Elias Read online

  They lay together for several long minutes, caressing each other and letting the sunlight through the windows warm them. Then Elias suggested they shower and go down to the bar.

  "Martin puts on a really good brunch. We can just catch the tail end of it if we don't dawdle."

  "Dawdle? Who says that?" she laughed.

  "My mother."

  "Oh." She grinned. "Sorry. Let's go, and no dawdling."

  In the shower, she ran her hands across the well-defined muscles of his shoulders and chest. "You hide this very well."

  "What's that?"

  "This," she said, gripping his shoulders. "I never thought you were this fucking strong until I saw you naked yesterday."

  "Oh?"

  "You don't do it on purpose? It's like a Clark Kent thing. Seriously," she told him.

  He smiled. "I'm no superman."

  "No? You sure about that? You couldn't have told me that last night," she said with a grin.

  "Just a mild-mannered stock investor."

  "Who has a gun, a license to shoot people, military training, and the body of a Greek god. How long were you in the military?"

  "Six years. Most of that was over in Afghanistan, though I did do some time in Germany and England."

  "Did you like it?"

  He shrugged. "I thought of it as a job, and a way to get some investment money. I never wanted it as a career."

  "No college?"

  "Some. A few classes in finance, and things of that nature. Mostly math."

  "Eww."

  "Right. Let's get going."

  "Alright, superman."

  "Lois is a brunette."

  "Lois is a wimp," she retorted with a laugh.

  She went to her room and dressed. When she came out, he was putting on a leather jacket over his side holster and gun. "Why the gun?"

  "It's about time to start carrying it."

  "Oh. Not sure I like the sound of that."

  "He's going to come. We both know that. The restraining order is for us, not for him."

  Chelsea nodded. "Bikes?"

  "Let's take the truck. I would like you beside me."

  She smiled. "Alright."

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Larry Turner, the lawyer and part owner of the Log Cabin, was there when they arrived and waved them over to join him at his table. Elias took her hand and guided her through the room, then pulled a chair out for her. She found the gesture warm and domestic. She sat and gave Larry a smile. "Good morning."

  "How are you today?"

  "Oh, I think I'm better than I've been for a long time."

  "You look good as well. Hungry?"

  "Starving," she admitted.

  "Well the brunch is still going on. Why don't you two go fill some plates, and we'll talk after."

  "Talk? Is there something particular to talk about?" she asked.

  "Not really, just didn't want to keep you from your food."

  "Oh, well I appreciate that." She grinned and got back up to follow Elias over to the buffet.

  They filled two plates, each with waffles, strawberries, sausage, eggs, steak, and assorted other foods, and then came back to join Larry.

  "Wow, you really are starving,” Larry chuckled.

  "I'll go back if it's still there once I polish this off," she told him with a teasing smile.

  "Oh, you have at least another hour. Take your time," Larry told her as he leaned back and motioned for a waitress to come by for their drink order.

  Elias ordered a strawberry milkshake and a cup of coffee. Chelsea decided that ice tea would do for her.

  They talked about the run yesterday, and then Larry asked where Elias thought they should go next week.

  "How about north this time? We could go up to Sam's National forest," he offered.

  "That sounds good. I'll throw my vote in with yours and pass it on to Wild Bill."

  "He's the vice president, right?" Chelsea asked.

  "That would be the man," Larry agreed.

  "What position do you hold?" she asked.

  "Legal adviser, of course. Which isn't really a position, but the club voted me in as an honorary officer."

  "That's nice."

  "Sort of. It's kind of like a title in England. All it really means is that I get to pay higher monthly dues, and I can vote on things like weekend trips," he laughed.

  Larry didn't look like a lawyer. He wasn't quite as tall as Elias, but he was thicker in the chest and shoulders, and his forearms were roped with muscles. He looked more like a boxer or a brawler. His brow was thick and bushy, and his eyes were bright green.

  "So, you do mostly criminal law?" she asked.

  "For the club it is normally criminal law, but my practice is elder law. I do some family stuff as well, but elder law is where my heart is."

  "What's that?" she asked, taking a bite of waffle, whipped cream, and strawberry and moaning with unashamed glee.

  "Well, elders are anyone over the age of sixty-five. My practice focuses on combating those who would take advantage of people of that age and older. Swindles, misuse of power of attorney—things of that nature."

  "Oh. That sounds rewarding."

  "Doesn't pay much, but I like to believe I'm helping people who really need someone to help them."

  She was about to say something when Elias suddenly exploded out of his chair, pulled his gun, and commanded in a roar she didn't think he was capable of, "Hands where I can see them! Now!"

  The whole place went deadly silent, and when she turned to see what Elias was looking at, she found Tomas at the door.

  "Easy there cowboy." Tomas smiled. "I'm a cop."

  "Hands where I can see them! Now! Or I put a bullet in your knee."

  "I said I was a cop, asshole."

  Elias fired, and the bullet smashed into the ground in front of Tomas. "Last warning."

  "Fuck!" Tomas shouted, but he lifted his hands.

  "Larry, call the cops."

  "Right," Larry said, pulling out his cell phone.

  "Alright, maybe this is a bad time," Tomas said. "I'll just ease back out of here—"

  Elias' gun went off again, this time the bullet hit the door jamb right beside Tomas' face. "You do anything I don't tell you to do, I will shoot you. Are we clear?"

  The hatred twisting Tomas' face was alarming. Chelsea had never seen him look so dangerous before. But Elias walked straight at him, as if he were no more dangerous than a puppy. "On the ground, face down, hands stretched out above your head. Now!"

  "You are really starting to piss me off, cowboy."

  "I have a restraining order, a license, and the will to kill you. Clear?"

  Tomas glared at him, but Elias didn't flinch.

  The whole of the restaurant seemed to be holding their breath, and then Tomas got slowly to his knees, hands up, and then lied down on the ground, face to the floor. "I swear to god, cowboy, I'm going to take pleasure in gutting you for this."

  "You're going to do what I say or I'll put so many bullets in your head you'll be still-born for your next five incarnations. Now, hands flat, palms down, arms stretched out."

  "The police are on their way," Larry said calmly.

  "I am the police, you moron," Tomas growled.

  "You're a criminal right now," Larry informed him. "And we will be pressing full charges on your blatant disrespect for the court order I served you with."

  "Fucking asshole!"

  Elias walked over to Tomas, then knelt with his knee in the middle of Tomas' back, and the barrel of his 9mm into the base of his skull. Then, with the grace that Chelsea noticed their first night together, he took Tomas' handcuffs from the back of his belt and in a breath of time had Tomas cuffed, never taking the gun from his head the entire time. Once that was done he removed Tomas' gun and put it in his belt.

  Sirens wailed in the distance, but Elias didn't move from the position he was in, his knee in Tomas' back, his gun at his skull.

  "They're just going to let me go, as
shole."

  "No they won't, or we'll sue the city, and have reprimands in every one of their jackets," Larry told him calmly. "I'll make sure they know that before they leave with you."

  "That's two I'm going to gut."

  "Big talk for a man who’s on his way to jail." Larry chuckled. Then he rose. "Alright folks, calm down. The police are here, and this will be taken care of shortly. Anyone who wants to leave, please use the rear exit or go through the kitchen. Martin, make sure people can find their way out if they wish to go."

  No one seemed to want to miss anything, and everyone remained where they were.

  "Better than pay-per-view," Larry chuckled, giving Chelsea a grin.

  She tried to smile back, but terror was in her throat. She knew Tomas would show up. Elias told her that this morning, but she didn't think it would be today, this soon. The shock of seeing him had her gut in adrenaline-twisted knots. The stony look on Elias' face, however, was somehow very calming for her. There was no doubt in her mind that if Tomas made one more move, Elias was going to follow through on his threat and kill him. Part of her hoped Tomas was that stupid.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  When the police came in to the parking lot, it was Larry who went out to meet them, stepping by Tomas and Elias with a grace his size belied, while announcing his ownership of the bar and his status as a lawyer. He then handed one of the officers a sheet of paper and held council with them for a few minutes. The officers gathered around, glancing over at Elias a few times, but didn't seem to be in any hurry to get Tomas away from him. Then they all nodded in agreement and two of the officers broke from the group and came over to Elias.

  "We got it from here," one of them said.

  Elias nodded, clicked the safety of his 9mm, and stood up. "Need to see my license?"

  "No Elias, we know who you are. Thanks for the offer, though. We have a copy of the restraining order. We'll take him in and book him."

  "Right," Elias said. "Here's his weapon."

  As the officers pulled Tomas to his feet Tomas gave Chelsea a look of pure hatred, but said nothing. She was shocked that the officers actually took him to a car and put him in the back without taking off his cuffs.

  Once the police were gone with Tomas, Larry and Elias came back into the restaurant, which exploded into a round of applause. Larry smiled and waved and clapped Elias on the shoulder. "Take a bow, big man."

  Elias smiled and then took a bow, which brought a smile to Chelsea's lips.

  "Ham," she said with a teasing accusatory tone when they sat down with her again.

  "Take them as I can." Elias grinned and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "How you doing?"

  "Shaken, but I'll be alright." Then she asked Larry, "How long will they keep him?"

  "Oh, about four hours, I suspect. They'll book him and file the charges, but set his bail so low that pocket change will get him out. The best we can hope for, really, is that he'll be suspended. The impounding of your car will help with that, but it will be a token slap at best. Maybe a week without pay," Larry explained.

  "Doesn't seem like much," she sighed.

  "Oh, but it is. It was round one and we came out on top. Now, round two. Just go with the process. We'll take care of this."

  "You sound so sure."

  "Not my first rodeo, Chelsea," Larry told her. "Not Elias' either. Nice shooting by the way."

  "What? I was aiming for his head," Elias said seriously, and then gave Chelsea a wink.

  "Asshole," she chided, but then returned his cheek kiss.

  "Eat up, Chelsea," Larry told her good-humoredly. "The food is still just as good, and the day is still young. And at least, for the rest of this day, you won't have to worry about Tomas."

  She nodded, looked at her food, and then forced herself to resume eating.

  The event didn't seem to affect either one of the men's appetites. In fact, Elias went back for two more plates. Chelsea finished hers and decided that was enough on the twisted stomach she was still dealing with.

  Just as she was finishing she saw John Price, the president of the club she met yesterday on the run, come through the door of the kitchen. The man was absolutely huge, like a leather-armored bear. With him were five other men, all of them very serious in appearance. John walked straight toward their table as the men with him fanned out through the restaurant and bar.

  Elias got up and met John before he reached the table and they had a brief conversation. Then John followed him back to the table and sat down with them. "How you doing Chelsea?"

  "Better than a few minutes ago. How are you?"

  "Well, about the same I guess. Martin gave me the call, and we came as fast as we could, but it looks like your man here took care of everything for us."

  "He did do that," she agreed.

  "Feeling safer with him now?" John asked.

  She glanced over at Elias. "Actually, yes. Much safer."

  "Good. Elias won't tell you this, but he's one of the best in the city at what he does. Several other clubs have tried to woo him away from the Wolves, but he's stuck with us."

  "Oh?"

  "Oh yeah. He's brilliant at security and counter-threat operations. He's even helped some of the other clubs with security gigs they have picked up for visiting VIPs."

  "I didn't know that," she said, glancing again at Elias, who now looked bored.

  "Like I said, he won't tell you things like that. But he's one hell of a bodyguard," John told her, and then to Elias he asked, "I've got five of your men here. Do you think you'll need them?"

  Elias shook his head. "Funs over—for today anyway. I'll do some thinking tonight and we'll prepare for round two."

  "Good. I'll send them back home, then."

  "We're thinking Sam's for next week, John. What do you think?" Larry asked.

  "Sam's is always a good run. I'm in." John nodded, and then said to Chelsea, "You're pretty good on that Sporty. You should think about getting one of your own."

  "Think Duffy will trade me for my Shelby?" she asked.

  John laughed. It was a deep laugh, out of a mountain of a man. "Not a chance."

  "Why not? The Shelby is worth three of those Sportsters," she complained.

  "Not to Duffy it’s not. The only thing he drives is his flatbed tow truck, and only when one of the club is down and his helper isn't around. He’s bikes all the way."

  "Weirdo." Chelsea grinned.

  "Yep, but he's our kind of weird."

  She looked over at Elias. "So I've heard. I think I'm going to have to meet this man soon. His reputation has grown to heroic proportions from all the stories I've heard."

  John laughed again. "He's quite the guy. Well, I'll be taking off. Glad things are taken care of, though I had little doubt they would be. See you all soon."

  Chelsea watched the huge man make his way out through the kitchen and felt something warm inside of her. He really did care what happened to her. Why? She was nothing to him. Not really. She wasn't part of the club, and as far as he knew, she wasn't anyone special to Elias. She hoped she was now, but John didn't know about last night.

  "What you thinking?" Larry asked her.

  "Honestly? I was wondering why John seemed to care so much."

  "Because Elias told him you're worth the effort," Larry said simply. "The club is like that. 'All for one and one for all,' and all that other stuff. Only it's not just stuff to us. It's important, and real."

  She thought about that, and then put her hand on Elias' thigh. "Thank you."

  He gave her a small smile. "You are worth it, you know."

  Was she? Was she really? Two weeks ago she was bedded by Tomas, Mr. Stewart, and two of their friends whose names she never learned, one after the other—passed around like she was a fuck doll. She performed several degrading sexual acts, and then was humiliated further by having to wait on her knees until someone wanted his dick sucked again, or her ass to fuck. Worthless in their eyes, and hers. When did she become someone a man like Elias
could care about? Or John? Or Larry? Or the five men who came in ready to kill for her? She bit her lip and tried to hold back the tears threatening to spill from her eyes.