Guardian Page 9

  “So, I rocked your world?”

  She let out a laugh, and I breathed a sigh of relief. She was fine. I knew she would be fine.

  “I’m sleeping in here tonight.”

  Screw the couch. After that, I wanted to hold her close to me and potentially repeat later on.

  “Alright,” she said, stepping back.

  I gave her a grin, chucking my shirt in the corner before sliding under the sheets in my jeans. Hell, I didn’t want to scare her just yet by sleeping in the nude.

  Alice shyly slid under the covers as well, cutting out the lamp before I pulled her against me, her head settling in the crook of my arm.

  “Are you sure you are okay?” I asked again, unable to help it.

  Her hand splayed against my abdomen, stroking the skin there.

  “I think so.”

  I didn’t answer, only tightened my hold on her shoulder.

  Shit. I was starting to care too much for this woman in my arms.

  “They burned down the bar tonight.”

  Her head shot up, and I found myself staring into beautiful eyes filled with anguish.

  “Oh no, Derrek! I am so sorry. Was anyone hurt?”

  “Two bikers,” I forced out, fury building once more. “They are coming here Alice. I don’t want to fucking hide it from you any longer. It’s just a matter of time.”

  “I know,” she said quietly, laying her head back down on my chest, her damp hair strewn about. “I know they are.”

  At least she didn’t have any false notions about that.

  “Nothing is going to happen to you or your mom.”

  “Who’s going to protect you?” came her quiet voice. “I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

  Emotion welled up in my throat. No one had ever said that to me before. I was an expendable, not even worth being a member of the Legion, despite my lineage.

  But this woman in my arms, who had her own shitty issues, cared about me.

  “I want you and your mom to leave in the morning,” I decided.

  They weren’t safe here. They probably weren’t safe anywhere, but I was willing to take that chance. Fox was right. I couldn’t keep them holed up in this house.

  “No,” she answered firmly. “I’m not leaving you.”

  I eased myself away from her, so that I could look into her eyes. This was what I was worried about.

  “I have a fucking job to do, Alice.”

  Her hand came up to touch my cheek, and I forced myself not to lean into her touch.

  “Your job is to protect me. Isn’t that what my father wants?”

  He was going to fucking gut me if he found out just how well I had taken care of his daughter.

  “He would want you safe.”

  Her eyes filled with tears, and I swallowed hard.

  “Please don’t send me away, Derrek.”

  I couldn’t talk about it anymore. Pulling her back against me, I ran my hand over her shoulder.

  “Go to sleep. We will talk about it in the morning.”

  She didn’t say anything, and before I knew it, she was lightly snoring, her hand still laying on my stomach.

  I forced down the wealth of emotion that threatened to surface. I didn’t regret sleeping with Alice, but what I did regret were the feelings that I was going to have to break to keep her safe. I had every intention of making that happen, and if it meant getting her to leave, then so be it. She would be pissed off, even hurt, and probably thinking I had gotten what I wanted and was abandoning her, but I needed for her to be safe.

  She had no idea how much I needed that to happen.

  And after all this was over and done with, I would have to figure out what the future held for us.

  One thing was for certain, I didn’t want to let her go.

  **

  “I don’t want them hurt, alright? I gave you what you wanted.”

  The voice chuckled in the darkness.

  “Now, Andrew, you know I can’t guarantee that. That fucker deserves to die.”

  Andrew swallowed, a bitter taste in his mouth. He felt nauseous, his skin feeling like it was crawling, and there was only one thing that could make him feel better. If only Derrek would have given him the money, then he wouldn’t feel like a lowlife shit as he did now.

  No one understood how he felt. He needed that fix to keep himself going every day. The drugs made him feel better, made him feel like the man he used to be before he was hooked.

  No one understood.

  “How much do you need?”

  “Twenty, no fifty,” Andrew said quickly, scratching his arm idly. “Yeah, fifty.”

  “I’ll give you a hundred worth if you are a lookout,” the voice said.

  Andrew shook his head. He wanted no part in this. He had already said too much, given too much, and the only thing he wanted to do was go home and get high.

  He didn’t want to be there.

  “Fine,” he sighed, throwing something at Andrew. “But don’t go disappearing. I will need more.”

  Andrew caught the small bag and scurried toward his truck, feeling like he had just bartered his soul to the devil.

  If he’d had one to begin with.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Alice

  I awoke with a start.

  The room was dark, and for a moment I couldn’t get my bearings, my heart racing in my chest. The dream had been so real, so vivid that when I swallowed, I thought my throat was sore from screaming.

  Derrek had walked away.

  But he was still next to me, sleeping soundly, with his arm still wrapped around my waist, my body cradled with his. He hadn’t walked away, not yet.

  I was so afraid now that I was too attached, and that he would just up and walk away, now that I had given up my virginity to him. There was no other reason for him to stay. He had said so himself, in so many words, only a few hours ago, when he had told me he would be moving me and my mom in the morning.

  Oh, God! He was starting to distance himself.

  Swallowing, I allowed my body to focus on the fact that he hadn’t left the bed. I wanted to hold onto him, to never let him go.

  I wanted a chance to love him.

  It was more than just us sleeping together. Even if this had not happened between us, I still wanted the chance. I wanted to give him all the happiness he deserved, a life that he would have outside of the bar that no longer existed.

  I wanted to make him happier beyond measure.

  Shifting my legs, I winced at the small twinge of pain between them, the proof that it hadn’t been a dream. I had slept with Derrek, and it had been everything I would have hoped for. He had been attentive, careful even to make sure I enjoyed myself.

  Actually, it had been all about me.

  If that wasn’t another reason to love him, I didn’t know what was.

  The boom came out of nowhere, rattling the house and shattering the still night. Derrek was out of the bed and racing to the living room before I could even comprehend what was going on, but it was the sound of gunfire that had me jumping out of bed as well.

  My mom… I had to get to my mom.

  Racing down the hallway, I threw open her door and found her already out of bed, her face pale.

  “What’s happening? What’s going on?”

  “We have to go,” I said, my heart racing in my chest for another reason now.

  We were being attacked. Derrek had been right. I should have listened to him and got us out before this had happened.

  Just as I pulled her out into the hallway, the wall literally splintered around us. I screamed as I pushed my mom down, the wood raining down on us as we fell to the hallway floor. I felt the heat of the blast on my back, the pain in my knees as I fell hard to the floor, the jarring sensation rattling my teeth.

  It was like the house was coming apart around us.

  My ears ringing from the blast, I held onto my mom, praying that we wouldn’t die on this floor tonight. I had so much that
I wanted to say to Derrek, so much that I wanted to do. I couldn’t leave this world without doing those things.

  The sound of gunfire was closer now, and I curled my body around my mom, wanting to protect her at all costs. The windows were shattering in the living room now, the bullets pelting off the walls all around us, and I knew this was going to be the end of both of us.

  “Get up! Get up! We got to go!”

  I looked up in the haze to see Fox standing over me, a gun in his hand as he reached for me. What was he doing here?

  “Come on, Alice! We got to go!”

  Realizing what he was saying, I pushed myself off the floor. Fox was going to get us out of here. Where was Derrek? I needed to see him, to find out that he was okay before I got my mom to safety.

  Fox grabbed my arm as I turned around, gripping it tightly.

  “He can handle himself. We have to get her out of here, now.”

  He was right. She was my first priority.

  Biting my lip, I forced myself to look at her instead, still curled up on the floor. Something was wrong.

  “Mom! We got to go.”

  She didn’t move, and my heart dropped to my feet as I knelt next to her, rolling her over. There was a piece of wood embedded in her stomach, the front of her nightgown soaked in blood.

  “Shit!” Fox swore, handing me the gun. “Here, take this. I’ll get her.”

  “No, no,” I moaned as he picked her up in his arms.

  Not my mom. She was an innocent in this mess. I couldn’t lose her. I couldn’t function without her.

  “Alice!” Fox shouted at me. “We got to go! Snap out of it!”

  I pushed the panic aside for now, feeling it starting to crush into my chest. I needed Derrek.

  But instead I followed Fox through my mom’s room and into the backyard, the sound of gunfire causing me to duck and clutch Fox’s gun tightly. I didn’t know how to shoot it, but if the time came, I would do my best.

  Fox led me through the back yard and into the alleyway, down-away from the gunfire.

  “Derrek,” I whispered, as another wave of panic hit.

  “He’s fighting,” Fox said sharply, turning the corner.

  I watched as he lay my mom on the grass and reached for his phone, his hands soaked with her blood.

  “We need an ambulance at Merrell and Trade. Now!”

  “Is she going to die?” I asked softly, as he checked her pulse before stripping off his coat and pressing it carefully to her wound.

  “She still has a pulse,” he said, blowing out a breath. “Dammit!”

  I could see the frustration on his face, but I was worried about Derrek and my mom.

  Screw this fight! I couldn’t lose either of them.

  Oh, God… I was going to lose my entire family, just like that!

  “Alice, put down the gun.”

  I shook out of my thoughts, realizing I was still holding Fox’s gun. He was eyeing it suspiciously.

  “Put it in the grass, now.”

  I did as he asked, my hands trembling. Everyone was going to leave me. I wasn’t going to have anyone in my life anymore.

  I sank to my knees, wrapping my arms around my waist and hugging it tightly, the panic starting to escalate. How could I be on cloud nine one moment and at the bottom of the barrel next?

  The sound of sirens filled the air, and I looked back at my mom, her face pale as death. I should have taken her and run at the first hint of danger.

  I should never have slept with Derrek.

  I should never have told him I loved him.

  By the time the ambulance reached us, I was starting to struggle, my breath coming in short gasps.

  I was going to lose everything.

  The blast knocked everyone off their feet, the fireball exploding in the sky behind us. Fox covered me with his body as I realized what had happened, my heart in my throat.

  “Derrek,” I forced out as my vision blurred.

  Derrek had been back there. Derrek had been in that house last time I had seen him, the last time I had touched him.

  “Shit,” Fox swore, picking me up off the ground and carrying me to the ambulance where they were loading my mom up. “She needs help! I think she’s going into shock.”

  Those were the last words I remembered hearing, before I slipped into that warm, dark place that I had come to know so well.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Derrek

  I fucking screwed up.

  That was all that was running through my mind as I raced to the hospital, praying that Alice and her mom were okay. I hadn’t anticipated that the Cazadores would come with fucking grenade launchers, blowing up everything in sight. It had been my oversight, and if either one of them died because of it, I was going to lose my shit.

  The second blast had nearly gotten me. I had dove into the bathtub at the last minute to keep from taking the brunt of the blast. Damn if it had worked.

  Thank God the other Legion members had shown up when they had, taking out the rest of the Cazadores in a hail of gunfire. With the damn house burning down around my ears, I had cleared a path with their help…

  Only to find that the ambulance had gone. The blood on the sidewalk had frozen my heart, and I had taken a random bike in a fit of panic, needing to see Alice. It would be my damn fault if she died.

  My sweet, gorgeous Alice.

  Finally, I arrived at the hospital, my heart racing in my chest. I was covered in bits of the house, smelled like gunfire, and had a wild-eyed stare to me, which was probably why the receptionist backed off when I walked into the lobby.

  “May I help you?”

  “Two women were brought in,” I said, swallowing past the lump of fear in my throat.

  “Over here, McMurray.”

  Turning, I saw Fox striding toward me, blood streaking his clothing. My knees buckled, and I nearly fell to the floor as I saw the strained look on his face.

  “Who is it?”

  He roughly threaded a hand through his hair.

  “It’s Cheryl. She’s in surgery right now. Hell, they have Alice in a room. I don’t know what to do.”

  A sickening feeling settled low in my gut as I wiped a hand over my face, forcing myself to remain in control.

  “Call Nat. Alice would probably like for her to be here.”

  “Already done,” Fox sighed. “Where did it go wrong man?”

  I wished I had the answer.

  “Where is she?”

  Fox pointed down the hall.

  “Third one down. They gave her some meds to calm her down. I haven’t told her about Cheryl.”

  “I’ll do it,” I said, clenching my jaw.

  It was my damn fault they were here in the first place, and if Alice was going to take it out on anyone, it was going to be me.

  “I’ll be on the lookout for Jack. He’s gonna be hot, man, just remember that.”

  I nodded, walking down the hall with lead feet. Oh, Jack was going to be more than hot, and I was willing to step up to that blame as well.

  I had failed him.

  Pausing in front of the drawn curtain, I drew in a breath, words racing through my mind. How was I going to tell Alice about her mom? There was no easy way to tell her, no words that would soften the blow.

  But as I pulled back the curtain, I wanted to hold out just a little bit longer. Alice was curled up on the stretcher, her knees drawn to her chest and her hands wrapped around her body. Her clothes were covered with dirt and blood, and I wanted to fall to my knees next to the bed just to thank the man upstairs that he had looked out for her.

  He had looked out for the woman who was breaking down my walls brick by brick.

  Swallowing hard, I walked over to the stretcher and sat in the chair next to it. My hand trembled slightly as I reached out to touch her hair, smoothing it off her forehead. Alice’s eyes fluttered before they opened fully, focusing on my face.

  “Derrek?”

  “Hey, darling,” I said softly. “Ho
w are you feeling?”

  She leaned into my hand, and I hated myself for the trusting look in her eyes.