Command (Storm MC #7) Page 12

  She rested her weight on one foot and cocked her head. “Why would you do that for me?”

  “Jesus, Scarlett, are you this untrusting with everyone?”

  “Yes.”

  “Well you’re gonna have to ease up a little with me and start putting some faith in what I say. We’re all in this shit together now. I can keep you safe, but that’s gonna involve you doing what I say. And no more fuckin’ guns when I’m in the middle of handling a situation.”

  We watched each other while she worked that through in her mind. Eventually, she said, “Okay, but can you do me a favour?”

  “Fuck, as if I’m not already doing you one?” The woman was something else.

  She threw me a glare. “Can you lend me some money so I can pay off his debt?”

  I blew out a long breath. “Scarlett, I’m going to sort shit so that your brother has no fuckin’ debt to pay off, and then I’m going to sort more shit so that he never gets a fuckin’ debt again.” I raised my brows at her. “You good with that?”

  “You’re a moody biker, aren’t you?”

  Harlow had joined us and snorted.

  I ignored her.

  “Give me your brother’s address,” I said as I pulled out my phone to store it in.

  “You know, manners never went out of fashion,” she muttered.

  Harlow’s snort turned into a laugh and as she walked past us, she threw over her shoulder, “I think having you here is going to be fun, Scarlett.”

  Scarlett and I glared at Harlow’s back before she finally gave me her brother’s address.

  I typed it into my phone and then shot back at whoever the fuck was listening, “I’m not seeing any fuckin’ joy in this situation.”

  Women.

  * * *

  “Motherfucker!” I roared as we received yet another rejection. We’d spent the last four hours trying to call in favours around town and most had said they couldn’t chance giving Storm their support against Julio who had already found a way to blackmail them into taking his back.

  Griff rubbed the back of his neck. “We’re running out of options here, brother. And when I do finally get the chance, I’m gonna take great fucking delight in making Julio feel pain for this.”

  My phone rang and as I answered it, I said to Griff, “It’s Colt, hopefully he has some good news for us.” He’d also been trying to find support for Storm.

  “Got some bad news for you, Scott,” he said, “Most of the guys I’ve spoken to today say their hands are tied, so at this point I’ve only been able to convince two crews to take our back.”

  “We’ve had the same,” I told him. “You done with your list yet?”

  “I’ve got one more to visit and then I’m heading back to the clubhouse.”

  “Thanks, man.”

  I hung up and eyed Griff. “He’s got two so far.”

  “It’s fucked, but at least it’s better than none. Have you spoken to Blade yet?”

  I shook my head. “No, but I will be.”

  My phone sounded with a text.

  Harlow: I know you’re busy but wanted to let you know that Lisa and Michelle are doing much better today. I checked in on them after you left this morning.

  Me: Thanks, baby. You girls okay?

  Harlow: Yes, but I’m disappointed.

  Me: Why?

  Harlow: You didn’t practice your proposal last night.

  Me: It’s on my list for tonight.

  Harlow: Good. Just wanted to make you smile. Hope your day isn’t too shitty.

  Me: Trust me, you made me smile. See you tonight.

  As I sent my last text to Harlow, Bourne called me.

  “What’s up, Bourne?” I asked, keen to get this phone call over with fast.

  “I’m wondering where you and I stand? I never did hear back from you after you left Adelaide.”

  “I’m putting together a plan to deal with Julio.”

  “Good. The sooner the better.”

  “Let’s get one thing straight here, Bourne – once this is done, you’ll owe me, and when I come calling on that favour, you won’t hesitate to say no.” No need for him to know I was already working on this plan before he asked me to do it.

  Silence for a moment, and then – “Agreed.”

  “I’ll let you know when it’s done.” I hung up without waiting for his response.

  “Just for the record, again, I truly despise that asshole,” Griff said.

  I let the tension in my body go, and blew out a harsh breath. “I’m with you on that.”

  After we left the last place we visited, we walked the block back to where we left our bikes. Reaching for his helmet, Griff said, “You wanna try Scarlett’s brother again?”

  We had visited his place this morning and he wasn’t home. I nodded. “Yeah, let’s see if we have better luck this time. And then we need to check in with J and Nash to see if they have anything new on Julio.”

  Surely we’ve gotta have some luck somewhere today.

  * * *

  Scarlett’s brother, Bailey, lived in what could best be described as a hovel. When we arrived there the second time for the day, it was clear someone had visited him since our first visit. Where his house had been closed up earlier, the front door had been kicked in since and the place had been trashed. And Bailey was still nowhere to be seen.

  I called Scarlett. “Your brother still isn’t home. Do you have any idea where else he might be?”

  “He mainly hangs out at a local pub when he’s not working, and sometimes he’s at his on-off girlfriend’s place. I’m not sure if they’re together at the moment, though.”

  “Can you text me those addresses and I’ll check them out?”

  She agreed and we ended the call.

  Griff was poking around in the kitchen and looked up as I entered the small room. “This guy’s got a bad addiction. I don’t reckon Scarlett’s got a chance in hell of helping him kick it.”

  I had to agree with him. Bailey’s kitchen counter was littered with used needles and other shit. Not only was he a junkie, he was a dirty fuck who didn’t like to clean up after himself.

  My phone began ringing and Griff eyed it. “Jesus, your phone never shuts up.”

  Blade.

  “Tell me this is good news,” I said as I answered him.

  “Sorry, can’t do that.” The tense strain in his voice was undeniable – Blade had more bad news for us.

  “Fuck,” I muttered.

  “It’s Rogue.”

  The hairs on the back of my neck stood up at the way his words came out. “What?” I urged.

  “Harlow asked me to look into him while you were away. She had an off feeling about him and she was right. He’s working against you, helping Julio. And on top of that, he’s wanted for multiple rapes. Seems he’s gotten himself into some shit while he’s been away from the club.”

  My body stilled.

  Rogue’s with Harlow at the moment.

  My mind slammed into my heart and nausea coursed through me. And then the sound of gunfire rang out, and everything blurred as Griff and I battled bullets.

  13

  Harlow

  “So, you’ve told Scott you’re pregnant?” Scarlett asked as we loaded the dishwasher in the café kitchen.

  “No, not yet,” I admitted quietly.

  “Shit, girl, when are you going to tell him?”

  “I was going to do it last night, but then he came home from your place all stressed and it just didn’t feel like the right time to do it.”

  “I don’t think there is a right time for this kind of conversation, except for as soon as fucking possible.” She stopped what she was doing and stared at me as if she was waiting for me to agree with her.

  “I’m honestly going to do it. He’s just got so much going on at the moment.”

  She nodded at me like she didn’t believe me, and I was about to defend my decision again, but the sound of Mum coughing from the front of the café stopped me. I he
aded out to where she stood hunched over, still coughing. She’d been getting progressively worse all day.

  “Go home, Mum,” I suggested as I rubbed her back. “I’m sorry I gave you a cold, but at least I’m all better, so I can look after the café while you rest.”

  She coughed one last time before straightening. Nodding, she said, “Thanks, love. Hopefully I’ll be better tomorrow.”

  “Don’t come in if you’re not. I’ll take care of everything.”

  She took off her apron and hung it up in the kitchen before grabbing her bag and heading out. I gave her a kiss goodbye and told her again not to come in tomorrow if she wasn’t up to it. Knowing my mother, though, she’d be in even if she was sick.

  “I like your mum,” Scarlett said after she’d gone.

  “She’s a good woman.”

  The three of us had gotten on really well and the day had flown by with Scarlett helping us. Mum had mentioned that perhaps she might want a part-time job, but I hadn’t had time to mention it to her yet. Besides, I wanted to spend more time with her before offering her a job – I wasn’t sure whether Scarlett was someone I could spend a lot of time with.

  “My mother never gives me the time of day,” she blurted while fidgeting with the tea towel. This was the first time she’d shared something personal with me.

  “You’re not close?”

  “No. The only person I’m close to in my family is my brother, and most of the time that’s only because I force myself into his life.” As she said this, she pulled her phone out and checked for a text from Scott. She’d been checking it religiously since he called about her brother.

  “Still no news?”

  She shook her head. “Nothing yet.”

  “Do you want to call Scott and ask him? Maybe he got tied up and forgot to call.” I doubted it, but I figured it couldn’t hurt.

  She tapped her phone against her leg in a nervous type gesture, and then said, “Yeah, I might give him a call.”

  “Okay, I’ll leave you to it.”

  I headed to the bathroom and gave her some privacy while she phoned Scott. It had been a busy day and I was exhausted. We only had another hour at work and I was clock watching for that minute we could close up shop and go home.

  Tonight I will tell Scott.

  Even if he’s busy with club stuff, I’ll make him sit down for a minute so I can tell him.

  I took my time in the bathroom in case Scarlett had managed to get hold of Scott and when I finished, I wandered back out to the front of the café looking for her. However, she was nowhere to be found, and instead, Rogue came barrelling in through the front door.

  “What the fuck is she doing?” he roared, fury plastered across his face.

  I shrunk away from him. I’d never seen him so angry. “What is who doing?”

  “Don’t give me that shit. Scarlett. She just screamed out of here in your car.”

  Oh shit.

  “I was in the bathroom; I didn’t realise she had left.” A shot of nerves spiked through me and I reached into my back pocket for my phone. I dialled Scott twice, but both times the call went straight to his message bank.

  Rogue stared at me while I frantically tried to get hold of Scott. After my second attempt, he said, “He’s not answering?”

  My heart dropped into my stomach.

  This is not good.

  I took a step back. “No, but I’ll keep trying.”

  Or maybe I’ll try Blade.

  As I jabbed at my phone to find Blade’s number, Rogue snatched it out of my hands and stomped on it. His dark eyes met mine and he snarled, “There’s no point trying Scott again ‘cause he’s not likely to answer any time soon.”

  My hands madly flailed beside me, searching for a chair to lean on as my legs almost gave way.

  No.

  Not Scott.

  My heart thumped in my chest and I yelled, “What have you done to him?”

  This can’t be happening.

  He laughed and it was the most sinister laugh I’d ever heard. “Scott Cole’s getting what he’s deserved for a long fucking time, and you, you little bitch, are gonna get what I’ve been wanting to give you since I fucking met you.”

  He took a step towards me and I stumbled backwards. My legs were like jelly and didn’t want to move. Fear had taken over my body completely – fear for Scott’s life and fear for what I knew Rogue wanted to do to me.

  “No!” I screamed and turned to run into the kitchen. We had a back door and if I could just get to that, I could get outside and run for help.

  Even though my legs didn’t want to move, I forced them to. The adrenaline flowing through my body helped me make it to the back door, but the door was locked.

  Oh my God.

  No. No. No.

  My fear roared in my ears and I gritted my teeth against the nausea forcing itself upon me.

  Even though I knew Rogue was right behind me, I turned. I had to. The key for the door was in my bag and I had to at least try to get it.

  He stood right behind me when I turned, and because I’d anticipated that, I kneed him in the balls and shoved him hard so he stumbled back.

  As he screamed obscenities at me, I hurried to my bag, but then I had another idea. I decided to keep heading for the front door instead of fumbling in my bag for the back door key.

  “You fucking bitch!” he shouted and I realised he was close again.

  Shit.

  I was half way to the front door when his hand latched onto my shoulder and he yanked me back. His strength was too great for me to struggle against and I fell back into his grip.

  “You’re gonna regret messing with me, Harlow.” His breath crawled across my face as he pressed his mouth close to my cheek.

  No asshole, you’re going to regret messing with me.

  Thank God Scott taught me some self-defence.

  I dropped my weight and then aimed my elbow up and back at his head. At the same time, I stomped on his feet and then rotated out of his hold. I kicked him hard in the balls again and when he doubled over in pain, I took a step back and kicked up under his face as hard as I could which caused him a great deal of pain.

  He held his face as he stumbled around yelling at me. When I was satisfied I’d slowed him down enough, I turned to run as fast as I could away from the café to go in search of help.

  As I turned, a car’s brakes screeched outside and in the next moment, something smashed through the window.

  Flames came alive right in front of me and I screamed out as they licked my arm.

  The glass in another one of our windows smashed and an explosion of fire almost deafened me.

  And then everything went black.

  14

  Scott

  I’m going to fucking kill Rogue.

  I stalked into the hospital and up to the room where I’d been told Harlow was. We’d received the call nearly an hour ago that there’d been a fire at her mum’s café, and the traffic had been a bitch, so a trip that should have taken me half an hour at the most had taken me almost double the time.

  When I finally found her room, and saw her awake and talking to her mother, I let out a long breath of relief. I hadn’t realised I’d been holding it in.

  She turned to look at me, and gave me a smile. “Hey, baby.”

  I sat on the edge of her bed and took hold of her hand. “Fuck, you had me worried.” I was pretty sure the minute I’d heard the words ‘molotov cocktail’, my heart had stopped beating.

  “I was just lucky one of my customers turned up in time to drag me out of the café before I got burnt.”

  Guilt that she’d been affected by Storm business washed through me. Raking my fingers through my hair, I said, “I’m so sorry this happened to you.” I turned to Cheryl. “And to your café, too.”

  Cheryl nodded. “It’s not your fault, Scott.”

  Anger punched through me - at this, and at everything threatening Storm. My gut twisted with that anger and for a moment
, I felt like nothing we were doing was working. One step forward and two fucking steps back was what it felt like.

  Harlow squeezed my hand and centred me again. I breathed through it and focused my attention back on her.

  “Rogue tried to attack me, Scott,” she said quietly, almost as if she was afraid of my reaction. “He is not a good man.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me about your problems with him?”

  “I didn’t want to burden you with it so I spoke to Blade about it. He’s investigating Rogue for us.”

  “Yeah, he told me today. You don’t need to worry about Rogue anymore, sweetheart, okay?” God, it killed me that she’d had to even worry about him in the first place. All I wanted was for Harlow to be safe, and I’d fucking put danger right in her path.

  Her eyes widened. “Did he die in that fire? I thought he got out, too.”

  I placed my finger to her lips. “All you need to know is that he won’t ever get in your way again. I want you to promise me something, though.”

  “What?”

  “Promise me you’ll always come to me with this kind of stuff in the future. I need to know any concern you ever have. I need to know that you’re safe at all times.”

  “I promise.”

  I bent and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Thank fuck.”

  She bit her lip as I straightened, and I knew she had something to tell me – Harlow only bit her lip that way when she was keeping something from me.

  “What?” I asked.

  Her mouth curled up in a smile and her hand rested on my forearm. “I’m pregnant,” she whispered, and for the second time today, my heart skipped a beat.

  And then it sped up.

  “The baby’s okay after the fire?” Jesus, I’d torture Rogue before killing him if the baby had been harmed. Fuck it, maybe I’d torture him anyway.

  “Yes, thank God. The doctor just wants to keep me in overnight to make sure.”

  Cassie interrupted us at that moment. “Oh my God, Harlow! Are you okay?” She came flying through the door, almost knocking me over in her haste to get to Harlow.