Hell Froze Over (7 page)

“Now, like I said, I would love to hear your report because there is much to be done. And dealing with the Warriors is only the first part of my plan. I have some unfinished business with someone under their protection. It is very personal. Someone had kept my family from me for long enough. I made a mistake the first time around, letting my daughter think she had free reign. This time, I will make sure I do this right,” the woman said and the new leader of the Vipers leaned back and slowly began to give his report.

He had been outsmarted this round, but rest assured, there were going to be more chances. He wouldn’t be bested by a woman, no Viper would and still be able to hold his head up high.

Kink and Magnum were still sitting in the bar when the call came in. Bic called Free and then the rest of the guys’ phones began to ring. They were frowning as they looked on because each and every one of the men who received a call had claimed a Lady Rider, which meant that somehow, they were involved in a situation.

“We are on lockdown,” Creed yelled into the phone. “That means your sweet ass is not off the compound grounds.”

Kink grinned and then shook his head and looked at Magnum. “Uh oh, I think the chicks have done it again.”

Stone was snapping at his woman into his phone. “Treat, what did I tell you about leaving the compound?”

Magnum nodded and laughed loudly, that is until they heard Boo’s name and then they got tense. Especially when Creed said police as well. Both men were up and walking to the door before the guys had even hung up their phones to follow. Creed was the one who filled them in on the way out the door.

“Harmony said they haven’t been allowed into her apartment, but she called the police and reported a breaking and entering. They are waiting, but one of the officers told them Boo was okay, she was just shaken and upset. They also said her apartment is scary, like she should never have moved into it in the first place. Shady wants her out of it and back at the compound.”

Kink nodded and looked at Magnum who was looking just as pissed as he felt. “Yeah, she will be. We are done with this shit; she is moving into our spare bedroom whether she likes it or not,” he said and mounted his bike.

Magnum mounted his as well, and yelled over his engine when he started it, “She is gonna put up a fight.”

Kink nodded and yelled, “She can fight all she wants, but she better look at the thermometer because hell just froze over for her.”

“Agreed.” Magnum laughed and they took off.

Boo was sitting on the only chair left in her apartment that wasn’t broken. She was sitting there too, because the first policeman who had come into her apartment witnessed her crying jag at its peak, had been concerned. She admitted she was upset, but it wasn’t just because of her apartment that she was crying. It was because she had been shot, she had lost her supposed support system, she had been accosted this morning by the bad breath dude, she had realized the two men she had been crushing on forever were truly off limits, and now this. Everything had caught up with her and she snapped.

After calling the police, she had realized she had no one else to call, no one to commiserate with. It hit her at the right time and she had lost it. It had not been pretty, and she was sure that right about now, she looked like shit. She didn’t care, because there was no one she actually wanted to impress. But the fact remained, right now Boo would kill for a shower. She felt dirty, and hopefully, soon everyone would be gone so she could pick up the sorry pieces of her life and move on.

“Ma’am,” the officer said softly and pointed to the back bedroom. She hadn’t gone back there because she hadn’t wanted to see the destruction. The living room was bad enough, if she saw her clothes all strewn out, she would have felt so much worse. Mostly because it creeped her out to think someone had pawed through her underwear.

“Yeah,” she said softly.

“Could you come back here and see if anything is missing?” he asked and she nodded grimly and stood. She had been dreading this, and knew she was going to cry again when she saw the mess that used to be her bedroom. And she was right. The second she entered her room, she cringed and felt the tears begin to build.

Her living room and kitchen had been bad enough. All of her furniture was slashed and the stuffing torn out, all of her plates thrown on the floor, all of her food opened and tossed around. That was nothing compared to her bedroom though. Her mattress was askew on the frame, slashed down the center and ripped apart. Her clothes, all of them, were thrown around, obviously cut and torn into pieces. Her jewelry box thrown against the wall and scattered.

She sniffled as the policeman made a noise, so she turned and looked at him. “I don’t know,” she whispered and the man looked at her with sympathy and nodded.

“Maybe when you have had a chance to look,” he said as he looked behind them and continued. “We need to dust for prints, maybe you want to take this time to go out and see your friends.”

She looked at him confused. “Friends? Um, I don’t think…”

Another policeman from in back of her cleared his throat and interrupted. “Ma’am, we need you to come out and settle your friends down. They, um, are threatening to ‘bust the f-ing gate down.”

Boo frowned and followed the officer as he led her out of her apartment and down the stairs. She saw her landlord there puffing away on a cigarette while watching all of the hustle and bustle around her. Her landlord wasn’t going to be happy. She hated it when any attention was put on her building, mostly because the people would see what a complete dump it was on the inside. As they neared the gate, she paused and closed her eyes. Fuck, it was the Lady Riders. She would know Bic’s voice anywhere, and she was currently swearing rather loudly at someone who was blocking her from coming in.

“I do not think you are appreciating the fact that Boo is our family,” Bic snarled and continued, “she is in there by herself dealing with this. She shouldn’t have to, now, let me through so I can support my girl and all of this shit can get sorted.”

Apparently, the officer didn’t give her the right answer because Boo could hear all the Lady Riders begin speaking, and then she heard the rumble of bikes. She closed her eyes.
Let the humiliation begin
, she thought, as she took a deep breath and opened her eyes, rounded the corner, and walked out into the front.

She saw the women first, and her mouth almost dropped open. Not only was Bic here, but ALL of the Lady Riders were here, like ALL of them. She paused slightly and then took a deep breath as she moved toward the women. She could hear the guys getting closer and honestly, she wanted to get to the women and send them on their way before the guys could even stop.

“Hey,” Boo said softly to the women and Shady stepped forward. She knew the leader, but didn’t know her well. To be honest, she scared Boo a little, not because of her gruff exterior, but to be honest, she was like a force to be reckoned with. Nothing got in her way, nothing. Everyone knew about her past, not because she talked about it, but because of what happened when her past came back to haunt her. She respected the hell out of the woman. Hell, who wouldn’t.

“You okay?” Shady said and Boo nodded.

“Yeah, I am good,” Boo said quietly and avoided looking at anyone else because she knew she may start crying if she did. Looking at Shady gave her strength. It was weird, this was what she would miss about being with the Lady Riders. “Thanks for um coming, I don’t know how you heard.”

Shady laughed loudly and said, “Boo, we weren’t coming here because you were robbed, although it is damn lucky that we arrived when we did so we can help you get your shit all together.”

“You didn’t come because of this? Then why are you here?” Boo asked, really confused now.

“We were coming to get your ass and bring you home,” Shady said and Boo frowned deeper.

“I am home,” she said softly.

“No, babe,” Shady shook her head and then motioned to the building. “You are not at home, you are in some dumbass apartment, for some ungodly reason, and we have had enough of it. Your place is at the club, with us.”

Boo bit her lip and then looked at Bic who was glaring at her, not in anger, but what looked to be disbelief in what she was hearing. She was confused, and all of the crap that was swirling around her was just overwhelming. She had no idea what to do, or how to answer that, and while she stood there trying to figure it out, it gave the guys an opportunity to get closer to her.

“What the hell happened?” Magnum barked at her and she leaned backward, instantly frowning and ready to lay into him. She wasn’t in the mood for this shit, she didn’t need to explain to anyone.

“Not that it is any of your business, but my apartment was broken into. I am dealing with it, and while I appreciate all of your obvious concern, I am fine and can handle this. Please leave,” she said coldly and went to turn away from the whole group when her arm was gently grabbed and she was turned back around.

“Now, sweetheart,” Kink said in a low voice, but it held an edge of ‘don’t fuck with me’ tone as well. “I will let the attitude go because you have had a shitty day, but don’t tempt me any further because right about now Magnum and I are both riding on the edge of our patience. Now, once again, tell us what happened.”

Boo wanted to snap at him, but the look in his eyes made her think twice. She put the heel of her hand to her forehead for a second and took a deep breath, she needed to calm down before she said something she couldn’t take back. When she was finally ready, she lifted her head up and looked at them with the blank look she had perfected while she was in school to not let the bullies know they were bothering her.

“I am fine, everything is fine, I just had someone break into my apartment. The police were called and they are handling it. There is really nothing to be done, I am sure my landlady will have the lock fixed today. So, everything is under control,” Boo said calmly and politely.

Kink’s eyes narrowed and he obviously was biting back some retort he wanted to give her. She was impressed when he said calmly, “Was anything stolen?”

Boo shook her head. “Nope, nothing.”

The policeman who had followed her out interrupted. “Ma’am? They are wrapping up, there is not much that can be saved, I would suggest you stay somewhere else for tonight and then call someone to have all of the broken stuff hauled off.”

Boo wanted the earth to open and swallow her up, because the tension went from zero to sixty in just that second. Shit, she didn’t want to have to tell them this, they would feel sorry for her and try to fix everything like they normally did. The difference was she didn’t want them to fix anything for her. She was not a charity case, and she already knew they thought they needed to take care of her out of some misplaced sense of obligation, they had probably gotten from Bic. Boo needed to come to terms with the fact she would always be a loner.

“Excuse me?” Kink said, once again deceptively calm. The officer obviously was a rookie of some sort because he actually replied to him.

“Well yeah, the place is totaled as I am sure Ms. Bromp has told you. Everything was destroyed, the only thing I think she can salvage is maybe some things in her bathroom,” the officer said and then eagerly went that extra bit to make sure her life sucked even more. “And the landlady is saying it could take a week or more to get the door changed.”

She heard Kink growl, literally growl when he said, “The fuck?”

Magnum stepped forward and held out a card to the officer. “Thank you, officer, if you need anything please contact this number. Ms. Bromp will be staying with us from now on.”

Boo opened her mouth to protest, but Kink’s hand on her arm began propelling her into her building, she could feel Magnum following as the rest of the group kinda backed up. They reached the stairs and he pulled her behind him as he moved up to the landing before seeing the door where all the activity was and moved there. They entered her trashed apartment and Kink growled again. She wasn’t sure what that meant because she was pretty sure in the two years she had known Kink, she had only seen him joking and laughing. He was easygoing and seemed to not get worked up about much, so she didn’t know how to take this.

Magnum was silent, but then she expected that, he was a little more intense and brooding. She found both of these men extremely attractive, and there was no way she could describe it, because the rest of the Ops were the same way, all sexy in their own right, especially because they were bikers. Boo had long figured the bad boy gruff hot biker was a huge draw for women. She couldn’t blame the women, she had a hard time resisting them as well.