Chapter Sixteen

Grace

We didn’t get much rain in Aveline Bay.

But as I stepped out to the cab and placed Ella in the back seat, I could smell it coming, feel it in the wind. I looked up and saw dark, menacing clouds approaching from the ocean, just as thunder started to rumble in the distance.

Barry was out in front, holding a stack of mail in her hands. “Looks like we’re going to get a whopper!” she called to me, pointing to the sky. “Stay dry and safe!”

I waved to her. “I will! Thanks!”

I slid into the car and said to the driver, a middle-aged bald man with dark skin, “Thanks for getting here so quickly,” and closed the door behind me.

“Hey, sweetie,” he said to me, smiling at Ella. “Looks like we’re about to get a little rain. Let’s see if we can’t get you where you want to go before it starts to pour.”

“That would be great.” I looked over at Ella as the driver pulled out of Cullen’s long drive, thinking a walk by the beach probably wasn’t the smartest idea ever, considering. I’d written the address of the clubhouse on my palm. “Can you take me to 121 Ocean Avenue instead?”

He nodded, raising an eyebrow. “That’s on the pier. Bunch of warehouses there. Rough area. What you and your sweet baby want with going all the way out there?”

I smiled. “Just meeting someone.”

He shrugged and didn’t ask any more questions. Even put on a CD with songs like “Wheels on the Bus” and “Where is Thumbkin?” much to Ella’s glee and she sat on my lap and sang along. He was one of those cab drivers who rambled on, so by the time we got downtown, I’d found out he had four grandchildren of his own and had lived in the Bay all his life, just like me. He asked me all about Ella. Ella, fed and rested, wrapped her chubby arms around me and grinned happily.

We drove past downtown Aveline Bay, past the homeless shelter, past the Best Western, and then he hung a left and steered us down the long pier, past dozens of vast buildings surrounded by shipping containers and machinery. And yes, a few tough-looking guys, milling about, but that didn’t faze me. Cullen was the king of tough guys. Around him, I wouldn’t have to worry.

I held Ella up so she could look out the window, just as the first raindrops pinged against the glass, thinking about the one time Cullen and I had gone out to The Wall, the Cobras’ favorite watering hole. I’d met some of the Cobras for the first time; Hart and Nix and Drake . . . each one bigger and tougher and hotter than the next. But none could hold a candle to Cullen, and they all respected Cullen something fierce.

It was easy to see why they’d choose him to be their president.

That night, I’d had a little too much to drink and grabbed a shot of tequila off the bar, downing it, when a huge tough guy, with arms the size of tree trunks, spun on the bar. “Hey, that was my drink, bitch!”

I’d started to apologize when Cullen nudged me behind him and confrontationally pushed his chest out. “Who the fuck are you calling a bitch, motherfucker?”

Cullen didn’t give a shit that the guy had five inches on him. He shoved him square in the chest, and the man stumbled back against his stool, stunned.

Cullen got right in his face. “Apologize to her. It’s a fucking honor to buy her a drink, asshole. Now thank her for letting you,” he growled, pulling him up by the shirt and forcing him to look at me.

The guy blinked, confused. He looked more at the ground than at me, face reddening. “Hey, um, thanks for letting me buy you a drink . . .”

“See? That wasn’t so hard.” Cullen slammed a bill onto the counter. “But that one was actually on me.”

Then he patted the guy’s cheek, took me by the elbow, and led me out of the bar. I’d only gone to the bar with him once, but from the way the men were grinning at him and the women’s tongues were wagging as their eyes followed him out of the place, this was a regular occurrence.

I’d never been so proud to be with him then at that moment. Or turned on. The sex we’d had that night? Fan-fucking-tastic.

I blinked out of the memory when the sky opened, like God just dumped a massive bucket of water over all of Aveline Bay.

“Wow.” The driver slowed and turned his windshield wipers way up. “Sorry, dear. Looks like you’re going to be getting a little wet.”

His headlights cut through the rain, but steam was rising from the overheated streets, cutting visibility way down. I could barely see a thing. He inched along as lightning lit up the sky around us. “That’s okay. Geez. It’s really coming down, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, boy.” He tightened his hands on the steering wheel. “Tell you what. We get to your address and you stay in here as long as you like. I won’t leave the meter running.”

I smiled gratefully at him. “Thank you. But your time is just as valuable as mine. I’m sure you have other places to be. And I’ll only be a few minutes. I’ll want you to stay, anyway, because I think I’ll need a ride back.”

I looked at what I’d brought with me and gauged the situation. I had a new diaper bag that Cullen had bought, and it didn’t have much in it but diapers. No raincoats. No umbrella. I’d packed Ella’s pink changing pad. Maybe that could serve as a little something to keep us from getting drenched? I pulled it out and unrolled it. It was pretty big. It was worth a shot.

I peered through the gray rain as we continued down to the harbor until I saw about ten motorcycles, all lined up against the side of a one-story white building. There was a silhouette of what might have been an old company sign on the wall, but right now the only words I could make out was the address. 121 Ocean Avenue.

The door opened and I saw someone with a leather motorcycle jacket and helmet under his arm jogging out. Definitely the right place.

I scooped Ella into my arms and held the changing pad over our heads. “Thank you!” I said, jumping out into an ankle-deep puddle in the driving rain and wishing I hadn’t worn such a tight, short dress.

It quickly became clear the pad wasn’t doing shit. The rain was whipping in sideways, pelting us both, loud as a drumbeat in my ears. Ella squealed, delighted by the feeling.

Head down, I hugged Ella close to me and raced to the entrance, vaguely aware that the door was open for me. Maybe Cullen saw me and was coming out to help.

When I got closer, though, I heard noise. Shouts. I looked up, blinking away raindrops to see men out there. The Cobras. They were running out. Where were they going?

I slowed when I saw Cullen, standing at the door of the warehouse, his mouth opened in a scream.

What the hell was going on?

When I slowed to a stop and strained to hear, I heard him shout two things: Get and back.

He started to race for me. I froze. “What?” I called. Ella looked up at me, her chubby, rain-spattered face growing frightened. Dropping the changing pad, I cupped her head and rested her against my chest. “What’s going on?”

I’d never seen his face as urgent and downright determined as it had been right then. He reached for me, spun me around, and yelled, “Run! Get out of here!”

We broke into a run, and suddenly, the world around us rippled and exploded. For a moment, everything went black, Ella screamed, there was a deafening blast, and then, the only thing I could hear was my own heartbeat. The ground pushed up and we were flung forward. A scream trapped itself in my throat as we were thrown to the ground. I braced Ella against me to avoid the impact but something—or someone—was bracing me.

We hit the pavement with a thud. The only thing I sensed was the warmth of his body, his strong arms, cocooning us, making sure that he’d never let anything—or anyone—hurt us.