Page 13 of Wild Runaway
“Don’t do that,” I whisper. “I got away from him. I’m never going back.”
Joseph pulls me toward him, and I sink into his warmth. His touch is electric, and I want him to keep kissing me the way he was before he saw the marks on my neck.
“I promise you this, Trish. I will never let anything happen to you or Rose. You understand?”
I nod, although I’m not sure I do. How can this virtual stranger make this promise to me and the daughter that isn’t his? But I can tell by the conviction in his voice that he’s serious.
“You’re mine to protect. And I will protect you both with my life.”
It’s a pledge, and a man who’s sworn an oath to die for his country doesn’t make promises lightly. The tightness in my stomach eases, and I lean into him.
I’ve got Joseph fighting in my corner. I don’t understand why, but it feels right.
7
JOSEPH
Prez bangs the gavel on the table, and the chatter in the room dies down.
Twelve sets of eyes turn to face him, ready for our weekly meeting. We’re sitting around the thick pine table, felled and carved from a tree in the local forest. The club meeting room is out the back of the Wild Taste Restaurant and overlooks the courtyard where the brewery and mechanic shop are. The colorful flags hanging outside Danni’s gallery brighten the place up. She opened it a few months ago, and it’s a hit with the tourists. Danni is Colter’s old lady, and the entire club got behind the venture.
“First order of business. We’ve been asked to help Angie with renovations to her bar.”
Angie may live on the other side of the mountain and run a restaurant and bar the same as we do, but her husband passed away in the service seven years ago, and we’ve helped out several times since.
“Isn’t she hooked up with her husband’s best friend now?” says Barrels.
He eyes Hops as he says it, still not comfortable with the fact that his best friend is with his sister. There are murmurs around the table and angry mutterings.
I swear this place is like a gossip house some days, grown men giving their opinion on whether a woman should stay true to her husband after he passed in the line of service. It’s an uncomfortable thought, but it’s been seven years. You can’t expect her to stay celibate for the rest of her life.
After some discussion, we vote unanimously to help Angie. It doesn’t matter what her current circumstances are. She lost her husband to this country and spent the last seven years raising their children on her own. She deserves all the help she can get.
Wood offers to supply any timber she needs from his family sawmill, while we all pledge to help with whatever labor she needs.
There are a few other points of business, info about a charity run we’re doing in a few weeks, and then Specs goes over the accounts.
It’s when Prez asks if there’s any more business that I clear my throat.
All eyes turn to me. I haven’t said anything in the meeting which isn’t unusual. I’m an observer and keep my opinions to myself unless asked. But this is something I need the entire club to help with.
“There’s a woman staying with me.”
The Prez’s eyebrows shoot up his head, and some of the other guys look surprised. The fuckers. They probably think I kidnapped her or something.
“She’s fleeing a bad situation, her and her baby.”
My fists clench when I think about what Trish told me yesterday. How anyone can hurt a woman is beyond me, and I stayed up all night thinking about it. I promised I wouldn’t go after the fucker, but I’ll do all I damn well can to make sure no more harm comes to her.
I give a brief rundown on the last few days, how I found Trish, the marks on her neck, and the story she told me about her ex. I leave out the warm feeling in my chest every time I see her with the baby, the way her smile makes my insides flutter, and the way the curve of her neck makes my dick hard.
But even so, there are knowing smirks around the table. Maybe I’m not as hard to read as I think I am.
“What do you need?” asks Prez.
He’s not questioning me or my actions, and I’m thankful for my MC brothers’ unconditional support.
“Club protection for Trish and Rose, the baby.”
