Page 23 of Striker

Striker

Ipulled past the clubhousegates and parked my motorcycle. I could feel Lilah's body shaking. Quickly turning around, I wrapped her in my arms and rubbed her back.

“Lilah, baby, it’s okay. I’ve got you. You’re safe now. I will get this fucker. I promise.”

Lilah pulled back and wiped the tears from her eyes. “ I know, I know. I’m sorry. I’m just so emotional. I tried to keep my cool like when we were in the hospital. But once I’m with you, my walls crumble and I feel like those silly damsels in distress. I’ve never been one of those girls.” She laughed as she got off the motorcycle.

“Little Lark, never put walls up around me. I want all of you. Good, bad, ugly.” I took her helmet off and bent down to kiss her. Her soft lips were like heaven, breaking down my hard exterior, bringing me to my knees, making me feel like I was finally home.

There was a deep cough behind me and Lilah broke the kiss. I turned around and saw her brothers, Maverick and Goose standing there. “Yo, Pres, do that shit where I don’t have to see it.” Goose had his signature goofy smile on his face, eyes full of laughter.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” I turned to Lilah and brought her hand to my lips. I gently kissed the top of her hand then intertwined my fingers with hers. “Come on, baby girl, you can wait at the bar while we have church. I don’t want you far from me.” We all made our way inside the clubhouse and I got Lilah settled at the bar with the Prospects before heading to church.

I opened the big double doors, my brothers already in their seats. I sat at the head of the table and banged my gavel. “I am fucking done. Done with this fucker thinking he can get away with things like this. Buckle down and get him, brothers!” I slammed my fists on the table, making some brothers jump.

Maverick cleared his throat and stood up, “Moose, what do you have?”

Moose stood and opened the laptop. “Lilah's Ex is a sneaky sonofabitch. He has ties to the mob, but isn’t on their payroll. Looks like he’s running rouge, which is good for us. He snuck into town under the pretenses that he’s investigating a cold case. Sheriff didn’t think anything of it before the earlier incident. He operates in the dark, so I’m having a hard time zeroing in on him, but I’m getting close. I also fixed her necklace Pres. Plus I added a little something extra.” Moose sat back down and the rest of the brothers all turned to look at me. Goose and Maverick looked upset.

“Our Pop gave that to her. We appreciate you fixin' it, but what did you do to it?” Maverick went from angry to ice cold, all business.

“I added a microscopic tracker. It’s on the back so nobody can see it. It’s just in case anything happens ya know?”

Goose leaned over and patted Moose on the back, “Thanks brother.” Moose just nodded his head, he knew the stakes were high.

“I’ve called in some reinforcements from our other chapters and some neighboring clubs. We can’t be getting caught up in the law while taking this guy out. They’ll be getting here tomorrow so let’s make sure we’re ready. You all know the drill.” I looked around at my brothers, all of them were ready and willing.

We protected each other, we protected our town, we protected our own. I banged the gavel on the table and headed toward the door. Opening them up, I saw my Little Lark perched on one of the bar stools. Her head was thrown back, laughing. Her hair surrounded her, flowing down her back. Those beautiful green eyes were filled with joy. All the Prospects were around her, the club girls too. Every single one had the look of admiration on their faces. Lilah was an angel and had everybody wrapped around her pretty little finger. I was so amazed that she could bounce back after such a terrifying incident. She truly was one of a kind, and I was so lucky to call her mine.

I made my way over to the bar and came up right behind her. Wrapping my arms around her, I bent down and kissed her neck. “Hey there, baby.”

Lilah turned around and I could see the love radiating in her eyes. “Hey! That was a pretty quick meeting, babe. Did you know these girls are looking for jobs out of town? You should hire them! Bambi is doing cam shows; maybe do something with that. Bet you could make a ton of money! I also want you to meet an old friend, Ellie Jo!” She turned and pointed toward a little redhead standing next to Bambi. She was dressed in a flowy pink dress and white heels with a pink leather purse in her hand. She looked like she was straight out of a 1950’s magazine. Putting my hand out, she put her hand in mine and we shook.

“Nice to meet you, but I feel like I know you.” I tried to think about when I would have met somebody so unique like her.

She laughed as she clasped her hands together. “Well that’s because we do. We went to school for a few years together and then I left to be homeschooled, while my mom traveled the world for work. I came back here and just opened the bakery on Main Street, ‘Mon Petite Boulangerie’ or as everybody calls it, ‘Mon Petite’.”

I nodded as Goose came walking over. “Well it’s nice to see you again! I’ll have to sit down with you soon and discuss a business agreement, because we need some good breakfast food in this clubhouse.”

She smiled as her eyes lit up, “That would be just absolutely delightful! I so look forward to it!”

Goose stepped up next to me and leaned up against the bar. “Hey there, Ellie Jo! I’ll sit in on that meeting, Striker. You know how I love sweets. Especially Ellie Jo’s.” He winked at her and she twisted her hands together.

“Oh..oh okay. That would be fine, I suppose. Well anyways, it was nice to see you again, Lilah. I’ll bring some muffins by your work tomorrow and we can talk more. Good to see you again and I look forward to picking up where we left off!” She hurried toward the door and I could see her climb onto a pink bicycle and pedaled off.

I just laughed and shook my head. “What the fuck was that about, Goose?”

He smiled and grabbed a shot glass while eyeing Bambi’s ass, “Nothing, brother. She’s just a little hottie who doesn’t drop her panties at the sight of me. It’s like a challenge and I plan on breaking that girl soon. You just wait.”

Lilah slapped the back of his head and Bambi made a face at him. “Sawyer Crawford! Don’t you talk about sweet Ellie Jo like that! She isn’t a conquest. Stay away from her or I’ll tell Mama what you said about her. She always liked her.”

Goose made a shocked face as he pulled Lilah into a bear hug. “You wouldn't dare. I’ll tell Mama about all the times you snuck off to be with Striker and I covered your chores. Or all about how her good little girl was screaming so loud last night that the whole clubhouse heard her.” He narrowed his eyes at her and then at me.

I laughed and grabbed Lilah’s hand and pulled her into me. “I’ll buy you earplugs for next time, brother.”

Goose shook his head and inched next to Bambi, “You're a sick man. That’s my baby sister you’re talking about. I’ve gotta get that image out of my head now. Let’s go, Bambi, help me burn a new memory in my mind.” He slapped her ass and pulled her toward his room out back, the two of them giggling the whole way.

I turned to Lilah and kissed her cheek, “Now come on, you need to get home and see your Mama. I’m sure she’s worried sick.” Lilah quickly gathered her things and gave all the other girls hugs. She said goodbye to all my brothers and grabbed my hand as we walked out the door. We hopped on my motorcycle and drove off to the ranch.

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