Fuse's Hold by E.C. Land (books for students to read TXT) 📕

up against my back as we ride. Her laughter always caused my chest to tighten, knowing it wasn’t me causing her to laugh.

Fuck. I miss her.

I just want to be able to hear her voice, see her beautiful eyes. Take her in my arms and finally hold her to me.

“Fuse.” I still my hand against the bag after punching it once more and turn to face my Prez and VP, who called my name. I’m breathing hard and know my eyes are probably wild-looking.

“Yeah,” I finally mutter.

“You need to get a shower. Take a sleeping pill, get your shit together. We need you on your game for later and that’s not gonna happen with the state you’re in,” Chains declares.

“I’m good, Prez,” I say, making my way from the bag to the bottle of water and towel sitting on the workbench close by. I wipe my face and look back at my brothers. “There’s no way I could sleep right now anyway, even with a pill.”

“Then you need to at least shower, brother, and get your shit together. Mountain called, they’re on the way.” I pause the towel over my face and pull it away.

“Come again,” I demand, my heart, which is already racing, stops altogether.

“They found her and are bringing her home as we speak,” Chains states, arms crossed over his chest. I scan his face for any further news and only he’s Chains. He won’t give away shit unless he wants to.

“They’ve got Lyrica,” I said gravely.

“Yeah, they’ve got her, brother. They’re bringing your woman home. You have some time to get your shit together ‘cause I’m tellin’ you now, you’re gonna have to keep hold of your temper when you see her. Lock that shit down so you can take care of her. She’ll need you.” I nod at what Chains is saying.

“I’ll lock it down. Is she okay?” I ask tentatively.

“Don’t know, brother. All Mountain said was to have you and a doctor here the moment they get here. Meaning you and Angelina are both here for the time being.” Again I nod. I have no fuckin’ desire to be anywhere else. Not when I know she’s finally fuckin’ coming home.

I need to make sure shit in the house is finished up. All the brothers agreed that we should get mine finished first before the others. This meant I know I had a house ready for her to come home to, but we still needed shit. I’ve got a bedroom set in the master, a bed in the guest room and a couch. That’s about it.

“What’s the ETA?” I need to know how long I’ll have to wait. I know it’s over twenty-four hours of straight driving through without stopping.

“Tomorrow. Mountain said they weren’t stopping to sleep. They’ve got some in the truck with Lyrica and four on bikes.”

I let out a harsh breath, wishing I didn’t have to wait so long, but I’ll take the time and do as my prez says. Lyrica will need me on my game when that truck pulls through the gate and I need to have my shit together. That means Chains is right and I need to take a sleeping pill and knock the fuck out for a bit.

Walking past him and Tyres, I head to my room here in the clubhouse to do just that. I won’t sleep for long, but what I get will be enough.

Tyres

“What didn’t you tell him?” I ask, turning my attention to Chains from watching Fuse head out of the gym.

“That it’s bad. Mountain told me she wanted them to leave her there to die,” he states, causing me to cringe.

Fuck.

There’s not much I feel guilt for. Shit. I’m an asshole to nearly everyone who’s not a part of our family or club. But when it comes to Lyrica. I feel the shit that she’s endured down to the fuckin’ bone.

The footage of the night she and my daughter were taken haunts me. For what she did to keep them from touching my baby. A child, not even one yet at the time. They didn’t lay a hand on my little tiger because of what Lyrica did. She’d allowed them to degrade her. Do as they’d wanted to her until she’d been taken away right before we’d gotten there.

If not for her, who knows what could have happened to Wren.

Now she’s been found and is coming home, but hearing Chains say she’d wished for death guts me. To think those fuckers killed her spirit makes me want to go after them and beat the fuckin’ shit out of them before slicing their throats and pulling their tongues out through the hole.

Better yet, chop them up and grind them down to feed to Bart and the rest of the gators.

Bart might not belong to anyone in particular, but he’s definitely somewhat mine, as I actually have been known to have conversations with him and I know he understands me. Or I think so.

“He’s gonna need us, all of us, Tyres. Shit, he might even need his cousins,” Chains says, and I meet his gaze head-on when he mentions Fuse’s cousins. He’s not wanted anything to do with them because of who their father had been. But that doesn’t mean the DeLancys haven’t been looking out for him or at least Fèlix and his brothers.

“We’ll be there for him, as we always are,” I mutter, nodding in agreement. “We’ll be there for both of them. Lyrica’s been through hell and that hell started by her protectin’ Wren, so I’ll do whatever the fuck I can for her and Fuse both.”

“I know. But we’ve still got other shit to deal with too. Such as finding out more on Lyrica’s twin, Simone, as well as see if there’s anything else that could come our way from that bullshit.” I couldn’t agree more with this.

Once Fuse has Lyrica back, he’ll have his head more focused and able to figure shit out. ‘Til then, we need to