Page 20

Dozer

Hana and Gabi rode up front, and I stayed in the back with Pippa. She was bruised, but she wasn’t broken. No fucking way did he break her.

She shivered against me, and I banded my arms around her.

“Baby, get as close as you need.”

In the darkened back seat, she climbed into my lap, slid her arms under my cut, and pressed her face to my chest. Inhaling deep, she drew in my scent.

Gabi had the furnace blasting, trying to chase the chill from her flesh. She quivered against me, yet she was perfectly still.

“You would have killed him if Rogue didn’t stop you.” Her soft voice filled the silence of the darkened interior of the car.

“Yeah, I wouldn’t have stopped.” And I would have missed the chance to make him suffer. Rogue and Bullet made killing an art form. Their way was better. “You don’t have to think about him ever again.”

“What if I can’t forget?”

The bruises and blood on her body were enough for me to know I’d never forget, but I wanted her to know I could handle whatever she needed. If she wanted to talk, I’d listen. If she wanted to cry, I’d hold her through the storm, and if she wanted to rage, she could unleash every dark, sadistic need for revenge on me. “Do you want to talk about what happened?”

Sadness and pain mirrored in her eyes. I traced her furrowed brow, then brushed my knuckles along her face to the flutter of her pulse in her neck.

“When it’s just you and me, I’ll tell you everything. Just you.” She grew quiet. “Willow is Levi’s mom?”

“She’s an emergency room nurse.”

“Levi will know what happened.”

“If we go inside, Levi will be there. I know she’s been a bitch to you.”

“Not so much anymore. I think because of Coop.”

“You can trust her to keep her mouth shut.” I stared hard into her eyes. “You’re the only one getting a vote. I can go in, get Willow, and we can go somewhere else. It’s still not safe to go to Hana’s or Blade’s. Nothing is resolved with the Crawlers.”

She released a shaky breath. “As long as you stay with me.”

I kissed her temple, her cheek, and breathed her in.

“I know how I must look.”

“Nothing he did takes away from how beautiful you are.”

“Will you kiss me, Dozer?” She shifted her gaze away from me. “He didn’t put…” She gulped a breath. “He didn’t use my mouth. He tried to kiss me, but I bit him.”

With barely a touch, I gently pressed my lips to hers. Her mouth was raw and swollen. “Nothing he did changes how much I love you. Nothing would change how much I need you.”

She whimpered and clung to me, burrowing her face into my neck.

Gabi pulled into the driveway. “What do you want us to do?”

“You can leave us here. I’ll text you later.”

Pippa slid off my lap, but once I was out of the vehicle, I carried her in my arms to the door and knocked.

The night camouflaged our arrival. The house was dark. I knocked again.

“Maybe they’re asleep.”

I cocked an eyebrow. I was sure Willow was asleep just like everyone else in the neighborhood.

Light glowed through the window, the porch light flicked on, and the door opened.

“Mom, it’s me. Turn off the light.”

The light snapped off, and I carried Pippa into the house. Gabi backed out of the drive as Willow closed the door.

“Take her to my room.”

Levi’s bedroom door opened as we passed. “Dozer?”

I paused. Levi gasped when she saw Pippa. “Mom, you can use my room. I’ll get your bag.”

Levi’s room was as familiar as my own. I crossed to her bed and sat Pippa on the edge. She tugged on the edge of my T-shirt, trying to cover more of her nudity.

Willow stood next to me, a softness to her eyes. Fuck, but I loved this woman. She was more of a mother to me than my own. She rested her hand on my shoulder as she waited for me. I guess waiting for me to let her know Pippa was ready.

“I’ve got you,” I said to Pippa. Then I pushed the blankets to the end of the bed, ripped the top sheet off, and draped it around her.

She tugged the linen over her legs, making sure all of her flesh was covered.

“Thanks.”

I knelt in front of her, resting my hands on her knees. “You need her. This is Levi’s mom, Willow.” I glanced over my shoulder. “This is Pippa. She…she…”

“It’s okay.” She tapped my arm as a way to say she understood the situation. Then she spoke to Pippa. “Can I sit beside you?”

Pippa nodded. I moved to stand, but Pippa clutched my hand. “Don’t leave me.”

“I’m not going anywhere.” I sat on the floor next to her legs.

Levi brought Willow’s medical kit into the room. “I’ll make coffee.”

“Thank you, sweetheart,” Willow said.

Levi’s gaze met mine, concern shimmering in her eyes. With my knees bent and feet on the floor, I stared at the pattern in the carpet. Too many conflicting emotions warred within me. What the fuck could I say?

“What caused the contusions to your mouth?” Willow asked Pippa.

“I don’t know. He, uh, I was hit, but when he gagged me, I—”

Willow didn’t touch Pippa as she inspected her face. “Would it be easier to talk if we had Dozer wait in the kitchen with Levi? ”

Her fingers tightened around mine.

“I’m not leaving,” I said, turned my head toward Pippa and pressed my lips to her hand.

She released a shuddering breath. “Once he gagged me, I screamed a lot. The gag felt like rug burns.”

I kept her hand pressed to my face.

“I’ll need to touch you. Is that okay?”

The sheet shifted, the mattress dipped, and Willow made humming affirmations. She didn’t gasp or show horror.

“We should do a rape kit?”

Pippa trembled with a harsh inhale.

“Nah, we don’t need shit for cops. He’s taken care of.”

“I hope he suffered,” Willow said as she continued to gently inspect Pippa’s injuries. “This looks like a knife wound. You’re going to need stitches. If you’re comfortable here on Levi’s bed, you could just lie down.”

Pippa inched back on the bed but didn’t release my hand.

I shifted to stand, and her eyes widened. “I’m staying. Get comfortable,” I said.

Pippa scooted back onto the pillow.

I went around to the other side of the bed and sat at the top near her head.

Willow pulled a chair next to the bed and began treating the cuts and scrapes.

“Coffee is ready.” Levi set a cup on the dresser for her mom. “Do you want coffee?” she asked me, but her gaze shifted to Pippa.

“Later. Thanks, Levi. ”

“I’ll be out in the kitchen if you need anything.”

Willow worked on Pippa, cleaning her cuts, coating them in cream, and prepping her deep gashes for stitches.

Pippa distracted herself by tracing the ink on my arms and hands.

“I wouldn’t ever say you’re a lucky girl,” Willow said. “But it’s lucky when he stabbed you, he didn’t go deep. Without x-rays we can’t be sure nothing is broken.”

She asked her questions about where Pippa hurt, could she take a deep breath. Willow pushed and prodded on her organs and ribs.

“I don’t think anything is broken, but at least three weeks rest. Your ribs are probably cracked.” Willow turned her attention to me. “I’m assuming since you’re here and not at the hospital, that this is Heller business.”

“She’s my business,” I said.

Willow smiled. “Then I’m glad I’m finally meeting her.” She winked at Pippa. “He’s my favorite, and he knows it.”

I stretched my legs out next to her, leaned against the headboard, and closed my eyes as Willow told Pippa stories about me as a kid.

Sometimes, I forgot that there were good parts of growing up. At some point, my life had become a grind of smoking weed and running with the MC, watching instead of participating.

Then this girl crawled under my skin. Instead of getting into her head, wanting her to crave me in the dark ways I needed her, I ached to hear her laugh, to see her smile .

In that cabin, he’d forced her into places so dark, so black, I wasn’t sure she’d be able to find a way out. I worried I’d just take her down because I was so fucking deep into hell, the only way out was fighting.

My eyes were still closed. I wasn’t sure if Willow thought I was asleep or just lowered her voice to soothe Pippa.

“What about the morning after pill?”

“I’m on the shot.”

“Just for precaution, what about STD’s?”

Pippa bowed her head. “I don’t know.” She trembled, and her fingers gripped my thigh. “I knew him. But I didn’t know him at all. I didn’t know he could do this.”

“I need to examine you.”

I felt Pippa nod and her knees bend.

Willow finished her examination. “I’ll get you a prescription. When you’re ready, before you have sexual intercourse again, you’ll want to get tested.”

“Okay,” she said. “I decided I’d rather be dead than in that cabin. But he wouldn’t kill me. I didn’t think I’d ever see Dozer again. I couldn’t live with that.”

I didn’t open my eyes, but I rested my hand on her leg. “I love you, baby. You fall. I fall.”

“We can get you washed up,” Willow said. “I’m sure Levi has some clothes you can wear.” Willow lifted her cup of coffee. “You need anything?” she asked me.

“A shirt if she has one. I’ll help Pippa.”

I slid from the bed. Pippa slipped her hand back into mine, and I led her across the hall to the bathroom. She held onto the vanity as I turned on the water.

“Shower or bath?” I lifted my T-shirt over her head.

“Shower.” She stared into the mirror, tears wetting her cheeks. I stood behind her and wrapped my arms around her.

“The bruises will fade.”

“But what if I still see them, even after I’ve healed.” Her voice lowered. “What if you still see them?”

I turned her toward me. “Look at me. I have scars, inside and out. I’m fucking broken. You’ve seen how I handle relationships. I suck at expressing myself. You’re going to need to be a fucking mind reader to get in my head, but know that you’re there, every fucking minute of the day. At night, I’m with you in my dreams. I’m a shit boyfriend with all kinds of issues, but I’m yours. All of me. The good and the bad.”

“If you still want me, I’m yours.”

I slanted my mouth over hers. She whimpered as her tongue met mine, a reclaiming of what had been stolen from us. I gently rubbed her hair between my fingers.

“I want all of you,” I said. “I’ll help you get your smile back. I fucking promise you that you’ll laugh again.”

“I’ll be fine, Dozer, as long as I’m in the dark with you.”

Rogu e

I’ve killed before. It wasn’t always in self-defense. Collateral damage couldn’t always be avoided. But this one was going to feel good. I wiped blood from my knuckles with a paper towel from the kitchen.

Romeo leaned against the wall and stared at the crumpled, mutilated man lying on the mattress where he’d tortured Pippa. There was still breath in his lungs, but he was bleeding out, the crimson stain soaking into the blanket beneath him.

“Are you okay?” I asked him. Romeo wasn’t one to get his hands bloody. He didn’t catch a high from the fight like some of us.

This was personal. Romeo had given something of himself to vindicate the girl and seek retribution from her perpetrator. He’d remember tonight, and I hoped he realized he needed this. No what ifs, no should haves—no regrets.

“Nothing I do to him changes what happened,” he said. “He still hurt her. I can’t shake the hate.”

“Good. You go to her and tell her she never has to think of this sick fucker again.”

Blade walked into the cabin. “The suicide note is in the car. And we cleaned up Pippa’s blood from the passenger seat.”

“Let’s light it up.” Bullet had come up with the hearse and several filled gas cans. Those cans sat in the middle of the room.

We covered our faces with rags. Then I curled my fingers around the handle of a heavy red gas can. “Romeo, soak the bed.”

He picked up one of the cans. He spit on the man. “Burn in hell, motherfucker. ”

He covered his mouth and nose with a bandana, and then poured the can of gasoline over the beaten man and mattress.

I soaked the walls, and Blade doused the furniture and kitchen. Fumes burned my eyes, and my head lightened from the fumes. It only took a minute to saturate the place in gasoline. “Let’s go.”

We exited the cabin as Bullet came around the corner with another empty can. We tossed them onto the back of the hearse.

Blade, Vance, Bullet, and I stood several yards away from the house. I inhaled on a cigarette, drawing the hot smoke into my lungs.

“Is he going to be okay?” Bullet asked of Romeo.

“Yeah, he’s not doing this for Pippa,” Blade said. “He’s here because Dozer isn’t.”

As I blew out a thick gust of smoke upward, Romeo bent his head and lit a cigarette. The flame highlighted his profile, the hard line of his mouth, the tense angle of his jaw, and the narrowed glare of his eyes. He inhaled long and deep, the red ember glowing in the early morning light.

As he exhaled, he flicked his fingers. The ember tip twisted and turned in a high arc toward the house. The cigarette bounced, hot sparks dancing across the porch.

The fumes ignited. Romeo ducked as the house burst into flames. Black smoke billowed into the air. A gust of heat rolled off the house. Silhouetted in the blaze, Romeo watched the fire lick the porch, climb the rotted wood and streak along the roof .

Then he turned on his heels and strode toward us.

Bullet climbed into the hearse. Vance straddle Dozer’s bike.

“Let’s meet back at the MC,” Blade said.

Sounded like a good plan to me. Now that this situation was resolved, we could get back to club business.

Romeo put on his helmet. “I’ll catch you later. I need to be with Pip.”

We rolled out of the area, the flames still spiraling into the sky. It wouldn’t take long for the fire to be reported, but by the time help arrived, that tinder-dry cabin would be nothing but ash. No evidence that Pippa was ever here…and neither were the Hellers.