“You got a plan for tomorrow?” Tally asked. He threw a few jabs at the bag as I held it.
“Plan for what?”
“What you’re gonna do about Harmony.”
I frowned. Tomorrow it was time to go home. My club needed me. We had our own businesses to see to and rides to organize. As much as I knew the club was in good hands, it wasn’t my VP’s job to run everything. It was my job now, and I was determined to show my men that they can trust and rely on me to keep things running as smoothly as my father had.
“I dunno. Guess I’ll talk to her tonight.”
“You gonna ask her to come back with us?”
I honestly didn’t have a clue what I was going to do with Harmony. I’d claimed her, and she had accepted. I was fully within my rights by club law to tell her to get her ass on the back of my bike because she would be leaving with us.
Harmony followed the rules, and I think if I ordered her to, she would. But what I didn’t want to risk was her hating me. I needed to earn her trust before she would be fully willing to accept the situation. I knew it was going to take a little time, but I hoped she would come around. Harmony was the perfect woman to be my Old Lady. She knew the ins and outs of the club and she respected the laws we had. But she was also strong. So strong. I needed a woman tenacious enough to stand beside me and have the balls to set me straight now and then when I might get off track.
“Optimus! Kit!” I let go of the bag and turned toward the stairs. Caleb came shooting down them at full speed, almost losing his footing on the last one and stumbling into the room. He looked around, his eyes searching frantically.
Optimus stood up from where he was in the corner lifting weights. He was on alert, moving toward Caleb quickly and gripping his shoulder. “Calm down. What’s going on?”
His hands twisted together and I noticed the red stain coating them.
“Is that blood?” I questioned slowly.
“I shot Harmony,” he blurted out. His eyes were wide, staring at me with fear. He should be scared because I was about to go in search of my fucking piece if he didn’t hurry up and tell me she was alive. “She’s upstairs. I got her in the shoulder. Some guys were trying…”
The words came out of his mouth so fast I barely understood them. Not that it mattered because I was already sprinting up the stairway in search of my woman. Not caring for his explanation just yet, but instead needing to know she was okay.
“Harmony,” I called, running down the hallway into the main room. I spotted Chelsea in the corner, crouched next to the sofa. mascara was smeared down her cheeks and she held a small hand delicately in hers. I rounded the couch and my heart stopped. Harmony’s face was pale almost like white porcelain. Her eyes were closed like she was sleeping, but her face was in a full grimace of pain.
Blood seeped through a hole in her T-shirt. She’d been hit just above the collar bone.
I knelt down beside her, taking an inventory of her injuries. Besides the bullet wound, she had some pretty good gravel rash on her legs, hands and elbows. Some of it was quite deep and still had little bits of the road embedded in it.
“Harmony, wake up,” I said quietly. I brushed the hair back from her forehead and her eyes fluttered but didn’t open. “She’s probably in shock,” I stated as I heard Optimus and some of the other boys rush up beside me.
“I’ve called our doctor in. How’s her pulse?” Optimus asked. His hand had a firm grip on Chelsea’s shoulder, but she continued to stare at her comatose friend.
I held my fingers to her neck. I felt a steady beat against my fingertips and sighed in relief. “It’s good.”
“Good. Now someone needs to explain what the fuck happened,” he roared.
I looked up, the stupid little prospect planted against the wall, fear widening his eyes. I shot toward him, my forearm pressed tightly against his neck. He didn’t fight me. “Tell me what the hell happened,” the words came out slow and deadly. I released the pressure on his neck, just enough to allow him shallow breaths and the ability to speak.
“Some guys came out of nowhere while we were walking to the girls’ car.” I could tell he was straining to breathe, but I didn’t give a fuck. Harmony was bleeding and it was his God damn fault. “They tried to pull Harmony toward the van. I pulled out my piece, but I couldn’t get a good shot because the guy was behind her and she was fighting tooth and nail.”
I looked over my shoulder at Harmony, who still hadn’t moved.
That’s my girl. Fighting like hell and never giving up.
The kid continued, “She moved just as I thought I had a clear shot. I hit him with one shot and then got her with the second.” He was wheezing hard at this point, but I didn’t relent. “The guys all hauled ass back to their van and sped off.”
“You get plates?” Optimus asked.
Caleb shook his head. “I was too concerned about getting Harmony in the car before the cops showed.”
I released my hold on him and he bent over, breathing as though he had just run a marathon. I let him have two breaths before I slammed my fist into the side of his face, sending him sprawling across the floor. “You shot my damn woman,” I yelled as I stalked toward him, bringing my hand back ready to deliver another bone-crunching blow.
“Kit!” I spun swiftly, the pained sound in Harmony’s voice quickly taking all my attention. Optimus pulled a reluctant Chelsea out of the way before I crouched to my knees beside Harmony. “Leave him…alone.” Her face was twisted with pain. I’d been shot before and it was enough pain to bring even a strong man to his knees. Yet here she was, telling my ass off for messing with the little shit that had shot her.
“He was trying…to…help,” she cringed with every word, but her eyes watched me without a waiver.
I scoffed. “He fucking shot you.”
“What would you rather? Her shot, alive and here, or those dudes in suits doing who knows fucking what with her?” Chelsea yelled from behind me.
I turned and shot her with a dark glare before I clicked to what she had said. “Suits?”
“Yeah, suits,” the prospect said, getting off the floor finally and rubbing at his jaw. “They were wearing dark suits and glasses. Definitely not a couple of thugs.”
I caught Optimus’ eyes. A grave looked passed between us and we both knew that this was too much of a coincidence. Two very aggressive approaches to the girls in less than a week by not just anyone, but well put together men in suits.
The door suddenly slammed open and an older man came shuffling in carrying a large old-school doctor’s briefcase. I figured this was the club doctor. I’d never had the pleasure of meeting him personally. He had a gray beard and wrinkles from here to kingdom come, but his body was thick and solid like he’d never missed work out in his life.
“Caleb, call all the boys in. Now,” Optimus ordered, eyeing Chelsea with a look that was full of agitation and what I thought might be fear.
“Yeah, Prez.”
“Trying to kill off your girls now, Op? What happened to just throwing them out when you were done with them?” the old man joked as he stared at Harmony.
Somehow Harmony managed to raise her hand and flip off the old guy. “Fuck you, Doc.”
He chuckled, but still didn’t move to help her. “You hear the way your club girls talk to members, Optimus?”
“I claimed her. She can speak to you, however the fuck she likes,” I growled, standing and folding my arms across my chest.
“Ha,” he burst out, shocking me. “You know when you claim a woman you’re supposed to protect her, right? Not let prospects take pot shots at her.”
I moved forward, ready to teach the fucker some respect, but Optimus stopped me with his arm across my chest. I pointed at him with a sharp finger. “Watch your damn mouth, old-timer.” He grinned at me. The old dude had balls of steel, that was for sure.
Harmony groaned, shifting uncomfortably on the couch.
“Just help her out damn it, doc,” Optimus growled before shoving a hand against my chest and pointing toward the meeting room. “In there. Now.”
I glared at him, but the look he returned was just as fierce. I bent and kissed Harmony on the forehead. “I won’t be long.”
She didn’t look at me but nodded gently. I couldn’t tell if it was the pain or if she was angry at me. I wouldn’t blame her if she were. The doc was right; I should have been protecting her. I should’ve taken the threat to the girls more seriously, and I shouldn’t have relied on some inexperienced prospect to watch over her life.
Well, that was all about to change. I wasn’t sure if she was going to like it, and there was a huge possibility that she might actually hate me for it, but I’d claimed her now. It was up to me to watch over her and keep her safe and I would do whatever it fucking took to do just that.