BAD BOY ROMANCE: DIESEL: Contemporary Bad Boy Biker MC Romance (Box Set) (New Adult Sports Romance Short Stories Boxset) (18 page)

Chapter 9

Diesel had intended to go in alone, but he finally agreed to let three others ride in for backup. He hadn’t bothered trying to sneak in; they’d shot the guards at the gate and rushed right past several others as they approached the house. The guys on the door had shouted and pointed guns, but Diesel had shouted back.

The standoff only lasted a few seconds, and one of the guards fired. Diesel ducked behind one of the ridiculous pillars as he fired off three shots. His brothers found other spots to hide, peering around and getting off a shot here and there. Diesel saw one guard go down, and he leaned out, taking the other down. “Go!” he called, and the four of them rushed the door.

They’d accomplished their goal – they’d had the element of surprise on their side, and taking down the guys at the gate had silenced the call for help. Everyone else was slow to respond, and they broke into pairs, heading two different directions to look for Kim. Diesel couldn’t deny it; he hoped he ran into DeLucci Sr., or at least the asshole of a son who Diesel knew had to be the brains behind the brawn. And he was obviously not that smart. He’d poked the bull, and now, Diesel was going to run him down.

***

The gunshots stopped, but Kim could hear several voices and heavy footsteps coming close. A fist banged on the door, and Sophia answered it with an attitude. “What do you want?”

“Where’s the girl?” a man with a gruff voice answered. Kim couldn’t see him. She could barely catch a glimpse of Sophia through the cracked closet door.

“What are you talking about?” she asked, sounding annoyed. A gunshot sounded close by, and she gasped. She certainly put up a good performance. “What the hell is going on?” she demanded.

“I asked what you did with the girl, bitch. The Skulls are here, and that means they’re here for her. Where is she?”

“I don’t know! I dressed her and took her back to her room. That oaf at the door was supposed to tie her up so I could take a nap.” Sophia gave him a fearful look. “You guys better get on it. Now, get out of here so I can hide! I don’t want to get caught in the crossfire.” She all but shoved him out of the room and slammed the door.

She disappeared from Kim’s view, and the next thing Kim heard aside from running and shooting was something scraping across the floor. She dug herself out from under the pile of stuff and opened the closet door to find Sophia putting the dresser against the door to the room. “What are you doing?”

She motioned with her head in the other direction. “We’re going out the window.”

Kim stared at her, eyes wide. “Are you kidding? We’re on the second floor!”

“I know, and no one’s going to look up at the roof while we make our way around to where they parked the bikes.” Sophia straightened and looked at her with a warning. “And don’t you dare fall. I’m putting my ass on the line to save you and that baby. Don’t do anything to put me back in the hot seat, okay?”

Kim took a deep breath and nodded. She had no idea how this was going to work. There were bullets flying everywhere, she was sure, and she didn’t have any balance to start with. To be up on a roof would probably give her vertigo. But if Sophia thought it was the best way out without serving themselves up to the wrong people, she’d try.

Luckily, there was a fairly flat area right outside the window, giving her a chance to get her bearings when she stepped out before she had to shimmy over steep angles or narrow ledges. Honestly, she hoped there was some sort of sturdy trellis they could climb down and find a place to hide in some thick bushes until all of this calmed down.

The thought of Diesel getting shot again, maybe in the heart or head this time, froze Kim for a moment, but then she realized that if he was dead, the gun fight would likely be over by now. Sadly, that gave her hope.

She waited while Sophia looked back and forth, trying to decide which way to go. Finally, she motioned to their right. “Come on, this way is shorter.”

Kim wanted to ask where they were going that it was shorter, but she couldn’t make herself speak. Somehow, she felt that talking at all would either draw the attention of every shooter in this complex or cause one or both of them to lose their balance and slide right off the roof. Instead of making a fuss, she blocked out the sound of the fight going on as much as she could, focusing on the thought of freedom and reuniting with Diesel.

The roof started to slope, and Kim had to force herself to step on the next section. She used her hands, almost crawling to climb to the peak above a window. On the other side, she turned and slid feet-first to the next flat section. Her heart was racing as they rounded a corner to the side of the house and Sophia’s foot slipped. Kim couldn’t imagine being in the heeled boots the other woman wore and climbing around so precariously.

“Here,” Sophia muttered, sounding excited. She was looking down, and Kim followed her gaze. There was a tall, steel ladder leaning against the side of the house, as if someone had recently been working on the roof and hadn’t removed it. The two of them navigated down quickly and pressed against the house, hoping they wouldn’t be seen. Kim was sure there were security cameras, though it was possible no one was monitoring them with bullets flying everywhere.

As they reached the front of the house, Sophia leaned her head around and then pulled back. “The bikes are right in front of the house. I don’t think we can get them and ride out of here without getting shot. Come on, let’s go back around the back and see if we can find a way out of here.”

“I’m not leaving without Diesel,” Kim told her. She hadn’t been thinking clearly at first, but now she realized she couldn’t just disappear on him, since he’d come all this way for her. And some of the other Skulls had come with him. If they were hurt or killed for her sake, and she ran away, she could never live with the guilt.

“You really are two of a kind,” Sophia grumbled, shaking her head. “Altruism isn’t always a good quality, you know. Still, she nodded. “Maybe the greenhouse could be a safe bet. But we have to get across the property.”

They turned around, and as they moved to the rear of the house, Kim could see the greenhouse, maybe the length of a hockey court away. Making a run for it, the two women paced each other all the way, only to find the door locked.

“Gotcha!” The voice wasn’t exactly in Kim’s ear, but it was loud and strong and might as well have been echoing inside her skull. She turned to find Abe pointing a gun at her from a few feet away.

“Abe, don’t!” Sophia said, putting her hand on Kim’s stomach. “The baby! If you kill her, you’re as good as dead.”

“I am anyway, if we lose her,” he growled.

“Put it down, you son of a bitch!” Kim knew that voice, and her head whirled to find Diesel coming toward them at a dead run.

Her heart stopped, and she lunged forward, intending to keep the big oaf from turning and shooting her husband. But Abe was still facing her and called to Diesel, “You’re just in time.”

She heard a shot fired, but she couldn’t tell from where, and she felt an impact. Her back hit the ground, and her head bounced, jostling her brain so she couldn’t think straight except to be grateful it wasn’t concrete. She heard more shots fired, and she felt something hot and wet on her shirt. Was she bleeding?

No. Sophia’s groan helped her reconnect to the moment, and she realized the woman was on top of her. And she was the one bleeding. Carefully, she rolled Sophia to her back, just as Diesel got to her, and she could see the blood blossoming on Sophia’s shirt, on the left side of her stomach. There was also a trail of the red liquid coming from the corner of her mouth.

“Are you okay?” Diesel asked frantically, and Kim nodded, more concerned with Sophia.

She didn’t expect him to understand, but still, she told him, “We have to help her.”

But Sophia lifted a hand, her touch lighter than a feather. “No, leave me. It’s too late, and you have to get out of here.”

“Sophia…” Kim began.

“No, just go. But do me a favor.” She choked on blood, and Kim lifted the woman’s head into her lap. “Don’t ever subject a kid to this life. You and Diesel get the hell away from the MC before you start a family.”

With that, she closed her eyes and sighed. She didn’t take another breath.

Chapter 10

“We have to go.” Diesel grabbed Kim’s arm and forced her to her feet. They didn’t have time to grieve, and even he was upset. After all, Sophia had just redeemed herself for every wrong by saving his wife. She’d stepped in front of that bullet and given her own life to make sure Kim didn’t lose hers.

The sound of bikes had him in survival mode, and he put Kim on the back of one, taking the back of another as the three men rode away. He could sacrifice his bike. He wasn’t going to lose his wife. There weren’t so many guys around to fire at them now. Most of the people left in the compound weren’t carrying guns. And he and his crew were responsible for that. Luckily, that meant they had a moment to stop so he could recover his own motorcycle before they left the property.

They headed for the clubhouse, but Diesel knew their time was limited. The cops would come knocking at any moment. Half the DeLucci family and most of their minions were dead. And if the cops didn’t get there first, Papa DeLucci wouldn’t send for Diesel this time. He’d just take down the whole club.

And Sophia had been right. The MC was no place to raise a family. As much as he loved his brothers and couldn’t quite comprehend leaving them, he knew that was exactly what he was going to have to do, if he wanted to be with Kim.

He spent a few minutes looking her over and holding her, and then he turned her over to Shelly, their resident nurse. He needed to make sure her injuries were cared for and that he hadn’t missed anything looking her over. While they worked, he talked to King, who had the contacts for new identities and relocation.

By the time he’d finished talking to King, Kim was ready to go, and he swept her out of the building and to a hotel, stopping at the house just long enough for both of them to grab some clothes. He couldn’t risk anyone coming for them here. He was too tired to be on his A-game.

***

Carrie and Dalton Taylor. Not exactly the names Kim would have chosen, but they were pretty generic, which would keep them from standing out among a crowd. The credentials had been delivered within two days, and they were on a flight to Alaska two days after that.

She’d hoped for Anchorage or Juneau, a population center, but instead, they had rented a cabin in the woods. It wasn’t as remote as it sounded. They were only thirty miles from Anchorage, and the cabin looked rustic but had been decked out with all the modern amenities and technology.

Diesel – or Dalton, as she was supposed to call him now – had landed a job with the park ranger service, and Kim, who had to go by Carrie, was playing in two of the local bars in Anchorage once a week. She would be working on writing some music, something she’d wanted to do for a long time, during her time at home.

Other than remembering to use the right names, she’d settled in pretty quickly, and after a week, she’d finally told her husband what she’d learned from Sophia. They grieved together, and Diesel admitted, “I’ve been holding out, too. Spencer’s in the hospital. The DeLucci’s had him beaten and left for dead. One of the Skulls found him and got him to the hospital. He barely made it, but when he’s well enough, he’s got a lot of work to do if he wants back into the club.”

Kim hoped he could work things out. She’d seen the wildness in his eyes and known he wasn’t right in his mind. With time and treatment, that could be helped, if he would just accept the assistance. “You know, I’ve been holding out on you, too.” She bit her lip, nervous but excited as she told him, “Sophia’s warning about raising a family in the club wasn’t just an offhand comment. I’m pregnant.”

He looked terrified for a moment, but slowly a smile spread over his face. “Really?”

She nodded. “Really. I’m actually going to have to find a doctor in the city soon. It’s time to get in for a checkup.”

She wasn’t sure what he was thinking until he suddenly pulled her into his lap and squeezed her possessively. “To think I almost lost you
and
a child. Sophia knew?”

“She’s the only reason we’re going to have this baby. She made sure they didn’t do anything to me that would hurt the baby.”

“Who would have thought we would owe my ex-wife?” He shook his head in disbelief. “I’m going to make sure she has a nice headstone.” They had already assured her body was retrieved and properly buried.

“That would be nice. And if we have a girl, I think I’d like to name her Alexis Sophia.” She hoped she wasn’t overstepping her boundaries.

“I think that would be fine.” He kissed her forehead and sighed. “I can’t believe we’ve been out here for almost a month, and I don’t feel like I need the club. I never thought I’d be happy away from the crew or the danger of the work. But here, in the wild far away from all that mess with you, I’m happier than I think I’ve ever been.” His smile faded, and his expression grew very serious. “And now, knowing that we’re starting a family, I’m even more relieved to be away from it all. Sophia was right. The MC is no place for a family. I should never have dragged you into it.”

But Kim shook her head. “I was more than happy to be involved, while we were. But I want our son or daughter, and any others that come along, to have a safer, more normal life. I mean, I don’t want them to grow up bored, but there are so many outdoor activities here. And I’m a musician, so there’s always culture and arts for them. Plus, you are going to make an amazing dad who can tell all sorts of crazy stories about your youth.”