Page 6 of You've Got The Love
“Yes. He’s the VP of theKings of Chaos MCin London. A meet went bad yesterday with a rival MC, and they ended up losing a member,” she throws the phone on the bed and lays her hands over mine. “I rang and alerted him to the wreath addressed to me, he told me about Turk—the brother they lost—and said he’d call back. He just called back and told me to shut up shop and go somewhere I can hunker down in for a while until this is over, as Prez’s‘old lady’was shot and killed. He thinks they are going after family,” she tells me like she’s on autopilot. I think she’s going into shock, as I can tell she’s not really seeing me.
“So, calling the police is out of the question?”
“Right now, nothing's happened besides receiving the wreath, so what can they do? Dad said they could be justtrying to scare me. Also, the police and the club don’t mix. They are like oil and water. I don’t want to cause trouble for my dad and his club unless I really have to,” she murmurs.
“Hang on, they ‘lost someone’, like they are no longer living lost?” I ask, not believing we are having this conversation.
“Yes. I’m sorry, Bas, you should get going. I’ll cover the cost of what I’d usually spend with you the next time you’re here; you shouldn’t have to lose income.”
“Amber, this is serious. Two people have died. We should call the police,” I’m starting to feel hot all over. Her being in danger is terrifying.
“It’s nothing to do with us down here, I’ve just received a funeral wreath, the police can’t help. Not yet anyway,” she squeezes my hands on her knees, looking lost.
“Okay. Pack a bag, come back home with me, no one will know where you are there,” I decide for her.
“Bas, no. No way. I won’t risk you, and especially Abel. It’s far too dangerous,” she flat out refuses, vehemently shaking her head.
“Abel can stay with Sanne for as long as we need. There’s no decision to make, Amber. Pack your bag, I’ll go down and help Jess start shutting up. We need to get on the road,” I’m nearly out the door when she forcefully hugs me from behind, making me go forward a step. I hold her arms tightly, letting her know I’m here.
“Andrea should be here any minute. I’ll call her and hopefully catch her before she leaves and let her know not tocome in,” she murmurs into my back as she lets me go and starts opening drawers.
I head down into the shop to see that Andrea is already here. She’s older, but I have no idea how old, as she doesn’t look old, but she’s not a youngster anymore. She’s like a mother to Amber; she’s been here since the first day I started delivering to ‘Wild Ones’, and I know she’s been in Amber's life since she was a little girl, so I understand the worry on her face.
“Bas, what’s happening? Why has someone sent our girl a funeral arrangement?” She demands almost immediately, stepping into my space.
“We need to shut up the shop. Now. Amber is potentially in danger, so she’s coming back toHollandwith me,” I state as Jess instantly starts bringing in the plants and bouquets lined up in front of the shop display window.
“This is connected to Jack, isn’t it?” Andrea asks, arms crossed and radiating anger.
I’m grabbing the plants from Jess and stacking them on the shop floor as I stop and ask, “Who’s Jack?”
“Her father.”
“Then yes, a rival club… erm,” I start trying to explain something I really don’t understand when I feel Amber's cold hand slipping into mine. I look at her in wonder.Fuck she’s beautiful.I wish I could wrap her up and keep her safe forever, keep her happy so she’s smiling instead of the lost look she has right now.
“My dad is in a motorcycle club, and shit has gone down. They’ve lost a member, and the President's wife has been killed. Dad thinks that the members families’ are potentially in danger, so I’m shutting the shop and going toHollandwith Bas until Dad gives me the okay to come home. You’ll both still get paid,” she says so calmly, like she’s talking about the weather.
Andrea moves forward and hugs her tightly; she steps back and places her hands on the sides of Amber's face.
“First of all, I couldn’t give a shit about the money, don’t you worry about that. Secondly, what do you need me to do? I can take the work clips home and cancel orders?” She asks gently, her eyes shining.
“Yes, please, thank you. Also, if you could call our planned vendor deliveries for the next week and cancel them, otherwise they’ll be trying to deliver flowers to a closed shop,” Amber says stoically, all the while not letting go of my hand.
Andrea kisses her cheek and starts grabbing the work clips from the hooks on the wall. Jess has finished bringing in all the plants from the front and is starting to pull the shutters down.
“I’m just going to help Jess finish up.” I squeeze her hand before I let her go and take over pulling the shutters down. I hear Jess change the voicemail to say the shop is closed due to a family emergency. I look over my shoulder and see Amber hasn’t moved an inch; she’s stock still.
“Andrea, can you make Amber a tea to go? Extra sugar?” I ask as I lock the shutter that covers the window.
“On it,” she says in her gentle way. Andrea has a wicked sense of humour bordering on naughty, but right now she’s all business, making two teas to go, and wrapping up flowers from the vases on display in the shop that will go past their best in the next few days.
“I’ll take these over to Bea, she can pass them around the bakery, and I’m sure her mum would like some, best have some use out of them,” she mutters.
Amber just stands there in the open walkway that leads from the front of the shop to the back just nodding as she rubs her nails with her thumb. I need to get her in the truck ASAP we’ve got to get on the ferry and out of the country. I didn’t think she’d be coming back with me today,or ever, quite frankly. I’ve never let myself imagine her in my home—in my space—but fuck if I’m going to leave her when this shit is going down. No way. I still don’t like that we aren’t alerting the police, but right now, all that’s happened to Amber is that fucking funeral wreath. So, for now, no police, but if anything happens, she so much as gets a scratch from this shit, and I’m calling the police. I’ll have to deal with the fallout from her father.
“Did you grab your passport?” Andrea questions, placing her hand on Amber's shoulder, trying to comfort her.
“My passport? No,” she answers, shaking her head. Her eyes are starting to fill with tears, and I swear my heart just cracked clean down the middle. Fuck, I hate this.
