13. ‘Lachi’

THIRTEEN

‘LACHI'

MALACHI

Well, damn, I'm thinking Nova was right and these women are more badass than I could have ever thought. The sheer number of people waiting on us is shocking. And the men between the row of bikes look like they could kill us and never blink an eye, they are so scary looking.

Hearing a moan, I try to reach Vito but Nova is running like a goddamn gazelle, and I can't catch up. I know why because even though Vito was shot in the upper shoulder blade, who knows if it hit anything of importance. Mayhem did a half-ass job of bandaging Vito's injury and then jammed a syringe with what he told us was morphine into Vito's thigh. I have no idea what Jude's got us all involved in, but fuck, I'd probably would have done the exact shit if it was my dad or family. I'm trying to give him the benefit of the doubt, which is usually my downfall.

Squinting my eyes, I can barely make out the bunch of women off to the side, standing beside a large van. As I scan the faces, looking for Ruby, my eyes stop on the tatted face of Shadow, where it seems her eyes are staring directly at me. Holy shit, forgot how intimidating that whole skull face tattoo was. Goddamn, Jude is going to shit himself for sure. My eyes slowly pass hers as I continue looking for Ruby, who pops into my view about four down from Shadow. She's scanning the bunch of us back and forth until we're closer and she can finally make me out. I see the beginning of a smile right before she scrunches up her face and glares my way. Oh great, not the greeting I was going for, but shit, what can I expect with how we are arriving with a threat behind us. That thought reminds me to check on my parents and make sure they were able to get Jude's family to our family estate. Of course, I have top-of-the-art security and Nova was calling in a favor to get some ex-military to guard my family estate. We are trying to cover everything until we know what we're dealing with.

When I'm close enough, I can see the worry and despair on Ruby's face and, instantly, it feels like someone kicked me in the gut. I didn't want to bring her grief, just the opposite. Hopefully when I explain the situation and am honest with her, she'll understand. That's all I can ask for.

We are on our way to, I guess, the Devil's Handmaidens' ranch and the van we are in is surrounded by some of the scariest bikers I've ever seen. Ruby is sitting next to me, Jude is in the front passenger seat while Freddy is in the back with Vito and someone named Dr. Malcolm. He's working on the gunshot wound and just told the driver, Wildcat, to take them to the medical cabin, whatever that means. All Ruby has said to me is hello and nothing else. Fuck, is this done before we even start? I reach over and grab her hand. It shocks her for a minute then she grasps on to my fingers tightly. In front of us are two pickups and behind us is a huge pickup with two men with long hair, both have it in braids. In the back seat looks to be a wolf, yeah, a fuckin' wolf, who watched the dark-haired man, never taking those amber/golden eyes off of him. I'm not sure who all these people are, though I do recognize some from Texas but can't remember all of their names.

My phone vibrates so I reach for it, seeing my dad's face on my screen. Shit.

"Dad, hi. You okay? What? Oh, okay, everyone safe? Did you get Jude's dad too? I'll tell him, is Mom with them? Make sure to call Levi and Nobel, tell them to get to the home front as soon as they can. Explain what's going on with Jude's dad too. Thanks, Dad, appreciate it so much, and I'm so sorry."

When I disconnect it hits me, everyone in the van was listening and Ruby is staring at me with kind of a wonder look on her face.

"Ruby, what's that look for?"

"I'm surprised, didn't think you'd be like this."

"Um, like what, Beauty?"

"I don't know. You're real and so upfront."

"Well, let's see if you think that way after we talk."

Just as she goes to answer we are slowing down by a driveway that is being guarded. Wildcat waves and the guys wave her on. The van takes curves and turns going, I'm guessing, up to the ranch. When we make that last curve and I see the house, it takes my breath away. And it fits into the view being a log home. Wildcat drives around the side of the house then down to a small road in front of the cabins, stopping at the second one.

Dr. Malcolm immediately starts shouting orders, not sure to who, until both Wildcat and Ruby jump out also screaming orders. When I look around there are a shit ton of people running, so I get out of the van, my hand reaching behind me to make sure I have my gun, just as the huge guy, Avalanche, comes my way, shaking his head.

"Dude, wouldn't reach for that piece if you want to keep breathing. Your boy needs help so let's get him into the cabin so Doc can work on him."

He turns and opens the back door, reaching in, so I walk up the side of him as he gently grabs Vito by his shoulders, placing his head close to his chest area. I reach in and grab him by his knees and we carefully carry him into the cabin, which has a few of Ruby's club sisters in it, along with Shadow and another woman with dark hair and, holy shit, violet eyes. They are waiting at one of the tables. We place Vito on it and immediately the women start cutting his T-shirt off. Then the darker-haired woman starts to clean his arm to put an IV in, while Shadow and Dr. Malcolm look at the wound. It went in the back upper shoulder blade area and came out right above his nipple. I can see he's in a lot of pain.

Dr. Malcolm starts asking if he has allergies or if he ever used pain medication outside of a prescription by a doctor. I hear Freddie let out a growl, but I catch his eyes and shake my head. These folks know what they are doing so I move alongside the wall and Freddie joins me. Not sure where Jude is but I'm more worried about Vito, who's looking our way.

Shadow grabs a bottle and tips it over, pouring it on Vito's wound. He lets out a scream filled with pain and before I can say anything, Ruby walks over to Shadow with a look on her face.

"Hey, next time try warning the person before pouring that crap on a wound. How would you like it, Shadow?"

The look Shadow gives Ruby scares me. When I move toward her those ice-blue eyes look my way, pinning me right where I am. Then Shadow looks to Ruby with a wicked grin on her face.

"Okay, Kitty cat, I've seen your claws enough today. And as far as warning someone, generally I want to hurt them so this is new territory for me. We need to clean the wound so Doc can get a better look. Would you like to take over, though I know how much you ‘love' blood. So can we continue or is there something else you wanted?"

Ruby's face shows all of her emotions and knowing she meant well, I walk to her, grabbing her hand, and lead her back to Freddy. The three of us stand here watching as Dr. Malcolm helps Shadow clean out the wound. Then he makes sure there is nothing in the hole before he packs it with something, maybe antibiotics, and starts to stitch the back area closed. Vito is out, must be whatever is in the IV. The front wound is larger so when the doctor gets to it, he first does internal stitches then closes the top layers of skin. When Vito is bandaged, Avalanche is back to wheel our friend to a back room, which I assume is a bedroom of some sort. Doc turns to us before giving his diagnosis.

"He should have a full recovery. My worry is the muscle damage. Will probably need to go to physical therapy for a while, but otherwise, outside of an infection, he should be fine. Did either of you get hurt?"

Freddy and I look at each other then back at him, shaking our heads.

"Okay, well then, we'll keep an eye on Vito right through today and tonight. If all goes well, he'll be able to move to the main house or wherever you are staying. I'll want to check him out at the clinic in a few days."

We both go to the doctor, thanking him. I pull him to the side, asking how much we owe him for his treatment of Vito. He just smiles and tells me the Devil's Handmaidens club takes care of his services. When I try to argue, he tells me to take it up with Tink then turns and grabs Wildcat's hand, walking down the front stairs. Freddy gives me a shoulder bump then walks down to where Vito is resting, leaving Ruby and me alone in the room. When I turn to my left and look down, her beautiful eyes are looking up at me but she doesn't say a word. Guess the time has come for me to explain myself. All I can hope is she can be understanding and know I didn't mean to bring all this shit to their front door.

"Hey, Ruby, guess now is the time for our talk. Is there somewhere we can go to maybe have some privacy?"

It's at this exact moment, I believe it's Tink who walks in with a dude that looks like military. Ruby looks at them both, then back at me.

"Malachi, this is my prez, Tink, and her ol' man, Noodles."

Noodles moves to shake my hand while Tink stays close to Ruby. When I look her way, she smiles and shocks me.

"Malachi, why don't you and Kitty walk over to the conference center. There are offices in there that you two can use to talk. I'll have Squirt bring over some refreshments. When you're done, head over to the main house, as Nova is talking to my dad right now. We'll all touch base then. Take your time though. Oh, your friend, Jude, is being watched by Yoggie and Enforcer from my dad's club. No one has laid hands on him, though Shadow is biting at the bit, so to speak. She already said if he needs to be made to talk, she's volunteering as has Spirit. Yeah, both of them are blood thirsty. Go have your talk."

I grab Ruby's hand and then she leads me out of the cabin and down the road we drove on earlier. We pass, I guess, the main house and that's when I start to look around. What a setup. There are barns in view and out in the distance are three or four huge outbuildings. Down the driveway is a newer building or maybe pole barn. When Kitty heads that way, I'm guessing this is the new conference center. Closer up I can see it's a separate building, and from the digital box by the doors has some security tied to it. Ruby puts her finger up against the scanner and the door unlocks. That gets us into the entrance but there's another security box that Ruby enters a number into, and finally we are in the building. She leads me down a hallway to a room at the end. When she opens the door, the lights automatically go on and I see a long table and six, no, eight chairs around it. In the corner is a small refrigerator and microwave. Also a small counter with a sink in it, almost like a kitchenette.

Shaking my head to clear it, I see Ruby took a seat, her hands folded on top of the table. I move to take the seat next to her. She turns to me, her eyes filled with a ton of questions, so I sit back and take a deep breath, then figure it's now or never.

"Ruby, I need to explain a few things. First and foremost, I'm mesmerized by you, Beauty. In Texas, even during all that bullshit with that other club of bikers, I was drawn to you. It amazed me that you didn't know me or about me. I even talked to Presley about it and he swore none of you had any idea who I was. Then when we started meeting in Billings and we were getting to know each other, I fell hard. That last time, when you didn't show, I had planned to sit down and talk to you and finally share with you about my life. But you never did show up, and that about killed me. So I planned this trip to figure out what's going on between us."

I stop to take a breath while Ruby keeps staring at me, so I continue.

"Have you ever heard of Dagon Security Systems? By the look on your face, I'm guessing no. Well, my full name is Malachi Dagon and, yeah, I see you're figuring it out. I'm the president and owner of DSS. I wrote my first program when I was sixteen and by the time eighteen rolled around, I had three of my programs patented. By twenty I sold a few of my patented programs, which set me up for life. Now I'm in the process of working with Nova to combine my services with his, so we can come together with packages for his elite clients. What I bring is all of the security programs a business will ever need to protect their company and clients. Ruby, I'm beyond wealthy. I've bought my parents their dream house, well it's more of a compound, as it has a few buildings and cabins on it. My older brother and his wife, I helped remodel their home and my younger brother is just bumming right now. He's young, but when ready I'll give him a good start also. The reason I didn't tell you right off the start is I was amazed that you seemed to like me for me, not my money or status. You were into ‘Malachi' the guy, not the businessperson, and that drew me even closer to you. That's what I wanted to share with you, and I'm sorry Jude brought his bullshit with him to your home. Hopefully, that brotherhood bunch of assholes don't bring it here. My parents have taken in Jude's family and I talked to Nova, who has some of his people helping protect my parents' property. Those people are heartless. I mean, they shot Vito just because they could. For fuck's sake, they could have killed all of us for what… money? That's insane."

I watch Ruby as her eyes shift all over my face before she drops her head. Reaching for her, I pull her close and hold on to her. When I hear her talk, I can't believe what she says. It blows my mind.

"Malachi, thanks for being honest. I owe you an apology for not showing up that last time in Billings. The reason I didn't was not because I'm ignorant but right before I was leaving, Raven reached out and shared what she found out about you. Yeah, I had her try and search you, even though I didn't have your last name. She tapped into the signing hotel for your face then ran it through some facial recognition software she has. So I already know about your vast fortune, Malachi. That's the main reason I didn't show up that weekend. You deserve so much better than me. When Raven told me, I had a huge panic attack and ended up in bed most of the weekend. My anxiety went nuts, so I figured better to stop it than put you through the misery of my many issues."

I stare at her for seconds then lean over and start nibbling her lips. When she moans, I push my way in and start to devour her. For the first time in my life, I've met a person who wants nothing except me. I take my kiss to another level when I push my chair back and pull Ruby into my lap. When she wraps her arms around my neck, I know I've found my home. Now I have to try and convince Ruby that she doesn't have to do everything by herself anymore. If she accepts me, she'll never be alone again. That's a promise, I think to myself.