Page 21 of Her Avenging Angel

“What’s on your mind?” Freud said as soon as the door clicked shut.

“I’m torn and I want opinions, from both of you,” Raven said, looking at the older man, then to his VP and back again.

“All right,” Jersey said. “Lay it on us.”

“We know what we want done, we know where, we know the how, but what I’m struggling with is the who.” He held up one hand, stopping the questions before they started. He wanted to finish what he meant first. “I know we all want in on this, if only to have our brothers’ backs. But I need someone, and preferably more than one, to stay here with Taylynn, just in case. It would be stupid to assume we can get them all in one fell swoop, no matter how hard we try, and I’d hate for us all to be out avenging her only to have one of them come in here, find her and end up back in their hands.” He paused, looking at each of them again.

“I would like you to stay with her, but my gut tells me we will want you closer to the action,” he said to Freud, then turned to look at his VP. “So tell me what the two of you think.” He leaned back in his chair, watching and waiting for their input.

Freud took a deep breath and exhaled in a rush, puffing out his cheeks, but he didn’t say anything. Jersey tilted his head, watching Raven for a moment.

“This seems a bit excessive for a piece of ass. Are you sure we need to go this far for her?”

“She’s not another piece of ass. Or a club mama, and you know it.”

“But she’s not family. I didn’t want to stir trouble by questioning you in front of everyone, but don’t you see this burn them to the ground and salt the earth approach as a bit much for some chick you picked up on the side of the road?”

Raven saw red. He clenched his fists and flexed his jaw, trying not to say something he knew he would regret later. It took several deep breaths, inhaled then exhaled slowly, before he was able to regain control of his temper. Once he was sure he wasn’t going to say something rash, something he couldn’t take back, he pinned Jersey with a look that told him exactly how murderous Raven was feeling right now.

“She’s not in a place to make a decision right now, and I’d really prefer a chance to talk it over with her before it becomes public knowledge, but I intend to make Taylynn my old lady. My plan is for her to have my property patch on her back. Does that make her family enough for you?” He couldn’t help the way his anger ramped back up as he spoke and by the time he’d finished he was talking through clenched teeth.

“It does.” Jersey held both hands open in front of him, as if showing someone he was unarmed. Raven knew that wasn’t true but at least there was nothing in his hands. “And just to be clear, I’m not trying to be an ass, but if something goes wrong, and someone ends up hurt or worse, the rest of them will start to wonder if it was worth it. My knowing this now lets me answer any questions anyone might have with certainty.”

“I’m actually surprised no one’s asked why we’re doing this before now. I don’t know if they see what’s growing between you or if they are just as appalled by what she’s been through as we are. Either way, it’s good to know,” Freud said. He took another deep breath and continued speaking, “Dax should be one of the men who stays with her.”

Raven opened his mouth to ask of his medic and old friend had lost his mind, but Freud spoke again, stopping him.

“Hear me out. Before she walked into him, they were getting along great. I don’t think she’ll associate the panic attack with him. Especially after she insisted on apologizing to him. I think it will make them closer in the long run.”

Raven clenched his jaw and fought the urge to deny the older man’s claim. He didn’t want Taylynn getting closer with Dax, he wanted her getting closer with him.

“I see where you went with that and it’s not what I meant,” Freud said. “What I meant is they will be better friends. Friends. I know what you want from her and I’m not saying it won’t end up there, eventually, but I will caution you to be careful with her. She’s been through a lot and that’s going to affect her for a while.”

“I know that. I’m not completely heartless. Besides, I just spent several hours with her, calming her down and making sure she was in a good place. It’s part of why I want to make sure this is done. I need to be sure the fuckers who did this to her are eliminated, to make sure she never has to worry about them coming back and taking her again.”

“I understand.” Jersey said, his voice soft, “So let’s get this done.”

The last thing he wanted to do was to sit here thinking about all the details that Taylynn had shared with him. With every bit she revealed, he was more and more determined to make sure none of the Demons survived. He had to be careful with how they went about it, though. He would make sure Ace knew why they were dying but he didn’t want it to blow back on the club. That meant they couldn’t take over the Demons’ territory, at least not right away. He also needed to make sure there was a time gap between when they picked her up a couple of months ago and when they all died, just in case someone went snooping and realized where Taylynn had come from.

That meant they had longer to plan, to make sure they did the job right. And he had his best men, Smokey and Panther, working on the plan of how to go about it and acquiring what they would need.

Those worthless fuckwads had a limited number of breaths left, even if they didn’t know it

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