He nodded and we both made the calls we needed to.

“Hey, baby,” Harlow answered a moment later.

“Harlow, I need you to make sure the house is locked up and you stay alert. There’s a guy looking for me and I’m concerned he may come there.” I tried to keep my voice free of the tension I was feeling, but I needed her to take this threat seriously, so I was firm.

“Okay…how worried should I be?” She sounded like she was biting her lip.

“You’ve got Wilder there with you, and I’m going to try to send someone else as well.”

“I think we’ll be okay. One of your Adelaide guys just arrived to help Wilder, so -”

I cut her off, frantic to know the name of the guy. “Who?”

“I’m pretty sure Wilder called him Bourne.”

Icy fear slid down my spine as my world spun.

I can’t lose her.

I can’t lose our baby.

“I’m coming now, Harlow.” I hung up without waiting for her reply.

I promised her I would always protect her.

I promised her I would marry her.

I intended to keep those promises.

17

Harlow

That was odd.

I stared at my phone after Scott hung up on me. “Weird,” I said as I placed my phone on the table.

“What?” Scarlett asked as she made coffee for Wilder and Bourne.

I frowned as I recalled the abrupt way Scott ended our call. “Scott kinda just hung up on me. It’s so out of character for him to do that.”

She shrugged. “Seems like he’s got a lot of pressure on him at the moment.”

“Yeah, you’re right.” He really did. But my man knew how to handle his shit, so I was still a little thrown by what he’d just done.

“I want to apologise again for running out on you yesterday.” She’d already apologised twice so there really was no need.

“Scarlett, even if you hadn’t run out, Rogue would probably still have shown his true colours, and the fire would have still happened, so none of it was your fault. Okay?” I’d seen a whole new caring side to her, but she needed to listen to what I was saying and stop saying sorry.

“Okay¸” she murmured.

I was about to say something else when a fight broke out on the back verandah. Wilder yelled something at Bourne who then shouted back. And then it sounded like a scuffle and perhaps a punch up.

Scarlett and I hurried outside to see what was going on. Just as I exited the house through the back door, Bourne knocked Wilder unconscious with a punch to the head.

“What are you doing?” I screamed, panic bubbling up.

Bourne’s eyes came to mine, and in that instant, I realised he was not a good man. He pointed a gun at us, and barked, “Get the fuck inside.”

“Jesus,” Scarlett muttered, “Do you attract assholes or something?”

“It would appear so,” I agreed as we walked back inside. I fought to remain calm on the outside because I refused to show him any fear, but on the inside, I was scrambling to come up with an escape plan.

Bourne had already been inside when he first arrived, so he knew the layout of the house. “In the lounge room,” he ordered, and we did what he said.

As he moved to make sure the door and windows were locked, my hands turned sweaty and my heart raced.

Not again.

Being locked in here with him caused memories from yesterday to flash through my mind and I tried to hold back the feelings of nausea.

I need to fight him.

“What do you want from us?” I demanded to know.

“I want to make Scott Cole hurt. I want him to bleed his pain. And I figure the best way to do that is to take the one thing he treasures the most in the world, away from him.”

Dread sliced its way through me.

He’s going to kill me.

Scott can’t save me now.

My fear paralysed me and I stood rooted to the spot when what I should have been doing was formulating a plan to get out of here.

“Fuck you!” Scarlett screamed as she lunged at him.

Unprepared for her attack, he stumbled back as she lashed out at him with her arms and legs. She clawed and kicked him, and for a moment there, I thought she might have a chance against him, but in the end his strength outweighed hers, and he pushed her off.

When she landed on her ass on the floor, he threatened her, “Do that again, bitch, and I’ll kill you first.”

Oh, God. He’s going to kill both of us.

She spat at him, and he hissed his anger at her while bending over and punching her in the face. I watched in horror as he hit her hard, causing her blood, bruises and pain.

I need to distract him.

“Why do you hate Scott so much?” I begged to know while I continued to think of a way out.

His crazy eyes sought mine. “That motherfucker destroyed nearly everything I’ve worked for over the years. I had it all mapped out, and Marcus went along with it, and then Scott came along and got rid of Marcus and refused to honour the deal I had with Storm. So now I’m going to take it all back and I’m going to take his club, too.”

“Are you deluded?” He had to be. To take Storm, he’d have to kill nearly every member because I was pretty sure they weren’t about to just hand it over to him.

He slapped me and the sting of his palm radiated pain down my face. “The only person here who is deluded is you, bitch, if you think you’re going to make it out of here alive.”