Page 20

CHAPTER 19

O n her way back to Wraith’s side after a trip to the restroom at Inferno, Caroline waved at several people. She loved being a part of the group here. The bartenders were all amazing, and of course, the Devil Daddies kept an eye on her. Best of all, they were glad to see her too.

“Hey. Come dance,” a male voice demanded.

That definitely wasn’t Wraith’s gravelly tone. Caroline glanced up in surprise. Now that the crowd was used to seeing her with Wraith, guys didn’t approach her. Who’d want to mess with Wraith?

“Hey. Sorry. I’m with someone. I only boogie with him,” Caroline answered politely and turned to walk away.

Caroline stared down at the firm hand squeezing her upper arm. “Ouch! Let me go. I said no.”

“I wasn’t inviting you. Consider it a demand.” The man walked toward the dance floor, pulling Caroline after him.

She struggled to free herself, but he tightened his fingers. “Hey. Thank you for the compliment, but you really want to leave me alone.”

“Right now, I want to dance with you.”

He tugged her into his arms and swayed like they were dancing to a romantic, slow song, even though the upbeat tempo of the music had others rocking around them at high speed. Caroline pushed hard.

“I said no!”

When the jerk laughed, Caroline looked around frantically. She made eye contact with Razor, who stood at the bar. Please let him see the panic on my face.

Immediately, Razor ran toward her, bellowing for Wraith. He elbowed a path through the dance floor.

“Back off, asshole!” Wraith shouted from behind her, drawing the man’s attention.

Caroline knew the moment the jerk spotted the enormous man approaching. His eyes widened, and he immediately released his hold on her and backed up with his hands raised. She scurried away from the aggressive man so he couldn’t grab her again. She couldn’t get to Wraith as he approached from the opposite direction. Several of the dancers put themselves between her and her assailant. While she appreciated the buffer, she had to see what happened.

The music stopped, and the DJ announced, “This won’t be pretty.” Everyone turned to the dance floor as a hush fell over the crowd.

“I’m not hurt,” Caroline yelled to Wraith as she struggled to meet his gaze through the crowd.

“You made one hell of a mistake,” Wraith told the jerk. Members from the Devil Daddies MC surrounded her assailant and swept him outside.

A pathway opened between Caroline and Wraith. She ran forward to jump into his arms. His expression scared her. Raw violence shone from his gaze.

“I’m okay, Wraith. Just make him leave.”

Wraith took a moment to run his hands over her. Caroline tried not to wince as he touched the rising welts on her arms. “He’s going to pay for hurting you.”

Focusing over her shoulder, Wraith asked, “Watch her for me?”

Razor nodded before answering. “You got it.”

“Stay with Razor.”

“Wraith, please. Don’t hurt him. I’m okay.”

“No one touches my Little girl,” Wraith told her softly. “He’ll learn.”

“They’ve got him in the far-right parking lot.”

Jerking to look to the side, Caroline spotted Lucien. He’d come down from his office on the second floor. This wasn’t good.

“Lucien, talk some sense into him,” she pleaded.

“That won’t happen,” Lucien informed her in a flat tone that didn’t allow her to argue. He signaled the DJ to restart the music.

“Come on, Caroline. Let me make sure you’re okay.” Razor escorted her off the dance floor as everyone resumed dancing, almost as if nothing had happened.

“I don’t want Wraith to get in trouble,” Caroline told Razor as he led her into a small office near the kitchen and grabbed a large first aid kit from the wall.

“He’ll be fine. Let’s worry about you,” Razor said firmly. He ran his hands over her arms. “You’ll have some bruises here. That’s going to piss Wraith off until they heal.”

“I’m fine,” Caroline said, eager to go find Wraith.

“He’s going to come collect you here when he’s finished. Let’s put some ice on these bruises. Need a painkiller?”

“My head hurts,” she admitted.

“Did he hit you?” Razor asked, bristling. He cupped her chin and checked out her eyes.

“No. I think it’s the tension.”

“I’m sorry, Caroline. Let’s get some medicine in you.” He grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and handed her two tablets. After watching her take them, he left the office to grab some ice. Razor was back before she could formulate a plan to go intercede in whatever was going on in the parking lot.

“Stop fretting about it. Wraith will take care of him. Tell me about yourself, Caroline. We haven’t had time to talk.”

He was distracting her.

“How about if you tell me about you? You’re a real doctor?” Caroline had put that together from what she’d overheard at Inferno.

“I am.” He wrapped an ice pack around her upper arm with colorful sports wrap before moving on to the other.

“What kind?”

“I’m an MD and a PhD.”

“You really liked college.”

“I did.”

“What’s your PhD in?” she asked, completely intrigued.

“Psychology.”

“And you’re a Daddy?” When he gave her a sharp look, she backpedaled. “You don’t have to answer me, of course. You are part of the Devil Daddies MC,” she pointed out.

“I am.” Razor finished her right arm and leaned back in the office chair he’d snagged from behind the desk.

His gaze seemed to see through her. Did that go hand in hand with being a shrink? She suspected little got past him.

“So, I’m not crazy for being a Little?” she asked.

“Are you happy?”

“More so than I’ve ever been,” she answered, smiling for the first time since she’d run into that jerk in the hall.

“Then you’re what you’re supposed to be,” he assured her. “Feeling better?”

“Yes. Thank you. Do I sit here and wait for Wraith?”

“He’ll come get you in a few minutes. Mind if I stay with you? You never told me about you.”

“I’m a writer. Romance novels,” she said, waiting for the inevitable comment about trashy books.

“I bet that’s challenging and fun at the same time. What’s your process?” Razor asked, seeming truly interested.

Right there, Caroline decided she liked Razor. He didn’t think she was crazy, and he didn’t make snap judgements about her because she wrote spicy stories. She opened her mouth to answer his question.

“She’ll educate you on publishing later, Razor. I’m going to take my girl to our cabin.”

“Wraith!” Caroline had jumped to her feet at the sound of his voice. She rushed forward to throw her arms around his waist and hug him tight.

“Hi, Precious. You still doing alright? Razor?” Wraith checked with his MC brother as if he suspected she might not tell him the truth.

“She’ll have some bruises, but she’ll live to write another sex scene,” Razor informed him. “Caroline should rest tonight. That was frightening for her.”

“Thanks, Razor. Ready to go home, Caroline?”

“Yes.” She touched her fingers to a few red spots on his face. She’d kiss them better when they were alone.

Wraith had obviously physically attacked the man. While she hated the thought of him getting in trouble for hurting someone, Caroline had to admit to herself that it was hot that he’d stood up for her. No one had ever put themselves in harm’s way for her.

“I think you need to take it easy tonight too. Should we have Razor strap ice packs on you?”

“No need.” Wraith refused, stepping back to take her hand. “Are you okay to hold on to me?”

“Yes. My arms are a bit bruised. He scared me more than injured me.”

“Asshole. Who thinks a woman’s going to respond well to a caveman approach? Let’s go home, Little girl.”

Wraith held out his hand to Razor. “Thanks, brother. I owe you one.”

“I’ll collect when I find my Little,” the quiet man answered with a single downward nod.

“They don’t need you at the door?” she asked.

“No, Precious. They’ll be fine without me. You will always be more important to me than anything else.”

“Even the Devil Daddies?”

“Shhh! Don’t tell them. They’ll get all butt hurt,” he teased as he nodded.

Caroline pretended to zip her lips closed.

“Good girl.”

How did his praise make everything else disappear? She clung to him as they walked out the door.

“Caroline! Finally!”

Crap! She knew that voice. Adam stood outside the front entrance. Wraith automatically pulled her behind him. “Wait, Wraith. It’s okay.”

Maneuvering around his bulk, Caroline met Adam’s gaze directly. How could she have been so dumb to marry this guy? “What do you want, Adam?”

“I need money, Caroline.”

“I give you a percentage of the revenue from the books I wrote while we were married. You divorced me, remember? You don’t get anything else.”

“Come on, honey.”

Wraith growled and shifted closer.

Adam retreated a foot. “Control your goon, Caroline.”

Caroline put out an arm to block Wraith from showing him how a goon would take care of him. “You really don’t want to call him names, Adam. Go away. I got a message from my lawyer yesterday that the judge had refused to hear your request for additional money. I’m sure your attorney received the same notification. It’s over. Move on. If you don’t, I’ll pull the books you get a percentage off the market.”

“You’d lose those earnings,” Adam said. His face revealed his shock at that idea.

“And so would you. As a bonus, I’d never have to deal with you. So, make your decision. Get some money or be a jerk and end up with nothing .” Caroline stressed that last word. She was done putting up with his garbage.

“Caroline, honey….”

“Call her that one more time and I’m going to remove your teeth,” Wraith promised grimly.

Adam stared at Caroline, obviously wondering whether she would allow that to happen. Her expression must have answered the question. “Okay. I’ll back off. I won’t contact you, but you have to help me. I got involved in a scam, and now they’re after me.”

“You’re going to have to figure this out yourself, Adam. If I bail you out now, you’ll return over and over. We’re not married any more. By your choice. Stop making crappy decisions.”

“You’ve changed, Caroline. Hanging out with these bikers isn’t good for you,” Adam told her.

“Better than strippers and scammers,” Wraith said with a glower.

“Caroline, after all I did for you….” Adam appealed to her good nature.

“You are an idiot, Adam. You did nothing for me. If you have anything else to say to me, contact my lawyer. Don’t come to Inferno. I won’t ask Wraith to stand down again,” Caroline warned.

“Ditto.”

How could one word carry so much menace? Caroline turned to see Lucien standing to the side with a posse of Devil Daddies behind him. The biker appeared lethal. Caroline shivered and pressed herself to Wraith as he wrapped his arm around her.

To his credit, Adam didn’t run. He turned and walked briskly down the paved walkway toward the parking lot. Caroline was pleased to see him disappear into the rows of cars without ever looking back. Maybe he’d gotten the message.