Claimed by the Biker Giant (Maxine and Tank) novel Chapter 243

Cloe POV

It was only six in the morning, and already Storm was carrying me downstairs for breakfast. I would be leaving around seven to go to Storm’s great-grandparents’ home. He was dressed up, ready to go on a ride, an eight-hour round trip along the country roads that have lots of corners and hills, to keep the ride interesting. I want to go with him, but it’s guys-only, and I’ve promised Mr. Astore to keep it. Bummer.

“Remember, you don’t have to put up with any bad tempers from that woman, and you are a beautiful, caring, loving woman. Don’t let that lady tear you to pieces with her demeaning words. She loves to spew out at everyone.” Fixer was trying to warn me about this woman. I had seen how she was at the party. Mrs. A selected carefully whom she targeted; it wasn’t as random as it appeared. But I get it, sometimes, a person like this can be nasty because she can, or something triggers it. I understand triggers: a smell, word, sound, touch, or action can all cause a trigger.

After the lectures and warming were over, Storm carried me out to the waiting chopper. It was a small one, and in the back were two guards. I thought it was strange that the chopper needed guards, but I didn’t think much more of it. Rich people do strange things.

“Remember to call if you need us,” Tank commented as Storm tucked me in, ensured the headphones were on, and leaned in to kiss my cheek.

“Will miss you,” Storm whispered with a croaky voice.

“Not likely, you got a fantastic ride to keep you busy. Go enjoy your day, and don’t worry, I can handle one woman.” I gave me a cheeky grin to hide my worry about flying in a chopper, and he stepped back, closed the door, and moved away to wave at a distance with the others. Such a grand send-off. Never have I had others out to wave at me before. My sister, yeah, me never.

The chopper took off. The chopper vibrated a little as it took off, then settled down, and it was a panoramic view of the home below. The estate was huge, with two chopper landing pads, buildings beyond the greenery. A large swimming place, it looked like fun, and I was already thinking of visiting it. Oh, a small runway for smaller planes, hangars, and oh wow, there was so much more to this town than our small one. The pilot kept my mind off the flight and more on the scenery, pointing out areas of interest, and before I knew it, the flight was over. As the mansion came into view, it was almost twice the size of Storm’s home, but lacked the character that made Storm’s a home, not a house.

The landing was a breeze; you hardly felt it when the chopper touched down, and I waited and watched the pilot shut it down. The guards at the back climbed out, and one placed the wheelchair close, while the other guard slipped one arm under my thigh and the other around my back to remove me after the pilot had unfastened the seat belt that had kept me securely in the seat. He gently placed me in my wheelchair, handed me my handbag, and attached the other bag to the wheelchair’s back.

He then pushed me towards a long line of staff members who greeted me politely as I moved down the line, and to the waiting couple at the end.

“Morning, Mr. and Mrs. A,” I greeted with a smile.

“Call us Grams and Gramps, dear.” Mrs. A suggested that she move to kiss me on each cheek. What shocked me was the lip contact. Last time we met, she air-kissed me. Mr. A, I mean Gramps, did the same, his lips soft and moist compared to Gram’s cold lips.

Gramps took over wheeling me inside. The place was not one you would want to bring children to; there were too many expensive-looking items within children’s reach that could be broken, and I would want to be the one to dust and keep it clean. No wonder there were so many staff members here. I was taken to a smaller sitting room, light and airy, with a huge bay window and a seat at it, where I would love to sit and read in the morning light that would shine through.

“Oh, I wear gloves, my dear. No need to get your hands all dirty.” She answered my unvoiced thought.

We had sat in a gorgeous wood gazebo, wisteria in purples and whites dropping long fingers of color from the high roof. Years of growth covered it completely.

We were sitting, enjoying the slight cool breeze and the quiet, when I noticed a red dot slowly snaking it was towards us. At first, I was mesmerised by the dot, until a thought suddenly occurred to me that it was from a sniper rifle, something like that was in a movie we recently watched.

I raised my hand, and a man discreetly came forward, something they told me to do. Grams was looking at a small pond not far from here.

“I think there’s a sniper. Can you get your men to check it out quickly?” The man looked at what I was trying to point to without making a big fuss. His eyes widened, and he was on his walkie-talkie quickly.

From there, everything became chaos, the red dot found Grams, and I threw myself onto her, and together we both hit the ground, as pain filled my back, and body as we hit the ground, shouts, and calls for medic, and other words I could no longer grasp as darkness slowly took over and the pain was gone, along with the sounds.