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Authors: Kathryn Thomas

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BOOK: Bound: Minutemen MC
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“I’m all right,” Camilla replied immediately. She didn’t want him to know just how scared she had been—how scared she still was.

 

Dirk looked at her doubtfully, but to his credit, he refrained from commenting. “I talked to Stephan,” he said after a moment. “He’s not happy about what you did. Neither am I, to be honest.”

 

“So what?” Camilla said. She had reached a point in her shock where she simply didn’t care anymore. “Are you going to kill me now?”

 

Dirk blinked, taken aback. “Of course we’re not going to kill you.”

 

Camilla nodded. “Good,” she said. “Then I don’t give a fuck about what you or your precious president thinks.”

 

Rage flashed across Dirk’s face, but Camilla wasn’t affect by it like she had been in the canyon. The shock was numbing her feelings, giving her a kind of courage that wasn’t really courage at all, just emotional inertia—but she would take it. She would take whatever she could get that wasn’t pure, utter dread.

 

“You almost got yourself killed,” Dirk said, quite unnecessarily. “Fuck, you almost got
me
killed. You can’t pull stunts like that, Camilla. We’re trying to protect you.”

 

“Oh, spare me!” Camilla finally snapped. “Enough with this ‘we’re just trying to protect you’ bullshit. You’re keeping me here because it’s useful to you.”

 

“That, too,” Dirk admitted. “Look, what do you want me to do? Should I have not come after you? Should I have let them—?”

 

“No,” Camilla said sharply. “Of course not. Just…don’t feed me crap anymore, okay?”

 

Dirk watched carefully. He must have understood that, underneath Camilla’s anger, there was a genuine request, because eventually he nodded. “All right,” he said. “From now on, you’ll have full disclosure. But I want the same in return.”

 

Camilla watched him warily. She decided that this was the best deal he had offered since it all began. “Seems fair,” she said. “Full disclosure it is.”

 

“We’re not gonna lay low now,” Dirk said after a moment. “We’re going to strike before they can. We’re going to rebuild our troops, give them their confidence back, and then we’re going after those sons of bitches and put a stop to this.”

 

Camilla looked at him with a mixture of hope and horror. “Really?”

 

“Really. We can’t risk Ruiz attacking first again.”

 

Camilla sighed heavily. “I don’t know, Dirk…I still think letting me go would be the best option for everybody.”

 

“Maybe,” Dirk conceded. “Admittedly, it does make sense. But it’s not the solution.”

 

“Why not?”

 

“Don’t you see?” Dirk asked, and Camilla really didn’t, so he went on, “It’s bigger than you now. It’s bigger than your TIME story. In fact, it’s got nothing to do with you at all anymore. You’re just a pretext, an excuse. Even if we did let you go, Ruiz would still find a reason to keep coming after us. He won’t stop now. We’ve started a fight to the death, and we all know it. We all want to see it through, whether you’re here or not.”

 

Camilla looked at him. “Well,” she said after a moment, “it sounds to me like all the more reason to let me get the hell out of here. You’ve said it yourself, I’ve got nothing to do with it.”

 

Dirk gave her a smile that seemed almost a fond smile. “He’d kill you,” he said. “It doesn’t matter how much escort I’d give you, he’d still find a way to kill you before you’re on a plane for New York. Do you think it’s a coincidence that you ran into two Tar Mongols in the middle of the desert, in the middle of the night?”

 

Camilla stared at him. Her stomach twisted in a kind of fear that was becoming all too familiar of late. “It’s not?”

 

Dirk snorted. “Of course not. They’re on the lookout for you. Ruiz probably figured you’d try to escape sooner or later. He was ready for it. For
you
.”

 

Camilla shuddered. She swallowed hard and, despite her best efforts, she let her vulnerability show through. “I really don’t want to die, Dirk,” she admitted quietly.

 

Dirk grimaced. He got up from the armchair and walked over to sit at the foot of the bed with her. He placed his large, callused hand over her. The warmth gave her immediate comfort, which she had not been expecting. God, but she both hated and loved the influence he had on her! It was like no matter what she did, she could not remain unfazed by him.

 

“You’re not going to die,” Dirk said, fiercely. His blue eyes were ablaze with the promise he was making her. “I swear, Camilla. Nothing’s gonna happen to you. I won’t let it.”

 

Camilla swallowed hard. She wanted to kiss him. But there was something more pressing that came back to her mind with that one promise of his.

 

“I’ve got to ask you something,” she began carefully. “You’re not going to like it, but I…I have to know.”

 

Dirk frowned and pulled his hand away, pulling back slightly, already wary. “What is it?”

 

Camilla took a deep breath. “Who’s Eleanor?”

 

She watched as the color drained from Dirk’s face. She had expected shock, but not of this magnitude. She instantly regretted her question, but it was too late now to take it back.

 

“Who told you about Eleanor? Where did you hear that name?” Dirk’s voice was rough with an emotion too big for him to be able to conceal it.

 

Camilla licked her lips nervously. “The men in the canyon,” she said, hating herself for even having brought it up. “They said Ruiz killed one of your…women,” she couldn’t bring herself to repeat the exact word those two bastards had used. “They said he…uh…well.” She couldn’t bring herself to repeat the story, either.

 

“He raped her,” Dirk said. “He kidnapped and raped her and then he slit her throat. And he had her body delivered to my doorstep.”

 

Camilla’s insides grew cold. “Who was she, Dirk?” she asked quietly, hating herself even more for not being able to stop now that this awful ball was rolling.

 

“Eleanor was my fiancée,” Dirk said. “Ruiz killed her three years ago.”

 

Camilla’s eyes widened. She felt a lump squeeze her throat at record speed, but she forcefully swallowed it back. “I’m so sorry, Dirk,” she said when she could finally find her voice again. “I…I didn’t know.”

 

He gave her a small, heartbroken smile. “How could you?”

 

They lapsed into silence then. Camilla didn’t know what to say. What did you say to something like that? So she didn’t say anything. She reached out and covered Dirk’s hand with her own like he had done for her a moment ago. To her surprise, he laced their fingers together and squeezed her hand.

 

They stayed like that for a few moments, and then Dirk disentangled his fingers and stood up. “You should get some sleep.” He stared her down from the towering height of his six foot five measure. “Don’t pull something like this ever again, Camilla. I mean it.”

 

Camilla nodded. She had no trouble agreeing to it now. “I won’t,” she said. “I promise.” She held his eyes to make sure that he could see that she was being sincere.

 

He nodded, satisfied, and then he silently left the room.

 

Camilla watched the door close behind him, and then she let herself fall backwards onto the mattress. Her head was pounding, her mind was swirling with everything that had happened and the information she had just received. How horrible it all was. She had known that Herman Ruiz was ruthless, but she had not had any clue on just
how
ruthless. He was more beast than man, really.

 

She hoped Dirk was right. She hoped he really could keep her safe, and that they really could put a stop to this. She didn’t approve of club business and bikers’ gangs, but she couldn’t not approve of a plan that would rid the Earth of Herman Ruiz. Everyone surely would be better off without him roaming about.

 

Camilla couldn’t help but replay the night’s events in her mind. What would have happened if Dirk hadn’t showed up when he did? She shivered at the mere thought. For all that, she had been an investigative reporter for a while now, she had never been so in danger before. She felt like a rookie on her first case. She didn’t know how to act, how to speak to these people.

 

She thought of Stephan Walker and his inner darkness that she had caught the very first time she had spoken to the man. She hoped his darkness would be able to overcome Ruiz’s. And she hoped the darkness she had glimpsed within Dirk back at the canyon wouldn’t swallow him whole.

 

 

Chapter 25: Gunshots in the Night

 

Gunshots are a funny thing. We’re exposed to them from a very early age—(hopefully, if you’re lucky, the exposure only comes from television)—and without even realizing it, we start associating them with something cool. We associate them with action, with the heroes, with the good guys—from John Wayne to Han Solo.

 

“That movie is so cool! It’s got tons of guns and explosions!”
This isn’t a rare comment to hear when it comes to defining the “cool factor” of a film.

 

Camilla Hernandez could never see the appeal of guns and gunshots, and she had begun to appreciate them even less after she became an investigative reporter; she had seen way too many corpses with a bullet in their brains or their chests. These days, her aversion had escalated to the point of utter loathing.

 

The movies never told you just how loud gunshots really were in real life. The sound feels like the echo of your eardrums and heart exploding at the same time. At least, that’s what it had felt like to Camilla. She dreamed of that sound at night sometimes. That loud, unforgiving sound. It was a sound of no return.

 

Of course, given her line of work, she had heard plenty of gunshots in her time. But it had never been so loud. It had never been so personal. No one had ever been shot so close to her before. Until the night, four days ago, when she had made an escape that had gotten her out of the frying pan and straight into the fire.

 

Try as she might, Camilla couldn’t get the image of Dirk shooting the two Tar Mongols dead out of her head. Of course, she was immensely grateful to him for taking care of her would-be rapists, but she also couldn’t ignore the fact that he had dismissed the two as if it were nothing. Dirk had pulled the trigger and ended the life of two men as casually as if he were having breakfast. There had been little-to-no expression on his face as he ignored the second Tar Mongol’s pleas and put a bullet in his skull.

 

“Listen, sweetheart, this is war,”
Dirk had said, as if that justified anything.
“This is how we do it in the Mojave Desert.”

 

Apparently, in the Mojave Desert, men died without anyone thinking twice about it. Yes, Dirk had saved Camilla’s life, but she couldn’t say that she felt much safer now. The realization that this was way bigger than she had first assumed had landed upon her the very next day—after Dirk had taken her back to his place. The shock had knocked her off her feet with the same force of those bullets. This was indeed war, and she was smack in the middle of it.

 

More gunshots exploded in her ears, and Camilla sat up in bed with a gasp. Her gaze roamed about the darkened bedroom, her eyes wide and wild. There was no one in the room, of course. The gunshots had been in her head, just like they had been for four days now, and they might as well have everything to do with the deafening pounding of her heart within her chest.

 

Camilla took a deep, ragged breath and ran a trembling hand over her face. She pushed her long hair back and felt it was damp with sweat. Briefly, she considered the possibility of trying to go back to sleep, but what was the point? More gunshots would probably be waiting for her in dreamland anyway. She swung her legs over the mattress and stood, grabbing the thin robe from the nearby chair.

 

The house was quiet. It was a little after 4:30 in the morning, and even though Dirk was an early riser, she wasn’t expecting him to be up just yet. They were a blessing, these quiet hours she got to herself.

 

Camilla padded downstairs, her bare feet making no sound on the floors of Dirk’s desert house. She walked into the spacious kitchen, and she nearly jumped out of her skin when she spotted a dark shape, sitting at the table.

 

“Relax, princess,” a well-known voice said in the darkness. “It’s just me.”

 

Camilla took in great gulps of air, her heart racing. She reached for the switch and turned on the light. Stephan Walker grinned up at her. He blinked a couple of times to get adjusted to the sudden burst of light, but soon his hazel eyes regained their razor-like sharpness.

 

“What are you doing here?” Camilla asked when she had finally gotten herself back under control.

 

Stephan shrugged. “Just helping Dirk keep an eye out.”

 

Camilla arched an eyebrow, but she refrained from saying anything. She knew exactly what—or rather,
whom
—they were keeping an eye out for. Ever since the incident in the desert four nights ago, the Minutemen had been on full alert. Even though they didn’t seem to really think the Tar Mongols had learned the location of Dirk’s house, they still refused to take chances, and one or two of the men would take night shifts at Dirk’s, just in case. Camilla just hadn’t expected the MC’s president, himself, to take a shift. She had not seen him since the Minutemen had rescued her and Dirk four nights ago.

 

“And you’re standing guard in the kitchen?” Camilla finally asked, unable to help herself. “In the dark?”

 

Stephan smirked. “If someone wants to catch you by surprise, the first thing you have to do is let them think you’ve got no idea they’re coming.”

 

Camilla stared at him. “Do you really think they’ll come here?”

 

“No,” Stephan said after a moment’s reflection. “I don’t think they even know Dirk has a house out here. But better safe than sorry.” He said the last part eloquently, and Camilla shivered.

 

She remembered all too well what had happened the last time the Minutemen had underestimated just how far the Tar Mongols would go. The deaths of Alex Hurley and his wife and kids still hung heavy over all of their heads, and Camilla felt particularly responsible; the Mongols had been looking for her that night.

 

“And what are
you
doing up, princess?” Stephan asked.

 

Camilla gave the most noncommittal shrug she could muster. “I couldn’t sleep,” she said. She walked over to the cabinets and began busying herself with making coffee, just so she wouldn’t have to face him and his all-knowing stare. “Would you like some coffee?” she asked, casually.

 

“Sure.”

 

To his credit, Stephan didn’t say anything else. He remained quiet as she retrieved mugs, ground coffee beans, and water for the coffee brewer, but all the while she could feel his gaze burning into the back of her skull.

 

Camilla had been an investigative reporter for a very long while now, and she had become good at reading people. But even with all of her experience, she still had trouble reading this man. She had no idea what Stephan Walker’s agenda was, or if he even had one. She didn’t know why he was helping her, or if that was even what he was doing. She still couldn’t tell whether or not he was one of the good guys. She couldn’t read this blond-haired man and his pearly-white smile, and it unnerved her to no end.

 

Camilla finished making the coffee and then placed a steaming mug in front of him.

 

“Thank you,” he said, nodding gratefully. “Please, have a seat. Join me.”

 

Camilla hesitated, her own mug held tightly between her hands despite the heat that was rapidly seeping into her palms.

 

Stephan flashed her his most charming grin. “Go ahead,” he encouraged her, “I won’t bite.”

 

Camilla did her best to ignore the fact that he had chosen the word
“won’t”
rather than
“don’t”
—and she took a seat at the opposite side of the table.

 

“So how are you holding up?” he asked after a few moments.

 

Camilla looked up at him. “What do you mean?” She had a feeling she knew exactly what he meant, but she’d rather play dumb for a little while longer; it was a trick that had kept her alive on more than one occasion.

 

“I mean with everything that went down the other night,” Stephan said, predictably. “It must’ve been scary for you.”

 

Camilla shrugged. She carefully wiped every expression off her face. “It’s done,” she said.

 

Stephan stared at her from over the brim of his mug. “Is it?”

 

Camilla swallowed. “What do you mean?” she asked again.

 

“I mean, if you really think it’s done, you’re not as smart as I thought.”

 

Camilla bit her bottom lip nervously. “I know war’s coming,” she said, recalling the conversation she’d had with Dirk after they had come back from that horrible adventure in the desert. “But I also know it’s got nothing to do with me.”

 

“Perhaps not,” Stephan admitted. “But you sure as hell helped jumpstart it.” His hazel eyes flashed with anger. “You should know, the only reason why I didn’t put a bullet through you after the stunt you pulled is because Dirk would hate me for it.”

 

Camilla felt her insides grow cold. In that moment, she had no doubt that Stephan Walker meant every word. In hindsight, she supposed she couldn’t blame him; she
had
gotten those two Tar Mongols killed, giving Herman Ruiz one more excuse to bring the conflict between the two warring motorcycle clubs to an escalation point.

 

Oh God,
Camilla groaned inwardly when she realized the direction her thoughts were taking.
Am I really justifying a man who just said he would happily kill me?

 

She searched her brain for something to say in response, but she came up with a blank. Or rather, she couldn’t find any response that wouldn’t get Stephan’s temper flaring. She stood, willing her body to move at a controlled speed and fighting her instincts to hightail it out of that room as fast as her legs would carry her.

 

“I think I’d better try and get some sleep now,” she said, as calmly as she could.

 

Stephan watched her, unfazed. “You haven’t finished your coffee yet.”

 

“I don’t want it anymore.”

 

Camilla didn’t wait for a reply. She turned around and left the kitchen. To his credit, Stephan didn’t try to stop her.

 

She hurried upstairs, and she wasn’t really surprised when her legs automatically carried her to the door of Dirk’s bedroom. Camilla knew she was a mess of nerves and jumbled thoughts, and that she had to regain some control over herself—fast—if she wanted to get out of this situation. And so far, as much as she hated to admit it, the only thing that had given her some balance had been Dirk’s touch on her body.

 

BOOK: Bound: Minutemen MC
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