“Maxine!!!” The blonde guy yells as he flips over a table.
The bearded guy has a menacing smirk as he prowls over to the customers. My eyes glance over, and I see his vest. He's not in the Knights of Paradise. Serpents?
The door to the kitchen opens, and Maxine slowly approaches us. Her head is held high and her shoulders back. I’m searching for Dani. Praying for her to please stay back and not come out.
Maxine raises her hands. “Look guys just put the gun down. We can talk.”
A tear escapes my eye as the gun slides down to my cheek. I feel wet lips on my neck, and I almost sob out loud.
Another table flips over, and I jolt at the sound of the plates crashing onto the concrete floor. The poor lady that was sitting there is now in hysterics.
“Shut up bitch,” the blonde snarls in her face.
“What do you want?” Maxine says with a little more force this time.
My skin crawls when a tongue slides from my neck to my ear. I’m holding back the vomit sitting in the back of my throat. He smells like smoke and body odor.
“You tell your president; we need to have a talk. It seems we have business we need to negotiate. I just need him and that VP of yours to understand just how easy it would be for us to get our hands on something so precious to them.” His hand trails down my stomach as the gun goes back to my temple.
I let out a whimper but clamp my mouth shut. My stomach clenches as I spot Dani peeking through the crack in the kitchen door with her hand over her mouth.
“I’ll pass along the message.” Maxine swallows hard and her eyes move to mine.
“It was nice meeting you, sweetness.” He removes the gun from my head. “Tell Dom we said hello.”
He shoves me forward and I almost fall over a chair that is tumped over. All three men sauntered out of the front door like nothing happened. As soon as it closed, I let the tears fall.
“Look at me Tanner.” Maxine rushes over and lifts my face in her hands. “You’re okay. You’re going to be okay.”
A loud sob bursts from my throat as she pulls me into her chest.
“Tanner!” Dani cries as she stumbles to me. “My God!”
Her arms wrap around my waist, and I squeeze her tight. In the distance I hear the rumble of motorcycles and panic washes through me.
“They’re back!” I shake my head as more tears pour from my eyes. The door flies open and Travis rushes in. Maverick, and a bunch of other brothers are behind him.
“Tanner,” Travis breathes out as he picks me up in his arms. “I’m so sorry Tanner.”
He keeps repeating he’s sorry over and over as he takes me to sit at one of the only tables that’s not turned over.
“Did they hurt you?” His hands are lifting my arms, my legs, and my hair as he examines me.
“No. They didn’t hurt me.” I grab a hold of his hand.
“I never wanted you to be involved in any of this.” He squeezes my hand and hugs me again.
I can tell by his eyes; he’s scared to death.
“How did you know to come?” I croak.
“Dani. She called Maverick.” He breathed out and let go of my hand.
As soon as her name left his lips, he turned to look for her. She was pulling out of Maverick's arms before he stalked over to Maxine. I watched her eyes and hands move wildly as she told him what happened. Travis stood up, and with three large strides he was reaching for Dani, who still had tears streaming down her face. He embraced her, and I saw him lay a kiss on her forehead as he rubbed her back. Rubbing my puffy eyes, I got up and zombie walked to the bathroom. I needed to wash my face and get out of this room for a second. I could honestly go for a shower so I could scrub his nasty saliva off my skin.
I felt somewhat better after splashing cold water on my face. I flinched when I looked into the mirror. l resembled a raccoon on a week-long bender. Jesus. I tossed my hair in a messy bun and wiped off what I could of the Lash Blast mascara that was running down my cheeks.
On my way out, a large body rounded the corner in front of me. Maverick’s dark eyes penetrated me as I slowed my steps and approached him. He was quiet, while his eyes inspected my body. Like he was searching for any hint of a bruise or mark.
A rough hand reached for my jaw. “You alright little Vix?” His raspy voice sent a shiver up my spine.
“Yeah…. I’m fine.” I’m not sure how I managed to get the words out. My heart is racing, and my skin is all of a sudden, a thousand degrees warmer.
The pad of his thumb rubs gently across my cheek as he continues to stare at my face. What the hell is he looking at?
“It’s my birthday.” I blurt. Real smooth Tanner. “Nothing like being held at gunpoint to celebrate turning eighteen.” I sigh and close my eyes. God, he probably thinks I’m a moron.
I open my eyes and see his lip turn up in a small grin. “Happy Birthday, Tanner.”
His hand falls from my face and he casually turns to leave the small hallway. I’m not sure what made my heart race faster. The gun held to my head, or Maverick’s hand on my cheek. Take a wild guess.