by Blair Grey
“Then don’t,” I told her. She gave me a funny look, but turned her attention back to the food. I tried not to think about how natural this felt – how right it felt to be here with her, having dinner that was barely anything while watching TV.
It felt like we really were a couple, like this really could be something real, and it was hard to let myself think that way.
I never thought I would fall in love with anyone, but there was definitely something different about Callie, and I was almost willing to find out what it was. I knew it would be hard to have feelings for a woman, especially living the life I lived, but with Callie, things somehow felt different.
And, I wasn’t sure what to make of the incident at the bar earlier. Never in my life had I been so angry with anyone. Never had I wanted to kill a man with my bare hands so badly before.
The look on her face had brought out something new in me, something primal and protective, not just something driven by lust and power. I knew there was something about this woman – something special.
I knew I wanted to figure out what it was, and I wanted to see where it would go between us. I wasn’t sure what it meant, and I didn’t know what to make of it, but I knew that I was willing to explore this feeling a little more. I was willing to see where it went.
This was all so new to me.
Chapter 14
Jett
The next morning, I woke to find Callie cuddled up against me on the couch. The events of the night before came flooding back, and a new rush of anger pumped through my veins as I remembered the men and how they had all but attacked Callie in the bar.
The dirty dishes from dinner were still on the coffee table in front of us, but I didn’t see any need to wake Callie yet. She didn’t need to be at work until that afternoon, and it was still early.
There was plenty of time to take care of the dishes later, and I wanted her to wake up feeling at least a little secure after spending the night at my place. There were times I found her so hard to read, it was difficult to know what was going on in her head.
I rose from the couch and gathered the dishes, leaving them in the sink in the kitchen. There was still a little of the casserole left from the night before, but I didn’t want to save it. As impressed as I had been with her ability to whip it together, I didn’t think it was a good idea to keep it after it was on the countertop all night.
After scraping the pot clean, I filled it with water in the sink with the other dishes, and then I started a pot of coffee. My pot was bigger than Callie’s, and it would be a few minutes before it was ready. So, I checked on Callie out in the other room, still sleeping on the couch, then I headed back to the bathroom to clean up for the day.
I couldn’t remember the last time I had a woman spend the night with me without having sex with her. In fact, I wasn’t entirely sure it had ever happened. I always took women home with me with the intention of sleeping with them, and that’s it.
To bring someone home without that ever being a thought was an entirely foreign concept in my world, and even now, seeing how innocent she looked lying on the couch, all I wanted was to take care of her. It pissed me off to think of anyone scaring her the way those men had, and I already knew I’d be keeping my promise and calling a meeting with my own men.
After trimming the stubble that had grown on my chin and cheeks, I headed back out to the kitchen to get a cup of coffee for Callie. When I returned to the living room, I found her sitting on the couch awake, looking through her phone. She smiled and looked up at me when I entered the room, taking the coffee and sipping it.
“Thank you for everything,” she said. “I really appreciate what you did last night.”
“Of course,” I told her. “What else could I do?”
“I’m just glad to know you were there. I had nightmares about it last night, and I guess you could say it didn’t turn out as good for me…” She was visibly upset as she spoke, and I sat down on the couch beside her.
“Don’t worry about that. I promised you last night I would take care of you, and I’m going to make sure all my men know that they are to, as well. You never have to worry about that ever happening to you again, I promise,” I put my hand on her knee, and she gave me a small smile.
There was something different about her, however. It wasn’t anything major, but it was enough for me to wonder once again what was going through her mind. She wasn’t nearly as flirtatious with me as she had been, but I decided the best thing to do would be to dismiss it as nothing more than her being shaken over what had happened the night before.
I didn’t want her to feel like she had to do anything. I was there to take care of her, and I would make sure she was well taken care of no matter what. No one would ever lay a hand on her without her full consent, and if they did, they would be answering to me. I would make their life a living Hell, there was no doubt about that.
Callie took her time with her cup of coffee, and I drank one of my own. But, we kept the conversation on what was coming up that day, rather than what had happened the night before. She didn’t want to talk about it anymore, and I didn’t see any need to keep bringing it up to her, either.
“Well,” she said after we’d finished the pot. “I guess I better get back to my place.”
“Are you sure?” I asked. “I was thinking more along the lines of taking you out to breakfast.”
“I’m sure,” she said with a regretful shake of her head. “There are a few things I need to do before I get to work this afternoon, and I don’t want to take up too much of your time.”
“You aren’t taking any time I don’t want to give you already,” I told her. “Trust me, I want to make sure you’re okay, and I’m not in any rush to get you out of here.”
“I know,” Callie replied. “But really, I need to shower and get dressed. I don’t want to wear this to work, and I need to fix my hair and makeup. Thanks, but really, I should be going.”
There was clearly no changing her mind, so I reluctantly agreed to take her back to her apartment. If she didn’t want to spend the day under my watchful eye, I had to let her go. But, I wasn’t about to forget about what happened, and as soon as she was back home, I made a few calls.
“Get the guys together. I’m calling an emergency meeting tonight,” I told Blade when he answered his phone.
“What’s going on?”
“It’s too long to tell you over the phone, but I’m going to make it clear that this is a bigger deal than we thought,” I replied.
“You talking about the rivals?” he asked.
“Yup,” I said. “Something went down last night at Cat’s Paw, and to make a long story short, I was about ready to break some necks.”
“I’ll get the guys together,” he said, knowing better than to ask any more questions. “This afternoon at Echo?”
“Always,” I told him.
He hung up the phone, and I sighed. I knew there were some things I could be doing with my own day, but it was hard not to stake out and keep an eye on Callie’s apartment instead. I had a bad feeling something was going to happen to her, and I didn’t like it.
I wanted to make sure she was okay, and the only way I could think to do that was to keep her in my sight at all times. But, she was an adult woman. I had to give her the space she wanted when she asked for it. So, reluctantly, I headed home.
That was really all I could do.
I walked through the door and scanned the bar for my men. Blade had kept his word, and he had Kage, Trak, Roman, and both Ares our Enforcer and Rocco our Chaplain sitting around the table.
Callie was over at the bar, and she gave me a small nod when I walked through the door, but I didn’t bother to get a drink yet. Instead, I headed over to the table to bring the men up to speed on what had happened the night before.
“Sounds like they’re really crossing the line,” Rocco said with a shake of his head. “And, it’s that girl right there they were harassing?”
He gav
e a nod toward Callie, and I nodded in reply. “She’s really worried about being harassed, so I want you to all make it clear to everyone around here no one is to lay a hand on her but me. If I see anyone bothering her in any way, I’m going to personally teach them a lesson.”
“Is she yours?” Blade asked, not at all bothering to hide his surprise.
“You could say that,” I said. Of course, I couldn’t answer that honestly. I hadn’t talked about it with Callie. But, the way I felt about her was enough for me. I wasn’t going to let anyone come near her. I didn’t care if she considered herself my girlfriend or not.
All that mattered was that she was taken care of.
“Well, then we should meet her,” Blade said.
I smiled. “I’ll be right back.”
The bar had slowed down enough Callie could get away for a minute, so she came over to the table to meet my men. Of course, the Steel Wings was a lot bigger than the half dozen guys gathered around the table with beers in their hands, but she was able to meet the men in charge.
“If you need anything, you can count on any one of us to be there to make sure it happens,” Blade told her.
“If I’m not around to do it personally,” I chimed in. “These men are solid, trust me.”
There was a strange look that briefly passed over Callie’s face, but she fought through it and nodded. “Thank you all very much. I was so scared last night, I don’t ever want to be in that position again.”
“And, you won’t be,” I said. “We’re in charge here, and we’re going to run each and every one of those bastards out. We’ll all be keeping an eye on you, too. You’ll be fine.”
“Thank you,” she said again, this time forcing a smile. There still seemed to be something she was holding back, but I didn’t pursue it. I was sure she was still shaken after what she had been through the night before, and I knew it would take her a day or two to come back out of it.
She stayed for a moment longer, chatting with Blade and Kage before heading back to the bar to serve the new patrons who had just sat down near the counter. Once she was gone, I turned my attention to the men around the table, once more telling them how important it was for them to take care of this.
“Clearly, they think they have some sort of hold,” I said. “If they’re not only talking about our drugs, but they’re starting in on the women.”
“Unacceptable.” Rocco crossed his arms. “We need to put a stop to this.”
“And, we will,” Blade said. “From here on out, everyone is going to be on high alert. Anything out of the ordinary will be addressed and tended to immediately.”
“That’s what I like to hear,” I said. “Well done, boys.”
Chapter 15 – Two Weeks Later
Callie
“Great, I’ll see you in an hour then,” Jett said before hanging up the phone.
I set my phone down with a sigh. Jett preferred to call me rather than text, telling me that he liked hearing my voice. No guy had ever said that to me before, and no guy had ever acted like he really meant it before, either.
Over the past couple weeks, I had been spending more and more time hanging out with Jett and the rest of the MC. Well, as much as they were in the bar, anyway. And, that turned out to be a lot. I knew Jett was making a special effort to be there often. He liked to be around me, and while I wasn’t sure what he did with the rest of his day, he was often there at night when I was working.
On the days I had off, he was quick to make sure I was free to spend at least a few hours with him either in the morning or into the afternoon.
And the odd thing was, I made sure to make the time for him. I didn’t care how much I had going on or any of the other things I had to get done, I still made sure I kept some time free to be able to see Jett whenever he was around or wanted me to.
There were times we would go out to eat, and there were times he would just take me for rides on his bike. Then there were times when the two of us would cuddle up on the couch and watch a movie. We’d order food and have it delivered, or we’d grab takeout on our way back to either my place or his.
Though we spent the majority of the time at his place, it all felt so natural. I was getting more and more comfortable around his house – to the extent I was even starting to leave things over there. I had a toothbrush in his bathroom, and I had more than one change of clothes in the bedroom.
We had sex nearly every time we were together. Each time was just as incredible as the last, and each time he made me feel things I never thought possible.
Never in my life had I ever connected with anyone like I connected with Jett. It was as though the two of us were meant to be together – simply made for each other.
It made me feel guilty.
It had all started the night I had been attacked by those men at that bar. It wasn’t just that I had been attacked, but the fact Jett saved me. I was confused, and I didn’t want to be. I didn’t want to feel the way that I did, but there was a part of me that just couldn’t help it.
Jett stepped in and saved me. He could have been seriously hurt by those two men, but he hadn’t even hesitated stepping in and taking care of me. Then, he went to the rest of his MC and made sure they were all there to protect me, too.
I no longer felt scared when I walked to work or home again late at night. I felt secure every time I saw someone with the MC logo around. But, that felt conflicting to me. I knew I was being hypocritical, and it made me feel like the scum of the earth.
It wasn’t that I disliked Jett or even anyone else in the MC. Quite the opposite, in fact. I was genuinely developing feelings for Jett, and I wasn’t sure what to do with those feelings. It made it hard to do what I was doing now – what I was doing when he called me yet again on a day off to see if I was free to hang out with him.
Spread out on my desk were sheets of paper and a stack of photos. And those photos were largely of the men I had been spending the majority of my time with over the past couple weeks. And not just at the bar, either. I had photos of several men I’d been able to sneak when I was with Jett and he had to stop by to see one of them.
On all the sheets of paper were notes of some kind. They were notes of the things I had been able to piece together in the time I spent at the bar, as well as the things I was able to pick up when I was just hanging out with the MC.
Most of the notes were in reference to drugs. Where they were getting the drugs, where they were selling them. When they were going to be places, and the places they were going to be.
These were all things I wanted to figure out, things I never thought I would actually get out of Jett. But, the more time I spent with him, clearly, the more he trusted me. He wasn’t reserved at all discussing where they were getting the drugs and who they were getting them from.
And, he was even open with discussing how they were going to get around the cops with them, too. And, the other MCs. If I had been for that sort of life, I might have found it fascinating to see how good he was at keeping this all under wraps. He could hustle way more drugs than I thought possible without anyone ever knowing what was going on.
“It’s not my favorite thing in the world,” he told me as he dropped me off one night. “And, I hope there’s a way we can change it someday, but for now, it’s what the club does.”
“But I thought you were in charge of the club,” I told him. “Can’t you change it?”
“It’s not that simple,” he said. “Don’t worry. I’m fine.”
“I’m just afraid you’re going to get hurt, or you’re going to wind up getting in trouble with the law,” I told him.
“I’d have to get caught first,” he said with a laugh. “Don’t worry.”
I remembered the conversation well, and now, as I matched tattoos in the photos I’d taken to the descriptions I had on file, I felt even more torn. The fact of the matter was that I really was worried about Jett.
But, at the same time, I was the one who he could consider his bigges
t enemy.
It was the work I was doing that would land him in prison. Sure, there were times I was convinced I didn’t really have feelings for him, and this was for the greater good. Then there were times when I looked and looked for ways to be able to get others in the MC arrested, but somehow spare Jett.
Of course, I knew that wasn’t possible. Instead, I had to stay strong.
Don’t get soft for these people. They’re criminals, and they’re responsible for what happened. You can’t fall in love with one and forget about what happened to Dad.
Your life is ruined because of these men. Now what are you going to do? Just sit back and let them walk free? Think of all the other people they could hurt because of those drugs. You’re a hero, and you have to remember that.
No matter what, remember that. You’re a hero.
I sighed, gathering up the papers and photos I had into a pile before sliding them into a folder. A photo of my dad was on the desk staring back at me, and I swallowed a lump in my throat. This was all for him. I knew it wasn’t going to be easy, and while I hadn’t thought falling in love with someone might be a thing, I knew I could push through this.
My dad had been strong. He had always been strong, and he would be proud of me if he knew the lengths I was going to bring him justice. I was his little girl, and nothing could change that.
But, Jett was on his way over to my apartment. I’d asked him the night before if he would take me out on his bike for a ride this afternoon, and he told me he would call me to see if I was available when he was free. True to his word, he called, and I could hear the sound of the engine as he drew close.
I put the folder on my bookshelf, tucking it up with the rest of the books I had crammed onto the shelf. I hated feeling like scum, but I knew this was all going to work itself out in the end. I might be breaking my heart, and Hell, I might even be a bad person, but I knew this was the right thing to do.
