Chapter 19

Raider

 

The smell of bacon frying woke me from a restless sleep. Groaning, I climbed out of bed and threw on the first pair of jeans I found. Pulling a Hannigans T-shirt over my head, I stomped downstairs to find my sister fixing breakfast in the kitchen.

Thankfully, my nephew wasn’t screaming his displeasure at not being in his mother’s arms. It was almost peaceful with him so interested in the cheerios Raven had put on the little tray on his highchair. Beside him, Lexa was coloring a picture that looked like a family portrait of stick figures.

Flick was sitting at the table with the kids, a mug of coffee in her hands, but her eyes were half-closed and she was still in her robe.

Raven’s eyes widened when she saw me entering the kitchen. “You look like crap.”

Two years ago, Raven would have used an entirely different word than crap. These days, however, my potty-mouthed sister watched every word that left her mouth. At least when she was around the kids.

“Then I look how I feel,” I grumbled and took my usual place at the table.

Our house had always been big, but now it was ridiculously huge since we had added a few extra bedrooms. I wasn’t sure how we all co-existed under the same roof, but somehow, we made it work. I couldn’t honestly imagine not living in the house I had grown up in.

For a minute, I wondered how Quinn would feel about moving in with me. She could have been sitting right there with my sister and Flick, spending her morning catching up with her two friends, helping with the kids and making breakfast for everyone.

I liked the idea … a lot.

“Heard things got crazy last night.” My sister turned away from the stove to face me. “Is it true? Was she really there?”

I snuck a sideways glance at my niece before shrugging. “You mean, your husband didn’t know? He owns the place, Rave. Shouldn’t he keep up with who is actually working for him?”

She rolled her eyes at me. “You know he doesn’t have much to do with that club. He’s too busy to keep up with who Topaz hires, and so many girls come and go, it’s hard to keep up with them, even if he did.”

I didn’t try to push her further, knowing she was right. Bash was always busy these days. Whether it was with Raven and the kids, work, or the MC, he was always running around, doing something.

Clenching my jaw, I popped my knuckles as I remembered the guy touching Quinn the night before while she continued to dance on stage for a crowd of hundreds of guys, nearly naked. “Yeah,” I gritted out. “It’s true. But she won’t be going back.”

Our choice of conversation had Flick’s eyes opening a little farther. “Why was she doing it? I mean, if Quinn needed money, all she had to do was come to us.”

I shrugged. “She wouldn’t say why, other than that she needed the money.”

“Huh,” Flick muttered and took a sip of her steaming coffee. “Well, Jet said the uncles aren’t happy about it. Figure someone’s head is about to roll over it. You know how much they love Quinn.”

Everyone loved Quinn. How could they not?

How had it taken me so long to realize that I loved her, too?

For the next half an hour, I sat there, listening to the women talking. They asked me a question every now and then, but I was too lost in my own head to do more than grunt an answer or two.

Raven made me a plate of bacon and eggs before the others started coming down to start their day. Gracie was the first to enter the kitchen, and as she moved toward the coffee pot to fill her to-go cup, I pushed to my feet.

I had found out from Aggie the night before that Quinn was supposed to work from eight to four. I wanted to be there when she got in. Even if she wouldn’t talk to me, I would be there to watch over her in case Fontana or his crew tried anything.

As I was going out the back door, I heard a hog coming at a speed that would have had Raven going apeshit on the rider if the kids had been outside. I had barely closed the door to the kitchen behind me when I saw Colt coming. His tires screeched, leaving skid marks on the recently resealed driveway just feet away from me.

I had barely pulled my keys out of my picket when he was jumping off his hog and heading my way.

“Morning, broth—”

I was cut off when he did a Superman jump and threw a punch at me all at once.

I went flying backward onto my ass at the force of his punch, my jaw throbbing like a motherfucker. I didn’t even have time to ask what the hell he was doing before he jumped on me, his fists flying in every direction, each one feeling like they packed the force of a damn jackhammer.

I struggled under his assault, fighting back. I rolled us, getting a few punches to his face along the way, until I was on top. I pinned him down with my legs, holding his shoulders against the asphalt of the driveway with my hands while my little brother struggled like a bucking horse under me.

“What the fuck?” I roared in his face. The tangy, metallic taste of blood was filling my mouth, but I was too busy trying to keep him from not starting another round to care about the source of the bleeding.

“I’m going to kill you,” Colt snarled at me like a wild animal.

I tightened my hold on his shoulders when he nearly broke free, digging my knees into his ribs when he only struggled harder. “I figured that part out. Why?”

“Quinn.”

That one word, her sweet name, was all I needed to hear to know what was going on with my brother. So, he knew. I was actually glad. I had been debating back and forth with myself for weeks about just coming out and telling him what had happened with Quinn. Fear of embarrassing her or hurting her by talking to her best friend about our night together had kept my mouth shut. That and I had figured he would go fucking ballistic. I hadn’t wanted to deal with his shit then.

The same could have been said for right then, as well, but it was what it was. He knew now, and I hoped that once he calmed down, I could explain the things I had discovered about myself—that I wanted to make Quinn mine.

She already was, though. In my eyes, in my fucking heart, Quinn was mine in every way that mattered.

I just had to convince her of it.

“I don’t know what to say, man.” It was the truth. I had no idea what to say to him right then. Somehow, I figured saying “So, I fucked your best friend” wasn’t going to go over too well with him.

I had let myself get a little distracted thinking about her, my hold on him easing just a fraction. It was all Colt needed to pull one arm free and punch me upside the head.

“I don’t need you to say anything. I just need you to bleed.”

My ears suddenly felt like they were ringing, my vision going blurry for a moment. I tried to fight back, but my movements seemed uncoordinated. Fuck, his fists were like sledgehammers, destroying everything they landed on.

Another punch to my jaw had blood spraying from my mouth from the force of it. I could feel my tongue swelling where a tooth bit into it, making even more blood fill my mouth.

I fought back, connecting my fist with his ribs, but he was so pissed he seemed to barely feel it.

The blows kept coming. Even though I fought back, my head was becoming too cloudy, my mind becoming a jumble of everything.

“All the pussy in the world, and you had to go and put your dick in hers,” Colt growled low and ominously. “You couldn’t just leave her alone, could you?”

“It’s not like that!” I yelled up at him. “I love her, man.”

“No,” he snarled. “No, you don’t know how to love anyone but yourself. I won’t let you hurt her more than you already have. She’s too good for you, and you stole her fucking virginity, you dirty bastard.”

Shit, he didn’t have to tell me that. I knew she was too good for me. I had always known it. That was why I had stayed away from her for so long. But I hadn’t stolen her virginity.

She gave it to me.

“Colt!” I thought I heard Raven scream, but my head was too fucked up to know if she had or not. “What the hell are you two doing? What’s going on?”

Colt acted like he didn’t hear her, so I wondered if she was really there or not.

“Bash! Guys, help! They’re fighting.” Raven sounded furious now, and when I turned my head, I found her standing over us with her hands on her hips, looking twice as furious as the man still beating the shit out of me.

Heavy, running feet hitting pavement filled my ears, or maybe it was just the pounding of my own heartbeat echoing in my head. I wasn’t sure.

The next thing I knew, we were being pulled apart. Jet and Hawk held on to Colt, but they were struggling to hold him. Bash locked his arms around me, but I wasn’t trying to get free nearly as badly as my little brother. I didn’t want to fight him. Quinn would hate me if I hurt her best friend.

Jet and Hawk each held one of Colt’s arms, using all their strength to keep him from breaking free. Bash had locked his hands behind my head.

“What the fuck are you two doing?” our pres demanded.

Colt spit at my feet, and I vaguely noticed that there was blood in it. “Raider fucked Quinn.”

“No way.” Raven got between the two of us, her eyes going from me to Colt, and then back to me again. When I didn’t deny it, her face tightened. “Please tell me you didn’t.”

I met her gaze without flinching. “Not gonna lie to you, Rave.”

My sister’s face became savage as she took a step toward me. Bash pulled me back a few steps, putting a little more distance between me and his wife. Her mouth opened, and I could see the rage that was simmering in her eyes, but before she could slice me apart with her sharp tongue, Quinn’s car stopped at the end of the driveway.

I tried to shrug off Bash’s hold when she got out and I saw her face. She was pale, her eyes slightly swollen and bloodshot from crying. I wanted—fucking needed—to hold her. However, Bash only tightened his hold, refusing to release me.

She ran up the driveway, her worried eyes scanning first my face then Colt’s. At the sight of the bruise that was already beginning to turn dark on my brother’s chin, she started to cry. “Are you okay?”

Something painful twisted in my chest, while jealousy ate a hole in my gut the size of a hubcap. It was like she couldn’t have cared less about me.

Colt tried to pull away from our brothers. “I’m good. Go home.”

She didn’t move. “Did you …?”

His jaw clenched, and he leaned his head back, glaring up at the cloudless sky. “No, I didn’t. Go. Home.”

I didn’t understand the relief that flashed through her beautiful eyes. Still, she didn’t do as he commanded. Instead, she moved toward me. Tears were still glazing those baby blues, but they had stopped running down her pale cheeks. “I’m sorry. I didn’t want this to happen. He just takes protecting me a little extremely.”

I wanted to reach for her, pull her head to my chest, and kiss her hair. Bash wasn’t ready to release me, though, and until he did, there wasn’t any way I was going to be able to break through the iron hold he had on me.

“It’s okay, sweetheart.” For a split-second, I saw pleasure on her face, but she quickly masked it. “I’m glad that he takes care of you. But he doesn’t have to do that anymore. It’s my job now.”

Her head jerked back in surprise. “That’s not funny.”

“It wasn’t meant to be.”

“I don’t need you to take care of me, Raider.” The tears were all gone now, replaced with a simmering anger that made her blue eyes flash fire at me. Seeing that fiery temper of hers coming out was sexy as hell. “I don’t need you, period.”

“That’s okay. I need you enough for both of us.”

“Oh, my God.” She laughed somberly, shaking her blonde head in exasperation. “You just can’t stop, can you? That charm oozes out of you so effortlessly that you don’t even realize it, huh? Well, I’m not one of your damn sheep that will fall at your feet just because you decide to talk all sweet to me. I’m no longer blind to what you really are, Raider Fucking Hannigan.”

“I’m not trying to charm you,” I assured her, trying again to pull away from Bash’s hold on me. “You are mine, Quinn. We both know it. I’ve just been too stupid to admit it to myself until you showed me the truth.”

Uncertainty filled her expression. “What truth?”

“That we are meant to be.”

Quinn rolled her eyes. “Nice try. Colt must have beat your head in harder than I realized. You might have brain damage. Might want to get that looked at.” She turned her back on me, completely shutting me out as she faced Colt once again. “Will you please come home with me now? We should talk about what happened earlier.” Her voice was so soft, so imploring that it sounded almost like they had been doing something intimate.

My jealousy became explosive, and I jerked against my brother-in-law’s hold. “What the fuck happened earlier?” I yelled at her back, fury burning through my body like a living entity.

She didn’t turn to look at me, didn’t so much as flinch to acknowledge that she had even heard me.

Colt glared at me from over the top of her head for a long moment before giving her his full attention. The hardness in his green eyes softened when they traced over her face. I wanted to put my fist through his skull.

“You can’t run away from this, Quinnie. As much as I love you, I can’t let you.”

Her shoulders drooped, and she folded her arms over her waist. “I know,” she said so low I had to strain to hear her. Then she lifted her head, a defiant tilt to her chin. “But it doesn’t have to happen right this minute … right?”

“No,” he said with a long sigh. “No, I guess it doesn’t.”