***Ramrod***
I burst through the door of the clubhouse and head toward my woman. The second I got the call from my VP, that there’d been a hit concerning my woman, I was on my bike driving full speed to the clubhouse. Apparently, they felt the need to keep me out of the loop, only to call me when they were all back there.
Broke stops me in the middle of the room. Looking over his shoulder I can see Doll sitting in a chair; Lochlan, Arlo, Chopper, and a prospect as one front surrounding her. I’m seeing red because the look on her face is pure fear and those fuckers are in a threatening position crowding her.
“Hadley is with her dad, Depay picked her up. Lynn is at home...shit...listen up, Ramrod. We didn’t see this coming and nothing adds up. We know what you’ve told us about her…but,” Broke begins but I won’t have any of this, not until I can hold her.
“Move,” I growl.
“She’s a fucking witness, or...fuck, just think for a fucking second, man.” Broke tries in an effort to calm me down, but I shove him away. I don’t even care if he’s my VP. I need to get to my woman, she needs me right now.
Two strides and I’m pushing my other brothers away to gather her in my arms but it’s as if I’m holding a sack of stones. She doesn’t acknowledge me and her head is down. I guide her back to the chair she was sitting on and squat in front of her, lifting her chin with my hand so I can connect her eyes with mine. “Hey, sugar, you’re safe now. I’m here.”
I can see her fucking swallow, tears streaming down her face as if her time is up. Following a tear, I see there’s blood on her neck. “She’s fucking bleeding and you guys treat her like this?” I roar at the top of my lungs.
“Are you going to tell him, or shall I?” That’s all Lochlan says from beside me.
“I’d like to leave now, I need to get out of here,” Doll says, head still down.
“That’s never going to happen. Nowhere to run, little one,” Arlo adds.
“Tick, tock, all of our brothers are here, think hard before you say something. Even if you think you have one of us tied around your finger, he’ll back a brother up anytime over what lies you might sweet-talk in his ear,” the prospect, Rembrandt, says from my left.
“I’m not afraid of you, of none of you,” Doll states while she glares around, her eyes lingering a bit too long on Lochlan and yet she’s shaking like a fucking leaf.
Lochlan smacks Rembrandt on the back of his head. “Fuck off, prospect. Where was your ass anyway? You and Arlo were supposed to cover the front, asshole.”
“There was an old woman, she fell so we helped her to her car, we didn’t see,” Arlo states.
I’ve had it with this shit. I scoop Doll up and although she fights like hell to get away from me, I hold on. Instead of taking her to my house, I chose to take the privacy and safety of Church and walk in. When I’ve set her down on a chair, I see Broke and Lochlan standing inside, the door is closed.
Knowing this room is considered a safe room with bulletproof glass and completely soundproof, I’m well aware they won’t leave me alone with her without having a brother with me. I don’t know what the fuck happened, but I’m bound to find out.
“It’s okay, baby, it’s me. Come on, what happened?” I ask as I grab the first aid kit that’s on a shelf in the corner.
“No. Ask your brothers,” she tells me with a stern voice wanting to get away from my touch.
I’m not having any of that and continue to clean the wound that’s clearly from a bullet grazing her. I can hear Lochlan whisper to Broke before he steps closer to us.
“Doll, I was standing behind you.” Lochlan’s voice is soft. “I saw you react before the shot was fired. It wasn’t fucking aimed at you, it was meant for Lips and Esmee. Now you better start fucking talking because I saw you shoving them out of harm’s way. So that either means you work with them and got cold feet, or you know something we don’t.”
Fuck. That doesn’t paint a pretty picture. Her being an outsider, the first thing my brothers see is a setup. Someone who infiltrated? Did she? Am I too fucking blind and such an easy target because I’ve been wanting an ol’lady for so fucking long now? Was she on that road, knowing I’ll drive by? Waiting? My mind races with different angles and yet deep down I know she’s been honest and upfront with me. She’s gotta be one hell of an actress to fake that shit. But the moment I look in her eyes, that thought came a few seconds too late. She saw the fucking doubt in my eyes and that’s something I’m never able to take back, no matter what words I give her.
“No,” I growl but it doesn’t matter.
I can see it in her eyes as clear as day. She’s slamming the door shut on us and I can’t even fucking blame her.
“I’d like to call the police now, or my friends, or just let me leave. I did nothing wrong and I don’t want to be here. I want to go home. You can’t keep me prisoner.” She looks over my shoulder, ignoring me.
I follow her line of sight and at first, I see it’s Lochlan who’s standing there but he glances over his shoulder at a few of our brothers who are apparently enjoying the show through the glass. Lochlan stalks over to the table and grabs the remote to tint the glass. This way the glass turns dark on the outside allowing us to look out but no one is able to see us.
Lochlan steps closer. “Doll, there’s me, Broke, and your ol’man here. No one can see in here or can hear shit you say. It’s a bulletproof safe room. You wanna go to the police? I’d do you one better, we’re above the law, they answer to us. Any fucking problem you might think you have, or think there is…no one is more capable of handling it than us. But see…here’s the problem…we can’t do shit if we don’t have all the intel. Then you, and with that all of us, are sitting ducks. So, for the sake of the little kids and a woman you just met a few hours ago and risked your own fucking life for…start the fuck talking or I’ll,”
“Get your other buddies to do the kicking around for you? Been there, done that,” Doll mutters and with that I instantly fall back on my ass, as if she kicked me full force in my gut.
“What did you just say?” Lochlan’s voice sounds as shocked as I am.
“Nothing. Never mind. Knowing you guys are above the law kinda seals the deal for me, so it doesn’t matter what I say or do.” Doll sighs and more tears fall and yet she doesn’t sob, it’s like she already surrendered to a lost cause.
There’s no noise whatsoever, just empty eyes that overflow, as if she’s forever lost. I want to pull her in my arms so fucking bad and yet I can’t seem to make my body move. I’m also positive she won’t let me near her. I lost that right when she saw the doubt in my eyes. She doesn’t trust me and with what she just said…doesn’t trust any one of us. Lochlan steps up behind me; he whispers his thoughts about all of this into my ear and lets me know what he’s going to do.
He takes another step forward and makes Doll look straight at him. “Listen up, doll. Even if you don’t give me the words, I’ve been around way too long to notice unspoken shit clear as day. I’m going to leave now to check into things that will back you up. You might not believe shit anyone of us says at this point, but I’m on your side and so is your ol’man. We have to check every scenario, but believe me when I say I would even pop a round in your ol’man’s head if I have the evidence that he put a hit on either one of us.”
Doll stands up in a flash and pushes two hands against Lochlan’s chest. “Leave him alone. He’s got nothing to do with this, he’s a good man,” she bellows.
“Thought so,” Lochlan says with a smug smile.
Doll screams and smacks him across the jaw with a flat hand. I finally manage to push myself off the floor and grab Doll because she seems ready to go full fury with Lochlan to put all of her emotions into targeting him. I’m struggling to hold her against me as Lochlan walks over to Broke. They murmur to each other for a moment before Lochlan leaves the room.
“You promised to always be here when I needed you, you promised for life…yet you doubted me,” Doll whispers in a gut-wrenching tone before she sags in my arms.