Secret Mayhem (23 page)

twenty-three.

Ava sat up in bed and took a deep
breath. The room smelled like Shay. That musky, man, motorcycle, in your face
sexy kind of smell. It made her wet instantly. That
’
s what he did to her.

When Shay opened the door and came
into the room, he didn
’
t
have anything with him except a bottle of beer.

“
No
breakfast today?
”
Ava
asked.

“
Get
out of bed,
”
Shay said.
“
We have to talk.
”

Ava saw the look on Shay
’
s face. Something was very
wrong.
“
What
’
s going on?
”

“
Jonesy
is dead. He killed himself last night.
”

The sheet around her body fell to
the floor as she covered her mouth in shock, and she stood in just her panties.
Her stomach ached suddenly and she ran to the bathroom. The image of Jonesy
’
s body jumping as she pleasured
him mixed with the image of his dead body and she lost it. Ava threw up into
the toilet and then forced herself to stand at the sink. She looked in the
mirror and noticed Shay standing there.

“
I
feel like doing the same,
”
Shay said.
“
Just so you
know.
”

“
I
don
’
t understand,
”
Ava said.
“
Was it because of what happened
to him? Or because of what he wanted me to do?
”

“
Doubt
that,
”
Shay said.
“
It was Caius. Killing Jonesy was
his goal. But doing it himself would have been easy. Typical. So he ordered
Jonesy to come here and gave him a time limit to kill himself or else his
family would be in danger.
”

Ava touched her stomach. It growled
with a sick anger. She slowly turned and reached back to keep her hands on the
sink.
“
What kind of man
does this?
”

“
A
sick one,
”
Shay said.
“
I
’
ve
been warning you, Ava. For good reason. You shouldn
’
t have stepped foot in this clubhouse. You shouldn
’
t have set your eyes on me. You
’
re life is in danger for just
being here.
”

“
I
don
’
t care about that,
”
Ava said.

And she really didn
’
t care. She didn
’
t want to picture what Shay
’
s brother would do to her if he
got a hold of her, but she would let him if it meant that Shay would live.

“
I
spoke to Jonesy last night,
”
Shay said.
“
While you were
sleeping. I should have seen something in him. Instead, he took the time to
make sure I was okay when he should have been worried about having to kill
himself.
”

“
Stop,
”
Ava said. She approached Shay
with caution. She reached for his strong hands.
“
It
’
s okay, Shay. We
’
re still here together.
”

Shay squeezed her hands. She saw a
little side of vulnerability in Shay right now and she liked it. She felt
helpless with the Caius situation, but she knew what she could do to ease his
mind and make him feel good.

As Ava came forward, her eyes and
focused on Shay
’
s neck, he
reached up and held her face back. He stared into her eyes.

“
Gaige
called Chief Jerry to report Jonesy's death,
”
Shay said. He took a deep breath. "But Chief had news for me. About Todd.
”

Hearing his name almost made her
run for the toilet again.
“
Oh.
”

The warm feeling quickly left Ava
’
s body and was replaced with a
cold chill. She was scared to hear what he had to say.

“
Todd
is dead, Ava.
”

The words were a mix of a shock,
anger, and regret. Her mind flashed images of when they first met and how he
had swept her off her feet. And then she replayed all the times he sexually
abused her, and what his plan had been all along.

“
Dead?
”
Ava whispered.

“
Yeah,
love. Dead.
”

“
How?
”

“
There
was an accident,
”
Shay
said.
“
Police report read
that he lost control of his car and went over an embankment. Drug and alcohol
tests weren
’
t properly
reported and everything was swept under the rug.
”

“
He
was killed then,
”
Ava said.
“
I mean, murdered. I know
it. It had to be the people he was dealing with... or maybe my father did it.
Stein did it, Shay. To protect me. To help me. Because he loved me. "

“
Ava,
”
Shay said with a growl.
“
You don
’
t know that. Look at the truth you have
…”

Hearing him speak her name made her
knees weak. She closed her mouth and swallowed hard. She then asked in a
whisper,
“
What do you
believe?
”

“
Look
at me,
”
Shay said.
“
He
’
s
gone. He can
’
t find you. He
can
’
t hurt you. That part
of your life you have to let go. If your father did it, then Stein is a good
man in my book. But what
’
s
done is done. Death is final, Ava. You have to realize that right now. I
’
m so sorry, Ava, for what
’
s happened to you and what
’
s going
…”

The door to Shay
’
s room exploded open. The guys
that piled in were a mix of Back Down Devil and Lost Men. Ava jumped behind
Shay. Her fear was instant.

“
She
was never Stein
’
s old lady!
”
Trev
’
s voice boomed.
“
She
fucking lied to us.
”

“
Stop
for a minute,
”
Miller
ordered.
“
Goddamnit, Trev.
Show some respect.
”

“
Shay,
help me,
”
Ava begged.

Shay turned and put his arms out.

“
Move,
”
Trev warned.
“
I
’
ll
fucking kill you. You assholes protected her.
”

“
We
didn
’
t know,
”
Shay said.
“
And it doesn
’
t matter. You want to fuck Stein
’
s daughter? After all he did
…”

“
All
he did?
”
Trev yelled.
“
What about what I did?
”

Shay stepped forward and Trev
punched Shay in the face.

Ava let out a scream. She jumped
back into the bathroom and thought about closing the door and locking it. She
needed to protect herself.

But everything was moving too fast.

Miller came forward and grabbed
Trev by his leather. He threw him back. Miller reached down and grabbed Shay by
his shirt and pulled at him.

“
I
’
m sorry, Shay,
”
Miller whispered.
“
But if he wants you. He gets
you.
”

Ava watched Miller
’
s fist come down and connect
with Shay
’
s face. Ava
screamed and Miller looked right at her. There were no words to say. He was the
President. Shay had lied. This seemed to be how they handed out punishments.

“
What
about Ava?
”
Trev asked.

“
You
are still in my clubhouse,
”
Miller said.
“
You still
listen to my fucking commands.
”

“
Fair
enough,
”
Trev said. Some of
the Lost Men started to grumble in disagreement.
“
Let
us take what we came with and leave. You have this all worked out. Right,
Miller?
”

The Lost Men all started to cheer.

“
Calm
down,
”
Gaige said.
“
We
’
re
not celebrating a fucking thing. Get Shay up and deliver him as requested.
”

“
Deliver?
”
Ava asked.
“
What are you doing?
”

Miller looked at her again.
“
What needs to be done.
”

As fast as the room had filled was
as fast as it emptied out. Gaige and Miller grabbed Shay and put him back on
his feet. As they walked him from the room, Shay looked at Blaine. Ava heard
him say something, but wasn
’
t
sure what it was.

Blaine and Nate hung back until all
the Lost Men were cleared out. Trev looked right at Ava's mostly naked body and
shook his head.

“
You'll
pay!
”
he called out.

“
My
father was protecting me!" Ava screamed back.

Trev reached for his gun, but Nate
threw him from the room before he could do anything.

Blaine was the last to leave,
looking back at Ava. He shut the door and Ava was alone in the bathroom. She
looked to the toilet and fell to her knees, wishing she could throw up again.
When she tried, it only came out as screams that ended in cries.

What is happening? Where is
Shay? What are they going to do to him? What are they going to do to her?

The thoughts raced through her
mind.

Ava forced herself to stand up. She
splashed cold water on her face and then left the bathroom. There had to be
something she could do. There had to be a plan. Her eyes went to the door. If
there was a way to escape, she could go find Chief Jerry. He could help her.

While Ava got dressed, she tried to
think of a way to get out of the clubhouse without being seen. There weren
’
t many windows where she was,
obviously done on purpose to protect the members of the club. Her only option
was to go through the clubhouse. But that was a suicide mission.

Unless I run. Or find a weapon
first.

Or both.

Ava opened Shay
’
s door and looked around the
hall. It was empty, quiet. It was perfect. She crept from the room until she
saw a door. Gently, Ava touched the doorknob and turned.

It was locked.

Shit.

Ava kept walking. She came to the
end of the hall and peeked out. There was noise, the normal rumbling of voices,
bottles clanking, laughing, the
pop
of the cue ball smashing into a ball
on the pool table. Everything was business as usual.

But Ava still had no idea where
Shay was.

Taking a big risk, Ava hurried
across the opening and put her back to the wall at the next hallway. She
shuffled down and turned to face another door.

“
Come
on,
”
she whispered.
“
Please
…”

She touched the doorknob and
turned. This one was unlocked. She smiled, her heart pounding in her chest.
There was a chance she wouldn
’
t
find anything in the room, but she knew that these guys didn
’
t just carry one gun or knife on
them. They had to have extra protection in their rooms.

Ava pushed on the door and gritted
her teeth. The last thing she needed was to open the door and wake someone or
find someone waiting for her. If she made even the slightest noise...

A hand touched Ava
’
s shoulder. Before she could
scream, a hand slid across her mouth. She tried to gasp but there was no air.
She sucked in a breath through her nose and started to gag at the smell of the
hand.

“
Sweetie,
it
’
s just me.
”
It was Blaine
’
s voice.
“
Don
’
t
panic, okay? Don
’
t scream.
I
’
m taking you. For your
own safety.
”

Ava tried to twist. She threw a
foot back which did nothing. As she squirmed, she heard Blaine grunt. He side
stepped and pressed Ava against the wall. Ava continued to move, trying to get
away.

“
Sweetie,
I
’
m going to be honest,
”
Blaine whispered.
“
I like a good fight. And your
little ass is so fucking tight
…”

Ava squirmed again and she felt
Blaine
’
s erection. Long and
thick, pressing like a steel pole against her back.

“
I
’
m not trying to hurt you,
”
Blaine said.
“
But I
’
ll fucking stand right here and let you squirm
until I come. Won
’
t bother
me at all.
”

Ava stopped moving. She nodded.

Slowly, Blaine took his hand away
from her mouth. He turned her around. She looked at him. He was so scary
looking, but he was also sexy, in his own way.