Page 112 of Fighting the Odds

He takes my hand and leads me out of the bedroom just as the front door opens and Ryker, Colin, and the men they call prospects come in, casserole dish in hand.

“You didn’t, by chance, help the lady in the apartment above me, did you?”

“We did. She said to make sure you get this and that we take care of the scumbags hurting you,” Ryker answers with a smile as he heads toward the kitchen with the dish.

How does he know where it is? Maybe he assumed it was just like Mrs. Butler’s?

Oh, that reminds me, we are having a long talk about her letting random strangers in her apartment.

“How did she know?”

“No clue. She winked and said she knew all about MCs. She also said there’s enough for all of us and if there isn’t, just have Sierra call her and she’ll bring us more,” Colin answers. “And it smells delicious.”

“Cyrus, time to go,” Rico’s gruff voice interrupts.

“You better let me know she’s okay when this is over and bring her right back here.”

“I will.”

I follow Cyrus to the door and give him one final kiss goodbye. When he comes back, this whole issue with Wesley’s dad will be over and no longer be a black cloud hanging over me. I watch him until he disappears into the elevator before I step back inside and shut the door. My hand stays on the wooden frame for a moment as I take the time to calm my nerves.

“Okay, now that lover boy’s gone, let’s get to business,” Bash orders as he sets his laptop on the coffee table and starts typing.

“They have cameras up, but the boys took care of those last night. We have control over them. They still have access, but we control the feed. Once someone logs into the server, their IP address will come straight to us so we can take care of their perverted asses, too,” Sam tells us as Bash turns the laptop so we can see the camera feeds he’s referencing.

“Me and Arizona are going into that building to dance, but is someone coming with us?”

“Yes, we are.” Ryker points between him and Colin. “You’ll never be out of our sight.”

Sam finishes explaining all the details, but I space out for the majority of it. The reality that I’ll be face to face with the man who stole my innocence from me suddenly hits.

Am I ready for this? Can I look at him and pretend like he didn’t ruin me?

Four hours later

“You ready for this?” Arizona asks from where she sits beside me in the back seat of the car.

Colin is driving and Ryker is in the passenger seat. Somewhere hidden in the near vicinity are the others, except for Rico. He’s at the club, pretending it's business like usual.

He fought this part of the plan until Sam got someone named Earl on the phone. I don’t know what he said to him when he stepped out of the room with the phone, but when he came back, he agreed with the plan.

“No. Yes. A little of both. I’m glad that tonight will stop him from ever doing what he did to me to anyone else. But I’m honestly scared to be face to face with him. I always had a weird feeling around him after that night, but never understood why. I’ve even seen him in the club a couple of times. He even talked to me once, but I blew it off as him being a man who liked strippers. Thankfully, he never realized it was me.”

“Always listen to your gut,” she tells me.

“Our girl says it too. One day, I think the two of you should meet. She grew up in foster care and had a hard life. Ash caught the attention of a psycho too, and thankfully, we were able to end him. We’re going to do the same for you. Him, the girl who spread the video, and your aunt. You’re Rico’s niece, and since he’s like family to us, so are you. The Hellions will always have your back,” Ryker says, turning to look at me.

“Thank you,” comes softly from my lips.

“It’s going to be okay. We go in, dance a little. Our clothes will never come off before they’re busting down the doors and handling his ass. Then we’ll whisk you home to that man of yours.” She leans in closer, bumping my shoulder with hers.

She’s right. I just need to remain positive and keep my nerves in check. I can do this.

Tonight is the night I make him pay.

Colin pulls the car up in front of a building. There’s no sign anywhere telling what kind of business it is and the windows are blacked out.

“This is it?” I ask, looking at the two-story brick building.

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