“Beloved, you did the right thing. You called me and locked yourself and Hope in the car. I wish you hadn’t had to see him. I’m on my way. Sit tight. Love you,” he said before the phone went dead. I sat there in shock. He’d just said he loved me. Was it true or was it just a slip of the tongue? People sometimes did that. I tried not to read anything into it. It had to have been a slip; however, my heart was jumping for joy at the thought he had meant it.
As her gums numbed, Hope stopped fussing, and fell asleep. I stayed in the backseat with her. It was maybe ten minutes later when I heard the roar of a motorcycle, or I guess I should say several. Into the parking lot came four bikes. Bear was in the lead with Maverick, Payne, and Tank right behind him. They pulled up alongside my car. I got out when they came to a stop. I was barely out of the car before I was yanked into Bear’s chest. He held me tightly and was whispering to me, asking if I was okay as he scattered kisses on my cheeks and mouth. I finally got room to talk.
“Bear, I’m fine. It was just a shock. I didn’t expect to see one of those men.”
“Why the hell were you in there? I told you, if you needed anything, to call me,” he growled.
“Last time I looked, I was a damn adult, Bear. I can go anywhere I want. I couldn’t wait until you came home. Hope is teething and needs medicine for her gums. I got it. It’s bad enough I had Tate questioning why I was leaving, I don’t need you too. Am I a damn prisoner or something?” I snapped back at him. He got a shocked look on his face. The others weren’t saying a word. They were watching us.
“Ilara, no, you’re not a prisoner. I’m sorry. I just don’t want you to think you have to do everything for yourself. I want to take care of you and Hope. I understand you needed it, though in the future, if for some reason you need it right away and don’t want to leave, one of the prospects will go for you.”
“Yeah, I could see me asking Tate to go. Nope, I’ll do it myself.”
He sighed. “We’ll talk about Tate later, okay? Right now, I want to get you home unless you need to stop somewhere else.” I shook my head no. “Good, let’s get back. We’ll get Outlaw to see what he can find on this guy. With his name and license plate, he should have no problem finding him. Nice work, babe.” He gave me another kiss before he helped me into the car. I turned it on and we headed to the compound. I felt a little conspicuous with four motorcycles following me.
As we came through the gate at the Warriors’ compound, I saw Tate standing there. His eyes narrowed when he saw me. I ignored him. His problem with me was his problem. I had bigger things to worry about than him. Bear motioned for me to stop at the clubhouse. I pulled into a spot away from the bikes. I was scared to death that I might accidentally bump into one of them. The guys treated their bikes like they were precious babies.
Bear opened the back door and picked up Hope. She laid her head on his shoulder. “It’s okay, Sugarplum. Your teeth hurt, don’t they? Let’s go inside. I think we might have something to help,” he told her softly. She gave him an adoring look. Right then, I knew, I wasn’t leaving Hunters Creek. If Bear wanted me, I’d stay, no matter what anyone else thought. The man treated me and my daughter like we were precious to him.
He wrapped his free arm around me. “Babe, you should wait for me to get to your door. Next time, I’ll open yours first then get Hope out.” He gave me a quick kiss.
“Okay, honey, I never think about it. Not a lot of men open doors these days.”
“Well, yours does. Come on, I want to talk to Outlaw. He needs to run the name and license you gave us.” I headed inside with him and the other three who’d escorted me back. Inside, it was as quiet as I’d ever seen it, but then again, it was the middle of a workday. He took us down the hall and knocked on a door. When it opened, I saw Outlaw standing there. He was shirtless. He gave me a smile. I couldn’t help but notice he was ripped and tattooed.
“Hey, what’s up? Come on in,” he said as he waved us inside and pulled on a shirt. I stepped in cautiously. I hadn’t been in anyone’s room at the clubhouse but Bear’s. He’d shown me the one reserved for him. He said he never used it now. Bear did admit he used the room to have sex with the bunnies. He didn’t have them in his house. That made me feel better that they hadn’t been in the bed I was sleeping in every night.
Outlaw’s room was a little tighter than Bear’s since he had several computer monitors up on desks around the room. He took a seat in front of one of them, while he gestured for us to sit in two empty chairs beside it. “How can I help you? I can see it on your face.”
“Ilara saw one of the men who attacked her in the alley today at the drugstore.” Outlaw sat up straight and looked all businesslike. “She heard his name and even got the license plate for his car. We wanted you to see what you can find out for us.”
Outlaw’s hands were already on his keyboard. “Hit me.”
“His name is Clint Doudna. He was picking up a prescription. He drives a gray Ford Explorer. I don’t know the year. His license plate is twelve-A-nine-A-six and it’s a Tennessee plate. That’s all I know,” I told him in a rush. He was typing as I spoke.
“Darlin’, that’s plenty. These guys usually come in with a first name and expect miracles. Why don’t you let me work on it for a couple of hours? Oh, by the way, Bear, I got that other stuff you wanted. Let me know when you want it.”
I looked at Bear. I wondered what the other stuff was. He was staring at Outlaw. My thoughts were diverted by Hope as she whimpered. Bear stood up. “Babe, take Hope into the kitchen. I think there should be some popsicles in the freezer. Give one to Hope. The cold will feel good on her gums. I’ll be there in a couple of minutes.” He gave Hope to me after kissing her on top of her head. He leaned over and gave me one before he opened the door. I left him to talk business.
It was closer to ten minutes before he came out of the common room. Hope had finished her popsicle and Maverick was entertaining her. They were playing peek-a-boo with her blanket out of her diaper bag. She kept giggling every time he disappeared behind it. Bear came over to me and sat down. He had a frown on his face.
“What’s wrong, Bear?”
He looked at me then around at the few others in here. “Babe, can it wait until we get to the house?”
“Sure,” I told him softly. What in the world was it? “Are you ready to go now, or do you need to—” I was cut off by the door slamming open and Tate coming into the room. He looked like he was upset. He came marching over to me. He stopped beside the table. He was looking at Bear.
“It’s not my damn fault she left! No one said I had to keep her here. I offered to go get whatever she wanted, but she said she would do it herself,” he sputtered. His face was a little red.
“Who said it was your fault she left? I didn’t say anything to you. Ilara isn’t a prisoner here. She’s my old lady. I would have liked to have known she and our daughter had gone out, but she knows to text me next time. However, keep that in mind for the future,” Bear said to him mildly. Him calling me his old lady and Hope, our daughter, made me weak in the knees.
“Tank just got all over me about her going alone. Said something about some guy and that he could have grabbed her or something. Why would some guy just grab her? Is she bringing some kind of trouble to us?” When he said that last thing, Bear came to his feet. Maverick stopped playing with Hope. Payne came over from where he’d been by the bar. They were all staring at Tate through narrowed eyes.
“What if there is trouble coming, and she brings it? We deal with it. However, in this case, it’s not trouble we would ever walk away from. The man Tank referred to is one of two men who attacked her last Friday night in an alley and tried to rape her, in front of Hope. She saw one in town and got his name and license plate number. We’re tracking him down. As for Tank, he’s the VP. He can jump your ass if he wants, any of us can. Have you forgotten that?” Bear snapped at him.
Tate frowned more. “It’s not fair. I’ve done everything you’ve asked without complaint. Now, she’s here and I can’t seem to do anything right.”
“Tate, stop before you say anything you shouldn’t. Ilara isn’t the issue. You said some things that upset her. Things that aren’t true. I’ve not said a damn word to you about that again, though I wanted to. It was disrespectful and I can’t figure out why you think that of her. Is it because she was homeless and living in her car? That wasn’t something she had control of. You have no idea why she was in that situation, and you don’t need to know, since it’s not any of your business. I know what I need to know about her.”