Aweek had passed since Amelia and I had ridden off from the motel we were staying at. She was looking significantly better, and I could tell she felt better, too. She hadn’t had nightmares in a couple of nights, and her confidence was back full force. That much was proved last night.
We wereboth sitting in a bar in the little hick town we had been in for the past week. I needed a drink—badly, and Amelia wouldn’t leave me alone about finding a place to get shit faced, so I finally dragged her into the bar. There was a small stage with a couple of girls dancing, giving some of the men a little bit of entertainment.
Amelia was sitting beside me, downing another shot. I had lost count of the number of shots she had already thrown back. I was sipping at my beer, not drinking much because I knew I would have to be the designated driver because we only rode my bike here. And like hell was I risking her life.
A guy walked over to her. He was wearing dirty jeans and scuffed up boots with a dirty, flannel shirt. His beard was grown out and reached the collar of his shirt. He was wearing a hat, and his long hair was tied back into a low ponytail. The gleam in his eyes told me he was only going to bring trouble.
I clenched my fist in fury, ready to punch his face in until it was flat if he even tried to talk to Amelia.
“Fuck off,” Amelia snapped at the man before he could say anything to her. My eyes widened in shock. She actually spoke like her normal self to someone other than me.
“That’s not a way to talk to a man, baby,” he rasped, leaning into her a little too close for my liking.
She glared at him fiercely, and I smirked, loving the fact that the woman I knew was finally back full force. “I wouldn’t give a flipping fuck if you were my mother, asshole. Don’t talk to me. I’m really not in the fucking mood.”
He wrapped his hand around her hair and yanked her head back to stare him in the eyes. I jumped up out of my chair, ready to wrap my hands around his throat and break his nose. Before I could do anything though, Amelia narrowed her eyes, grabbed my half empty bottle of beer, and smashed the man in his face with it. He yelped in pain, instantly letting go of her. She wrapped his hair around her hand two times and then slammed his face onto the bar.
That was when all hell broke loose. I grabbed her hand and made a mad dash for the door.
It was time to get the hell out of dodge.
I rolled over in bed.Amelia was still passed out next to me. I poked her belly, biting back a grin. I knew it would piss her off. The more I got her out of her shell though, the more she’d becomemyAmelia again.
She opened her eyes and quickly squinted them shut again. “Fuck off, Cole,” she grumbled, pulling a pillow over her face.
I got out of bed and snatched everything off of the bed, including her pillow. She shot up into a sitting position, shooting daggers at me with her eyes. “If I had any idea where my fucking gun was, I’d fucking shoot you.”
With the fire currently burning in her eyes, I had no doubt in my mind that she probably would. I checked my phone and sighed, ignoring her. My dad had called thirty-three times and left about half that many voicemails. I called him back, running a hand through my hair. “What?” I snapped into the phone when he answered.
“We’ve got a war on our hands, Cole, and we could use you back here at home. The ATL have finally struck us, and they struck us bad. Drew is in a coma, and Jasper is dead. They trashed the club grounds and blew up two of our warehouses.”
“Fuck,” I cursed, glancing over at Amelia. “We’ll begin riding back today and should be in by tonight. Keep a lookout for me.”
“Will do.”
I hung up and sighed. I really didn’t want to take Amelia back there, but as pissed as I was at my entire family and the clubs, if we all went down, I would go down with them. When it came down to it, we were family, and we protected each other.
“We’ve got to ride back,” I told Amelia. I wasn’t even going to waste my time trying to break the news to her. That wasn’t my style.
She spun around from looking through her bag and glared at me. “Why the fuck are we going back already?”
“I’ve got to,” I said. “You can keep riding if you want to, but I’m going. We’re at war with the ATL, and I’ve got to be there to help.” No matter how much I wanted to keep riding with her, I couldn’t. Not with something like this.
She grabbed some clothes and walked into the bathroom, slamming the door shut behind her. I blew out a breath in anger. She didn’t even fucking reply to me. Who the fuck did she think she was? Jesus Christ, my family fucking needed me. Of course, I was fucking going back!
I stormed into the bathroom. When I tried the door, I found it locked. I groaned in frustration and kicked the door in. I flung the shower curtain back, and she glared at me. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?!” she yelled at me, placing her hands on her hips.
I forced myself not to run my eyes over her wet, naked body. “Why the fuck are you so pissed off?” I asked her.
“I can’t fucking go back there, Cole, and I don’t have the fucking brains it takes to stay off of their fucking radar! What the fuck else am I supposed to do?!” she screamed at me.
My anger boiled. I fucking already promised her I wouldn’t let anything happen to her! “Do you not listen to a fucking word I say?!” I barked at her. “I fucking told you that I would protect you! I don’t fucking go back on my word, Amelia, and you know that!”
She clenched her jaw. “Get the fuck away from me,” she ground out, reaching out to grab the shower curtain.
I flung the shower curtain closed for her and then threw my clothes off. This conversation wasn’t over, but I wasn’t going to flood the fucking bathroom trying to talk to her. I stepped into the shower, and she gasped in shock, quickly glaring at me again. “Cole!” she yelled at me.
I narrowed my eyes at her. “Yell at me one more fucking time, and I will effectively shut you up,” I quietly warned her, losing my patience. She was wasting time that I could be using to get home, and it was really beginning to piss me the fuck off.