Nothin' But Trouble (6 page)

He
brought the beer to his mouth and finished the nasty thing off and felt his
cell vibrate in his front pocket. Once he had it out and saw it was the club he
brought it to his ear and covered his other one with a hand.
“Yeah?”

“Hey,
some guy named Roan called looking for you. Said it was an emergency and wanted
you to call him ASAP.”

Hearing
that had Court sitting straighter.

“What’s
the number?” Court didn’t bother asking if Roan had said anything else, because
no way could it be good if he was reaching out to him at this hour and after so
long.

He
ended the call when he got the number and stood. He grabbed Stinger by the back
of the cut, gestured for Dallas to come with him, and started hauling ass out
of the strip club.

 
          
“What
the fuck, man?” Stinger slurred, and then swayed on his feet. They were already
outside, and Stinger had to brace a hand on the brick wall to steady
himself
. Court ignored him and dialed Roan’s number. It only
rang once before someone answered.

“Court?”

“Yeah.”
The music from
inside was muted, and a couple of the guys that had been smoking outside had
gone back in when they had stepped through the doors.

“Christ.”
Roan sounded out of breath, and there was this frantic quality to it.

“What’s
wrong?” He didn’t bother asking how Roan got the number, because right now his
bear rose to the surface, needing to know what the fuck was wrong. Court’s
heart was beating so fast that he felt it in his throat and heard it in his
ears.

“It’s
Lilly, man.”

“What
the fuck is wrong?” Court couldn’t help the way his voice rose, or the fact his
bear was starting to take control at the thought of sweet Lilly hurt. A low
growl left him, and Stinger was suddenly alert beside him, but kept his mouth
shut.

“Shit,
Court, someone attacked the fuck out of her.”

It
took all of his power not to shift right then and there.
“You
at your house?”
Court was already striding toward his bike, but then he
remembered Stinger and Dallas and stopped.

“No,
I’m at some biker club in River Run.”

Court’s
blood rushed through his veins. There was only one MC in River Run—
The
Brothers of Menace. Before Court could say anything Roan
was talking again.

“The
President, Lucien, called me and said someone attacked Lilly. They got the
fucker here with them, and some doctor is checking her out, but shit, Court,
she looks bad and is passed out.”

The
growl that came from him was deep, low, and filled with warning. His entire
body shook with his rage. Someone had hurt Lilly—
his
Lilly—and Court was about to break a motherfucker’s neck.

“I
didn’t know who else to call in a situation like this. Fuck, I didn’t even tell
my mom what happened because she doesn’t need this shit. Dammit, I don’t know
what else to do but kill the asshole that did this to her.”

But
Court calmed himself enough that he could talk. “Where is the fucker now?” He
swallowed, took a deep breath, and clenched his hand at his side into a fist.

“He’s
out cold, and some of Lucien’s guys are watching him. I’d go after him now, but
I want the motherfucker awake when I beat his ass.”

Oh,
Court planned on doing a hell of a lot more to the guy that hurt Lilly than
just kicking his ass. “I’m on my way.” After he hung up he turned and looked at
Dallas and Stinger. “My girl got hurt.”

Shit,
did he just say that? It didn’t matter, because he had been trying to push how
he felt for Lilly away this whole time, and it hadn’t done any good. He was
going to watch over her and protect her so this never happened again. And he
was going to make that bastard that harmed her pay with blood, broken bones,
and eventually, when he was done fucking him up, let him take his last breath
as he ripped his throat out.

“You
got a girl? Since when did you get an old lady?” He knew Stinger was loose with
his tongue because of the alcohol. If he was sober he would have seen how close
to shifting Court was at this moment, and that questioning him about an old lady
was not smart to do right now.

“
Stinger,
shut the fuck up right now.” Dallas pushed Stinger
over to the building again so he could brace himself against it, and turned to
look at Court. “What do you need from me?”

“Can
you call the club and have one of the guys come by for his
drunk
ass?”

Dallas
nodded.

“Make
sure whoever comes brings a prospect so Stinger’s bike doesn’t sit here all
night.”

“Court,
you need back-up?” Dallas asked.

“Yeah,
man. You need us to fuck someone up?” Stinger asked, too, but his words were
slurred. As much as Court wanted to do this alone, he thought about it and knew
that wouldn’t be smart.

“Shit.”
He scrubbed a hand over his head. “Yeah, I probably will need to take someone
with me, but not you.” He pointed at Stinger. “You need to get to the clubhouse
and sleep the alcohol off.”

Stinger
shook his head. “Nah, you’re in trouble, and brothers stick together.”

This
was why Court loved the MC. Whether it was someone that he needed to drink
with, to bullshit with, or to help kick a fucker’s ass, any one of the
Grizzlies rose to the occasion, no matter what.

“Thanks,
Stinger, but you wouldn’t be much use to me if things went south and you can’t
even stand up on your own.” Stinger flipped him off in good nature, but Court
was far from a teasing mood. “Dallas,
make
the call,
and meet me at The Brothers of Menace clubhouse.” The air shifted to frigid.

“That
MC did something?”

Court
shook his head. “No, but I don’t know much, and what I do know I don’t want to
talk about right now.”

Dallas
nodded.

“Just
make the call and meet me there.” He didn’t wait for a response, just went to
his bike, got on, and started it. He knew Dallas would let Jagger know, and he
also knew that it most likely wouldn’t just be Dallas that met him at The Brothers’
clubhouse. All of that was well and good, but all he could focus on was Lilly
and exactly how badly she was hurt.

****

Lilly
sat on the edge of a bed that smelled like someone had just fucked in it, and rested
her sore head in her hand. She had just woken up, but she wasn’t in any pain
from whatever this Doctor Mason guy had given her. In fact, she was feeling
pretty good. But it was the smell of old sweat, cologne, and spilled alcohol
that filled her head and made her stomach twist painfully even more.

“You’re
going to be sore, but the swelling should go down within the next forty-eight
to seventy-two hours. The bruising, however, will get worse before it gets
better.”

She
dropped her hands to her lap and looked at the young and very attractive doctor
sitting on a chair in front of her. He reached down to where his medical bag
sat and pulled out an unlabeled bottle.

“Here
are some pain pills. You can take up to two pills every four hours.”

She
nodded, but she couldn’t quite focus. He smiled and looked over his shoulder at
Roan. Her brother was by the far wall, and although he had a very worried
expression on his face, she could see how angry he was by the way he kept clenching
and unclenching his hands at his sides. He looked so tense and had a red tint
to his cheeks that told her he was furious and barely holding on. The doctor told
Roan that same thing he had just said to her, and her brother nodded once.
There were a few biker guys in the room, too, but she hadn’t been able to see
very well from the swelling. She heard their low, gruff whispers, and knew that
the one that wore the President patch on his cut was called Lucien Silver, and he
was the one that had carried her to the truck, and then into their clubhouse.

“We’ll
give you two a few minutes. The Grizzlies should be here soon,” Lucien looked
over at her. “If I had known you were associated with them I could have called
them right away.”

“I’m
not associated with them,” she said, and Lucien looked over at Roan, who just
closed his eyes and shook his head.

“That
fucker still out?”
Roan asked Lucien from between gritted teeth.

The
President nodded. “Yeah, one of my guys knocked his ass out cold.”

Roan
grunted, but she knew he was pleased with that, as was she. Lucien tipped his
chin and he and the rest of the men left the room. Once the door was shut Roan
sighed heavily and ran his hand over his short dark hair.

“Fucking
hell, Lilly.”
He lowered his arms so they fell to his sides and walked over to her. When he
was on his knees in front of her he lifted his hand, as if he meant to touch
her, but curled his fingers into his palm at the last moment. “What the hell
happened?” He searched her face with his gaze, and for how bad it felt, and the
way he grimaced, she knew she looked like she got the shit beaten out of
her—which she obviously had.

“My
car started making a clicking noise, and I remembered when you and Court…”God,
he was coming here for sure, and that brought up a lot of feelings inside of
her. “I remembered when you guys were working on your Mustang and were talking
about that and having something to do with the engine.” The drugs the doctor
had given her made her head feel lightheaded, and she had to lie back as the
room started to spin. Roan helped her, and once everything righted itself in
front of her vision she turned her head to look at him. “Do I look as shitty as
I feel?” She was trying to tease, to somehow ease the tension that was
suffocating her. This, of course, was so not a joking matter or situation, but
she hated seeing Roan look so upset.

He
shook his head, but looked anything but amused. “No joking or making light of
this, Lilly. He didn’t…” Roan swallowed, and his expression went harder. He didn’t
have to finish his sentence for her to know what he was going to ask.

“No,
but if those bikers hadn’t shown up—”

He
held up his hand and shook his head. “Let’s not talk about it, because I am
barely holding on as it is.” He opened his eyes and smiled, but it was clearly
forced. “Now, tell me what happened, okay?” His voice was gentler this time,
and she took a deep breath and told him what had happened.

For
several minutes she relayed everything she could remember. It was horrible,
though, because it felt like she was experiencing it all over again. When she
said the last word and brushed the tears away, the silence descended. “I didn’t
even know him, and can’t understand why he did what he did. God, Roan, what if
he has done this before?” She had needed to say something because the silence
was too much. Roan looked at the ground for several seconds, and she could see
the way his jaw clenched and unclenched.

“Lilly,
sometimes there are just bad people that do bad things.” He looked at her then,
and she saw the raw pain on his face. “But I can guarantee that this will
never
happen again.” She loved that he
was protective, but she didn’t tell him that he couldn’t make a promise like
that, because he couldn’t be there all the time. They had their mom to worry
about.
Oh, God, my mom.

“What
about Mom? Did you tell her what happened and then just left?” She went to sit
up, but Roan gently pushed her back down.

“I
didn’t tell her anything besides your car broke down and I was going to go look
at it. She’s going to have to know about this eventually, but I didn’t’ want to
tell her and then leave her at the house to worry.”

Lilly
nodded. That was the best thing to do, because worrying and getting upset over
this was something her mom didn’t need right now. Before either could say
anything else the sound of loud male voices on the other side of the wall had
her pushing herself up and Roan standing to place
himself
between her and the door. And then there was the sound of footsteps pounding
down the hallway, and of the door being slammed open and hitting the wall. She
looked around Roan’s body to see who it was, but she already knew.

Court
stood in the doorway looking pissed and powerful, and so very animalistic. She
had seen him around town, but right now, he looked like a totally different
male. His body seemed bigger, his biceps flexing so hard that his muscles
popped out, and his chest rose and fell as he breathed in and out.

“Lilly.”
Court said her name harshly, and she could see the bear flicker across his face.

She
turned away, not wanting him to see her like this. “Thanks for coming, Court.”
Roan spoke just as harshly, but her brother’s voice lacked the fierce edge that
only a shifter had. Lilly glanced to her side and watched as Court stepped
inside. Two other Grizzly MC members moved in behind him. She knew them by name
seeing as she had lived in Steel Corner her whole life, but she only knew of
them by reputation. They kept to themselves, but were scary enough that people
stayed away from them. Her brother and Court slapped each other on the back,
and it was like all those years they had been distant had just vanished.