Chapter One
Diesel
The ride back from the airport was filled with excitement. After being gone for almost a month, the guys were ready to be home, so was Diesel.
“Man, I can’t wait to get home. I am going to head over to Tank’s and find me a nice, pretty girl for the night,” Diesel said, dreamily.
“And by nice, you mean a freaky kink, right?” Viper laughed.
“Is there any other kind?” Diesel asked, laughing right along with him.
“Guys, remember - there’s a party at the clubhouse tonight to celebrate Kailyn’s birth. Reaper would appreciate each of you sticking around, at least for an hour or so.” Sledge reminded.
“Damn!” Diesel grumbled. “I forgot about the party.”
“Let’s not let Reaper know that, shall we?” Sledge laughed.
Diesel wasn’t an idiot. There was no chance in hell that he would ever admit he forgot about a party for Reaper’s kid. They didn’t call the man the Grim Reaper for nothing. He was death. While Diesel handled everything inside of the Henchmen, Reaper took care of the outside. Left and right hands, so to speak.
Pulling up to the compound, the guys were met by several of the other Henchmen. Diesel looked to see Reaper standing next to Amber, who was carrying a tiny bundle in a pink blanket. The look on his friend’s face was total bliss. Diesel felt a pang of jealousy, but quickly pushed it away. He didn’t want anything to do with marriage and kids. Shit! He couldn’t even settle on a single woman.
Walking to his friend, he placed a kiss on Amber’s head, “Congratulations, Momma.”
“Thank you,” Amber smiled.
Then he turned to Reaper. “Congratulations, Big Poppa,” he said, with a wink.
“Get out of here with that. I am not your Poppa,” Reaper flipped him off.
“How do you deal with this man?” he asked Amber in an exasperated voice.
“It’s easy,” she smiled, looking at her husband. “I use anal sex to keep him in line.”
Diesel barked out a laugh while Reaper grumbled about nothing being sacred in marriage anymore; which caused Diesel to laugh even harder.
“Do you want to hold her?” Amber asked.
“Oh, no!” Diesel took a step back. “Too small.”
“Okay. Your loss,” she smiled and walked into the house with Diesel and Reaper following.
“Let’s get this party started!” Diesel whooped, as he passed over the threshold.
The rest of the night was a wild party. The guys were happy to be home and to celebrate Kailyn's birth. Diesel felt settled, for the first time in a long time. He spent the evening talking and laughing with his brothers. This is what family was all about, he thought to himself.
Walking down the hall, Diesel waited outside of the bathroom door. Too much alcohol. He felt like his eyeballs were floating. After pounding on the door several times, he gave up and walked towards the back of the bar.
“I think someone is bumping uglies in the bathroom. Nobody takes twenty minutes to piss,” Diesel grumbled walking towards the back door. “I have to take a fuckin leak!”
Grumbling, he opened up the back door and heading for the edge of the patio. On the way, his foot caught on something in the dark, and he heard a moan.
“What the fuck?” he whispered out loud.
Pulling his phone from his pocket, he turned on the flashlight. What he saw would forever be etched into his mind.
“Rachel?” he asked, rushing to her side.
Pulling her into his arms, he heard her moan again. “Rachel? What happened?” he questioned, but she wouldn’t or couldn’t answer. There was blood covering her face and hair.
Diesel could hear Sledge’s voice by the back door. He needed help. This was more than he could fix. No Band-Aid would make this better.
“Sledge!” Diesel yelled from the back door. “Get the fuck out here!”
“What the hell,” he called, already heading for the door. Beth followed.
They both came to an abrupt stop when they both saw the bloodied woman lying in Diesel’s arms.
“What the fuck?” Sledge rushed out.
“I don’t know. I walked out the door and she was on the ground, just like this,” Diesel muttered, the shock evident on his face.
“Is that...” Beth cleared her throat and tried again to speak. “Is that Rachel?” she asked finally.
“Yeah,” Diesel said, looking up at her helplessly.
“Let’s get her in the house,” Sledge ordered, “Call Ginx.”
“Already did,” Zander said, standing behind Beth. “She’s on her way.”
“No hospitals,” Rachel begged, sitting up to grip Sledge’s arm.
“You may need to go,” he told her. “There may be internal damage.”
“No! Please no,” Rachel sobbed. “I can’t go to a hospital.”
“Okay,” Sledge agreed, trying to calm her.
“Thank you,” she whimpered, then promptly passed out, falling back against Diesel.
“Let’s get her inside,” Sledge commanded. “Can you carry her to her room?” he asked Diesel.
“I got her.” Lifting her, Diesel adjusted her weight in his arms.
Walking into the house, the noise stopped; all eyes were on the battered woman. Diesel tried his best to shield her from probing eyes, but knew the effort was pointless. The Henchmen would all demand to know what happened.
“Is that Rachel?” Viper asked.
“Yes,” Sledge answered. “Everyone please chill out. Continue with what you were doing. At this point, y’all know as much as we do.”
“Let’s get Rachel to her room before the mob surrounds us,” Reaper suggested quietly.
He had no intention of taking Rachel to her room. Diesel knew she would be more comfortable in his. Most of the club bedrooms were just basic. Twin bed, bathroom, one end table, and a small closet. But not Diesel’s, or Sledge and Reaper’s. The three top ranking members had the best rooms in the house. They were lavish compared to the others. Like comparing a Motel 6 to the Four Seasons.
“What are you doing?” Sledge asked, as Diesel opened the door to his room.
“If someone beat the shit out of you, would you be comfortable on a shitty twin bed?” he tossed the question over his shoulder.
“Point taken,” Sledge muttered, rushing around Diesel to pull the blanket and sheet back.
The room quickly filled up with Henchmen. Each wanting to see what was happening and the extent of the damage to one of their own. Diesel understood the need, but at the same time, it bothered him.
Nosey Fuckers, Diesel thought.
“Excuse me,” a feminine voice yelled above all the noise. “Move out of the dang way.”
Ginx entered the room, pushing men easily twice her size out of the way. The woman was fearless. Diesel watched as her eyes landed on Rachel.
“Dear heavens,” she whispered. Looking to Sledge, she demanded, “Who did this?”
Diesel was shocked to hear the venom in her voice. Ginx was always the calm, cool, and collected type. Never letting her emotions show. After all, she had patched up several of the Henchmen over the years.
“We don’t know. Rachel passed out before we could get any answers.” Sledge gave her a weary look.
“You better find out,” Ginx ordered, looking at Viper.
“We will. But first, we need to know the extent of her injuries,” Viper replied.
Diesel watched the exchange. Something was off, but he couldn’t figure it out. Ginx and Viper seemed to have some type of emotional connection to Rachel, something he had never noticed before. And for some reason, that bothered him, too. If he was honest with himself, this entire situation rubbed him the wrong way.
“Everyone, clear out!” Ginx shouted, to be heard over the commotion in the room.
Slowly, the Henchmen left the room. Reaper, Sledge, Diesel, and Viper were the last to leave. Before shutting the door, Diesel heard Ginx whisper, “It’ll be okay, baby girl. We got you.”
“I am going to head over to my office. I should be able to find something on the security cameras. The entire back yard is under surveillance. Banjo beefed everything up after the bullshit with Beth’s father.” Sledge told the group.
“I am going to head back outside,” Reaper offered. “See if I can find anything.”
“Diesel, head ov-,” Sledge started, but Diesel interrupted him.
“I’m staying right here,” he said. “Just in case Ginx needs anything, of course.” Diesel had no clue why he felt the need to stay put. There was no way he could drag himself away from the door to his bedroom. Not when the young, innocent Rachel Moore was lying in his bed, hurt.
“Okay,” Sledge relied, confused. “Viper, head over to Rachel’s room. See if you can find anything in there.”
“O-,” clearing his throat, Viper tried again to speak. “Okay, Boss.” Diesel could tell from his tone that the words were forced.
He watched as the guys walked away. So many different emotions were swirling in his head, but the most profound was his need to protect Rachel. Diesel had always been attracted to her, she was hot as fuck. Standing at roughly five foot seven, Rachel had long gorgeous legs. Jet black hair hung down to her waist. If you were lucky enough to catch her wearing it down, it could easily be described as a luscious black as night waterfall of waves. And the woman had curves, just like Diesel loved. She was the poster woman for hot babes.
It seemed like hours passed before Diesel was startled from his thoughts. Turning, as the door to his bedroom opened, he was met by Ginx. “Where is Sledge?” she asked.
“In his office trying to see if he can find anything on the cameras.” Diesel replied.
“Good. Good.” Ginx mumbled, looking lost in her own thoughts.
“How is she?” Diesel asked. He was afraid of the answer, but he needed to know.
“She will be okay. I don’t think there is any internal damage, but someone needs to keep an eye on her.”
“I will.” Diesel volunteered.
Ginx gave him a censored look. Like she was trying to determine if he was good enough. The entire situation irked him. As the Sergeant at Arms for the MC, his job was to enforce laws. To make sure everyone was protected and cared for. And he failed. Someone had gotten to Rachel, on Henchmen property nonetheless. That was inexcusable.
“Okay,” Ginx said, breaking the silence. “I will call her in a prescription for pain medication. Only give it to her if she absolutely needs it. For mild pain, try Tylenol first.” She instructed.
“Got it.” Diesel confirmed.
Ginx paused, like she had more she wanted to say. Again, something rubbed Diesel wrong. Ginx was never someone to mince words. She always spoke her mind. To see her hesitate worried him.
“What is it, Ginx?” Diesel asked.
“Rachel...” again, she hesitated. “Just take care of her.”
“I will,” Diesel replied.
“She is a special young woman.” Even Diesel didn’t miss the emotions in Ginx’s voice when she made the statement.
“Is there something I should know Ginx?” Diesel asked.
“What?” she said, surprised. “No.”
Diesel stared at Ginx’s back as she quickly made her way down the hallway. Her denial was a little too quick for his comfort. He would have to dig deeper. Something was going on, and he was determined to find out what it was. But first, he needed to squash the overwhelming urge to see Rachel.
Quietly, he entered his bedroom. Ginx had cleaned Rachel. The blood was gone and she was now wearing one of Diesel’s shirts. For the most part, she looked fine. There was a bandage across her forehead, probably the reason for all the blood that had coated her face. Diesel also noticed a large handprint that was starting to form a bruise along her lower arm.
What was it about the Henchmen women? They always seemed to find trouble, Diesel thought to himself.
Sitting down in the chair next to the large picture window, Diesel tried his best to get comfortable. He had never had a woman in his bed that he didn’t plan to have sex with. And he definitely never gave his bed up for a woman. This was a first for him.
Staring out into the darkness outside, his mind drifted. He remembered the first day he saw Rachel. She walked into the clubhouse, wide-eyed, trailing behind Viper. He had told the club he found her wandering and homeless. Always the protectors, the Henchmen immediately gave her a room and food. Since then, Rachel had kept her head down and mostly to herself. So what in the hell could have prompted this?
Diesel stood and walked to the closet; he needed a blanket if he was going to be sleeping in the chair. Finding what he was looking for, he made his way back to his bed for the night. Sitting down, he removed his boots and pulled his shirt over his head. Placing both neatly on the floor, he kicked his legs out and settled into a comfortable position for the night. As many military operations as he had been on, Diesel could sleep anywhere. Sometime later, his eyes grew heavy and he drifted off to sleep.