Bullets? Someone was shooting at us? I can feel my hammering heart trying to catch up with my frenzied breathing, causing me to feel light-headed.
Shadow takes my face in both of his hands. “Look at me. Breathe, baby,” he says calmly, his tenderness not going unnoticed.
I grab his wrists and stare into his stormy eyes as I inhale a deep breath.
“Baby?” I repeat, confused that he would call me that. Baby is a term you use for someone you care about. I’m not that, am I?
Shadow's eyes widen. He didn’t even realize he called me that in the heat of the moment. He drops his hands from my face, breaking contact instantly.
I look down at my body and feel around; making sure my limbs are still intact. Still looking down at myself, I spot blood dripping on the floor. Where is that coming from? I’m sure I wasn’t hit. I retrace the thick bloody drip to find it coming from Shadow's arm.
“Shadow, you’re bleeding. You’ve been shot!” I yell, pointing at his arm.
He looks down at where I'm pointing, “Oh, shit. I have been shot,” he says surprised.
“I’ll be fine. Are you okay?” He looks at his arm again then back at me. Seriously, that’s his reaction to being shot? I nod my head that I'm fine, physically. Mentally, I’m not sure yet.
“She okay?” Bobby asks, running into the room.
“Yeah, she’s fine. I caught one though.” He lifts his arm to show the damage.
“Did you get a look at who it was?”
“Nah, man. Motorcycles, but I couldn’t tell who,” Bobby says, taking a look at Shadow's arm, then at me. Suddenly I’m aware that I’m only in a t-shirt and underwear. I grab the bottom of the shirt and try to pull it further down to cover myself, but I'm not accomplishing much. Shadow grabs my shorts from the floor and hands them to me.
“Put these on, you're killing me in that damn shirt.” His confession makes me smile, I love knowing I affect him.
“I’m gonna call Bull,” Shadow says, pulling his phone out of his pocket. His arm is still dripping dark red blood onto the tan carpet. The Ol' Ladies are going to be pissed. I run into the bathroom and return with a soaked towel. I wrap it around his arm and pull tight to knot it. He winces at the harsh contact the towel makes when it squeezes his wound shut.
“Yeah, she’s okay,” he says, surveying my quick work. “Just me... Nah it’s not bad, but I’ll need the Doc... I don’t think it was her, unless she joined a club lately... Yeah, we’ll head that way now.” Shadow pushes his phone back in his pocket.
“What’s the word?” Bobby asks.
“He wanted to know if I thought my mother was behind this. She left a voice mail demanding drugs or money or she would take Dani. You said they were on bikes, so unless she's joined a club lately, it's not her. I'll tell you more later. Let's get.” He's speaking to Bobby as if I'm not even in the room.
Bobby nods his head in understanding. I'm flabbergasted. Who is Shadow's mom? What kind of a mom demands drugs? How did she know about me? Why would she use me as a bargaining chip? I open my mouth to voice the questions but Shadow cuts me off.
“He wants us at the club; it’s not safe here anymore. Pack your shit, Dani.” He pauses and points at my handiwork. “Where did you learn to do this?”
“T.V., of course,” I say, smiling proudly, getting a lopsided grin from him in return.
Dani's petite arms are wrapped around my waist as we head back to the clubhouse on my bike. Having her arms around me helps with the pain clawing in my right arm. It's helping with another pain, too, but I'm not sure I'm willing to admit that yet. When I heard the first shot, I ran across the living room up the stairs as fast I could; my only mission was to get to her. I even caught a fucking bullet in the process. I didn’t even realize I had been hit? my adrenaline was pumped so high. Having a feeling other than wanting to stick my dick in Dani, has me nervous.
When I’m around her, though, I think about someone other than myself. And she makes me feel respected; like when she dressed my bullet wound, no one has ever shown such care for me. I’m loyal to my brothers and would put my life on the line for them, and they for me. But there’s no company like a woman’s, and Dani’s company is much to be desired.
I love Bobby like blood, but when Dani had her hands on him, I wanted to put my gun to his dick right there. And him seeing her in just that Devil's Dust shirt and underwear made me see red. I’m not the jealous type; this bitch has me twisted something deep. I've been trying to deny that there might be something deeper than sex with Dani, but that was before bullets went flying at the safe house. I have never been so frightened for someone else’s safety in my life, except for Bobby. That fucker has had some close calls.