Page 83 of Jasper
“You put a mark on her, and you are a dead man. You’ll rot in the fucking earth and no one will ever know what happened to you.”
Whitmore laughs because he doesn’t understand the danger he’s in. “Is that supposed to scare me?”
“No,” Jasper says, deadpan. “The fact that you gave money to the Hyenas to spy on me, broke into my clubhouse, and have a weapon trained on my old lady should scare the ever-loving fuck outta you.” Pausing for a second, Jasper adds, “You’re just some lame riche dude who thought his fucking money could buy people. While I just tore the Hyenas apart. I’m literally wearing the club president’s blood on my clothes right now. The ones that aren’t dead ran away. They fucking left you here, knowing that touching my old lady means death.”
“Everyone is for sale at the right price,” he sneers.
I barely notice Queenie shift. Just one step. Barely perceptible. But Jasper does.
The man holding me is too focused on his monologue to notice. “You act like this is personal, but I’m just correcting a system error. You’re overthinking this situation. I’m more fit to be a parent than a damn outlaw biker.”
Jasper tilts his head. “Is that how you explain your whole life? Every woman who’s ever worked for you is technically yours to use as long and hard as you like? What happens if they move on to greener pastures?”
“No one really leaves me,” he says with a touch of pride. “They’re all still there. On my terms. One way or another.”
“Not this one,” Jasper says, his voice is low, cold, and final.
And then, in an instant, Whitmore falls to the floor with a resounding thud.
When he drops, and I press my back to the wall, my hands still trembling. Jasper steps forward and slips his arms around me. He whisks me away to the other side of the room and holds me close. It takes me a minute to realize what happened.
Whitmore is lying on his side with his gun in his hand, but he also has a gigantic knife sticking out of his chest.
I look up at Jasper, shocked. “What happened? How did you take him down without him shooting me?”
He jerks his chin at Queenie, who is now practically preening.
Rock is the one who explains as he steps over to put his arm around his old lady. “Queenie slipped close and flipped the gun safety switch a second before Jasper introduced the pompous prick to his favorite hunting knife.”
“Brothers from a rival club showed up just when we needed them the most,” Jasper explains. “Them and our crew are cleaning up right now.”
Rock interjects, “Let’s have a look at the damage.”
As if on cue, Queenie steps out of his embrace and holds out her hand to me. “Let’s go help care for the wounded, while the club girls clean up the clubhouse.”
That’s when I realize that Jasper is wounded. Rather than making a fuss that I know will embarrass him, I grab his hand and lead him upstairs and back to the church room. I’ve been around long enough to know that’s where they’ll set up atemporary medical unit. It’s not like the brothers can all pile into an ER without explaining how they got their injuries.
I’m strangely calm. That surprises me more than everyone else. It’s clear that I’ve been hanging around the clubhouse long enough to get used to how they roll. I know in my heart of hearts that these men don’t bring the fight, but they don’t back down when it comes to protecting their womenfolk and their club. I totally understand why they are all broken up about having to hurt and even kill men from that rival club. It’s because Jasper and his club brothers didn’t ask for any of this mess and had to fight because the local police won’t do anything in situations like this. Jasper once explained that law enforcement just lets them fight it out and then targets the remaining club. So, I don’t think they have anything to feel bad about, much less ashamed of today. It is what it is.
When we enter the meeting room where they hold church, it’s like I thought. The wounded are laid out on the floor or sitting in chairs as the club medic rushes around, anyone with first aid training has been roped in to help him. I sit Jasper down in a chair, go out to the supply table and bring back things to clean his wounds with. I don’t know what to say, so I say nothing.
Eventually, he asks, “Are you okay? You look like you might be in shock.”
My eyes lift to his and his worry is reflected back at me. “No. I’m just thinking about how bad things got today. It was a little shocking.”
“You mean how balls to the wall the Hyenas were or that Whitmore showed up?”
I swallow thickly and nod. “Both, I guess. It’s particularly shocking that Whitmore teamed up with an outlaw biker gang.”
Jasper’s eyebrows fly up. “Me too. I don’t think anyone saw that coming.”
“He just didn’t seem like the type,” I say, shaking my head.
“Yeah, those rich guys never do seem like the type to go slummin’ with bikers. You sure you want to, darlin’?”
My head jerks up from the wound on his shoulder to stare at him. “Excuse me?”
He gestures around at the chaos with his free hand. “I’m askin’ if what happened today scared you off from wantin’ to be with me. I wouldn’t blame you if it did.”
