Page 15 of Idaho

"Anytime, Duchess."

She stiffened behind me, beginning to pull away, but I caught her wrists and wrapped her arms around me. I felt her small gasp rather than heard it over the engine. But her front was plastered to my back now, so it wasn't hard to catch the quick indrawn breath.

"Hold on tight," I told her. I didn't wait for her to brace. Didn't want her trying to pull away again. Putting the bike into gear, I pulled out onto the road. We had plenty of surface streets to maneuver through before we got to the highway, so by the time I opened the bike up on I-10, she'd relaxed into the ride.

The death grip she'd had on me for the first few minutes had loosened and she was learning to lean with me as we went. I didn't bother to wait for Static. He'd keep up.

When we pulled up in front of the clubhouse, I had to fight a wave of disappointment that it was over. Eva slid off the bike, then stood there, staring at it while I got off. She didn't speak as she handed me back the helmet.

I was pretty sure she was in a bit of shock. "Come with me," I told her, taking her by the hand and leading her inside.

Seek shoved out of her chair the minute we came through the door, her worried gaze taking us in then flicking over to the door.

"They're right behind us," I told her. "Everyone's okay."

Relief flooded her face at my words. It didn't matter that Static had told her the same, now that we were back, in one piece, she could relax. "Thank you, Idaho."

"Of course," I told her. I looked over behind the bar. "Jack and Coke, and a shot of whiskey. Doesn't matter what kind," I told Scarlett. Leading Eva over, I gently pushed her down onto the bar stool. She wasn't shaking anymore, that was a good sign, but I still shoved the shot into her hand. "Drink that. It'll help."

She lifted the glass to her lips and took a small sip. Her nose scrunched up as she coughed a little from the burn of the alcohol. It was fucking adorable. Her eyes met mine, then moved down to inspect the liquid in the glass. She lifted it again to take another small sip.

I used a finger to tilt the bottom of the glass, forcing her to take a bigger swallow. The alcohol would help calm her nerves. I didn't know how much she'd already had, so I wasn't trying to pour too much down her throat, just enough for her to lose that haunted look.

She smacked my hand away, glaring at me as she set the half empty glass on the bar. "Thank you."

There was that prim and proper tone again. Something about the accent and the way she carried herself just reminded me of royalty. It was why I'd jokingly called her Duchess before. The nickname fit. Looking over my shoulder, I saw everyone crowding around, wanting more information.

Static saved me the explanation as he walked through the door with the others. We all listened as Jo and Brad recounted the story of what happened.

"Pretty sure Idaho sent that guy to the hospital," Brad said with a grin.

Lockout's eyes flashed with anger as he glared at me. "We don't need that kind of attention right now," he growled.

"Understood," I said with a shrug, "but those fuckers were trying to cart Eva off." I motioned to the shell-shocked woman sitting next to me. "They told her they were going to teach her a lesson."

That softened my brother up. He looked over at her, the anger on his face fading a little. "No one is going to do a damn thing to you," he promised her. That was the thing about my brother. He actually gave a shit about people. He was a sucker for a damsel in distress.

That wasn't usually my scene, but something about Eva had my protective instincts flaring to life.

"Priest, can you and Taz get some of the rooms ready?" Lock asked.

Priest gave a short nod. "No problem, Prez."

"You can all stay here tonight," Lock told them. "We'll take you home in the morning."

"I'll help get the rooms ready," Keely said. Jordan and Gwen followed her out of the room to help as well.

There were a lot of people already living here, thanks to the trouble the club was having with the DA, and previously the mafia. I hadn't even had a conversation yet with Gwen since her kids and her job kept her busy, but I was good with names. Not to mention the files I had thanks to the PI I'd hired. Every few months I had him update me on anyone new coming into the club. I had the leg up on all of these people. Was it an invasion of privacy? Yeah. Did I give a shit? Fuck no. I would always keep an eye on my twin and anyone who was a part of his life. And I wouldn't fucking apologize for my methods. Not that I planned to tell them that I'd had them all investigated.

Lock was about to start assigning places for everyone to sleep so we could all get to bed, or back to it for those who hadn't been partying, when the front door of the clubhouse slammed open. Dash came flying into the room, landing with a heavy thud. The sight in front of us made most of our jaws drop. Toxic was riding a guy about the same size as a bull. He had one arm wrapped around the man's thick neck as he tried to take him down.

Moving forward, I pulled my gun out, ready to take out this newest threat and fuck the consequences. I was fucking done with all this bullshit. I'd already promised Eva she was safe with me; I was going to make sure she was. The thought of this guy following us so he could continue whatever his group had planned for her had me seeing red.

CHAPTER 7

Eva

"Thomas!" I gasped, but the name was lost in the ensuing chaos.

---