Duke (Aces MC Series Book 2) (16 page)

“Duke! Taylor! Are you here?”
Bear was stalking down the middle of the road with no regard for his own safety
as cars tried to pass him. He looked like a man on a mission.
“We’re here Bear.” He ran over to us and took Taylor gently from my arms as he
could see that I was in pain. “We need to get her to a hospital. Put her in the
van and get Ramsey to take her there and stay with her until we’re back.”
“Where we going?” Bear asked still supporting Taylor’s weight as we stood in
the road.
“To get revenge!”

Taylor

“Honestly I’m fine Ramsey, I just need to go home.” I stated,
trying to smile through the excruciating pain. I really didn’t want to go to
hospital. They’d ask too many questions and I wasn’t in the mood to be prodded
and poked. I had an ear and stomach ache again and all I wanted to do was to go
home and sleep.
“Taylor, I can’t defy orders from Duke. Come on be fair and do this for me.” I
could see the desperation on his face but I wasn’t in the mood to be
sympathetic.
“Fuck Duke, what about me Ramsey. I’m the one that has just been fucking shot
at and I’m the one that has more skid marks down my leg than a person with diarrhoea
does in their pants.” Ramsey sniggered at my lame attempt of a joke.
“Look if you were to drop me off at the hospital, I’d only end up getting a
taxi home. What do you say?”
“You’re putting me in an awkward situation. I’ll have to tell him what I’ve
done straight away.”
I continued to smile at him although it probably looked more like a grimace
because of the pain.
“Okay I’ll do it but you owe me big time.”
“Thanks Ramsey, I really do appreciate it.”

We pulled up outside my house and I notice all of the lights
were off apart from the porch light, which meant Chanel was probably in bed. I
winced at the pain as I tried to get out of the van.
“Do you need a hand?” Ramsey asked sincerely.
“Please. Could you also help me up to my room?” He looked uncomfortable but
nodded his head as he came around to support my weight so that I could hop
towards the house. He took my keys from me and unlocked the door before holding
me tight as we went inside.
We both stood looking at the next obstacle of getting up the stairs.
“I’ll have to carry you Taylor.”
“Good luck with that!”
“It’s the only way you’re getting up there without injuring yourself further.”
I nodded as I looked up in the air. This was fucking hilarious being carried up
the stairs at my age.
For a small guy he was fairly strong and managed to lift me with relative ease,
he walked into my bedroom and placed me gently on my bed.
“Do you need anything before I go?”
I’d already made a mental list of what I needed. “I need some pain killers, a
glass of water, scissors, antiseptic wipes, bandages and surgical tape. You’ll
find all of these in the first aid kit in the bathroom cabinet.”
I could hear him repeating the list like a mantra, over and over again so that
he didn’t forget anything as he left the room.
I tried to move on the bed to get comfortable but I couldn’t. I now had a constant
shooting pain in my leg that was made worse by the restriction of my jeans.
Ramsey came back out of breath as he’d been rushing around, “I think I’ve got
everything.” He said laying the things out on the bed.
I started to breathe heavily as the shooting pain was getting worse.
“Here take these.” Ramsey said passing me the pain killers and the water.
“You’re gonna have to help me by cutting me out of my jeans.”
“Taylor, Duke would kill me and I mean that literally. I’m already in enough
trouble by bringing you here.”
“Duke doesn’t have to know. Please Ramsey I can’t clean the wound until these
are off and I can’t bend down properly.”
I took off the leather jacket that just may have saved my life and threw it on
the floor. Ramsey grabbed the scissors hesitantly off the bed and bent down in
front of me carefully removing my boots. He then started to cut at the bottom
of my right trouser leg and up as far as my knee. That was the easy part over.
“You ready for this? I’ll go slowly but promise to let me know if I’m hurting
you.”
I nodded quickly as I embraced myself. He was very tender as he cut the
material away slowly mindful of the deep gash on my leg. I grimaced and
wriggled around on the bed a little as he cut around the over sensitive parts
but I held firm biting down on the sleeve of my jumper.
He eventually moved past the cut and I let out a sigh of relief as my leg
wasn’t as restricted.
“Do you need me to go further?” He asked almost embarrassed.
“Please Ramsey, just cut them off that side and then I can manage.”
He continued to cut through the material so that I was now wearing my jeans on
only one leg. He thoughtfully pulled my jeans off the other leg so that I was naked
from the waist down apart from my panties.
“Thanks Ramsey I really appreciate your help.”
“Do you need me to clean you up? I have basic first aid training.”
“No you’ve done more than enough. Thank you Ramsey I won’t ever forget this.”
He smiled as he stood. “Please promise not to tell Duke.”
“You have my word.”
He quietly left the room closing the door behind him.

I put the pillow over my head to try a muffle the screams as
I shrieked in pain. I’d done well to cope whilst Ramsey was here but now he was
gone I was able to let it all out. I positioned myself fully on the bed and
started to clean up the wound. I bit down on the comforter that I’d put in my
mouth as I used the antiseptic wipes to remove some of the debris. I used
another wipe to clean around the gash and poured the sterile water onto my
wound which had me crippling over as the pain was excruciating.
I took small controlled breaths. If anyone was listening at the door they’d
think I was in labour! Once I was satisfied that the wound was clean, I covered
it over with the bandage and secured it in place with the surgical tape.
I lay on the bed still breathing heavily as this process took a lot out of me.
I was absolutely exhausted and could feel my eye lids start to droop as I lay
there thinking about today’s shitty events

I woke up in excruciating pain all over. The pain killers
had either worn off or they just weren’t strong enough for the severity of the
injury and I could feel the soreness down my right hand side. I should’ve gone
to the hospital like Ramsey said but I was being fucking stubborn and not
thinking straight.
I tried to roll over onto my other side but found that the covers were stuck to
my leg.
Shit! Shit!
What was I going to do?
“Think Taylor, think!” I said aloud trying to think of a solution and rationalise
my thoughts.
I tucked my hand carefully under the cover that was attached to my leg and
rolled over quickly so that I took the sheet with me.
I now had a better view of what I was dealing with. As I looked at the white
sheet I could see the various coloured stains, showing that the bandage had
come off and that the wound had been weeping for the past two hours.
I gently tried to pull the sheet off and let out a blood curdling scream at the
pain as it was just too much to bear. The neighbours would probably think I’m
being murdered.
I needed help I couldn’t do this on my own.
I leant over to grab my phone off the bedside cabinet, knowing that I needed to
call Amy.

“Taylor, what’s up?” Amy answered sleepily but concerned.
I started to cry, “Amy I need James.” I wailed down the phone.
“Where are you?”
“At home, please hurry.”
“What’s the matter with you? Have you called Duke?”
“I came off the bike. I’m in so much pain Amy. Please hurry.” I could feel the
sweat dripping from my skin and I started to shake.
“We’ll be with you in ten minutes.”
I hung up as Chanel flew through the door.
“Taylor what’s up with you?” She said sitting on the edge of the bed assessing
me.
“James is coming, let him in when he comes.”
Chanel touched my forehead. “You’re burning up Taylor, I’ll go and get a wet
face cloth.”
I could hear noises around me but my eye’s started to droop. I tried to keep
them open but they were so heavy that I fell into a deep sleep.

Duke

I gave CJ the registration of the vehicle. “Trace the car. I
need to find out who it belongs to.”
CJ nodded his head understanding the severity of the incident and how important
this information was.
“I’m on it Pres. I’ll call in some favours so that we can find it.” He walked
towards his ride pulling out his mobile phone.
“Shit!” I said aloud as a shooting pain ran down my leg. I needed to get it
looked at but my adrenalin was pumping and I wanted to catch the bastards who had
shot at me.
“You okay?” Bear asked stopping me with his hand.
“Yeah fine. Get Stoney and Rex to take our motorcycles back so we can take the
van. I can’t ride at the moment.” Bear stared at me before nodding in
agreement.
“Where we going?” Bear asked as we pulled out into the traffic.
“Chingford. I wanna drive past Tyreese’s hangout.” I started to wrap a make
shift bandage around my hand to try and conceal the blood.
Bear flashed me a questioning look but kept his mouth shut as we continued to
drive at a steady speed.

“Pull over there.” I stated pointing towards a side road
near to the Royal Oak, where the gang usually hung out.
We parked up and Bear turned off the engine before turning to me.
“You sure about this? I’ll protect your arse until the day I die but does it
have to be today?”
I let out a chuckle as I started to take off my cut. “Don’t worry, we’re just
gonna scout the joint to see if we can see the vehicle. If we do, I’ll call for
back up.”

We casually walked into the car park as to not draw
attention to ourselves. We wouldn’t be recognisable to the lower members of the
gang but we were still cautious. After walking around the car park and the side
streets surrounding the pub with no leads, we decided to head back to the club
house.
On entering the van, my phone rang. “Any news CJ?”
“The car is registered to a Miss Jennifer Wright. Woods and Justice are on
their way over there now to have a friendly chat.”
“Text me the address, we’ll meet them there.”
“Sure thing.” He said before hanging up.

Whilst my phone was out I decided to text Ramsey to make
sure he got Taylor to the hospital.

Is Taylor okay? What did the doctor say?

Taylor made me drop her off at home. I didn’t have a
choice!

“Shit!” Bear glanced up at me as I typed my response.

We always have a choice and you just made the fucking wrong
one!

“I need to get to Taylor’s house. Ramsey dropped her off at home
rather than taking her to the hospital.”
“Has the kid got a death wish?” He said shaking his head.
“Obviously! Step on it I need to get home.”

“She doesn’t want to see you Mitchell. I don’t know how many
times I have to tell you.”
It was now Monday evening and I hadn’t seen Taylor since the night of the
incident. Amy was acting like her private bodyguard and swore that if I turned
up at the house again she would call the police.
I knew she wouldn’t do it but I respected that she was trying to look out for
Taylor. Not that she needed too as that was my job. Well I wanted it to be my
job but Taylor had made it perfectly clear that she didn’t want to see me, clearly
blaming me for Saturday night’s accident.

Ramsey was under strict instructions to take her to the
hospital but he’d ignored direct orders and taken her home instead. Therefore
she didn’t get the medical treatment she needed straight away which was now
delaying her recovery.
I’d spoken to James several times on the phone and he promised to give me regular
updates on her progress. He was worried that she had an infection, so he took a
sample for analysis using a swab before cleaning. This meant that the wound
couldn’t be closed as it may trap any infection inside, making it more likely
to spread.
He’d given her antibiotics to be on the safe side and we now had to wait a few
days before the results were in.
“Just tell me if she’s okay?”
I could hear her huff before a long pause and I was starting to wonder if she’d
cut me off.
“She’s okay Mitchell. Very sore but she’s going to be okay.”
I let out a long breath not even realising that I’d been holding it. “Thanks Ames.
Please look after her and let me know immediately if you need anything.” I hung
up and returned the phone back to my pocket.

“That good huh!”
I turned to see Spike, Diesel and Hound joining me at the table.
“She still not taking your calls?” Diesel asked bemused.
I shook my head and raised my eyes. Fucking drama! “What are you doing here
anyway?”
“We thought you may need some moral support.” Spike stated as he pulled a face,
looking up at the first auditionee trying to make her way up the pole.
“Fucking hell, it wants to get better than this otherwise it’s gonna be a long
evening.”
I shook my head to the sound of their laughter as the overweight auditionee
fell off the pole.
“Fucking priceless!”

Taylor

“I’m fine Pam. Please stop fussing, it’s just a scratch.”
“It’s not a scratch Taylor it’s a gash, there’s a big difference between the
two.” She continued to strut around the house making sure everything was ‘spit
spot’ and to her liking before she made us both a cup of tea.
“When will you be up and about?” Pam asked as she got comfortable on the sofa.
“The test results are in and there isn’t an infection, so James is coming
around later to close the wound.” I couldn’t wait as this would make bathing a
lot easier.
Pam nodded her head slowly taking in what I’d just told her. “Have you spoken
to your sister lately?”
I let out a loud sigh, “Yeah, I’m worried about her. This pregnancy is really
getting her down.”
“Why what did she say?”
“By the end of the conversation she was in tears, stating that she didn’t want
to become like mom.” I saw the shock clearly visible on Pam’s face.
I rubbed my forehead remembering the conversation. Sophia had been hysterical
at one point, telling me that she wasn’t coping. This wasn’t like Sophia she
was usually too stubborn to admit that she needed help so I knew to take it
seriously. I’d explained that mom had postpartum depression and that it wasn’t
hereditary but she wasn’t listening. She didn’t have a support structure in
place as Brad was still working away and I felt helpless being on the other
side of the world.
“I’ve booked a flight to New York for early Saturday morning.” I stated looking
over at my aunt.
“Are you well enough to travel?”
“Yeah I’ll be fine. I need to see her Pam, she’s not coping. While I’m there,
I’m gonna contact Brad and tell him to get the fuck home and start looking
after his family.”
“Taylor!”
My aunt hated me cursing. “Sorry but he needs to start pulling his weight or
look for another job closer to home.”
“I agree. I’ve thought that for a while now.”
“I’ve also been looking online for some support groups and local charities that
may be able to help her.” I shrugged.
“You’re a good girl Taylor.” Pam leant over and rubbed my arm gently, “Do you
need anything before I go?”
“No I’m good. I’ll speak to you before I leave.”
Pam kissed me lightly on the cheek before she left. I had a million things to
do before I took off for New York. I quickly retrieved my phone from my pocket.

Hi Spike. I need a favour whilst I’m away. Could you
please look out for Chanel? She’s getting rather close to Buster, if you know
what I mean! LOL I know I can trust you to do the right thing.

Yeah that’s fine Taylor. Where you going?

New York. I shouldn’t be longer than 2 weeks. Chloe
will look after the salon and continue working on the girls at the club.

Running away?

Visiting my sister

OK. Does Duke know yet?

NO!

Are you telling him?

Yes but later on in the week.

Chicken!

Sod off!

Take care x

Thanks x

Spike was right I was only putting off the inevitable. I
needed to speak to Duke, if anything to just explain how I felt. I’d developed strong
feelings for him over the past month, there was no denying that but I couldn’t
possibly be involved in his world. It was just too scary and would put me on
edge.  I wasn’t prepared to live in fear for the rest of my life. Being shot at
was so frightening and it was as if I’d stepped into a parallel universe.
Things like this didn’t really happen, well not in my world anyway.
I quickly typed a message to Duke.

Can we talk?

It didn’t take long before I got a response.

I’ll be with you in 10

Looks like I’ll be having that conversation a lot sooner
than expected!

“How you doing Ash?” Duke asked as he walked through the
door. He was wearing his faded jeans that hung low on his hips, with a navy
sweatshirt and his leather cut. He bent down to kiss me and I quickly turned my
head so that he kissed my cheek instead. I couldn’t have any close contact as I
was likely to change my mind, I needed to stay strong. He pulled away suddenly,
surprised by my blatant refusal to except his kiss and left a wave of fragrance
as he stalked into the living room. This was gonna be harder than I
anticipated. I took a deep breath and followed him, watching his sexy arse as
he walked.
I sat on the sofa, “I wanted to apologise for acting stupid over the accident.
It wasn’t your fault and I appreciate that now.” I wanted to make that point
clear.
He didn’t say a word he just nodded and continued to look at me.
“I had conflicted feelings before that incident but that night… well that event
has put everything into perspective.”
“And that is?”
“I can’t do this Duke. I’ve tried, I really have but the life you lead is not
for me.”
“But from next week things should be normal.”
I smiled, “Things with you will never be normal.”
He grinned and nodded his head, “So what you saying Ash?”
“I’m going to New York for a couple of weeks to visit my sister.” Duke looked
at me surprised. “I’ve asked Spike to look after Chanel...”
“I don’t need Spike to look after Chanel, I’m more than capable.” He rose to
his feet clearly annoyed.
“I didn’t mean anything by it Duke. I just assumed that when I said it was over
between us, you wouldn’t want to do it.”
“I will look out for Chanel.” He stated forcefully.
I ignored his tone, “Chloe will look after the salon and continue to work at
the club at the weekends. On my return, I think it’s probably best that she
continues unless you don’t want to use us anymore?”
He stood still with his hands on his hips with an unreadable expression. “It’s
like were dividing up our belongings and sorting out who gets custody of the
kids!”
I started to laugh at his comment, this was now going better than expected.
Duke sat on the sofa directly next to me and put his arm along the back of the
cushions. Taking a strand of my long hair, he started to play with it rolling
it between his fingers.
I felt a shudder down my body, even at the limited contact he’d made.
“I really don’t want us to fall out over this Ash. I’ve enjoyed having you
around the last month or so but I’m not gonna pressure you. You’ve gotta want
me for me and if I’m not enough then I’ll accept that but I’m not gonna
change.”
That’s the problem you are good enough, I just can’t take the risk of
getting hurt
.
He continued to play with my hair and I could see him mulling something over in
his mind.
Before I had time to ask him, he’d stood abruptly.
“I’ve gotta go Ash. Have a safe journey.” He stalked out of the living room slamming
the door behind him as he left the house.

What had I done?