Wayward Soul (9 page)

Chapter Fifteen

I hear the door close quietly and I cry even harder. I want to be with Gunner, but I don
’
t think I can handle the violence in his life. We could have died tonight, but it doesn
’
t even seem to faze him. I was terrified. Hell, I still am. What if they come after me because of him? Does he even care that I could have been killed? I press my face into my pillow and cry until I have no more tears.

The next thing I know, it
’
s dark. I check my phone. Shit, it's two a.m. I don
’
t even remember falling asleep, but I
’
ve been asleep for ten hours. I must have worn myself out from crying. My eyes are red and puffy and they burn.

I don
’
t remember the last time I have ever cried so much. I want nothing more than to curl up in Gunner
’
s lap and let him tell me everything will be okay, but I can
’
t. I have to be smart about this. I don
’
t want to lose him, but I don
’
t want to be shot at, either.

Why do things have to be so freaking hard? Life sucks, but I know that
’
s just how it goes sometimes. I pick up my phone and send a text to Anslie. She
’
s been in my shoes before and she will know how to make it better
…
hopefully.

Me:
Ans, Gunner and I just broke up. What do I do to make it not hurt? :(

I
’
m wide awake now and all I can do is wait for her to text me back. My mind keeps replaying the shooting, me ending things, and him walking away. My heart hurts, but I know I need to do this. When I think that I cannot possibly cry any more, fresh tears start to fall down my cheeks. I hear my phone beep with a message and I
’
m afraid to look at the screen.

Anslie:
I didn't even know you two were together. Are you okay? Do you need me to get you anything?

This is why she
’
s my best friend. She would drop everything to help me. A few minutes later, my phone starts to ring. I look down and see Anslie and her kids
’
faces pop up on my screen. Smiling, I answer it.
“
Anslie, what do I do?
”
I whimper.

I hear her sigh before she answers,
“
Case, what happened? Do you need me to stop by?
”

The tears start to fall again.
“
Things were great for the last year. Last night, someone was shooting at us. Everything happened so fast, I
’
m terrified that whoever it was is going to come after me. What do I do, Ans? I miss him and I love him.
”

I start to sob and she whispers reassuring things to me. When my tears start to slow, I ask her why she is still awake. She tells me that Charlie is still at work and the boys are already asleep, but she
’
s having trouble falling asleep.

We spend the next hour talking about me and Gunner, then her and the boys. She barely mentions Charlie, which strikes me as odd. He never seems to be part of the boys
’
lives, and he is rarely home with Anslie. Maybe I was wrong to set them up after Brantley left, but I wanted my best friend to be happy again. She and the boys deserve so much more than she has had lately.

Once I get off the phone, I go to the kitchen and make some food, then try and force myself to eat. However, after one bite of my sandwich, I feel like I
’
m going to puke. All I can think about is that Gunner is probably out with some whore, getting his dick sucked. Ugh. Why am I doing this to myself?

I throw my food away and make my way back to my room. Getting into bed, I pull the blankets up to my neck and try to shut my mind off. Tossing and turning for the next three hours is torture. No matter what I do, I can only think about the past year. Although we never went anywhere other than my place and places within walking distance, it was probably the best year of my life. He made me feel alive and cherished. Something no one has ever made me feel before. When we were alone, it was all about us and nothing, except club business, could break it up. Even though he would still get messages and calls from slutty bitches, I knew he wasn
’
t going to them. We were always committed to each other.

For the last year, Gunner and I spent almost every night together, unless he was on a run, so being alone in my bed is depressing. That must be why I can
’
t fall asleep. His warmth made me feel safe, and I miss his scent. God, I
’
m pathetic. How did we get here?

After another hour staring at the wall, my phone beeps with a message. When I look at the screen, I feel like I got punched in my stomach.

Sexy Biker:
Found this on my phone and can
’
t bring myself to delete it. You mean more to me than any other woman. Remember that, beauty.

My eyes start to water again as I stare at a picture of Gunner and I in my bed. I took it three months ago when we were having a very lazy and sex-induced Sunday. In the picture, you can see Gunner
’
s naked chest, my head lying on it. We are both smiling and happy.

I want to rewind time and go back to that moment, staying in it forever.

I don
’
t even respond to him, and end up crying myself to sleep.

Chapter Sixteen

Looking at my phone, I come across some pictures Casey took. I feel the knife dig deeper in my chest when I see her beautiful face. That was one of the best days of my life, and I can
’
t believe I
’
ve lost more days like that.

When I got back to the house last night, the cops were waiting for me to arrive. I got questioned for six hours and released because I didn
’
t actually shoot at anyone. The detective has been wanting to put one of us away for a while, but he hasn
’
t been able to get us on anything. He tries to make up shit, but it just gets dismissed by a judge every time.

My car is fucking toast. Now I have to replace everything those motherfuckers broke.

I hear Johnny calling me and I look up, holding up a finger to tell him to wait a second. I shoot a text to Casey, attaching the picture I was looking at. I turn my phone off and make my way to Johnny and some of the other guys. I hear them talking about what we are going to do to retaliate against the Black Hills MC. I want to fucking blow up their compound, but Johnny and Prez want us to be smart and not act rashly. However, they weren
’
t the fuckers getting shot at, so
they
don
’
t feel the need to kill every last one of them. Hell, I even lost my girl because of those bastards.

Making our way to the bikes, I get a bad feeling. Stopping, I make my way over to Johnny and ask if he can put a prospect on Casey. Even if we aren
’
t together, I don
’
t want her to be unprotected.

Johnny makes sure it
’
s handled and we get on our bikes.

We make the hour drive to the Black Hills MC clubhouse and park about three miles out. Parking our bikes in the trees, we wait. Ten minutes later, Prez calls with word that they are on their way. We set up a line of fifteen men armed with Mac 10
’
s and AR 15
’
s.

As soon as we hear their bikes coming, we get into position and aim the guns through the trees, pointing right at where they are about to pass through.

I see the first bikes coming up and I give the signal, my brothers firing. I watch the first three riders fall to the ground, hearing the screams. I can
’
t help the smile on my face as I shoot at the next two. The crash of metal on asphalt is enough to make me wince in pain.

Watching the bullets blow apart the bodies is crazy. Blood is spraying everywhere, and the wails are getting worse. We shoot down the rest of the men and wait to see if more come. You can hear the wounded grunting in pain and choking on their own blood.

When no one else shows up, we shoot the six men on the ground again and leave them in the middle of the road. The Wayward Saints don
’
t do well with people who come after our own. They signed their death warrants when they shot at me and Casey. Every one of those fuckers deserve to be put in the ground, but I will take the six we got tonight. We pick up the guns and ammo, then ride to the closest body of water. Everyone drops the guns and ammo into the water, and we hop on our bikes and make our way back to the house.

When we finally get back, Prez calls us all inside. Once everyone is sitting down, he slams the gavel down on the table.
“
How did it go, VP?
”

Johnny looks around at the men at the table and nods.
“
Went exactly as planned.
”

Prez turns to me.
“
How many?
”

“
Six,
”
I reply, stone-faced.

I feel like he
’
s testing me and I have no idea why. Prez and I may not always see eye-to-eye, but I respect him and don
’
t question him.
“
What about the girl?
”
he asks, looking at Beau. A strange look flashes across Beau
’
s face.

“
Fucking spit it out, Beau,
”
I growl. If anything happened to my girl, I will fucking murder the prospect. He had one job and that was to keep her safe. I wait with gritted teeth.

Beau looks at me nervously.
“
Well, some guy showed up at the apartment and busted down the door. He wasn
’
t wearing a cut, so I
’
m not sure if he was with the Black Hills or not. She
’
s pretty freaked out, but she
’
s okay. We got to her in time to keep him from hurting her.
”
He looks away from me.

“
Fuck!
”
I bark out.
“
Where is she?
”

I can
’
t fucking breathe. All I can think about is that Casey is even more scared than before. I need to go see her. I have to make sure she is okay.