Chapter 15: Madisen
The last week and a half had passed without any sign of my stepdad or the MCs who were after me. I got the tracker placed the day after the Dark Patriots left. The other Warriors’ old ladies and I were still on lockdown. I was starting to go crazy. Rylan had been by to see us twice. Jessica was around a lot more, always with Ajax. I asked her how they were doing, and she would blush. I took that as a positive that they were a couple or soon would be.
Rebel tried to do everything he could to keep me entertained and my mind off my situation. Our love life was off the charts. I couldn’t get enough of him. Thankfully, the morning sickness had gone away, and the tiredness had gotten much better. I was eating more which made him happy. In another week, I’d go back to the doctor for my monthly follow-up. I hoped he’d be happy with my weight gain. I now had a more noticeable pooch, but not enough to need maternity clothes yet.
Jocelyn, Devyn, and I had been working on ordering some baby things off the internet since the guys wouldn’t let us go baby shopping yet. Rebel had ordered the crib set we both loved, and it was being stored at the clubhouse.
Our house was well on its way to being built. We had maybe a month to go and it should be ready, according to Tank. Last night, we took our walk and we checked it out. It now had walls and you could visualize the rooms. They were working on the drywall and putting in the lights, etc. After that, it would be the cabinetry, flooring, tiles, and finer work. I couldn’t wait. While the clubhouse was fine short term, I wanted us to have our own private space that was bigger than a single room. Rebel was in full agreement.
In addition, Sean, Gabe, and Griffin had been back twice. One time they brought a woman with them. She had been in on the meeting with all the guys. We were all curious as to who she was and why she was with them and allowed in church. I’d asked Rebel, and all he said is she was helping them with their plans to stop my stepdad.
That was the other thing that was driving me crazy. I didn’t know what those plans were. He told me enough that I knew there was a plan, and that they thought everything would be back to normal soon. Other than that, he kept his mouth closed about the details. I knew it frustrated Jocelyn and Devyn too, but we knew club business would remain club business. For me, I wanted to see if there was anything I could do to help.
It was this frustration that had me snapping at Rebel when he came in from work this evening. He had kissed me and asked how my day was. I rolled my eyes at him. He’d tried to get me to come out and eat dinner. I told him I wasn’t hungry. Now, we were outside, and I was walking aimlessly around the compound, ignoring his efforts to talk to me. I was lost in my thoughts when he pulled me to a halt.
“What the hell is wrong? You’ve been quiet or snapping at me since I got home. What is bothering you, babe?”
I glared at him. “You want to know what’s wrong? How about I’m fed the hell up with not knowing what in the hell is even happening in my own life. You and the club keep telling me this bullshit that the plans to take care of my stepdad and the other threats are under control. Then you pat me on the head and tell me to go be quiet like a good little girl. I’m not a little kid, Ronan! I’m a grown woman. This isn’t just club business, it’s my life. I have a right to know what is happening. Jesus Christ, I could scream.”
He looked at me compassionately. “I know it’s frustrating, but it’s not something you need to worry about. We have it under control. I know it involves you, but you need to stay calm and let us handle it.” His unwillingness to see my side of it made me scream.
“Ahhhhhh!” I turned and stomped off toward the clubhouse. He followed behind, not saying a word. When we got inside, I headed to our room. When I got through the door of our room, I turned and stopped him from coming inside. “No, I want to be alone right now. You go talk to the guys and plan more of my life for me. Maybe you’ll tell me what that is one of these days,” I growled.
“Baby, come on, don’t be like that,” he pleaded. I glared at him and shut the door in his face, making sure to lock it. He tried to get me to open it and talk to him, but I ignored him and threw myself down on the bed. He finally gave up and must have gone back to the common room. As night fell, I got restless. I didn’t want to be cooped up in our room, but I also didn’t want to see Rebel either. I wanted to go for another walk. I went to the door and eased it open, hoping to be able to go out the back door. I ducked back inside when I saw Slash wandering down the hall. I knew if one of them saw me, they’d tell Rebel.
As I thought about my options back in the room, I looked at the window in our room. It was one that opened up to the outside so you could let in air. I hauled over the chair from the desk and stood on it. With the chair, I could get up and over the edge of the window and outside. It was no more than a few feet off the ground. Taking a minute to think, I popped out the screen and flung my leg over the ledge. A smidgeon of twisting got me turned and out the window.
With this accomplished, I took off away from the clubhouse. I stayed close to the trees since I didn’t want anyone to see me. As I walked, I thought about Rebel and how the club was acting. I knew they wanted to protect me. It was one of their best and worst qualities. I needed to feel more like a partner with Rebel. I looked around at the trees and the landscape. Though it was mid-August and hot, the sun had sunk low enough to cool off the day some. I loved the green of Tennessee. Nothing was more beautiful unless it was the trees in the fall full of color and fire.
As I looked around, I walked deeper into the compound, out past the four houses and toward a pond back there. I sat down at the edge of the pond and watched the water. I knew I’d need to go back soon and talk to Rebel. He’d lose his mind if he came in the room and found me gone. I didn’t want to worry him. I was just about to call it quits and leave when movement caught my eye. It was close to the woods and on the opposite side of the pond. I strained my eyes to see who or what it was. When the figure came into view, I gasped.
It was Jonah—the prospect the club had kicked out weeks ago for letting that guy inside the bakery. What in the hell was he doing here? Or better yet, how did he get in the compound? The whole place was fenced in and the only entrances were guarded by reinforced, twelve-foot gates with keypads. I knew they changed the code after he left because Rebel had mentioned it in passing. I watched as he crept along. He kept throwing looks out ahead of him.
Shit! I hadn’t brought my phone with me. There was no way to call Rebel and tell him where I was or that Jonah was here. Keeping low to the ground, I eased back and into the trees on my side. Once I thought I was far enough in the dark woods and he couldn’t see me, I took off toward the clubhouse. I only hoped I’d get there before he did. As I worked my way there, I kept checking to see where he was and what he was doing. He seemed to be headed toward the house being built for me and Rebel.
That made me stop. Why would he be headed there? Making sure I was well behind him, I crept over, making sure to stay well back. He went straight to our house. He disappeared around the backside. I sidled up and peeked around the corner. He was crouched down with something in his hand. He was trying to light a lighter in his other hand. My breath caught. He was going to burn down our house!
I looked around me frantically. Lying a foot away was a piece of two by four, one of the workers had left on the ground. I picked it up and gripped it tightly. No way in hell this prick was burning down our house. Taking a deep breath, I came running around the house. His head jerked up in surprise. Yelling out my anger, I drew back the board and swung it for all I was worth. He cried out in pain and slumped to the ground. I kicked the lighter out of his hand and looked at what it was he had in the other. It looked like a Molotov cocktail.
After ensuring he was truly out for the count, I pulled off his belt and used it to tie his arms and legs behind his back. He looked like a roped steer when I got done. Aunt Margo’s friend, Nathan, had taught me when I would visit as a kid how to tie cattle and shoot. Confident he wouldn’t get away; I ran for the clubhouse. As I passed Bull and Jocelyn’s house, I saw lights downstairs. I ran up on the porch and pounded on the front door. In less than a minute, the door was jerked open by Bull. He looked at me startled. “What’s wrong, Madisen? Where’s Rebel?”
I panted as I tried to catch my breath. “I need you to come with me to our house. I caught someone.” His eyebrows flew up. He yelled to Jocelyn to lock the door and set the alarm to the house. He took my arm and led me down the stairs. As I led him back to our house, he pulled out his phone and sent off a text. After he did, he looked at me.
“Tell me what happened? Why are you out alone in the dark?”
I told him hurriedly about wanting to take a walk alone, coming out to the pond, seeing Jonah, and then following him. He seemed surprised to hear someone got on the compound and that it was Jonah. He looked less than happy that I’d snuck out alone and even less when he heard I’d attacked Jonah with a board. By the time we got to the house and Jonah, I could hear voices and the stampede of feet.
Bull stopped when he saw Jonah, then he looked at me and started to laugh. “Jesus, remind me not to piss you off. He looks like a steer at the cattle barn. Shit.” I grinned at him. Before I could respond, a few of the guys came around the corner of the house. Rebel was one of them. His scowl was enough to scare me. I stood tall and tried not to let him see I was scared. He came right for me, pulling me into his arms.
“You and I will be having a conversation about sneaking out, Madisen. But first, tell us what happened?” I could hear how pissed he was, but it was a good thing I had gone for a walk. I shrugged mentally then went through my story again just like I had with Bull. His face got stormier when he heard I followed Jonah and hit him with the board. I glared back at him. Before I could ask him what he had expected me to do, Jonah groaned. We all looked down at him. It took a minute or so for him to regain consciousness. When he did, he struggled as he looked around. He froze when he saw the crowd standing around him.
Bull and Tank hunkered down beside him. “Well, Jonah, looks like you got yourself in a predicament. Mind telling us what you’re doing on our compound. Better yet, how did you get in here?” Jonah shook his head, saying nothing. Bull nodded to Payne and Demon. They untied him to free his legs and then retied his arms. As they did that, Alex pulled up with a truck. They heaved him into the back of it and took off toward the back of the compound. The others looked at me. I knew I was in trouble. Maybe rightly so, but I had captured an intruder. Surely, that counted for something.
Several of the guys headed toward the back of the compound. Just my luck, Rebel wasn’t one of them. He took a hold of my arm and marched me back to the clubhouse. When we got inside, he didn’t slow down. He took me straight to our room. Though I’d locked him out, he could have still gotten in using his key. He opened it with that key. As soon as we cleared the door, he slammed it and pushed me down to sit on the bed. His eyes took in the chair at the window. He scowled and tore it away and shoved it back under the desk. Then he paced back and forth while running his hands through his hair over and over. I waited. No way was I going to be the one to break the silence.
Five minutes later, he stopped pacing and faced me. “What in the fuck were you thinking?” he yelled. “You crawl out a goddamn window and take a walk on the grounds in the dark, alone. You could have fallen or gotten hurt. You’re lucky Jonah didn’t see you first. He could have hurt you or killed you, Madisen. Or taken you. How do you think that would have made me feel? Why won’t you listen and let me protect you? Why? Do you enjoy making things hard on me? Or are you too much of a child to listen and not throw a tantrum? Do you want to lose our baby?”
Hearing him call me a child stung, but to be accused of throwing a tantrum or intentionally trying to lose or hurt our baby pushed me over the edge. I was scared, feeling alone, tired, and above all else so confused and out of control of my own life, that I snapped. I stood up and shoved him. He stepped back in shock.