“I’m so happy for you, Bell.” Kelly reaches out and takes her hand. The news is good. They found Paige, Bell’s sister who has been missing for the last six years.
“Thank you. I still can’t believe it. If it weren’t for all of you, this wouldn’t be happening.” Her eyes move around the table looking at all my brothers before landing on Nix.
“You all helped make this happen and I’ll never be able to thank you enough.”
“Nothing we wouldn’t do for family, darlin’.” Nix shrugs it off, but I know he’s tense. The people we’ve had to walk over to find Bell’s sister and the markers we’ve called in are going to come calling one day, and we will have to pay up one way or another.
“I know, but you’ll never know how much this means to me.”
Jesse throws his arm around her shoulders and kisses the side of her head. She relaxes against him and I quietly watch them.
They’ve come a long way the last few months. Jesse even more. The shit he pulled would have sent a weaker woman away, but not Bell. For that, I’m happy to accept her into our fold.
“Just bring her home safely,” I say when she catches me watching them. She looks taken aback for a moment before she nods. I’m not surprised by her reaction. It’s not like I’m a complete asshole, but I’m guarded. I don’t let people in easily. And I don’t talk for the sake of talking.
Her wobbly smile tells me she’s hanging on by a thread, but I know the strength inside of her won’t allow her to shatter; instead, it fuels her to keep it together.
“Umm, boss, we have a big fucking issue.” Hunter the club’s newest member’s voice carries across the club, halting all conversations.
“What the fuck now?” Nix looks up, fingers moving to his temples. I know he’s over all the shit we keep finding ourselves in. The last year and a half has been fucking drama after drama. Mostly to do with the business I’m in. Every time we catch a break and shit cools down, it all hits the fan again in the blink of an eye.
Hunter looks to me first before answering and I know right away I’ll be responsible for this shit.
“Spit it out.” My impatience isn’t lost on him, but before he can tell me about my next fuck-up, movement behind him takes my attention. A brunette walks around the corner. Her hair disheveled, face messed up, lip busted, and the start of a bruise dances over her cheekbone. My heart stops instantly as I take her in and realize who it is.
“Mackenzie?” I stand from my chair so fast it falls back with a loud thud; causing her eyes to snap down in submission.
“Oh, fuck,” someone curses, but I can’t place the owner’s voice because I’m too caught up in the fact that Mackenzie Morre just walked into our clubhouse, walked back into my life.
Fuck me.
“Beau, I’m so sorry I came, but I really need your help.” Her eyes don’t find mine again, staying glued to the floor in front of her. Her hair is shorter than the last time I saw her and she looks to have lost a few pounds. Has she been eating? An overwhelming urge to take her in my arms and carry her to my room pulls at me, but I don’t. I barely know this woman. I’ve spent no more than forty-eight hours with her, yet she has a hold over me, a hold I can’t explain, and not sure I want to.
Keep it together, asshole.
“Fuck,” I think I say before getting my shit together and rushing toward her. She trembles when I step in closer, but doesn’t back away as I reach her. “What the fuck happened?” I question as I place my hands on either side of her face. She finally looks up at me and I have a better view. Her dark brown eyes are drowning in fear, but I can see she is trying to fight the current. Her lip has been split and her cheek is bruised. It takes everything in me to keep calm.
“He found me, Beau.” Her voice is small, scared and it fucks with my head.
“Where?” I try to keep the disbelief out of my tone because I didn’t know where she was the last year and a half. How the fuck did he find her?
“In Ohio.”
Ohio? How did she end up there? Why did she end up there?
Shaking my head from all the questions running through my mind, I step back from her and turn, only to find the whole club watching us. I don’t have time to acknowledge the concern on their faces before I zero back in on Bell.
“Bell, can you grab the medical kit.” Bell nods then moves to the kitchen.
“Tell me what happened.” I look back to Mackenzie, needing to know everything before we can figure out how much shit we’re in. Her eyes fly to mine before flicking back to the others.
“You can talk in front of them, darlin’. You’re safe here.” I try to encourage her, but I can already see her walls going up.
“Beau.” My name is delivered in a plea and just like that, it’s as if the last eighteen months haven’t passed and I’m back in our safe house breaking all my rules.
The truth is I barely know Mackenzie. I met her one night on a pickup in the next town over in Redwick. She was messed up so bad we had to deviate from the usual routine and get her into a hospital. Little did we know her fucking asshole husband was none other than Chad Morre, son to Mayor Morre. Chad and his father have done everything in their power to find Mackenzie, even going to the extremes of hurting our own.
“Okay, darlin’, come on.” I place my hand on the small of her back and motion her to the living room. She relaxes noticeably before moving over to the sofa. Nix hangs back near the bar as the rest of the group move out, heading either into the kitchen or out to the patio.
“Nix is gonna stay. This is his club,” I tell her how it is and watch her flick her gaze back to him. I can see she wants to argue, but there isn’t anything she can say that will change my mind. Nix won’t leave and I don’t want him to. We just became an open target now she’s back. We need all the information we can get.
“Just start from the beginning. What’s happened since I saw you last?” I ask when she settles on the edge of the sofa and fidgets, her hands in her lap.
“Well, after staying with Larry and Mary for the week, I was moved on to Phoenix.”
Larry and Mary were the couple I dropped her off to. It was her first safe drop out of Redwick and the last time I saw her.
“I stayed in a women’s shelter for six weeks in Phoenix until I healed properly.” She runs her finger along a faint scar on the inside of her arm. Anger boils inside of me hating she has a constant reminder of what her husband did to her.
“Once I was able to do everyday things I left there, ended up in Ohio. Found a nice small town and settled down.” Bell comes back into the room and opens the kit, setting it up on the coffee table. I offer her a slight nod and then wait till she leaves us alone.
“You found your safe place.” I reach forward into the first-aid kit and pull out some sterile wipes.
“It wasn’t home, but I tried to make it so.” I show her the wipe and motion to her lip, a silent question for permission to use it on her. She nods before twisting her head slightly and offering me better access. It looks like she’s attempted to clean it up, but didn’t do a very good job.
“I had a job, a nice apartment, and everything had been quiet.” She flinches when I gently wipe at her lip, but quickly recovers. “I don’t know how he found me. I’ve been so careful.” She shakes her head, berating herself.
“So what happened?” I drop the wipe and reach for a sterile strip. She waits for me to place the small strip over the cut on her lip before answering.
“I came home two nights ago and he was there in my bed.” Her hands start to shake in her lap. Without thinking, I reach forward and place my hand over them. It soothes her a little, but not much. “He had a gun, said he had been looking all over for me.” My grip tightens in reflex as the vision plays out in my mind.