“Oh, I couldn’t.”
“I insist. You didn’t eat or drink anything, Ilara. They’ll just go to waste at the end of the day. Take them,” Madisen insisted. She finally gave in and took the box after thanking us again. I watched as she hurried out of the shop.
I looked at Madisen and Jessica. They were both watching me with expectant looks on their faces. “What’re you looking at?” I asked them. They grinned.
“Someone sure seemed to be interested in Ilara. Is this just the protective stuff all you guys do, or is there more than a little personal interest in her?” Madisen asked with a twinkle in her eyes.
“Why do you wanna know?”
“Because we wanna help if it’s personal. You’d be perfect for her, I think. All alpha hottie with great kid skills. I bet you can get it done in the bedroom too,” Mad teased me as Jessica blushed and laughed.
I growled at her. “Rebel needs to fuck you more, so you’re too tired to get into trouble. Wait until I tell him you called me a hottie and wondered what I was like in bed.”
She gasped. “Bear, don’t you dare! He’s already trying to get me pregnant again. Says Moira needs a sibling. If he hears I even noticed another man was hot, he’ll be upping his efforts to prove he’s the only man for me. God, that’ll kill me,” she said urgently, though I saw the dreamy look on her face. Yeah, my brother kept his woman satisfied.
“If you want me to keep my mouth shut, then you help me find her a job and a way to stay here. I don’t know if she’s interested or not, but I’d like to find out if she could deal with a man like me,” I confessed.
“It’s a deal. Now, get lost so we can get this day over with. Go back to the compound or The Angel,” she said as she pushed me toward the door. I had a good time resisting until I had them begging, then I left. I needed to get back to the restaurant and do some more work before I went home. I hadn’t been able to concentrate on it earlier.
?????
It was after eight o’clock that evening when I got back to the compound. I decided to stop at the clubhouse before going to my house. I’d barely walked in and sat down with a beer when Rebel came rushing into the common room. We all jumped up. He was carrying baby Moira.
“What’s wrong?” I asked as I rushed over to them. The rest of our brothers crowded around us. Was Moira alright? Where was Madisen?
“I need someone to watch Moira. Madisen just called. She needs me and a few others in town. She said it was urgent, though she and Jessica aren’t hurt,” he said in a rush.
Zara came over and took Moira out of his arms. “I’ll watch her, Rebel. You go help Madisen.”
“Thanks, Zara. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
“Why’re they still in town?” I asked as I went to follow him out to his bike. I’d ride along and see what was up.
“They forgot to do something at the bakery and they ran back. Said they had to do it in preparation for tomorrow’s baking. Ajax went with them. Devyn has Kiara at their house with Hayden. She was sleeping, and they didn’t want to take her out. I know if she was hurt, Ajax would have called. I just need to get there.”
As I got on my bike, I saw Slash and Player get on theirs. Looked like we were going to have company. We waved as we pulled out of the compound and headed into Hunters Creek. It wasn’t that long of a ride, but I knew it must have felt like forever to Rebel. When we pulled up in front of the bakery, we could see the lights were all on. We shut off our bikes and raced inside.
When we came through the door, my heart dropped. I saw Ilara huddled at a table. She was rocking Hope in her arms. There were tears on her face and she looked like she’d been scared to death. The other women were watching her with looks of worry on their faces. Ajax was standing there, looking like he was ready to kill someone. As I got closer, I saw what looked like a dark bruise on Ilara’s face. Rage burst through me. Who had touched her? I’d fucking kill them!
I dropped on one knee in front of her. Her tear-filled eyes met mine. I reached up to touch the bruise on her face. She flinched then settled when I gently brushed across it. I looked at Hope. She looked like she was fine other than confused.
“What happened, beautiful? Why are you crying and how did you get that bruise on your face?” I asked. Slash and Player were standing behind me. I saw her glance up at them and then back to me. She looked like she was hesitant to speak in front of them.
“Baby, these are my brothers, Slash and Player,” I told her as I pointed them out to her. They both nodded at her. She gave them a tentative smile. “You can trust them like you can me or any of my brothers. You’ve met Rebel. What happened?” This time I directed the question to Ajax. He looked from me to Ilara and then back.
“Why don’t you come with me, Bear? The ladies need to calm down,” Ajax said with a warning in his voice. I reluctantly got up.
“I’ll be back in a minute. Stay here,” I told her. She nodded. I followed Ajax into the back. Slash, Rebel, and Player came with us.
As soon as we were in the back, Rebel got to the point. “Wanna tell me what the fuck is going on here, Ajax? Why did Madisen call me all upset, saying I needed to get down here?” Rebel growled.
“She knew you’d lose your shit if she didn’t call. She’s fine, Reb. No one touched her or Jessica.”
“But someone obviously touched Ilara. What happened? Who was it?” I snapped. I felt the need to go kill someone for daring to touch her.
“Okay, let me tell you what happened then you can ask questions. We were inside and they were doing whatever they had to do back in the kitchen. I was out front. All of a sudden, I hear Jessica screaming my name. I took off into the back. They had the door open to the back parking lot. When I got out there, she told me that someone needed help. I followed her and that’s when I found Madisen. She was with Ilara and Hope. From what I got out of them, they heard a commotion and screaming when they went out back to throw shit in the dumpster. They went to see who it was. Why the fuck they didn’t call me, I don’t know. Anyway, they found Ilara being attacked by two men.”
I felt my rage boiling up as he talked. I was fighting to not let it erupt. My name was more than about my size. When I was pissed, I could become like an enraged bear. I held my tongue as he continued. “They scared the two men off when they came running down the alley. I don’t think they realized it was two women. When I got to them, the guys were long gone. Ilara was shaking and crying. It looks like one of the guys hit her. I don’t know if they did anything else. She hasn’t said a word, but that’s not all of it.” He paused as he looked at us.