Page 3 of Laying it Bare Biker Style - Grayson

Stopping about a yard away from them, I snarled. “Get the fuck away from her now!”

Burly guy snickered. “Mind your own business. My boys and me have this covered.”

Since it was dark, I hadn’t noticed his cronies standing around, but there were only four of them. Easy pickings. Especially when now that I was closer and got a good look at Brooke, my anger swelled like a dragon unfurling its wings. Her right eye was red rimmed, her lip was split, and she had a huge bruise on her cheek.

At my advancement, burly guy whipped her around, holding her back to his front and pulled a knife up to her neck. “Close enough. Now go back to your party; this isn’t your business. Besides, it’s just you and I don’t think you can take on all five of us. MC guy or not.” He sneered.

Brooke’s eyes were wide, her face pale. But not a single tear stained her cheeks.

“Even unarmed I could take the five of you out without breaking a sweat.” I tugged my gun from my waistband and trained it on burly guy. “But seeing as I’m an excellent shot; I’ll put a bullet in your head. And since she’s not tall enough to shield anything but your chest, I’ll blow your brains out and then put a bullet in each one of your cronies.”

Not wanting to test my threat, his cronies eyeballed one another briefly before taking off.

“Fucking pansies.” The brute spat his frustration.

“Release the girl, asshat.”

As soon as he threw Brooke to the ground, I shoved my gun back into the waistband of my jeans and was on him. I slammed my hand down on the wrist holding the knife and it skittered across the pavement before my fist connected twice with his face and once with his gut. Rage simmered through my veins and my thoughts were only on one thing – beating him to a bloody pulp for what he had done to Brooke.

“Please, Grayson. Stop. Please just let him go.” However, her distressing pleas broke through my haze of fury.

Shoving the fucker to the ground, I snarled. “Get the fuck out of here before I change my mind.”

Not paying one bit of attention to his retreating ass, I rushed over to Brooke and carefully lifted her from the ground and wrapped her up in my arms. And was completely caught off guard when instead of being struck by a wave of lust, a surge of extreme protectiveness washed over me. I never liked seeinganyinnocent female injured by a douchebag, but the feelings she evoked in me were unfamiliar.

She shook as she burrowed into my shirt. “I’m not a weakling.”

“Nobody said you were.”

“But I needed you to rescue me from him.” She sniffled.

“He outweighed you by at least one hundred fifty pounds and had a knife. Unless you were packing a gun I didn’t see, he had two advantages, Princess.”

“I own a gun and a permit to carry, but Jim doesn’t allow them in his bar. Besides, I was here to drink and I never use a gun after I’ve consumed alcohol. And I’m not a princess.”

“Well, I feel like a prince since I defeated the enemy and am now holding the beautiful princess. So you know how to shoot. Fuck, beautiful and dangerous. I’m intrigued.”

“I’m the police chief’s daughter; of course I can handle a weapon.”

“Ahh, that explains the aversion to my kind.” Well, fuck. I didn’t stand a chance. We maintained a ‘tolerate one another’ relationship with the police, but the chief loathed us with a hatred I couldn’t comprehend. We had never caused him problems and were always willing and able to help out. But that never seemed to gain us any clemencies with him.

“I’m sorry about that. I don’t like when people judge me as a cop’s daughter. So I shouldn’t judge you by your membership in a club. I know there are a few good ones out there. Maybe you belong to one like that. I never bothered to ask.” She released a deep sigh. “And my dad is going to go ape shit crazy when he sees my face. I know it looks terrible since it hurts like a son of a bitch.” She pulled away from me slightly and looked over at her friend. “Dani, he is going to freak the fuck out, isn’t he?”

Her friend cringed and her eyes grew wide.

“Couldn’t you go home with your friend for a few days until the marks start to fade and you can cover them up with makeup?” Eyeing her up close and not tucked into my arms, my eyes landed on the bloody smear on her neck. Ripping the bottom off of my t-shirt, I placed it on her neck. “The fucker nicked your neck with his blade. It’s not bad though.”

“Thanks.” She placed her hand over mine, but I kept my own there. “I don’t live with my dad. I live with Dani, but he is coming over tomorrow to take me to brunch. It’s our normal Saturday morning routine.”

“Don’t answer the door. Have your roommate tell him you’re out with someone; I don’t know. Tell him you’ll have to meet him for brunch another morning during the week.”

“If he even senses I’m there; he’ll know something is wrong and barge right in.” Brooke tugged her free hand through her mass of waves.

“I can tell him Maggie was having a bad night so you headed over to stay with her. He won’t go over there to check because he doesn’t like dealing with girl drama. But you’d still need to hide away somewhere since I don’t know how he does it, but he’ll know you’re there and just not coming to the door. Must be something like a sixth sense they teach in cop school.” Dani studied her friend for a moment, her eyes full of sorrow. “I’m sorry I wanted to leave early. If we hadn’t, he wouldn’t have been able to corner us with no one around.” Then she shifted her gaze to me. “Thank you for coming over when you heard the ruckus. I know this wasn’t the normal direction you would have been heading since the motorcycles are parked out front.”

“I’d never leave any woman out here alone to fend for herself. Someone needed help and I’m always able to help. Besides, I had wanted another chance so that I could get Brooke’s number. When I noticed the two of you had disappeared, I had hoped I could catch up with you. My plan was to get her number after we had shared a dance, but I’m glad I was in the right place at the right time to help out. Sorry, I was so focused on the scene with Brooke; no one hurt you did they, Dani?”

“No. That asshole had been bothering her inside and his jerk friends just wanted to see a show. Although it makes me really sick if I think about what kind of show it could’ve turned into. I’m sure if my feet would have unglued from the pavement to try to help out, one of them would have been on me as well.” She shivered.

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