Wild Heart- Extended Edition (The Wild Heart Series) (20 page)

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

ADMISSIONS

“You know how proud my mother would be that I am bedding a man whose last name I don’t even know?” Ani giggled as her head rested on Knox’s stomach. The rays of the morning sun were shining through the window, cascading her in warmth as she lay naked on the bed.

“Did you just call what we have, bedding?” He cocked his head in curiosity.

“I was trying to keep from being vulgar.”

“Aye, and calling someone an ugly, cock sucking, bitch isn’t vulgar?”

“That was in the heat of war. She deserved it too,” she rolled onto her stomach, looking into his eyes.

“Well, I’m sure she’ll be feeling it today. Where did you learn to scrap like that?”

“When I was younger I got picked on a lot. In middle school it was because I looked like Pocahontas. In high school it was because a jealous girlfriend’s boyfriend checked out my ass. I learned quickly how to defend myself, of course having a guy as your best friend helps.” She tried to hide the sadness that was eating away at her gut at the mention of Cash.

“What was the deal with you and the cop?”

“I thought we agreed not to talk about past relationships. I can go call Chloe if you want,” she smirked as she traced the trail of hair that led down his chiseled stomach.

“There’s a difference between our pasts though, love.” He reached down and grabbed her hand, placing a light kiss on her palm. “No matter what has happened in your past, you have to know that it has all worked together to bring you to this moment, and for that I’m grateful. But I need to know you’ve let go, that you have forgiven him and forgiven what happened. Because if you can’t, you won’t be able to move on.”

“You still never told me your last name,” she said quickly changing the subject.

“O’Connell. Bishop O’Connell.”

“Christ, I have been banging you for weeks and I didn’t even know your real name.” She smacked her hand onto her forehead in embarrassment.

“What can I say? I like my women classy,” he smiled, “Anything else you want to know?”

“What do I need to know about being an old lady?” her eyes fluttered up to his, finding him staring intently at her.

“It’s not a job, Ani,” he said, slightly offended.

“I know that. But I don’t want to disappoint you.”

“You wouldn’t disappoint me, darlin’. You make the decision as to whether you want full disclosure or nothing at all. That’s the only way this can work.”

“Too early for full disclosure right now,” she smiled; eventually she would ask him for the nasty details, but until she knew she could stomach it, she would be satisfied with her rose colored glasses.

“Ok. You just tell me when you’re ready and we’ll talk,” his thumb brushed across the back of her hand sending sparks through her body. “But you need to know that club business stays in the club. We don’t talk about it to outsiders, not even Kate. Until she becomes an old lady, she has no business knowing what we talk about.”

“I know,” her voice was timid as she spoke. She already felt overwhelmed and they hadn’t even talked about anything.

“Hey,” his fingers brushed the bottom of her chin, pulling her face up to his. “One day at a time, love.” His teeth grazed along her bottom lip, pausing as he spoke, “You won’t disappoint me. I don’t care how strong you are, how brave you are. I want you to sit next to me and just be there, make me laugh, teach me the truths that I don’t already know. I will follow you to the end of the world and back, baby. I just need you to be there.” Their lips crashed together as he pulled her effortlessly onto his hard body.

They made love, using every inch of the bedroom to their advantage. Then made love again while they showered. She could never tire of his passion and fire toward her. He made her feel whole, like the last piece to her puzzle was finally in place. She was getting dressed in the extra clothes she had brought the weekend that she’d left Knox after the club, when a loud knock resounded off the bedroom door.

“Prez, we gotta problem.” She could hear Rage’s voice coming from the other side of the door.

“Hold the hell on,” Knox yelled toward the closed door as he slipped on his black jeans.

“Prez, you need to get the fuck out here, now,” Rage’s voice was anxious as he spoke, causing Knox to swing the door open.

Ani peeked her head out of the bathroom, as the light rumble of engines came floating in through the cracked window. She didn’t know what was going on as Knox grabbed a t-shirt and quickly pulled it over his head along with his black leather cut. He pulled his hair up into a tight bun as he walked swiftly to where she stood in the bathroom.

“You need to stay in here,” he told her and then placed a hard kiss on her lips and left.

Her heart began to race from the way he stormed out of the room. Something was wrong and she didn’t know what. She peeked out of the window to see the flashing blue and red lights below. A mixture of police cars, trucks, and motorcycles littered the front of the compound yard. God only knows what they had in the compound that the cops probably shouldn’t know about. She contemplated Knox’s words,
you need to stay in here.

Deciding against the idea, she walked out to the hallway in search of Kate. She couldn’t hear any voices and began making her way down the stairs. As she entered into the main room a fury of chaos came swarming in the door. A team of officer’s were pushing Knox in the door by his shirt collar and they finally tumbled down hard onto the ground. She froze in place as a large dark officer came toward her shouting.

“Get on the ground! Get the fuck down!” He held his gun up toward her as he screamed, grabbing her arm and thrusting her down onto the ground in one swift move.

“Don’t you fucking touch her!” Knox yelled as he attempted to get up from the floor, only to get kicked hard in his ribs.

“I said get down, asshole!” the large officer shouted toward him.

“Ok, Mr. O’Connell. Where is Mr. O’Connell?” an older man with peppered gray hair in a police uniform asked as he strolled in the door. “Oh, here you are.” He knelt down toward Knox’s face, “You should have listened to my officers.”

“What do you want?” Knox coughed out, spitting blood from his busted lip out of his mouth.

“You see, I got an anonymous call last night. Wanna know what they told me?” the officer snickered, speaking with superiority.

“What? That your mother liked the fucking Repo gave her last week?” Laughter erupted from the floor as the officers hand came down hard onto Knox’s face. Ani grimaced as he spit the blood from his mouth onto the shoes of the officer this time. “You hit like a pussy.”

The man didn’t hold back this time and wailed his fist down hard against Knox’s face.

“Enough!” another officer shouted.

“Now, Mr. O’Connell, my name is Sergeant Jones. I run the sheriff’s department here in Telico Plains. I got some news last night that you have a nice supply of guns and drugs here in your compound. So it looks like we will be tearing every inch of this place apart until we find something we like.”

“Go ahead, Officer Pussy,” Jameson spouted from the floor a few feet from where Ani lie.

“Get them outside,” the sheriff said angrily.

For the next two hours Ani sat on the ground outside, her hands zip tied behind her back as the sheriff’s department tore the clubhouse apart. She could hear the crashing and breaking of glass and wood from outside. They had the women separated from where the men sat by the garage. She tried to keep her head down in an attempt to not be seen, but every time one of the cops would walk by they would stare at her; trying to place where they knew her from.

“This should be over with pretty soon. Just hang in there girls,” Starla whispered over toward them.

“Ok, ladies. I need you to stand up and turn around please,” a tall female officer said, walking up to them with a pair of scissors in her hand. Ani studied her features, she was very pretty and unlike some female officers, she still held a certain feminine look in her uniform. “I suggest you keep it quiet around here for a while. Departments gonna be watching your every move.” She winked as she cut loose the ties around their hands.

“Yes, ma’am,” Starla said, flexing her wrists from where the ties had cut into her skin.

“Tell Knox, I said I’m sorry for not calling. Sprung this one on us at the last minute. New fucking sheriff wants to have a dick measuring contest I guess,” the female officer said as she leaned over toward Starla.

“Don’t they all, honey?” Starla answered. “Tell your mama I’ll bring her some more of that honey in a week or so.”

“Will do. Pleasure ladies.” She tipped the brim of her hat and walked toward her patrol car.

“Starla…” Ani’s voice drifted off as she questioned what had just happened.

“Talk to your man, love,” she smiled warmly as she looked over at Ani. “It’s not my place.” Starla leaned over and kissed Ani’s temple lightly before making her way over to Jameson.

Ani stood in the compound yard as the last of the patrol cars sped down the driveway. What the hell was going on? Anonymous calls, guns, drugs? She swallowed back the lump forming in her throat. She made a promise to Knox that she’d be understanding, but this was going to have to take some getting used to. She brushed by Chloe who still dawned the black eye from last night’s tussle, and made her way over to Knox.

“Ok, full disclosure.” She grabbed his arm and he turned to her.

“You sure?” he questioned.
Might as well.

“Yes,” she smiled weakly, “But I need coffee first.” She turned and walked into the clubhouse, a gasp escaping her mouth as she took in the damage.

The beautifully carved wooden doors were torn open, showing an elaborately carved table and chairs sitting around it. She saw various M.C. pictures and insignia hanging out of place around the walls as she stepped closer to it. She felt a hand on her shoulder as she reached the door frame and turned, finding Knox standing behind her.

“This is all her fault,” Chloe chimed from the couch as she lit her cigarette, blowing out the smoke in Ani’s direction. “I think your boyfriend’s pissed that you’re fucking someone else.”

Ani stormed toward her until Knox’s arm caught around her stomach and pulled her back toward him. Ani let out a laugh as Chloe cringed in expectation of her attack. “Keep running that mouth and you’re gonna have matching black eyes, bitch.”

“Enough,” Knox commanded, causing Ani to stop her attempt to struggle free from his arms.

“Prez? You got something you want to tell us?” Charon asked as he picked up broken bottles from behind the bar.

“Aye, clean this fuckin’ place up,” Knox’s voice bellowed out across the room as he pulled Ani toward his room.

“If her relationship with the cop jeopardizes this club then it’s not just between you anymore. It’s a club matter,” Rage said from behind them.

Knox set Ani down on the floor at the foot of the steps, gently brushing her hair from her face before placing a light kiss on her lips. She could see the anger brewing in his eyes as he turned to Rage.

“You wanna take a vote? You wanna take it to the chapel?” his voice was forced and tense as he stepped closer to Rage, swelling up with anger. “Then let’s go to the fuckin’ chapel, aye?” Knox’s hands landed hard against each of Rage’s shoulders, pushing him back and down onto the couch. “If this is a club matter then why the fuck are you bringin’ it up around everyone else?” his voice was booming off every wall as he shouted down at Rage.

“Calm down, brother!” Charon came up to Knox, placing a steady hand on Knox’s shoulder in an effort to calm him.

Ani didn’t want them fighting because of her. She stepped up next to Knox and spoke to the room, “Cash wouldn’t have done this. He might not like the choice I made, but he would never call in an anonymous tip,” she reached over and grabbed Knox’s hand apologetically before continuing, “Cash loves me too much to ever put me in harm’s way.” Her eyes left Kate’s as she looked down at the floor and turned to go up the stairs to Knox’s room.

“Wait,” Rage called after her. “Ani, wait.” He stood from the couch and attempted to make his way to her, only to be stopped by Knox’s arm.

“You wanna talk to my old lady, you do it where I can fuckin’ hear you,” Knox growled as he looked over at Rage.

“Ani, I know this isn’t your fault. I’m sorry,” Rage spoke from Knox’s side.

“Rage, you can believe whatever you want.” Ani eyed him before turning to head toward the stairs, but halfway to her ascent she stopped and turned back to the room. “As a matter of fact, you can all believe whatever the fuck you want to believe to help you sleep at night. But I made a choice, and Cash respects that choice. He’s not a fucking pussy; if he had done this, his ass would have been the first one in the fucking door.” With apologetic stares falling on her she took off in pursuit of the safety of Knox’s room.

She steadied herself outside of his door; if his room was anything like the rest of the house it would be completely trashed. She turned the handle and pushed the door open; the dresser was over turned and the mattress flipped up against the wall. The rest of the room was covered in loose papers and debris. She looked over to find her bag open and dumped down onto the floor. She grabbed a pair of her lace panties and threw them back in it in frustration.

Maybe this was her fault. Cash knew she was coming to see Knox last night and it can’t be hard for the cops to find out where this place was. Her stomach plummeted as she thought about the weekend she’d left Knox; Cash had picked her up from his cabin. He could have used the address there to find the address here. It all had to be in the same name. He’d been so drunk when she had left last night that who knows what he’d done. What was at first worry seeping through her veins was beginning to turn into anger. How could he have done this?

Red
, she could only see red as she stormed out the door. Knocking into Knox as she blazed past him. She could feel his hand reaching for her, but she dodged it and took off toward the door. She’d made it a few feet from her truck when she heard his voice, “Ani? What are you doin’?”