Black Dogs Motorcycle Club: Full Series Box Set (30 page)

Laura gasped, “Oh, and
then that guy just came up swinging out of nowhere like he was Van Damme and
made Tony look like a total bitch!”

“It was like that with
this guy today. Just quiet, and then suddenly,
pow,
” said Eva. “He broke
one of their arms and chased them off.”

“That’s incredible!” said
Laura. “What the hell kind of storybook did you walk into?”

Eva laughed, “I knew you
were going to say that.”

“Seriously, though, are
you okay? Did anyone get hurt? I assume you called the cops.”

Eva froze, biting her lip.
“We’re okay. But cops, well… things are apparently a little more complicated
than that. This guy, Will… I don’t know who he is, but he says those assholes
are going to come back, and he wants to stay and take care of them. He says
he’s seen it before. The cops won’t help until it’s too late.”

Laura was silent on the
other end for a good few seconds. “Wait, so let me get this straight. You’ve
got like… some dude just hanging out in your bar on an epic quest for
vengeance?”

“I guess that’s one way to
put it,” said Eva.

“Charlie’s with you,
right? You’re not in danger?”

“No, no,” said Eva, though
she wondered why. Will was obviously a dangerous man—why was she so sure he
wouldn’t hurt her? “I mean, Will’s a total asshole, but he protected us. He
doesn’t want anything.”

“
Will?
” said Laura,
dragging the name out. “First name basis already?” She paused for a second. “Oh
shit, is he hot? Is that what’s happening?”

Eva felt her face flush.
“I literally hate you.”

“Girl, oh my God, are you
going to fuck some mysterious stranger who is beating up criminals in your bar?
Wait, isn’t that basically the plot of Batman?” Laura gasped. “Are you going to
fuck
Batman
?”

This time, Eva laughed
loud, remembering that Will ironically called himself that earlier. “Christ,
Laura, I just met the man today!”

Laura let out a big sigh.
“Girl, I don’t know what to do with you. You’re more adventure than I can
handle.”

Eva laughed. “Apparently.”

“Seriously though, I’m all
for you getting a roll in the hay—God knows you need it—but just be careful,
okay? Maybe the guy who’s kicking the shit out of people isn’t the best target
for that.”

“Oh, don’t worry,” said
Eva. “I would have to get over how terribly unattractive his attitude is to
even consider that.”

“The eternal struggle of
all womankind,” said Laura, and they shared a hearty laugh.

Eva chatted with Laura for
another half hour, catching up on her life as a publicist for a small record
label in the city, and Laura’s own man-centered shenanigans. Eva promised to
call her later and keep her updated on the situation, after once again assuring
her that she was and would remain safe. The conversation had Eva feeling
lighter and more centered than she had before.

As she stood up from the
bed to stretch a little, her eyes caught some movement in the wood near the bar
through the window in her room. Across the meadow, Charlie and Will were
stalking around the perimeter, inspecting, stooping, pointing.
Making some
sort of battle plan, no doubt
, she thought.

Will moved through the
trees like a graceful predator as she watched, hidden from his view. What was
it that kept whispering in her head, telling her he was more than he seemed. He
left no room for doubt during their earlier conversation about his own feelings
toward her.

But then she remembered
the look on his face when he knelt before her and picked up her book with
gentle, concerned hands. The loving way he straightened all the crooked pages
back to their proper spots. The soft way he had asked if she was okay.

Eva sighed as the sun lit
up his rust-colored hair even as he moved between the trees. If only it would
illuminate more of the man underneath.

~ EIGHT ~

Will chewed on the ugly words he had spit at Eva for
the next few hours as he investigated the grounds around the bar. Charlie was
giving him a tour of their borders and buildings. He was surprised to see that
the bar’s owner, Owen, actually lived in a modest rambler only fifty yards or
so from the bar itself, tucked up in the tree line. That made things easier—he
didn’t have to worry about watching some second location where Eva and Charlie
might be threatened, and he didn’t have to try and talk them into camping at
the bar until this all blew over.

He didn’t understand why
he felt guilty about the way he talked to Eva. When was the last time he ever
felt guilty about anything, especially something involving a woman? He wasn’t a
total piece of shit—he intentionally sought out women like him, who lived rough
lives on the edge and weren’t looking for more than momentary physical comfort.
He made his intentions clear from the beginning. He didn’t lead them on or
abuse them or fuck with their emotions like many other so-called men in the
world did regularly. Will always found it bitterly funny that these same men
would look down on him for being an outlaw and not participating in some
bullshit “respectable” corporate world, just to turn around and treat their
wives worse than he would ever consider treating a woman. He
wanted
to
fuck Eva, sure. But he didn’t fuck women
like
Eva.

But he still felt guilty
about what he had said to her, and that guilt only made him angry. Eva had no
idea what she was getting into. She didn’t seem to understand how much danger
she and Charlie could be in.

That being said, Will was
trying to bury his growing lust for her that very clearly did not want to be
ignored. Lust was nothing new, and he usually had no problems serving it. But
he served it with the right type of women. A
different
type of woman.
Not one who was as soft and breakable as Eva. He didn’t need some moon-eyed out
of town girl falling in love with the roughneck bad boy. Not here. Not now.

Will realized Charlie had
been talking to him, and he hadn’t heard much of it. He tried to play it off
otherwise as Charlie pointed out the two cheap security cameras stationed on
corners of the roof on the bar. Then he turned and pointed into the woods.
“There’s also one on the house, running to the same closed circuit feed.”

Will nodded. “Helpful.”

“What kind of a response
are you expecting, exactly?” asked Charlie. He was probably close to Will’s
age, maybe a few years younger; attractive kid with arms and a chest that told
of manual, blue-collar labor. Something about his down-to-brass-tacks demeanor
made him seem older, reminding Will of the old school World War II veterans
that used to hang around visiting his grandfather. Charlie was an old soul with
a lot of emotion.

“That depends,” said Will.
He ran a hand through his hair as the wind tussled it, scanning the bar.
“They’ll bring back a lot more men if they think we are going to do the same.
If they think we’re still weak, well, then maybe only a few. It will be more
than two, either way.”

“So you don’t know?” said
Charlie. “I thought you knew what you were doing with this stuff?”

“Look, this isn’t like
baking a cake where we follow a recipe. This is warfare. Do you have any idea
the insane amount of variables that come into play planning a tactical
response?”

Charlie blinked. His
Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed. “No, I guess I don’t.”

“I have to guess what
those fuckers are going to do next, based on the information I
think
they might have about us. What a general wouldn’t give for absolutes.” Will
paced off a few feet into the green underbrush to get a better look at the
house just up the incline. He imagined that’s where Eva had stormed off to.

“So, what do we do?” asked
Charlie.

“Do you have any weapons?”
said Will.

“I think there’s a shotgun
inside, and I know I’ve seen more than one axe around the property.”

Ghost would never forgive
me for battling with axes and not inviting him.
“Unless you and your sister have had
some medieval weapons training, I think we’ll just stick with firearms. I have
a few.”

“You can’t really just
shoot them, can you? You’ll be arrested for sure, that’s murder.”

“Self-defense,” said Will
as he trudged around Charlie and wandered back into the bar. “And make no
mistake, that’s exactly what it will be. They’re not going to come back
peacefully. So don’t get your panties in a twist worrying about murder.”

“It’s still a sin,” said
Charlie in a lower voice.

Will let out a harsh laugh
and poured himself a glass of whiskey. He dug in his pockets and fished out a
pack of smokes. “Then call yourself a priest when we’re done, Murdock, because
I can’t fucking help you get right with God.” He blew out a puff of smoke. “But
I just might keep you alive long enough to make it to confession.”

Charlie came close to him,
and looked over his shoulder before he spoke. “I want you to leave my sister
out of this,” he said. “Whatever plans you have to defend this place, don’t
write her into them. It’s just me and you, understand?”

Will gave him a look as he
exhaled smoke. “Are you saying she’s
not
a secret assassin, then?”

“Listen, asshole, I’m
serious,” said Charlie, pointing a finger to Will’s chest. “Just stay away from
her.”

“I would be pretty shitty
at my job if I tried to put bookworms in sundresses on my front lines,” said
Will. “You don’t need to worry about that.” Talking about Eva out loud only
made an image of her pop into Will’s head, beautiful and distracting. With it,
his guilt resurfaced.

“Good,” said Charlie. “My
uncle called earlier to check in and I didn’t know what all to tell him, so I
just got off the phone and said I’d call him back. I really want to tell him
what’s going on with his bar.”

“Don’t,” said Will. “We
don’t know who’s listening. And he could still be—“

“He is
not
involved
with this,” insisted Charlie with gritted teeth. “And you want me to just lie
about all this?”

“Don’t
lie
, just
keep your fucking mouth shut. Tell him things are fine. He can’t do anything to
help us, anyway.”

“Just like the cops,
right?”

Will finished his whiskey
and stood in front of Charlie with his shoulder squared. “If you don’t trust
me, Murdock, that’s fine. I’ll go. But believe me when I tell you that you and
that lovely sister of yours will pay the price if I do.” He paused. “I’ve seen
it before.”

Charlie fell silent. His
face betrayed his internal struggle with himself, trying to read a situation
that was over his head. In the end he said nothing, only sighed. “All right,
all right. Just… this is a lot to swallow, man, you know?”

Will didn’t have any urge
to empathize with Charlie, so he didn’t. All he needed was for this city boy to
listen to his very simple instructions so he didn’t get his bar blown to
fucking bits with his family inside. “Just take it easy for today. Something
tells me they won’t be back right away. They’ll give time for any cops we
called to fart around the scene and do nothing about it before they hit again.
Keep the bar closed for the day. Tomorrow, you and I will open up. We’ll keep
your sister in the house, away from it.”

Charlie made an
exasperated face and put his hands on his waist. “She is not gonna like hearing
that.”

“I’ll talk to her,” said
Will before he could stop himself.
Oh you will, huh? And with no ulterior
motive, I’m sure.
“I want to check out the house, anyway. Make sure it’s
secure.”

“Good luck. I’m going to
go close down the till,” said Charlie. He split from Will and returned to the
bar, and Will turned the opposite way, heading up the hill through the small
grassy forest to the quiet rambler tucked against the foothills.

Will listened to the soft
song of the wind through the trees as he waited on the porch for Eva to answer
his knock. After a few moments, the door swung open. Her eyes were hard, her
lips scrunched up, everything about her dark and shadowed from the screen door
between them.

“Did you need something?”
she asked.

“Can we talk?”

Eva shifted on her feet
and looked down the hallway. “I got bit the last time I tried to pet a mean dog,”
she said, meeting his eyes with a glare.

Will looked down at his
boots and licked his lips as a sliver of shame ran through him again. He
clenched his jaw. “I was out of line. I sometimes get like that after a fight,
but I shouldn’t have been such a dick. Can I come in now?”

Eva huffed for a few
silent moments, thinking, before she sighed and opened the screen door to him.

Will followed her into the
living room as his gaze took in the surroundings. The place looked very much
like it was owned by a man of Owen’s age. Even though he visited often, Will
was not close with the bartender, never in a particularly chatty mood whenever
he found himself at Swashbuckler’s. The man was nice and kept a clean, quiet
establishment. From the looks of his house, he lived a comfortable but modest
life running the bar, though his décor was stuck somewhere between the late 80s
and early 90s in all the worst ways. Among all the earth-tone furniture and
tacky kitsch accents, Eva in her delicate form looked like a rose bursting out
of decaying forest undergrowth.

Arms folded, she eyed him
warily. “So, what do you need to talk about?”

Will rubbed the leaves of
some plastic flowers in a vase between his fingers, and then brushed off the
dust from his fingertips. “Listen, we need you to stay up here for the time
being, until this is all over.”

“What do you mean?” she
said.

“Every person in that bar
is a potential casualty when this shit goes down, and obviously we don’t want
you among them,” said Will. He tried not to hold his gaze so long on her face,
but he couldn’t help himself. “So it’s best if you just hole up here until it
passes.”

“Oh, is that what you and
my brother decided was best for me?” He could tell by the tone in her voice
that he had struck a deep nerve. “Just keep me locked up like some princess in
a tower until you heroes figure it out, is that it? No, thank you.”

Will scoffed. “I don’t
remember mentioning you had a choice.”

Eva’s jaw dropped, and so
did her arms. She walked up close to Will and stood in front of him, close
enough that he could smell some wickedly divine scent of lilac and jasmine
floating over her skin. The anger he saw in her eyes didn’t do a damn thing to
change the lust that was rolling through his veins. If anything, it made it worse.

“Your apology sure didn’t
last long. Just who the hell do you think you are, anyway?” she said, locking
eyes with him. “You saved us, thanks, and I’m fine with you doing it again, but
you do not get to come in here and tell me what to do.”

Will took a step closer to
her, narrowing the distance between them. Eva didn’t retreat. She let him stand
mere inches in front of him, close enough that he could feel her crossed arms
brushing against his chest. Eva began to breathe a little heavier.

“I think I get to tell you
what to do if it’s going to save your life,” said Will.

“I’m not a child,” she
said in a voice just above a whisper.

“No… you’re not,” he said,
making it clear he approved as he ran his eyes over her body while she glared
at him. He saw blood rush to her cheeks. She licked her lips impulsively, and
some part of him knew he had her right where he wanted her.

This is not your best idea
.
This isn’t some
stripper taking side jobs, hungry for cock and cash. This woman looks like she
stepped right out of a 1950s public library. And that’s speaking nothing of her
grumpy big brother…