Chapter Twenty-Two
Over the past few weeks, Toni had spent a considerable amount of time in the presence of the MC members. Of course, that was in her diner where they were well fed, caffeinated, and happy. The one time she was on their turf, they were drunk, raucous, and looking for sex, but still happy.
Now, she was in their clubhouse once again, and the mood couldn’t be further away from amusement and fun. She sat at a gigantic round table with no less than twenty tired, stressed, and pissed off bikers staring at her. Never in her life had she seen so many murderous scowls in one place.
The scowls weren’t aimed at her, but they were still intimidating as hell.
Beside her, Zach squeezed her knee and whispered in her ear. “It’s okay, baby. I promise. Everyone here is on your side. No one will hurt you or ever make you do anything you don’t want to do.”
She swallowed and nodded. If only his supportive words softened the bikers’ expressions.
Copper cleared his throat and her attention shifted to him. How Shell could be attracted to him was a mystery to Toni. That wasn’t entirely true. The physical attraction she got. He was hot in a growly, brooding kind of way. But he was also intense and crazy menacing, and that trumped the hotness in her mind.
“Thanks for coming here, Toni. I get that you had a rough morning and are dealing with some major shit. I’m sorry if this dredges up bad memories for you.”
“That’s all right,” she croaked then cleared her throat. She wasn’t some wilting flower. She could handle this. “It’s fine. I’m just hoping I can help you find Maverick.”
“So, Zach tells me you know a little about the Gray Dragons.”
Zach curled an arm around her shoulders. “You don’t have to give any details you’re uncomfortable with, baby,” he whispered in her ear.
She placed her hand on his thigh and squeezed in gratitude. Recounting the entire humiliating story of her shameful past would be traumatizing at best.
“You want me to tell them for you?”
Zach was being so sweet and supportive. Never would she have imagined a rough and gruff biker could handle her with such care. Like she was a fine china plate that had just cracked down the center. Ready to shatter at any point.
Giving him that impression was her mistake and it was time to put a stop to it. While she loved his attentiveness, she wasn’t, in fact, going to shatter at any point. Zach wasn’t to blame for thinking her weak. She’d lost her shit in her kitchen. But that was just the shock of watching herself being violated. And knowing Zach was a witness to it as well.
“I’m good,” she whispered, then spoke to Copper. “I was with Shark for a little over a year. It was a long time ago, but I was his girlfriend. Or I guess you guys would have called me his ol’ lady.”
“No fucking way,” Zach broke in. “An ol’ lady is a term that denotes respect. Shark doesn’t know the meaning of the word.”
If she’d found him hard to resist before, this caring and protective side of Zach made it impossible to even think of walking away from him. Instead, she felt herself falling. So stupid considering she was dealing with the fallout of her last dysfunctional relationship.
“Whatever,” she said shaking her head. “That doesn’t matter. What matters is that I was really young and really stupid. Things went…bad and I had an uncle pull me out of a really terrible situation. I haven’t seen or spoken to anyone from the Gray Dragons since I was eighteen.”
Copper frowned and rubbed at his bearded chin. “How did you get out?”
“My uncle literally walked in, picked me up, and left with me. I was uh…” Her face flamed. “I was really high at the time and don’t remember it. I woke up in my uncle’s house about a day later. To be honest, I’m not sure how he found me. I think he had a PI tailing Shark.”
Zach mentioned respect. None of these men were going to have an ounce of respect for her. They’d think she was nothing better than a junkie whore.
“Breathe, baby. You’re doing great.” Zach pressed a kiss to her temple and warmth filled her chest.
“There’s no fucking way they just let you leave.”
“Huh?”
Zach’s hand landed on her thigh again. “I had the same thought. It was too easy.”
“What do you mean?” She frowned and looked between Zach and Copper.
“There are two ways out of the gang. Death or a beat out,” Zach said.
“A beat out?” Was that as horrible as it sounded?
“Yes.” Copper said as though reading her mind. “They literally beat you bloody. If you survive it, you’re out. But you keep your mouth shut about anything gang related when you leave or they’ll kill you. And very few people are even granted a beat out. Most of the time you’re in till you die.”
A chill ran down her spine. Zach must have noticed her tremble because he pulled her from her chair onto his lap. Normally, she’d have shoved him away, but today she allowed herself the comfort of his body. Nothing about the day was normal. Tomorrow she could repent for her weakness.
“But I wasn’t in the gang. I was just some whore they used.”
Zach growled, but it was Rocket who spoke first. “No!” he said with so much vehemence, Toni gaped at him. “Don’t wanna ever hear you describe yourself that way again, babe. You were a kid that was taken advantage of. They fucked with your head and your body. That’s all on Shark. And he’ll fuckin’ pay for that. None of it’s on you.”
“Holy shit, was that the most you’ve ever spoken in your life?”
Laughter broke out around the table cutting the tension down a few notches.
“Women are treated to the same rules as the actual gang members,” Copper said.
“So why did they let me leave?”
“I’m thinking money,” Zach answered as he wrapped his arms around her and locked her against his chest.
Copper nodded. “Makes sense. Her uncle must have paid a pretty penny for her.”
“What?” Someone was going to have to scoop her jaw off the floor at this point. “Paid for me. Like Shark sold me to my uncle?” In what was now becoming a familiar sensation, her stomach flipped. “This is mortifying. I-I’m going to be sick,” she said.
Zach cupped her cheek and turned her to face him. “Hey,” he said in a soothing tone. “It’s just me here. No one else. Just focus on me.” He pressed his lips to hers in a kiss that was so tender it brought tears to her eyes.
As Zach kissed her, in a room full of rowdy bikers, the world faded away. The past wasn’t important any more. Old shame disappeared. All that mattered was the way he made her feel in that moment. Important, cherished, wanted…dare she say, loved.
It wasn’t love. Couldn’t be. But it sure worked to chase away the pain.
“Better?” he asked when he pulled back.
Her eyelids fluttered open and she sighed. “Better.”
“I know it sounds bad, but your uncle did the right thing. He got you out of there without any further trauma. Who gives a shit about the money?”
She nodded. It wasn’t about the money, though she felt guilty as hell that Mark had parted with his hard-earned cash for her. It was the principle of the matter. That some man, some vile piece of shit, thought he owned her and had the right to demand money for her freedom.
“You surprise me,” she said.
Zach winked. “There’s more where that came from, baby.”
Toni laughed, which had to be his intent and, suddenly, a heavy weight lifted off her. Zach was right. This was over. Done. She’d survived and had been using her experience to try to help other misguided youth. Preferably before their situations got as bad as hers. How could she give that up? She might be coming to love life in Tennessee, but she had a passion for helping troubled teens she couldn’t just ignore. Sometime soon she was going to have to make some serious life decisions.
She turned back to Copper. “Sorry about that.”
Copper waved it away.
“Shark had a great grandfather that lived to be a hundred and six years old. He was a nasty, paranoid old bastard. Lived off the grid in a cabin in the woods. I think he was one of those guys prepared for anything from nuclear fallout to an alien invasion.” She rolled her eyes and rubbed at an ache in her neck. “Anyway, the old guy loved his great grandson and left his cabin to Shark when he died.”
Finally, Copper smiled. It was almost hard to see with the bushy beard. “That’s the best news we’ve had in days, darlin’. Why don’t you give the address to Jig over there, and we’ll get a plan together to get Mav back.”
“Well, uh, that’s the thing. I don’t know the address. I’m not sure it actually has an address. And it’s been so many years, I can’t remember exactly how to get there.” When grumbling started around the table, she rushed on. “But I could find it. I’m sure of it. Take me with you, and I know it will come back to me as we drive.”
“Over my dead fucking body.” Zach stood so fast she nearly tumbled to the floor. “No fucking way, Copper. This is not happening.”
“Uh, Zach, it might be the only way to get Maverick back,” Toni pointed out. She had to help. It felt like destiny. Like giving a purpose to all the shit she went through in the past. So she could now use her knowledge to help these men who’d come to mean something to her over the past few weeks. Help them save Maverick.
“You are not getting within ten miles of fuckin’ Shark. You hear me? This is not up for discussion. The answer is no fucking way.”
“Excuse me? Not up for discussion? Um, you’re damn right it’s not up for discussion. You do not get a say in this, Zach. If I want to go do a naked rain dance on Shark’s front stoop, I’ll damn well do it.”
The sound that came from Zach probably should have scared her, but she was done being scared. Now she was pissed. Pissed at what she’d gone through, pissed Maverick was missing, and even a little pissed at Zach’s macho bullshit.
“There is no way in hell my woman is going anywhere near the man who abused her for over a year. If I have to tie you to my bed and fuck you stupid to keep you from going, then that’s what I’ll do.”
Toni’s jaw dropped while a couple of the guys chuckled. She wasn’t his woman and he had absolutely no say over her actions. And if thoughts of him tying her to his bed and making good on his promise made her wet, that would just be her little secret.
Zach’s lips quirked.
Damnit. The stupid man knew his effect on her.
“Fighters, to your corners,” Copper said, his eyes dancing with laughter. Toni wouldn’t have thought it possible, but the man actually looked amused. “I know you don’t want to hear this, Zach, but Toni’s right. We have a shot to get Mav back and we have to take it. We can keep your woman safe. I swear it on my life. Shark won’t get within shouting distance of her.”
Zach gripped the edge of the table so hard his neck corded and the muscles in his arms bunched until it looked like his shirt sleeves were going to split. He bowed his head and sighed. “Answer me one thing, Cop, what would you be saying if it were Shell we were talking about taking with us?”
Copper’s face darkened in an instant and his fists curled.
Afraid he was going to take a swing at Zach, Toni jumped in. “Zach,” she said, cupping the tense muscles at the back of his neck. He turned his head until his ice blue gaze bore into hers. “I can do this. I need to do this. To help. To put some purpose behind everything I went through in the past. Shark won’t get near me. You guys will see to that. I trust you completely.”
She tried to convey to Zach how important this was through her gaze. If she could take the errors of her past and turn them around to help Maverick, maybe she could put that part of her life to rest permanently.
“Fine,” Zach said after a few minutes. Then he looked to Copper. “But she stays out of the building and as far as fucking possible from Shark. I don’t want that motherfucker anywhere near her.”
Copper nodded.
“And we take him back here. Alive. I want fifteen minutes alone with him.”
Toni inhaled a sharp breath. This was a discussion she probably shouldn’t be hearing. Club business and all that. It was also something she should protest. But she didn’t. Who knew how many women Shark had abused through the years? She’d been too young, scared, stupid, and screwed up to do anything at the time, but she could help end it now. She could help ensure he never harmed another woman again.
Copper’s gaze flicked to Toni then back to Zach. “You got it.”
Toni glanced around the room at the determined faces of the Handlers. Each one would like a crack at Shark, but they’d leave it for Zach because they saw her as his woman.
It was a lot to process.
Zach cupped the back of her neck. “Why don’t you head on out to the bar and relax while we plan. Shell should be there.”
She nodded and Zach pulled her in for a quick firm kiss.
As she left the room, something that had been dancing at the edges of her mind fought its way to the forefront.
How the hell did Chris get his hands on a video file of Shark’s?