Bianca loved Digger’s weight pressing on her but him and King combined were too much. She tapped his shoulder and made a strangled noise and they both rolled off. Bones grasped her sides and slowly turned them to the side and separated. Her body was beautifully sore and her muscles burned with exhaustion. She didn’t even react when a warm cloth cleaned her up. She purred her thanks and fell into a deep sleep.
*****
She woke in the morning, bursting for the toilet. She hastily climbed over Digger and King, giggling at their grunts as her hands and feet dug into their sleepy bodies. She was careful not to hit anywhere important though. She could have scooted to the end of the bed but where was the fun in that? Finished, she returned to the bed and snuggled in. Searching fingers started to poke into her ribs and her arm pits, tickling her to the point she couldn’t breath. She managed to gasp “Uncle” between her snorts and giggles. Her body flopped and large, muscled arms swept her into the curve of a hard body. She snuggled in and let herself drift off again. Sleep was coming easily now knowing her sister would be back in her life soon.
Chapter sixteen
King
Today they were leaving to deal with Dane. They didn’t have a definite timeline and Bianca was kicking up a fuss about going with them.
“No,” he said again plainly.
“Stop saying no! There’s no reason I can’t come with you and then hide out in your hotel room or something.” Bianca complained.
“For the last fucking time, we know where he is but we don’t know how easy it will be to get to him. We need to plan and do some reconnaissance. What if we’re spotted and they come looking for us and find you? Do you think Dane will keep you alive long enough for us to rescue you?”
King patted Digger’s arm to help rein him in. They didn’t want her too scared. Bones stroked her cheek.
“The thing is, beauty, when you’re with us you hold our attention. That’s the way it should be and its fine when we are here. Where we’re going there’s no way we could concentrate enough to pull this off if we spend the whole time worrying about you. You stay here, safe and behind our club walls and we can get the job done much quicker. We’ll be back before you know it.”
King thought Bianca looked adorable. She was watching them with watery eyes and her cute bottom lip pouted out, sulking. She knew she’d lost the argument.
“Fine. Then at least tell me where you’re going.”
King laughed while Bones and Digger looked exasperated. He had to hand it to her she didn’t give up easily.
“Why? So you can attempt to follow and cause mayhem without us being prepared for it. Sorry, not happening.”
Her wounded façade fell and she huffed, “Whatever, just know that if any of you get hurt, I’ll be adding to it when you get back.”
Digger pulled her in for a hug. “You got it, love.” And pressed a long kiss on her forehead.
King’s stomach dropped when her face pulled back from Digger’s chest. Tears were swimming in her eyes and her voice croaked as she half-whispered, “Promise me you’ll come back.” None of them answered, too shocked by the grief and sorrow she was projecting. “Promise me,” she said again with more force and just a touch of hysteria.
He and Bones surged forward and surrounded her. “I promise,” King said meaning every word.
“I promise.”
“I promise.” Digger and Bones followed his lead.
*****
They were on the road for two days of solid riding. They should have really stretched it to three and gotten more rest and eaten something from somewhere other than a gas station or 7/11, but doing anything else would have extended the time they were away from Bianca. Every time they stopped they’d spoken to her and her nervous chatter kept them from missing her too much.
She asked them questions, seemingly at random, and he was enjoying her attempt at being crafty. She’d ask what areas of interest they’d seen on the ride and kept asking if they’d seen certain roadside attractions, trying to gauge where they were. Each and every time they would laugh or play confused and she would huff her displeasure through the phone.
He spent a lot of the ride contemplating how much their lives had changed. Not so long ago he would have been elated to be on a ride, just the Musketeers on the open road. There’d be no rush to return and they would have normally taken a few detours on the route back. Now, he was impatient to return, feeling as though part of them was missing.
They pulled in to a Holiday Inn on the edge of Columbus, Ohio. They had a few hours until nightfall, then they’d be going to Dane’s hideout. Dane was staying in town, pretending to be ‘creating relationships’ with local business owners using the contacts he had through his alma mater, Ohio State University. Of course, all this was complete shit and he was hiding out where he knew he’d hear from his business acquaintances if anyone was asking about him. He had a lot of questionable contacts it seemed and more protection than they had anticipated. It still wasn’t enough to stop them from fucking his shit up.