Forbidden (Star Crossed MC Lovers, #1) (16 page)

I cut him off. "It's Selene. She's in serious trouble and I can't find her. Locate her phone. Now." I was almost screaming in the phone as I took off in the direction of her dad's clubhouse.

"Fuck, Dude. You're scaring me." Dane's voice was muffled and I assumed he was moving to his computer.

"Join the party. I'm heading to the Black Hearts’ clubhouse. Find her, Dane. Text me." I dropped the call and tried her again as a red light forced me to stop in the center of town.

Voice mail.

"Dammit. Where the fuck are you, girl?" I pulled over to the side of the road and let out a shaky breath. If she was dicking with me, I would likely strangle her. What was the likelihood of her just messing with me? High.

Dane called back a moment later and gave me the address.

"Be careful, Lucky. That's the garage for the Jessup brothers. You know those guys are nothing but thugs." He let out a short sigh.

"Right. So what is Selene doing there?"

"No clue. Her father has a beef with those guys for sure, but it's not something she be getting involved in."

"What happened?" I slipped in my earbud, so I could hear better as I raced toward that side of town.

"Word on the street was that they were going to deal for him, but seems they like to get high more than they like to do business."

"Fuck. You serious? They smoked up Rafael's shit?"

"Yep. Almost all of it and in return, he shot the oldest brother and fucked up their baby sister really bad." The tone Dane used told me not to ask for details. I didn't want them anyway.

"Why the fuck would Lena be over there?" I asked the same question again. There was no reason for her to be in the middle of that shit. Unless...

"Who knows, bro. Want me to meet you over there?"

"No. I gotta go. I'll text you when I'm safe." I dropped the call and swallowed my need to scream. If her father had set her up to
test
her again, I was going to kill the motherfucker. Surely, she had someone with her over there. Surely.

I pressed the bike to go as fast as it could, the small town I loved so much whipping by me as nothing but blurry colors. It felt like forever. By the time I pulled up, a million things had blown through my mind, leaving me weak and scared as hell.

I parked next to Lena's bike, hating like a motherfucker that it was sitting alone next to a large tree on the property. Moving to the back, I tried to listen for voice over the incessant beating of my heart.

I didn't mind a good fight, and was more than willing to fuck anyone up, but if Lena was in danger, I wanted to tread lightly. After the story Dane shared with me, I knew her being there wasn't by accident, nor was it a good thing at all.

The wind picked up and caused the hair on the back of my neck to stand as I rounded the corner and crouched by the back door. I pulled my gun out after laying eyes on the two dead bodies on the floor.

A soft cry left me with no choice but to charge into the room, not giving a shit what happened. My girl was in trouble.

I jogged through the open garage and moved into the small office where she sat tied to a chair, crying. Her face was a bloody mess, and the bastard leaning over her was talking in a low, ominous voice.

"Fuck. Danny." A large bastard beside him looked up from Lena to me and moved toward me. He pointed his weapon directly at my head.

“Die!” he shouted.

Just as he went to squeeze the trigger on his gun, I put two bullets in his head. I'd never killed anyone before, but it wasn't time to start analyzing my race toward hell.

The other guy turned and lifted his gun, but not in time. I put a bullet in his head and hated like hell the scream that left my baby.

He dropped, and I moved in front of her, working to wipe the blood from her face.

"Ouch!" She screamed and jerked from me. "Get me undone! Let's get out of here!"

"What the fuck happened?" Shock held me tightly and I tried to get her bindings off, to no avail. "Let me find a knife, baby. Stay still, okay?"

"Just hurry." She sobbed a few times as she seemed to be waking up to the horror around her.

"I am. Everything is fine. I'm here now. Just..." I paused at the sound of a car pulling up. "Fuck..."

I grabbed a pair of scissors and sawed through the ropes at her back while squatting behind her.

She pulled free and walked to the door before stopping and turning to pin me with a frightened stare. "Get the fuck out of here!"

"Baby. No. Come here." I started to get up and she lodged a hubcap at me. "Get in the closet. It's my father. Now... Right fucking now!"

I ran to the closet and slipped into it, the office not big enough for me to make an escape past them.

"Butterfly?" The sound of his voice would leave me thinking he was worried. "Elec. Get her and let's get to the hospital. The others can clean this shit up."

I glanced out to see Selene in Elec's arms, her eyes closed as if she had blacked out. It was probably the safest thing for her to do.

I sunk down in the closet and pulled my knees up to my chest.

The devastation over what had happened moments ago was only muted by the fact that Lena was okay. She was alive and we would figure out the rest together. 

Selena

I
f Lucky hadn't have arrived when he did, I'd have ended up with several fingers gone and a few other things that I couldn't bear to think about. The guy I thought was the leader of the family wasn't the oldest. The large muscular one that had grabbed me from behind before I passed out was.

Waking up to him in my face with a hunger in his gaze that left me terrified was more than I thought I might ever get past.

I snuggled up to my father in the backseat of the car and tried not to think about the fact that someone had sent me over there. I knew my father was a bastard, but there was no way he'd send me to my death. I was his only child.

He didn't expect you to die, but to kill.

"It's okay, butterfly. Daddy's here now." He kissed the top of my head and picked me up as we got to the hospital.

"I don't want to go here," I cried out as we moved into the ER.

"Hush, baby. We're going to have them patch up your face and let you rest while we make sure nothing happens to you." He glanced down at me.

"I'm fine. My face will..."

He cut me off, the look in his eyes telling me quickly that I needed to lock it up. Now. I did just that, thinking about Lucky instead of the hustle and bustle around me as my father handed me off to an ER nurse and left me with the hospital.

The drugs they gave me to settle my shaking put me to sleep, but not a deep one. I could hear them whispering things about my family and the shame that wearing my last name might bring. The fact that they figured I damn well deserved what happened to me that night was soul-shattering. Though I didn't want to care about their opinions, it still stung.

I wanted Lucky and needed my grandma. They were the only two people in the world who truly cared about me.

"We're going to move you to another bed now, okay, Selene?" A soft feminine voice whispered in my ear and I grunted my acceptance as if I had a choice.

They shifted me over and try as I might, I couldn't turn on my side and curl up. Tears burned my gaze, but I couldn't open my eyes to see who was around me and where I was at.

"Oh, dear. It's okay." The soft brush of fingers over my hair made me cry harder. I'd never known kindness from a mother, only my grandmother. My father kept her at an arm's distance because she
softened
me. "What can I get you, dear?"

"My grandma," I mumbled and choked on another sob as I forced my eyes open. Drowsiness rushed over me and I struggled to remain awake. "Please get my grandma."

"Of course. I'll find her and we'll get her here. Please, just rest, okay? You've been through a lot and your face needs to heal. Close your eyes for me. You're safe here. We're all here and your father has a guard posted outside of the room."

I let out another cry as anguish filled me. I didn't want a guard. How the hell would Lucky get to me if there was someone watching the door? My family knew who the Stone Wolves were—from the newbies to the ones who had been dead for years. He would never get in the door. I needed him, too.

"It's okay, sweetheart. Just rest." She brushed my hair a few more times and my eyes fluttered shut. It was too hard to stay cognizant and really, there was no reason to. The two people I loved were locked out of my life for the moment.

Please find a way in. Please.

***

I
woke to my grandmother sitting beside me, her eyes filled with tears. She stood and let out a soft cry as I groaned and turned over in the bed.

"Oh
meja
." She hovered over the top of me, wrapping me in an odd hug.

"Hi, Grandma." I wrapped my arms around her and held on for a minute before letting my emotions go. Fear, loss and disgust flooded my system and I gave myself over to it, not sure if it would ever stop.

"It's okay, baby. Let it all out. I'm here now." She moved back and rubbed my hair as I lifted my hands to my face and flinched at the pain of touching myself. "No. Don't touch your face. It needs to heal."

"Is anything broken?" I realized that my speech was a little slurred.

"No, just really swollen." She glanced up. "Listen. Lucky is here and he's gotten his friend Dane to pull the guards for questioning. There is a cop outside your door, and he's going to let Lucas come in. Are you okay with that?"

"Yes." I almost came up out of the bed. "Yes. Please."

The smile on her face warmed me to the center of my soul. "Good. Lay back and I'll get him. No getting up. Okay?"

"Yes ma'am." I laid back and closed my eyes as tears continued to drip down my cheeks and dampen my neck and hair.

The door opened and closed twice and I couldn't wait any longer. I turned my face toward the door and opened my eyes to see him standing there.

"Luck?"

"Baby..." He took three steps and leaned over, wrapping his strong arms around me and burying his face against the side of my neck. "Fuck, I thought I was going to die if I didn't get to see you. You're okay, right? They didn't rape you, did they?"

He pulled back as tears filled his beautiful brown eyes. There was more warmth and love in them than I imagined ever deserving.

I shook my head as tears spilled onto my cheeks. I was an ugly crier to say the least, but the look in his eyes said he didn't care.

"You'll be out of here soon, okay, Lena?" He kissed several places on my face and stood, lifting his fingers to his eyes and wiping at the tears that littered his cheeks. "Fuck, you scared me to death."

"Me too," I whispered through the thickness in my throat. "How did you find me out there?"

"Dane traced your phone." He brushed his hand over the top of my head as he leaned back toward me.

"Get in." I moved over and let out a grunt.

"You sure?" He glanced back at the door, but seemed to resign himself to do whatever I wanted. He got in the bed and we repositioned ourselves so he could hold me. I snuggled against his chest and breathed in deeply as another round of tears came.

"I killed those two guys." I hiccupped and sobbed at the same time.

"In self-defense, Lena. Anyone would have killed to keep themselves alive. You did the right thing. No thinking about it right now."

I looked up at him as pain laced the center of me. "My father sent me out there. For another test."

Anger burned in his eyes and he bit his lip, closing his eyes for a moment and taking a shaky breath. "You're sure of that?"

"I'm pretty sure." I closed my eyes and snuggled in closer to him, not wanting to admit the truth at all, but having it beat into my skull left me with very little choice. "The text to get to that location came from him."

"Motherfucker. I'll kill him."

"No." I looked up and shook my head once before pain slammed into me. "I need to look into it fully to see what happened. I can't imagine him hurting me, Luck. I'm his only daughter. His only child."

He gave me a look and started to say something as the door opened behind him. We stiffened, but it was just Grandma.

"Time's up, you two." She let out a snort. "Give you five minutes with my grandbaby and you get her in bed with you. Scoundrel."

The teasing in her voice caused us to smile, easing the tension between us.

He leaned down and brushed his lips across my mouth as he locked his gaze onto mine. "I don't like it. If it turns out that your dad did this on purpose, I'll be taking you out of the situation... Then I'm killing him, Lena. No one should have to live under that kind of oppression. Especially not my woman."

I nodded, not willing to fight over it anymore. We would work through it, but my first stop wasn't Lucky. It was my father.

He kissed me once more and started to get up, but paused. "I love you."

I closed my eyes and let the truth roll over me. "I love you too."

The softness of his next kiss stole my heart for all time. I knew if he wanted to take me away, then I would most likely let him. No one but Grandma truly cared for me. Was it so important to defend the monster that raised me just because he raised me?

"I'll see you soon. Get well and get the fuck out of here. Text me." He kissed me again and got up, walking to the door and pausing to look back at me.

I couldn't help but feel beautiful as he studied me, though I knew nothing could be further from the truth.

"See you soon." He winked and walked out, leaving me alone with my thoughts.

Had he killed anyone before that night, or did we share the horrible experience of both having done if for the first time together? It would haunt me forever. I never wanted to be anything but good, strong... brave. Having to take someone's life, even in self-defense, left me wondering if I really knew myself at all.

My father would be proud, and the thought sickened me.

A soft knock resounded at the door before my grandma walked back in. "Lovely boy. I say we keep him."