Page 66 of Stag

I lifted it to my ear, hearing panicked breathing on the other end of the line.

“Claudia? What the fuck. You can’t hear me! What do I do, Pres?”

He dug out his own phone, tapping out a message.

“Grease is on the case.”

“Stag? I can’t hear you, of course, but if you’re there… I need you. M… Marissa’s been in contact, and I’m... Oh god, please come home!”

Fuck! Micro was already on his way out of the room with me, his phone to his ear now.

“Yeah, brother. I’m with him, so we’ll head over there now. Meet you there.”

I kept my phone by my ear, and I could hear her ragged breathing, and the way she was muttering something, but it was so low I couldn’t hear it, and it was freaking me the fuck out. I couldn’t ask her anything, or reassure her. All I could do was listen to her fear. If you’d asked me yesterday what hell would be like, I’d never have said ‘a phone call’, but here it is. My woman’s in trouble, and I can’t do a fucking thing to help her, not even offer her reassurance or comfort in her time of need.

“Let’s go, brother.”

Micro reappeared, handing me an earpiece that he showed me how to sync to my phone, so I shoved that in my ear and ran for my ride. I could still hear her, could still speak to her, even though she wouldn’t hear me, but more importantly, I could get to her as fast as possible.

Claudia

The front door burst open in my peripheral vision, making me scream, and Stag stood there, with several of his biker brothers behind him, and as he stepped into the house, they dispersed, moving in all directions into the house like a search party.

“Oh god! What’s happening?” I practically threw myself into his arms, and he held me close as he stepped away from the door and kicked it closed.

He kissed the top of my head and released me, tilting my chin up with his fingers as he set his helmet on the floor by the door.

“You were upset. What happened?”

I blinked at him, turning to watch men appearing from all over the house, saying things like ‘all clear’, and ‘nothing’ when I looked at them.

“Claudia,” Stag said as he turned my face to his once more, “did she get in here?”

She. Oh god. I backed up a step, twisting my fingers together as I eyed the five large biker guys, my favourite one included, and realised they’d all come running to my aid over an email. An email.

“Oh god. This is so embarrassing. There’s nobody here. She’s not here. She…” I turned and pointed at my laptop on the table, “she’s been emailing. My god, I’m so sorry. I didn’t realise you’d all rush here like this!”

Their faces all relaxed, and a few started to smile or laugh, and that’s when I realised one of the men was the Club President, Micro. He stepped ahead of them, shooting a quick glance at Stag before he continued to approach me.

“Don’t worry, darlin’. The main thing is that you’re okay. You wanna show me what she’s been saying? I can have people block her from reaching you at all. Sorry, we should have considered this. The phone is only one avenue. We need full lockdown here.”

The other guys looked surprised as they started talking at him, but I ignored them, turning to catch Stag’s eye as he rested a heavy, warm hand on my shoulder, his heat seeping into my skin like a layer of comfort and safety. I hadn’t realised how chilled I felt until he offered me his warmth.

“You’re okay?”

I nodded. “I feel like such a pain in the ass. I should have explained. I didn’t mean to drag everyone here like this. I’ll do better next time.”

Stag opened his mouth and then his head lifted and he nodded, guiding my attention to Micro once more.

“You did the right thing, and no matter how many times she gets through to you, whether it’s a message, or a fucking love letter, or a smoke signal, you let us know. We’ve got your back. Now, can I get Grease to access your laptop and deal with the emails? We don’t need to see them, but he can make them go away, and block her from reaching you via any apps or methods from her IP. He’s working on what else he can do, but if she goes to some random location, she could, in theory, still reach out.”

I chewed the inside of my cheek. “He doesn’t need to go to that effort. Maybe I should just meet with her, and-”

“No. Let’s not do that yet. I mean, unless you have a desperate urge to see your twin, I think distance is safer.”

Safer. Like she’s literally a threat to my life. Are we just taking things out of proportion, or is this really as serious as they’re all saying?

“Claudia?”