Climbing Out (19 page)

“Yeah, course, brother,” Blue said. “Should we say anything to Talon?”

“No. He's gonna be busy and worried enough with Wildcat givin' birth.”

“She is?” Blue grinned. “Right on.”

I turned to walk off and get in the car with a no doubt impatient Warden and Travis.

“Griz,” Pick called.

“What?” I prompted over my shoulder.

“Find out why Warden hasn't done the job. Please. It wasn't me stuffin' up, brother. I swear.”

I shifted to look at him and gave him a chin lift.

“Rest easy, brother,” Killer said to Pick.

Yeah, we all knew Pick wasn't dumb enough to try anything behind our backs. He was back in the fold of the tight arms of the brotherhood.

Deanna

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“I
'd overheard Griz saying he was with me only because he needed a replacement-mum for Swan.”

She snorted. “And you believed that?”

“At the time, yeah. It had hurt, but then the more I thought about it, the more I realised he was probably just talkin' shit in front of his biker buddy.”

“That would be more like it.”

“I know, but fuck, that still stung. I mean, why in the fuck would he want me—the dirty-talkin' sailor—around his daughter.”

“Um, duh. Jesus, Barbie, everyone knows your bark is bigger than your bite. Underneath all that, you're just a big softy.”

“Do you want me to fuck you up?”

Vi rolled her eyes. “Whatever. It's the reason I put up with your hating attitude toward me. I know deep down you really care for me.”

I coughed out, “Bullshit.”

“Again, whatever.” She smirked. I covered my mouth to hide my own smile.

“I guess you're not too bad,” I said.

“See, all we needed was a bonding moment by getting kidnapped together for us to speak civilly to each other.” She grinned.

“I still hate you though.”

She laughed. “Oh, the feeling is mutual.”

“Okay, enough of this gooey shit. What's the chop with you and Travis?” I asked, moving into a position of crossing my legs and leaning back on my palms.

She stretched her neck and back, and then started with, “At first, I thought I could be with him, but after one night, when we were out in Melbourne, two of his whores spotted him, and when they came over for a friendly chat...that was when I decided I couldn't deal with his business.”

“Why?” I asked.

“He'd been sleeping with them, and they made sure I knew about it. He saw how uncomfortable I was, but did nothing about it. Instead, he continued laughing and flirting with them.”

“Damn. What an arse,” I said with disgust.

She nodded and looked to her hands in her lap. “That night, when we got back to his house in Melbourne, I left while he was in the shower.”

“So how'd it get to where it's at now?”

She smiled to herself. “He became a pain in my arse. He rang, sent flowers, emailed and popped into places I was at—even when I was out on a date with Jim Binton. Do you know him?”

“No.” I shook my head.

“He's a cop, and a good one, but just not a great guy to date. Anyway, we were at a restaurant talking and eating, and then in walked Travis. With a glare, he stalked right up to our table, pulled up a chair and sat down.”

A laugh escaped me. “What happened next?”

She grinned and snickered. “Jim asked him if he was all right. Travis ignored him, grabbed my hand, which I tried to pull away, and then proceeded to tell me everything he loved about me, that he couldn't see his life without me in it and now that I was back in it after so many years apart, he was not willing to lose me again. He said he would do anything to keep me in his life, and then continued on to inform me, in front of a cop, he no longer dealt with hookers. He'd passed his women on to another he trusted.”

“Holy shit. What'd the cop say?”

“At first, he was shocked, but then he actually laughed. He stood from the table and wished me good luck with my future and said he could not compete with him. He threatened Travis that he would be keeping an eye on him and his dealings. Also,” she laughed. “He asked Travis if he'd be willing to tell him who was now in charge of his women in Melbourne. Of course, Travis didn't.”

“He's lucky he didn't get his arse taken to the station for questioning.”

“I think he didn't because of me. Jim had a soft spot for me, and apparently, from what he told me when he rang the next day, he could see the way I felt for Travis from the look upon my face, and there was no way he could crash my hope in the form of any legal proceedings.”

“Damn,” I smiled. “And I guess from then on out you two have been attached at the waist.”

“You could say that, but I'm not stupid; I've kept a close eye on him, and he's kept his word. He's now just the owner of his construction company, and the women are a thing of his past.”

The van came to an abrupt stop, only to start off again. I quickly gripped the side rail, as did Vi on the opposite side. They turned sharply, the van’s tires squealing on the concrete road.

“What the fuck?” one of the guys yelled the front of the van.

“Who in the fuck are they?”

Violet and I looked at each other and smiled.

The guys had come.

That was when we heard the sound of Harleys in the distance, but coming up fast.

“Shit, Christ. We got bikers coming up,” Nathan yelled.

“I'll fuckin' worry about them after I lose that damn car first,” Kenny barked. “What should I do? What in the hell should I do? Boss will kill us if we bring this to his doorstep.” His tone was getting louder with worry.

“Fuck!” Nathan screamed.

“Either way, we're gonna end up dead,” Kenny yelled the obvious.

“Slam on the brakes,” Nathan growled.

“What?”

“Hit the brakes. NOW!”

I gripped harder just as Kenny pushed his foot down on the brakes. My body twisted around with the force and I wasn't able to hold on; if I had, I would have broken my wrist. I let go and went flying to the front of the van. My head collided with the back shelf.

“Deanna? Barbie, are you okay?”

I sat up slowly, my head spinning as the car came to a stop. “Was that concern in your voice, bitch?” I asked.

Violet sighed and then laughed. “Well, damn. I guess it was.”

“I'm okay. It'll just be a bruise.”

“Get the fuck out,” we heard a vicious voice say. I pulled my aching head up to meet Vi's eyes.

“Griz,” I uttered. She smiled and nodded.

Harleys came to a stop wherever we were. My heart beat with excitement from having a chance to see my man in hero-mode.

“Move it slowly, and hand the keys over,” Griz growled. “Blue, hit the doors, brother.”

The back doors were unlocked and then pulled open; both Vi and I blinked until our eyes got used to the shining sun.

“Is she okay?” Griz asked.

Blue looked in and smiled widely. “Hello, sweetnesses.” He then yelled around the van, “Looking good as always, brother.”

“Fuckin' lucky,” Griz hissed.

“Violet?” Travis yelled.

“I'm fine,” she called back.

And we were. We were fine now that our men were there, even though we could have kicked some arse ourselves.

“You ladies had better get your sweet booties out of there for your men to see for themselves before a blood bath hits the streets,” Blue suggested.

Vi and I shared a secret smile between the two of us before making our way to our guys.

Fifteen minutes earlier

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Griz

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W
arden had just explained from the back seat that he had been meaning to set cameras up in both Ryan and Maxwell’s place, only the business had been so busy he’d been caught up in other situations. After cursing for five minutes, he said whenever we needed something again, it would be top priority. He didn’t want the same mistake to happen again.

I agreed and turned around to face the front. Pick was up ahead, and my other brothers were a few car spots behind us. I was surprised the cops weren’t after our arses; Travis was driving like a maniac—it was fuckin’ great.

“Take the next left,” Warden yelled after lookin’ down at his tracking system.

“What? Why? Pick’s going that way,” he growled back.

“They’ve turned off. Turn, motherfucker, turn”

“Shit, hold the fuck on,” Travis yelled. I gripped the seat and dashboard, and saw before we spun around the corner that Pick had hit his breaks.

“With your driving, we’ve nearly caught them,” Warden said. He looked down and then up again; his hand pointed out the front windscreen. “There, that damn van. It’s got the women.”

A couple of cars up the road and across a lane was a black Holden van with no number plates. For some reason, it must have spotted us; it’s speed picked up.

“We ready to catch them?” Travis asked.

I pulled my .44 auto-mag pistol from its holster under my club vest. “Let’s do this. They’re turning! They’re turning!” I yelled.

“I can fucking see that,” Travis growled. He took the next lane, cutting off a car who laid on its horn, and then we were around the corner in seconds. “Bloody idiots.” He smiled. I looked up from my gun and out the front to see the van parked at a dead end street.

We all jumped outta the car when Warden said, “Nothing around but empty industrial warehouses.” He grinned.

I stalked around the front of the van with my gun pointed directly through their window and at their heads. “Get the fuck out.”

The rest of our little army came around the corner on their bikes; they stopped, and were surrounding the men in a matter of seconds, all with their own guns out.

“Move it slowly, and hand the keys over,” I growled. The one who had driven held the keys high. “Blue, hit the doors, brother,” I ordered. Blue grabbed the keys and ran to the back of the van.

“Is she okay?” I asked.

Blue yelled around the van. “Looking good as always, brother.”

“Fuckin' lucky,” I hissed at the fuckheads.

“Violet?” Travis yelled.

“I'm fine,” she called back.

As Travis, Stoke, Pick and I each held a gun on the two fuckers as they knelt on the ground, Killer patted them down and threw their phones, knives and handguns aside. I waited patiently—even if I wanted to get trigger-happy—until I could get my eyes on my woman.

My head rose as I heard movement behind the van, and then Deanna and Violet walked around the corner of it. “Fuck!” I snapped. My woman had a bruise shining on her cheek and a red bump on her forehead. What did they fuckin’ do?

Stepping forward, I kicked the one who had driven in the stomach; he bent over coughing. “Who laid their hands on my woman?” I snarled down at them.

“Griz,” Deanna called; I looked up and she was in my arms. I stepped back with my arms around her waist, and she wound hers around my neck. “Fuck, woman. Fuck,” I whispered.

“I’m okay. I’m fine,” she uttered. She said she was okay, but I could feel her body shaking.

I pulled back, placed my hands on each side of her face and searched her eyes. “Who touched you, darlin’?” I asked.

“Wait,” the guy who was still kneeling—in other words, the one who I hadn’t kicked—pleaded. He went to get up, but Killer was behind him, and with a hard hand, he thrust him back to the road. “Wait,” he said again, “we were just doing a job. I hardly know the guy.”

I shifted Deanna behind me and said, “Then which of you was it who laid a finger on my woman? Was that in the goddamn job description?”

“It wasn’t me.”

“Well, fuck,” the guy who was still trying to breathe got back up to his knees, “Yeah, it was me. What you gonna do about it?”

Fool.

My brothers laughed behind him. Out the corner of my eye, I saw Violet step away from Travis, and Warden then walked up beside me.

“When Deanna tried to fight back—”

“Violet, no,” Dee gasped behind us.

Vi turned to her. “They’d find out anyway. In this world, Deanna, in our world with
our
men, we have to do what we have to, and that’s standing by them and telling them everything they need to know.”

I watched my woman close her eyes and nod. Violet looked up at me and said, “He was going to ask his boss for her. He was going to rape her, and then kill her.”