“Did you fire first?”
“No. Griller did when I reached for Rock’s gun.”
“Did you hit anyone when you returned the shot?” I asked, the memory of the encounter twisting and fading too much for me to remember exact details.
“I don’t know. Everything happened so fast.” He looked down briefly. “And now I’m gonna hear about it.”
“I wouldn’t worry too much. I’m fine. Besides, Marek is gonna be so pissed at me when he finds out, no one will be worried about what you did, which was to defend us and get us all out of there alive.”
I turned on the water and rinsed out the pan that had fallen, giving Jagger a perfect opportunity to start questioning me again, now that we got all that other stuff out of the way.
He leaned his hip against the counter and crossed his arms over his chest. “Now, back to the girl.” He raised his brow and cocked his head, wearing his impatience all over his face once more. It was only when his tongue swept over his bottom lip, did I notice the corner of it was starting to swell.
“Uh….” I stalled, continuing to wash the pan. I was almost finished when Jagger reached out and slapped the back of my head.
“You better tell me right now.”
“Uh…,” I repeated, glancing over at him, hoping he’d get frustrated with my lack of explanation and walk out of the kitchen. No such luck. After shutting off the water, I turned to face him, expelling the air from my lungs in frustration. “Where else was I supposed to take her?”
“How about the bus stop? You could’ve given her some money and sent her on her way.” He grabbed the counter and bowed his head. “I can’t believe you took her in the first place,” he said, anger raising his voice.
“Technically, the prospect gave her to me.”
“That’s the story you’re goin’ with?”
I looked away briefly, reining in my apprehension as well as my nerves. “Yes. It’s the truth. But I don’t think the others knew that he told me to take her. Just a feeling.”
“Either way, it was a bad move.” He held up his hand when I opened my mouth to argue. “Listen. I saw her. It’s obvious she was in a bad way with them, and it’s obvious she needed help, but…” He trailed off, looking upward toward the ceiling to gather his next thoughts before making eye contact again. “It’s not like we can give her back.” He shook his head several times. “We gotta tell everyone what happened. But until then, you stay here where you’re safe. You and her both. I’ll call Prez and tell him we gotta have an impromptu first thing tomorrow.”
Jagger pushed off the counter and mumbled something to himself before leaving the kitchen. The entire time we’d been in here, I’d forgotten that Maddie was all by herself out there, probably terrified. I rushed into the other room, but instead of finding her alone, Hawke and Brick flanked her on either side. At first glance, she looked scared, peering over at me with wide eyes, but the closer I stepped, I noticed her body language was more relaxed than I assumed it would be.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Brick asked, touching her shoulder, but when she jerked away, she bumped into Hawke, who instead of stepping back put his hand on her other shoulder.
I stepped in front of her and reached for her hand, which she gave willingly. She huddled close to me.
“They won’t do anything to you,” I said. “They’re good guys.” What I didn’t mention was that I was still unsure about Hawke. After what I saw in that basement, and his reaction and willingness to kill Tag, I didn’t know what his intentions toward any stranger would be, women included. Not that Marek would let him get away with harming a woman. That didn’t fly in our club. We once had a prospect a couple years back who beat his wife. He bragged about how he taught her a lesson, and Jagger, in turn, taught him one before we tossed him out, telling him if he ever laid a hand on her again, he’d end up six feet under. It was only now that I realized the older guys would’ve made good on that threat.
“Come on. I’ll let you get settled while I make you some food.” I led her away from the other two and toward the last bedroom at the back of the clubhouse, neither of us saying another word. Once inside, I turned on the light and closed the door. Checking the bathroom, I made sure there was a towel and soap. “There’s plenty of hot water for you to take a shower.” I opened one of the dresser drawers and pulled out a plain black T-shirt long enough to cover her, which wasn’t hard to do given her height and stature. “There’s a knob under the faucet. Pull it down, and the shower will come on.” Maddie didn’t move a muscle. She just stared at me. When I licked my lips, she focused on my mouth, her attention both unnerving and thrilling. “Okay then,” I rushed to say, disappearing from the room before I did or said something inappropriate.
Halfway down the hall, I heard arguing. I rushed toward the noise to find out what was goin’ on, only to find Hawke and Brick toe to toe, Brick towering over him like he did everyone else.
“Are you out of your fuckin’ mind?” Hawke shouted, shoving him in the next breath. The nomad’s eyes widened when Brick didn’t move an inch.
“What’s goin’ on?” I asked, tentatively walking up to them.
Hawke directed his anger toward me now. “I’ll tell ya what’s goin’ on.” He pointed toward the hallway. “You bring that Reaper bitch into our clubhouse, and you think that’s okay?”
I didn’t know what came over me, but before I could stop myself, I rushed toward him and tackled him, the both of us
