Damaged and the Outlaw (Damaged #4)

“Motherfucker!” I yelled, heading for the door without a damn clue where I was going.

“Hold up,” Cooper said, grabbing me. “You can’t just run off. We need to figure shit out first.”

“Figure what out? I’m why they came here and shot up your town. Shot at your sister, man. Let’s end this.”

“How? By handing you over, so everything we’ve done was for shit? Don’t be a fucking idiot.”

“They’re going to kill Harlow. The kid finally had a chance at a life and they’ve got her,” I said then lowered my voice. “They’re pissed and scared and they’ve got those two girls. The longer they have them, the worse it’ll be. Just call the asshole and tell him we’ll end it now.”

“What about Raven? You gonna ditch your woman because you’re having a panic attack.”

“I’m not panicking.”

“You’re acting like an idiot. If you’re not panicking, what the fuck is your problem?”

“I need to make this right,” I said, reaching for the door.

“Damn it, Vaughn,” Cooper said, shoving me against the wall. “You said I was your president and you would follow me. Well, I’m telling you to stand the fuck down.”

“He’s going to kill those girls.”

“Maybe, but handing your ass over to him doesn’t mean they’ll live either. Let us figure things out first, so we can save everyone. Caleb doesn’t want to die, so he’ll be willing to negotiate. We have the cards here. If he kills those girls, we kill him. If he kills you, we kill him. He has a contract on his head and you know how that feels. If Caleb is looking to go back to Tucson and lead the Devils, he’ll give us the girls in exchange for a truce.”

“He might not be thinking straight. His dad is dead. His club was attacked and Caleb has a temper. His only loyalty is to the club and he’ll want revenge.”

“Then, we’ll find and kill him. You running off like a fuckwad won’t save Harlow and her sister. You need to settle down and let me figure things out.”

Even wanting to mention how long it took for him to figure shit out before, I kept my big mouth shut. Cooper was in charge and I was his guy. If I didn’t behave, maybe I wasn’t his guy anymore and I’d have more to worry about than the Devils.

“Do what you can, Cooper. Those girls don’t deserve this shit after what they had growing up.”

“Understood. Now, make sure our women are safe at the house. Lock shit down, so we don’t have more trouble. I’ve got feelers out to all of our contacts and they’ll find Caleb and his fucking friends. No way can they hide long in our territory. Once we know where they are, we’ll figure out how to go in and get the girls.”

I felt like an outsider all these years with the Reapers. If I wanted to call myself their brother, I needed to stop thinking I was in this fight alone. Kirk and his boys treated me better than the Devils ever did. Even as Ted’s stepson, I was the loner who cleaned messes. Never trusted with decisions, I was just called to hide their dirty secrets. In Ellsberg with these men, I could be really part of a club.

The entire ride to the Johansson property was torture as I remembered Harlow wearing face paint at the fair. For years, I never believed she’d recover from the ugliness of that night or the suffering Playboy put her through. I imagined her ruined, but she’d grown up to be a woman capable of laughter and light. If Caleb stole that from her, I would spend the rest of my fucking life hunting his ass down. No truce would stop me. No loyalty to the club. Even Raven’s love might not be enough for me to give up on revenge.

Once I saw her running down to meet me, I accepted I wasn’t strong enough to give her up to find my vengeance. She owned my heart and I was relieved Cooper stopped me from breaking hers.

“They’ll save her,” Raven said immediately, knowing not only what I was thinking, but what I needed to hear.

Taking her into my arms, I could breathe again. “You give me hope, cookie,” I whispered before kissing her.

Raven held me so tightly I suspected she would have broken a weaker man. Fear radiated from my woman, but she gave me a wonderful fake smile.

“The Devils want to destroy you because you’re special and they’re nothing. They can’t have you though. You belong with me here in Ellsberg and I refuse to let you go.”

“You’re going to be my wife. Nothing is interfering with that plan.”

Nodding a little too vigorously, Raven glanced up at the deck where Lark waited.

“How’s Dylan?” I asked as we walked towards the stairs.

“In surgery. The Reapers guy at the hospital called Jodi and said Dylan will be okay,” Raven said, shivering. “I can’t believe he tried to stop those bastards. I mean, it makes sense that he’d try, but he was unarmed.”

Her eyes red from earlier crying, Lark waited for us with a nervous smile. “I heard he used a hammer on the guys. Got one of them in the eye too.”