TACK

Having Hunter in my bedroom is so surreal. For hundreds of nights, I've rested in here and fantasized about her. Now, she's in my arms as we catch our breath. Siobhan watches from the doorway, looking like a lost kid. I wave her over and add her to the cuddle pile.

Hunter notices my gesture and smiles at me like I've long craved. She's holding nothing back now. I'm everything she wants.

I've finally won the heart of the woman I love. All that's left is keeping her alive.

"The doctors are here," Aunt Fred says from the doorway. "They brought the doublewide trailer, so they can run tests."

"How is everyone back at the scene?" I ask as I hold a shaking Hunter.

"Banged up. They're riding in soon. Let's get you two to the trailer."

Though much of her dazed behavior is from shock, I also suspect Hunter has another concussion. She rubs her neck when we enter the trailer, so maybe she's suffering from whiplash, too.

"I want Tack to go first," Hunter says and begins crying. "They shot him in the stomach."

"The armor kept me in one piece," I say and kiss her forehead.

My words only make Hunter cry harder. I've never seen her so broken down, so I agree to get checked out first. After the club's concierge doctor runs tests using his fancy mobile machines, he promises Hunter that I'm only bruised up.

"You should stick to soft foods for a few days, just in case," the doctor adds, making me frown. "And stay away from alcohol. Also, avoid physical exertion."

"Clarify that last one."

The older man just stares at me until Hunter mumbles in a raspy voice, "Tack wants to know if he can have sex."

"Oh, yeah, just nothing wild."

Once I get the green light for fucking, I step back and have them work on Hunter. As the doctor begins the preliminary exam, Aunt Fred appears to steal me away. Hunter immediately panics.

"It's better this way," Aunt Fred explains in her soft way. "Now, Tack will be done with club stuff by the time you're finished with the doctor."

Hunter wipes her wet eyes and nods at the logic behind Aunt Fred's words. I smile at how even with her brain scrambled and her heart heavy, my woman can't shake her rational side.

After offering Hunter a tender kiss, I follow Aunt Fred to the main farmhouse. Indigo sits on the front swing with his head in his hands. When I pat his back, he only shakes his head.

Trailing me, Siobhan doesn't know what to do with herself while Hunter is checked over by the doctors. She settles on the porch swing next to Indigo and helps him deal with the day's craziness.

Inside the kitchen, I find Noble at the sink. He's covered in sweat and blood. I notice his arms are riddled with flesh wounds.

"They're all dead," Noble explains as he yanks off his blood-covered T-shirt and wipes himself down with the washcloth offered by Aunt Fred. "The guys from the Hills Chapter iced them all. They have zero finesse."

Aunt Fred explains, "You know Caveman teaches his boys to bulldoze through every problem."

Nodding, Noble offers her a little smirk. "Well, they bulldozed through our ability to shake down the attackers for info."

"It'll be okay," she says and hands him a clean shirt. "Once their bodies have been identified, we'll run down their backgrounds and connect their information to what we know about the other attackers. It's bound to bring us closer to whoever hired them."

"This thing is personal," Noble insists as he settles in a chair and Aunt Fred patches up his smaller wounds. "No fucking way is someone going to this trouble for a ransom situation. The guys today were a top-notch merc team. They didn't panic when we came in guns blazing. They never tried to use Hunter as a shield. They stayed on point. If the club hadn't been there, Hunter would be gone."

Noble takes a water bottle from Aunt Fred and chugs it. He'd do well to take a shower and cool down for a while, but that's a luxury unavailable to a man in charge.

"The Knutsen staff looked like they'd been in a fucking meat grinder," Elvis says as he enters the room after a quick shower. "The mercs' guns aren't legal anywhere. Whoever is doing this is rolling in cash."

Aunt Fred hugs Elvis while Noble waves Siobhan into the room. "Is Indigo okay?

"He's hurting over what happened," she mumbles before getting sandwiched between her parents.

"It was a mess," Elvis admits before asking her, "Are you okay, baby?"

"I've never seen Hunter like this before. She seems so broken."

"She lost people today. It was madness out there," he says before adding, "But we'll wrap her up in our love here at the farm."

"Is she still going to Hong Kong?"

"Suzanne wants to fly a chopper to the farm and pick her up for the airport," Aunt Fred explains. "I didn't know what to say about that."

"No," I answer, and everyone looks at me. "Suzanne's just moving the problem to Hong Kong. Noble's right. If the club hadn't swooped in, Hunter would be gone."

"Will she return to the estate?" Siobhan asks.

"There's no team to protect her there."

"Can she stay here?" Siobhan mumbles before teasing me with, "She can practice living with Tack."

I offer a little smile to Siobhan who struggles with her tears.

Noble exhales hard and seems to center himself. "If we keep Hunter locked down here, the rich asshole likely won't know how to find her. We can get the staff at the estate to act like she's there. We can have the Knutsen jet take off. Make it harder for them to nail down her location. Meanwhile, we'll use what we learned today to locate the one pulling the strings."

"I don't want to be a fly in the ointment here," Elvis says as he strokes Siobhan's head. "But we've got kids at the farm. Are we sure we want to risk their safety by keeping Hunter here?"

Siobhan frowns up at him, winning a kiss on her nose. I look to Noble and Aunt Fred. They glance at each other and then at me.

"Sending her away right now when her location isn't known might be the smartest strategy," Noble says. "But she can't go to Suzanne or her sister. The rich asshole will track her down there."

"If she goes, I go," I state, gaining frowns from Noble and Aunt Fred.

"What if they find her?" Siobhan asks her parents. "Tack can't go against mercenaries on his own."

"How would they find her, sweetie?" Elvis replies, foolishly thinking logic might work on an agitated Siobhan.

"I don't know. But if they did, they might kill Tack."

Noble exhales roughly, seeming on edge again. "Zoot will want to send her away. We'll need to hash things out with Suzanne before a decision is made."

Aunt Fred sighs. "Suzanne said if Hunter can't travel to her that she wants to fly back to Banta City."

"Talk her out of it," Noble says immediately. "She might end up as a target just to draw out Hunter. Plus, she'll try to micromanage shit, and we need to keep this situation in-house. That's why everyone will do our interviews with the cops at the farm's meeting hall. We have to keep our information vague and on point to ensure the local pigs stay out of our way."

Noble's rising temper gains a worried frown from Aunt Fred. He's usually the calming force to Zoot's rage. Today, though, we nearly ended up dead on the asphalt.

"Work your magic on Suzanne," Noble tells Aunt Fred as his voice softens. "Explain how we need time to figure out where to send Hunter to ensure she's safe. Tack is our family, and he's now in the crosshairs, too. So, settle that woman down, okay?"

Once Aunt Fred nods, Noble turns his gaze to me before glancing at Siobhan. "You two need to sit down with Hunter and make a list of every pervy guy she can think of. Leon Kovak has already sent over a list of Verge customers removed from Hunter's tables over the last few years. But she's also in that band and does plays and shit. I'm sure she has plenty of weirdo admirers because of the slutty Molly Ringwald thing."

Siobhan frowns and mutters protectively. "Hunter isn't slutty."

"I know, kid. We're just saying what others say, but we know the truth."

Once Siobhan smiles at her uncle and settles down, Noble looks outside to where kids run past. "The farm needs to be locked down. Only approved people should be coming and going. Put the traps in the woods. Keep the prospects here on patrol rather than sending them to the clubhouse. Have everyone armed. If your gut says something's off, assume you're right."

The conversation ends when Hunter arrives on the porch with a nurse. Noble and Indigo take their turns getting patched up in the trailer while Aunt Fred calls Suzanne.

Meanwhile, Hunter cuddles with Siobhan in the living room while staring at me.

"What happens next?" Hunter asks.

"We hide out here and lick our wounds."

"What about my mom?"

"Aunt Fred is handling Suzanne."

"Should I talk to her?"

"Do you want to talk to her?"

"I think I'll just end up crying until she panics and returns home."

"She might do that anyway."

"I can text her," Hunter says and then realizes she doesn't have her phone. Tearing up at the thought of where she left it, she hides her face against Siobhan and sobs like someone tore out her heart.

Siobhan and I hug Hunter between our bodies and let her cry. As much as I hate for her to have lost people, I'm just relieved she's alive and my people got out of the chaos in one piece.