I give him a left hook across the jaw, and he counters with a punch to my side. I grab him by the head and pull him down, kneeing him in the chest. It knocks the wind out of him for a second, and I throw him to the ground and get on top of him. He lands a few punches on me as we tussle, but I manage to pin his arms down with my knees and punch his face a few more times, before one of the brothers pulls me off.
Abe leaps up as soon as his arms are free and lunges after me.
“That’s enough, Savage,” Lucias yells, and gets between us. Knox and one of the other guys are holding me, and I’m breathing heavy, but still trying to get free.
Abe has blood on his face and Lucias looks at him in shock. He turns to look at me, and I’m sure I look just as bad.
“You’re the first man I’ve seen to get a hit in on him,” Lucias says, and I look over to see Abe wiping the blood from his lip, looking at it like he’s never seen it before.
Lucias looks between us a few more times and then comes to stand in front of me. “If she gave you her tags, then you obviously mean something to her. And if you can get a hit on Savage you’re worthy of protecting our girl.”
He looks over to Abe and they have a silent conversation for a moment. Abe nods and Lucias turns to Knox. “Where is she, Scribe?”
Knox gives him a cocky grin. “You’re in luck. She’s still on the property waiting for the car she was planning on taking to be fixed. She’s in the cabin by the lake.”
Lucias looks at me. “Did you take care of it?”
“It’s done. Nobody will ever come looking for her again.”
“Let him go, guys.”
I feel their arms fall away, and I’m in motion. I start to run to my car, but I’m stopped by Lucias calling my name.
I turn around and he throws his keys to me. “Take my bike. You won’t spook her if she hears it. That way she’ll just think it’s me.”
I catch his keys, and grab my bag out of the car. I go over to his bike, and get on, knowing this is as good as getting patched in, but all I can think about right now is getting to my girl.
Taking off down the small dirt road, I head towards the back of the property. Mackenzie took me out here once a few weeks ago to show me around. There are random cabins scattered throughout the compound, but this is by far the most secluded. It’s a small cabin with just the basics, and it’s next to a big lake that’s about a half mile long. They have small boats you can take out fishing, and you can swim in it, so one could conceivably stay out here forever if they want to.
It takes a while to get out here, even going as fast as I am. As I reach the cabin, I know she hears the sound of Lucias’s motorcycle, because I can see movement in the window. After a second she walks out onto the porch, and I pull in.
I see shock written all over her face when she sees it’s me on his bike instead of Lucias.
“Shield, what the fuck are you doing with Pres’s chopper?”
I get off the bike, barely remembering to turn it off and throw down the kickstand. I run up to her and grab her, carrying her back into the cabin.
I spot a cot in the corner and I carry her over to it, tossing her down, climbing on her, and pinning her arms down under me.
She starts to struggle, and I growl at her. “Mind telling me what the fuck you’re doing out here? You were going to just cut and run from me? How could you do that, Mackenzie? After everything I told you. You didn’t trust me?”
Tears fill her eyes, but they don’t fall. My girl is tough as nails, but she knows she fucked up.
“I can’t do this to you. I have to leave. I can’t bring this shit down on you, on the club, and I can’t go to jail.”
“You think I would ever let that happen?” I shout.
“You can’t stop everything, Vincent. You can’t undo what I did, and I don’t have one ounce of fucking regret. If they catch me, I’ll admit I did it. That motherfucker beat me, put out cigars on my skin, cut me. He killed my mother. He had a new wife and she had a little girl. When I found out, I knew I had to stop him. He would do the same thing to them. I did it to save them. I did what needed to be done, and I’m not going to jail for that. And I’m sure as shit not making anyone else pay for it either.”
She’s so angry as she tells me this, and my heart breaks for the little girl inside her that went through all of that. I want to hold that small child and tell her I’ll always protect her.
“It’s over, Mackenzie.”
“It won’t be over until I’m gone. They’ll find that gun at some point and then all of it blows back on everything I love. Including you.”