Page 55 of Gunner

“I fought him this time.” She sniffed.

“What?”

“I woke up and he was on top of me. His hand covered my mouth. I scratched his face and bit his hand. When he pulled his hand back, that’s when I screamed.”

Putting my arm around her shoulders, I squeezed. “That was perfect. You did a good job. We’ll tell the sheriff.”

I helped Aspen pack enough for a few weeks since we didn’t know how long we would be at the clubhouse. Once I packed up my own things, we piled into my car and followed Gunner to the clubhouse.

I wasn’t afraid like Aspen, but I was nervous. I had never been to the clubhouse. In fact, I had never really interacted with any of the brothers other than Ryder.

Standing just inside the door, I looked around the large room, surprised by how clean it was. But I supposed with a child living here, it would have to be. Gunner sent two young men out to bring in our bags.

“Archie, put those bags in the room Amber readied,” Gunner ordered, pointing to Aspen’s bags. “Johnny, put those bags in my room.”

What?

“Wait, I am not staying in your room.”

“We’ll talk about it later. Let’s get Aspen settled.” His hand on my lower back urged me further into the room.

“Haizley, we have to call Corbin,” Aspen reminded me quietly.

“King called Declan,” Gunner stated.

The fear in her eyes and the shortening of her breath indicated she was working her way into a panic attack.

“No. She trusted him last time, and it didn’t work out well.” Turning back to Aspen, I reassured her, “I’ll call Corbin and have him come here.” She nodded her head and looked around.

“Hi, Aspen,” Sam cautiously spoke.

“Hi, Sam.” Aspen’s quiet response made me optimistic.

“Why don’t we sit down on the couch and wait for Corbin?” Sam held out her hand to Aspen. She looked at me and when I nodded, Aspen carefully put her hand in Sam’s and followed her over to the large couch on the side of the room.

I was beginning to think this was a great idea. Here she had others she could connect with. It wasn’t healthy to rely on only one person.

Aspen needed more than just me if she had any hope of living the life she once led.

Chapter Fifteen

Gunner

Sitting at the bar, I watched as Beck, Sam, and Amber gathered around Aspen. My brothers had found some incredible women. But none of them compared to mine.

“You gonna claim her?”

Jack sat down next to me, and the prospect dropped off a beer.

“Yup.” I lifted my beer to my mouth as he chuckled.

“And you thought you’d never get what you wanted.”

Turning to look at Jack, I said, “Don’t have her yet, brother.”

“You sure about that?” Jack tilted his beer to where the women were sitting, and I caught Haizley’s eyes on me. She turned away quickly, but she couldn’t hide the fact that she had been watching me.

Not long after the front door opened, Declan and Deputy Blackwater strolled in.

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