Page 19

T hings with Hayes have been better than they ever have been.

After he opened up to me the other night, I feel like there is a new level of intimacy between us. It’s more than the sex and physical touch we share with one another. It’s even more than the friendship that we repaired and built this on. It’s a level of trust that runs deeper than ever before. I know without a doubt that Hayes is the man for me.

There’s not a doubt in my mind.

So even though there is some club girl trying to get his attention at the bar, I know when he turns, his eyes will search me out.

It’s why I’m dancing with Viv the way I am.

“He’s not going to cut me, is he?” she jokes, grabbing my hips to grind against me.

“Not likely. He’s more jealous of men, I think, but I’ve never tested the theory,” I tell her.

She groans. “You’re lucky you are my friend. I’ll risk losing a limb for you.”

“I’ll protect you.” I wink at her.

She laughs, rolling her eyes. “I’m high-tailing it to Dagger. He might protect me from his pres.”

“You do that and I’ll distract him, so win-win.”

I watch as Hayes turns. Like I thought, he pays no mind to the breasts currently sitting on the bar in front of him. Instead, his eyes find mine, fire in them.

“Oh yeah, you might want to scurry away, Viv,” I whisper to her.

She glances over, seeing an angry-looking Savage walking her way. I don’t blame her. He looks like his name right now.

“Love you, babe.” She kisses my cheek, making me laugh when Hayes narrows his eyes at the action.

By the time he reaches me, Viv is in Dagger’s arms.

“What game are you playing, Bails? You know I don’t share well.” He pulls me into his arms, moving his body with mine.

“Dancing with a friend. That is allowed, isn’t it?” I quirk an eyebrow at him.

“Of course. As long as it ends at dancing.”

“So no threesomes?” I joke, but it sours my stomach.

I don’t like the idea.

I don’t have to worry though.

He scrunches his nose up. “Hell no. Only hands I want on me are yours.”

“Such a sweet-talker,” I croon, my arms wrapping around his neck.

“Shh. You will ruin my reputation. Didn’t you know? I’m a savage.”

“Oh, baby, I’ve known about your savage ways since you were a kid. You used to beat boys up for looking at me then. I don’t want to see what you would do now.”

He smirks at me. “You damn well knew what I would do. Then I would show you how savage I can be when I wreck that pussy for anyone else. You will be begging for my cock.”

My body shivers at his words. They should be the biggest red flag, but they aren’t. They turn me on so much.

Maybe that’s what is wrong with me. I never dreamed of Prince Charming. The man in my dreams has always been the rough-around-the-edges kid from the wrong side of the tracks. I never wanted gentle and sweet. I needed him.

Savage.

“Come on, Hellcat. Show the men watching who you belong to.”

He presses my hips closer, slipping a leg between them. It puts just enough pressure on my clit to have my body feeling awake and alive. He continues to move with the music, his lips falling to my neck.

I’m a puddle in the middle of the dance floor. If he were to let go of me right now, I would melt into the floor. There are people laughing and partying around us. Hell, couples are fucking even, but in this moment, the room falls away.

It’s me and him, the music background noise.

“Hayes,” I whisper.

“That’s it, Bails. Come for me.”

My nails dig into his shoulder as his lips descend on mine. He swallows my cries as I come for him harder than I ever have.

Something about the electricity in the air and the vibe of the room has me rolling from one orgasm into another as he continues to move against me.

When I finally come back down, he’s there, whispering how good I did in my ear.

I never in a million years could have predicted that we would end up here. That he would be the president of the MC that we grew up in or that I would be in his arms, coming from his touch in the middle of all of his guys. Even six months ago, I would have thought this was far-fetched.

Now I don’t want anything else.

“Take me to the room,” I whisper to him.

He nods, picking me up over his shoulder, smacking my ass.

Some of the guys cheer as he carries me down the hall, but he ignores them all. He has one single focus, and that is getting me to his room.

I’m not complaining. I’m flushed and content, but I want more of him.

I don’t think I will ever get enough of him.

As we near his room, he slows before stopping. He sets me down, pressing me to the wall.

“Stay here,” he growls out.

All heat has fled his eyes, wariness in its place.

My stomach knots as I watch him walk into his already open door. The door that remains closed.

None of his guys would ever open it, but one of the sweetbutts might.

Anger starts to fill me as I march into the room behind him, ready to rip some hair out of some hoe’s head.

Dread fills me when I see what’s on his bed.

It’s no sweetbutt.

It’s a small, gray bunny rabbit. One that looks a lot like Mr. Whiskers, the rabbit my father bought me when I was twelve. He’s long since passed, but this rabbit looks just like him.

Well, except for the fact that he is lifeless and bloody, lying in the middle of the bed Hayes and I share.

I look up at him.

I have no idea what happens next because one second I’m staring at the love of my life, feeling like the world is imploding, and the next my world goes black.

I catch her before she hits the ground, but I fall in the process.

She didn’t even see the note, but I did.

Beautiful Rabbit

So innocent and naive

Better hide, bunny

I pull out my phone, dialing Loyal, and put it on speaker.

“Savage?” he mumbles.

Sounds like he was sleeping.

“Wake the fuck up. Get Fang and come to my room. Now.”

I end the call, gently shaking Bailey. Her eyes flutter open.

“What happened?” she asks.

“You fainted. Do you think you can sit up?” I whisper.

She nods, so I help her into a sitting position. Then I stand, picking her up. Loyal and Fang are there when I turn.

“What the fuck?” Fang asks, lipstick smeared on his cheek.

“Bailey, are you okay? You’re pale. Let’s get you some tea. Bring her to the kitchen,” Loyal commands me.

“Excuse me?” I bark back, but Bailey touches my cheek.

“Let Loyal take me to the kitchen. I need to get out of here. Handle this. Please. This was supposed to be my sanctuary.”

My breathing starts to come harder at her words. She is safe here. She has to be. So how the hell did someone get in here?

Could it be one of my men?

Letting her down, I make sure she is steady.

“Fang, end the fucking party and gather the guys. Loyal, you protect her with your fucking life against anyone. Even a brother.”

He nods, taking her arm and looping it in his. I hate that he’s touching her, but I also understand why he does it.

He is being steady for her.

Fang sets off to do what I told him to do as I start to pace back and forth. What the fuck is going on? Who could this be?

When Fang comes back, I voice my concern to him.

“Do you think one of our men did this?”

Before he can respond, Tiny comes into the room. “It wasn’t one of ours.”

“How can you be sure?” Fang voices the question in my head.

He turns his phone, showing surveillance.

“Dex is pulling ours, but he didn’t trip the alarm. I think that alarm from a few weeks back was him trying to see what we had. He figured it out and slipped past. No one knows these cameras are there except you two now. They are on a secure network I set up that can only be found by typing in a sequence on your computer or phone. We got him on camera,” Tiny tells me.

“You know tech shit?” Fang sounds genuinely surprised.

“Not like Dex, but yeah. I didn’t want another Rogue situation to happen, so I set them up. Figured it best no one knew about it.”

“I’m grateful for that now. Let me see it.” I hold my hand out.

I zoom in and look at the man. He is clean-cut, but he is wearing a leather jacket and jeans. He is trying to look like one of us.

He probably slipped in and walked right by us, and no one even noticed. Why would they when this is the place we are supposed to be able to let our guards down?

“We need to show this to Bailey,” I tell them.

Fang winces. “Should we clean up your bed?”

I shake my head. “Leave this for now. Message Axel and get him down here to investigate it.”

Axel is the guy who should have been a cop. He’s good at all the detective shit. Especially with the fingerprints and collecting evidence and shit.

I’m glad he’s on our side and not the other.

“On it.” He starts typing on his phone as he follows me and Tiny down the hall.

I’m thankful when he shuts my bedroom door behind him, locking it with the spare key I gave him.

When we make it to the kitchen, my heart catches.

Bailey is sitting there sipping on tea while Loyal talks to her in hushed tones. When I get closer, I hear a little of what he is saying.

“Savage won’t let anything happen to you, and if they get past him, you have a whole club of brothers stepping in to protect you. I know this is scary, but we have got your back. You are Lotus, with or without the patch.”

“He’s right,” Tiny speaks up. “You’re the heart this place was missing. We have your back.”

These are the men who are by my side. The ones I trust the most.

“Bailey, I need to know if you know this man,” I tell her, pointing to Tiny’s phone.

He hands it over to her.

She gasps, her hand shaking. “This is the man who asked to change my tire. The one you never found.”

“Are you sure?” Tiny asks.

“Positive. I could never forget his face. Plus, look at the wrist. It’s the same watch.”

“We need to find this man. Someone figure out who the fuck he is and why he is so fucking obsessed with my woman. I want him alive so I can fucking torture him for the trauma he has caused Bailey,” I spit out.

“I’m on it. I’ll go get with Dex. Between the two of us, we will find him,” Tiny promises, leaving the room.

“I’ll get the guys checking the grounds. Axel is cleaning up the room,” Fang tells me.

I look at Bailey. “What do you want to do?”

She looks so sad and defeated. She shrugs, looking down at her tea.

“Loyal, stay with her for a minute.”

He nods as I pull Fang outside the room.

“I don’t like seeing her like this. We need to double down on security. Tiny was fucking smart setting up those cameras. I want several fucking systems set up so this never happens again. Silent alarms. Real alarms. I want lights flashing like the fucking cops if we have to. She will feel safe here, or else I will tear the place down with my bare hands before I build it again as a fucking underground bunker.”

“Understood. I’ll get on it now. How about you take her to a hotel for the night? Loyal and one of the prospects can watch the door. Get the penthouse suite so you are on the top floor. No one will be able to get to you and maybe she will be able to sleep better. I can ask my sister to stop by with some sleeping stuff if you want. She’s a nurse practitioner.”

“That would be good. Thank you. I’ll call you when I figure out where we end up.”

“We will protect her.”

I nod.

We will because I will put a bullet in anyone who thinks that they can come into my home and take what is mine. If they thought I was a savage before, they have no idea what I’m about to become.

Savage is my nickname only because she brings out the savage in me.

Mess with her, and the monster will come out and play.