calls, marching through the kitchen again with Logan on his heels. We follow them to the back entrance where Smith has the van parked. I help Ivy inside first before climbing in after her and Chance tosses his keys to Storm.
“Drive my truck for me, yeah?”
Logan nods. “Yeah, you got it.”
As the van door slides shut, I wrap my arms around Ivy again. “Let’s get you home.”
“Yeah,” she whispers, her voice sounding hollow and my heart wrenches in my chest. She’s never going to be the same.
We’re all quiet on the drive back to the clubhouse with Chance watching out the window for any sign of trouble and me focusing on Ivy, who is finally starting to calm down. When we pull into the parking lot, Chance’s phone rings.
“Yeah, Boss,” he says and after a second, his gaze flicks over to me. “Okay, I’ll let her know.”
“What is it?” I ask as soon as he hangs up and he sighs, looking over at Ivy.
“Rodriguez called Blaze to warn him Julian is on his way here with the police. He told them we kidnapped you, Ivy.”
Ivy’s eyes widen and she shakes her head. “He’s going to take me back?”
“Hey,” Chance whispers, grabbing her hand. “That’s not going to happen. He can’t force you to go anywhere, Darlin’. When the police get here, just tell them the truth, okay?”
She shakes her head, her gray gaze filling with panic as she glances out the window of the van before looking back to me. “I can’t do this.”
“Yes, you can, Vi. You are strong and you have this entire club at your back. No one is going to let anything bad happen to you.”
After studying me for a moment, she nods and the sound of sirens fill the air.
“Showtime,” Chance whispers, sliding the van door open and I grab Ivy’s hand as we step out of the van and walk around to the front. I sense more than see the guys fanning out behind me and I feel so incredibly blessed to have them all. I’m sure it’s an interesting picture – Ivy and I standing here with all these bikers at our back as police cars race into the lot with red and blue lights bouncing off the clubhouse.
Ivy starts shaking and her breathing stutters. “I’m scared, Car.”
“I’ve got you,” I whisper the same words Chance says to me anytime the fear starts to win and feel his gentle touch on my back. My heart races and a familiar panic tickles my throat but, in a way, I’ve never felt stronger. Maybe it’s just because Ivy needs me right now, but I’ll take it.
The cars screech to a stop and police officers file out, some with their hands on their guns, others watching us curiously.
“My name is Officer Brooks. We’re here about a woman named Ivy Mills,” one officer says, stepping forward and Ivy raises her hand.
“That’s me.”
“Are you okay, ma’am?” he asks and Ivy nods.
“Yes.”
“We have reports that you were kidnapped from a restaurant.”
Before she can say anything, a car door slams and Julian runs through the patrol cars toward us. She instinctively takes a step back, but I squeeze her hand, standing strong as I stare him down.
“Ivy,” he calls and her hand starts shaking again. An officer holds his arm out, stopping Julian before he can get too close. “It’s okay, baby. I’m here.”
“Ma’am, can you tell us what happened?” Brooks asks and Ivy opens her mouth before snapping it shut again, her gaze glued to Julian. She’s so pale and I know all too well the fear coursing through her veins right now.
Come on, Vi.
You can do this.
“You’re safe now, sweetheart. I promise I’ll protect you from these people,” Julian says, opening his arms wide. To anyone else, maybe he looks like a worried fiancé, but I see past the façade – I always have.
“Miss Mills, I need you to straighten this out.”
Ivy shakes her head and looks up at Officer Brooks. I squeeze her hand again and she peeks over at me before sucking in a breath. “I wasn’t kidnapped.”
“Ivy!” Julian screams, anger making his mask slip for a second before he regains himself. “Tell the truth, baby.”
“That man is my fiancé… or ex fiancé. I left him and my sister and her boyfriend came to get me from the restaurant. I’m so sorry for any trouble this has caused y’all.”
“Motherfucker,” Julian hisses, slamming the door of one of the patrol cars closed and Brooks flicks an annoyed glance over his shoulder. It’s clear he’s not buying Julian’s story anymore.
“Where did you get that bruise, Darlin’?” he asks, pointing to Ivy’s cheek and she raises a shaky hand to cover it.
“Oh, I’m just a klutz, you know.”
Damn it.
He sighs, his lips pressing into a thin line. It’s domestic violence excuse number one and he doesn’t believe it for a second but if Ivy refuses to tell the truth, his hands are tied. He studies her for a moment before reaching in his pocket and pulling out a business card.
“My number is on there and you can call me anytime. I’d like to talk to you again in a few days. Would that be okay?”
Ivy stares down at the card for a moment before nodding. “I’ll think about it.”
“Ma’am,” he sighs, his gaze roaming her body like he’s checking for more bruises. “If someone hurt you, you have to tell us so we can help you. They could hurt you or someone else if you let them get away with it.”
The intent behind his words is clear and I’m glad there is someone taking this seriously. Ivy nods.
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
He sighs again, giving up since it’s clear Ivy won’t be talking about any of this today. I don’t blame her, though. She literally just escaped from Julian minutes ago and she needs time to process. Officer Brooks turns away and as he walks back to his patrol car, I meet Julian’s gaze across the lot. With just a look, one thing is clear.
This isn’t over.