Harley

by Blair Grey

  “So?” Harley said. “What does that have to do with what’s going on right now?”

  “Well, we got into a big fight. Worse than any of the others. The other day, I messed up with something pretty bad, and he’s really mad at me. He’s taking it out on me by, well, he brought me to this hotel and told me that I can’t leave or he’d kill me.”

  “And, you call this guy your boyfriend? What makes you think you should stay with him after he’s treated you like this?” Harley looked at me with wide eyes. He shook his head as he spoke, and I wanted to hang my own in shame. I knew it had to seem insane.

  After all, he was right, I thought. Why would I be with someone who treated me like this? Why would I want to be with someone who treated me like shit? I didn’t have to be with Shade, but then, there was a part of me that felt like I did.

  I was lost to myself, and I felt that he held something over me I couldn’t shake, no matter how much I wanted it to happen.

  “I’m just trying to make things better, you know?” I said at last.

  “Better?” he looked at me in surprise. “You think you’re going to make things better between the two of you by being the prostitute he thinks you should be?”

  “I’m not a prostitute!” I said again. I shook my head, running my fingers through my hair and looking around the narrow stairwell. I didn’t know what to say to this guy, and I was afraid I really would piss him off. He clearly didn’t like what he was hearing, but I didn’t know him well enough to know if he was angry with the fact I was stuck in this situation I should know enough to get myself out of, or if he was angry with the fact that I was in this situation in the first place.

  He had been the perfect gentleman all evening, and I couldn’t help but hope he would see things from my point of view, but really, how could I think that? I had thought Shade was the kind of guy who would see things from my point of view, too, but that proved to be wrong.

  There was nothing good about Shade anymore, there was no denying that. After all, he had advertised me as a sex worker without my knowledge. From the looks of the messages that he sent, he fully intended for me to sleep with someone else for money, and he wasn’t even going to tell me what he was doing.

  Of course, I would have argued with him. I would have refused as much as possible, but that didn’t change the fact this is what he was trying to do in the first place.

  And, where did that leave me? I wondered. For all he knew, I could have wound up stuck with someone who would hurt me – someone who would beat me or even kill me if he thought I was trying to run off with his money.

  The thought made me sick to my stomach, and I wasn’t sure how to continue with this man in front of me.

  “What did he think was going to happen?” Harley asked, and I shook my head once more.

  “I don’t know,” I said, the tears forming in my eyes as my voice caught in my throat. “I don’t know what he thought was going to happen, but he didn’t include me in any of this. I’m scared to think of what he’s going to do when he finds out I know the truth.”

  Harley had been looking down at his phone, but he now looked up at me with anger forming in his features. Though I didn’t want to think he would do anything to me, the familiar fear formed in the pit of my stomach once more.

  Without even thinking, I took a step back, hitting the wall and pressing myself into it as hard as I could. I wanted it to swallow me. I didn’t want to be here with this man any more. I didn’t want to be in this hotel. I didn’t want to be anywhere near this place.

  But, I was trapped. I couldn’t just turn and run. I couldn’t get out of there fast enough. I was trapped in the hall with a strange man, and I could only hope he wasn’t the same kind of person my boyfriend was.

  Panic gripped me, and I swallowed hard. I was sure he’d come down on me, and I braced myself. I knew how much it hurt to be struck in the face repeatedly, and I didn’t want that. More than anything, I didn’t want that.

  I just wanted this all to go away.

  Chapter 5

  Harley

  My mind spun as I tried to digest what this woman was saying to me. I’d walked into the hotel thinking I was going to pay some woman for her time and have some fun before parting ways in the morning as though nothing had happened between us.

  With any luck, it was going to be a good night spent with a good woman, and I’d go back to my real life without the stress that was currently weighing down on me. It would be a good way to relieve the tension I felt in my life and have some fun with someone, then just go about my business.

  I never thought I would walk into a situation where I found a woman whose life was a complete shit show and who clearly was in need of some help.

  Of course, how did you think you were going to end up with anyone different? Think about it. You found this girl online as a prostitute. What woman is going to be in that profession who has her shit together? Clearly, when you got into this, you knew you were going to wind up with someone who was in need in one way or another.

  But, you certainly didn’t sign up to get involved with a woman who was the victim of some sort of trafficking! Does it matter that she’s just the victim of her boyfriend, and for all you know this could be some way he’s trying to break up with her?

  Or, is this something more? Is this something deeper than that and you really did stumble across a woman in need of help? It’s so hard to make that call with her cowering against the wall in front of you like you’re going to hit her or something.

  On the other hand, if she was in a good situation, would she really be cowering away from you like you were a monster? Clearly, she’s been through some shit if she’s going to react to you like this. That’s the only thing that makes sense here.

  Come on, Harley, think. You aren’t going to get anywhere with her acting this way. You’ve got to get to the bottom of this and figure out if she’s in need of help, or if you need to cut your losses and walk away from this situation before you wind up tied into something that you really don’t have the time or desire to be involved in.

  So many thoughts were rushing through my brain, it was hard for me to keep up with any single train of thought for very long.

  It was true. The more I looked at the woman cowering against the wall in front of me, the more inclined I was to believe what she was telling me was true. But, I had to take into consideration the fact I still knew next to nothing about her.

  I wanted to believe her. I wanted to believe she had no idea about this scheme and was a complete victim. It stirred something protective in me, and believing what she was saying was true made me want to go out and beat the shit out of the guy who did this to her.

  I wanted to be the one to show her things were going to be okay. After all, she was the most interesting woman I’d ever met. I thought she was a prostitute, and I still didn’t want the conversation to end. I was enjoying the time we spent together down in the bar, and the only reason I had cut it short was for the mere fact I was having a tough time being around her without wanting more.

  Now, knowing she was a victim only infuriated me. I couldn’t believe there was someone out there who would do this to her, and I wanted more than anything to wrap my hands around his throat and tell him what I really thought about him. Hell, there were so many things I could do to make sure he never hurt another woman again, and the thoughts were getting increasingly violent as the seconds passed.

  I was listening to what she had to say. I wanted to be accurate in my assessment of the situation…but it was hard for me not to just tell her to leave with me right then and there. I didn’t care who was after her. I didn’t care what threats he might have made to her or what she thought was going to happen if she didn’t listen.

  The facts were the facts, and the fact of the matter was that I wasn’t about to let anyone lay a finger on her when she didn’t want it to happen. I might be rough around the edges, and I might be part of a biker gang that didn’t hold back in any way,
but that didn’t change the fact I was going to step up and be the gentleman I really was when I had to be.

  I wanted to tell this girl in front of me that I didn’t have any problem at all with prostitution. And, I didn’t. I didn’t want her to think that I would judge her if it was true, because I wouldn’t. I didn’t want her to think that she was doing anything wrong.

  Because in my mind, she wasn’t.

  In fact, there was a large part of me that had been grateful for prostitutes in the past. It was a great way to find quality, clean women who knew what they were doing in bed.

  Women who weren’t going to expect anything the morning after, and women who would be willing to repeat the act with me as long as I had the dollar bills to thank them for their time.

  It was so much better for me to go that route than to try to get in with the sheep. I didn’t want to think about what they were doing or the fact they were more than happy to sleep with anyone in the club.

  There were other members of the club I respected, but then there were members in the club I wanted nothing to do with. It didn’t matter that we were both members of the Steel Wings, and it didn’t change the fact I would do anything for the good of the MC itself.

  It didn’t change the fact that some were harder to get along with than others, and I wasn’t in the mood to sleep with a woman who had been in bed with one of my frenemies the night before.

  However, regardless of my own thoughts on prostitution, I never stood for those who were forced into it. I didn’t care what the reason was. I didn’t care what the circumstances were, either. All I cared about was the fact that there were a lot of women out there who were pushed into this life without any say in the matter, and that was the one thing I wasn’t going to stand.

  And if that was the case with this girl, Hell was going to unleash on the ass of the man who had pushed her into this.

  To think she would just be willing to go along with it because he said so made me sick to my stomach, and I thought of a few things I wanted to make him do just for the sake of my own pleasure as a result. He wouldn’t like it any more than pushing this woman into being a prostitute, that was for sure.

  But, I could fantasize about all the ways I could get even with him later. Right now, I had someone to take care of. I wasn’t about to leave this girl cowering on the stairs without some form of protection.

  “Do you want me to walk you up to your room?” I asked. “I can make sure you get there safe and leave you alone for the night.”

  She hesitated. Looking around the stairwell as though she couldn’t decide, I put my hand on her shoulder to calm her. She stiffened at first, but then relaxed under my gentle touch.

  “I won’t stay any longer than you want me to,” I assured her. “Come on, let’s make sure you make it up to your room and figure out where we’re going to go from there.”

  “Thank you,” she said at last. She smiled as she gently pushed my hand from her shoulder. If she wasn’t for that kind of attention, then of course, she wasn’t going to want me to touch her through the halls. And, though I’d spent most of the evening fantasizing myself about the things I was going to do to her when I got her in bed, I knew how to put those things aside now that it wasn’t going to happen.

  Sure, I wasn’t exactly happy with the way the night had turned out, but more than the disappointment was the fury that came with the fact I knew she wasn’t planning on sleeping with anyone – and the night could have turned out to be a lot different for her.

  What if she wound up with someone who didn’t care to listen to her when she tried to tell them the truth? Would her boyfriend really leave her to suffer at the hands of someone who would use her for his own pleasure and the pay of a few hundreds?

  Considering the fact he was the sort of guy who would sign her up for such a thing without her knowledge told me everything I needed to know, and I was glad when we got her back to her room for the night.

  “Make sure you lock the door,” I told her.

  “I will,” she said. But then, after a moment of hesitation, she added, “Do you want to come in for a few minutes? It was so nice of you to accompany me all the way up here. I don’t want you to just have to go because we’re here now.”

  “Sure,” I shrugged.

  “You don’t have to if you don’t want to,” she said quickly, but I held up my hand with a small smile.

  “I don’t mind, at all,” I said. “I enjoyed tonight, and I’d be happy to stick around for a few more minutes if that’s what you’d like. Really, I’m going to be getting out of here a lot sooner than I thought I would anyway, so I’m not in any rush to get going now.”

  She smiled an awkward smile, but her body language told me she was glad I was there. She might not know what to say – and neither one of us really knew what to do with the situation – but there was still an attraction there between the two of us, and I was glad for the extra few minutes I got to spend with her.

  I couldn’t save her tonight, but I sure as Hell wasn’t going to let her suffer. I would find out what was going on with her, and I would make sure she was okay. It wasn’t bound to lead to anything other than the mere fact I had helped a woman in need, but I was okay with that.

  She was a damsel in distress, and I… Well, I was used to being the hero in life. I wasn’t afraid to be that again.

  I didn’t care who this woman was or what she needed. Right now, she needed me, and I was there for her.

  And, I wouldn’t let anyone come near her.

  Chapter 6

  Paisley

  I wasn’t sure how to keep the conversation going once Harley was up in the room with me, and I almost felt bad. I invited him in, but now, I didn’t know what to do with him.

  Of course, I felt it was obvious inviting him in clearly meant we weren’t going to do anything. I’d made it clear to him when I was in the stairwell that I wasn’t a prostitute, and whether he agreed with the way my boyfriend treated me or not, Shade was still my boyfriend. I wasn’t the kind of girl to cheat.

  That wasn’t my style, and it hadn’t ever been.

  But, now that Harley was in the room with me, I had to think of something to say.

  “Thanks for not being mad at me,” finally came out, and Harley looked at me in surprise.

  “How the Hell could I be mad at you?” he asked with wide eyes. “You were the victim here!”

  “Well, I sort of think you were a victim in a way, too,” I told him. “You were thinking you were going to get something tonight, and, well, you were pretty much scammed.”

  “I think we both were,” he said with a nonchalant shrug. “You thought you were doing one thing down at the bar, then you learn you were expected to sell yourself for sex.”

  “I’m not entirely sure what I thought I was doing down at the bar,” she said with a sigh. “I mean, as strange as that sounds, I guess I was just enjoying the moment. I’ve been here for a few days, but you’re the first one who really has paid any attention to me.”

  “I find that hard to believe,” Harley said as his eyes wandered over my body. I tried not to blush under his intense gaze, but it was hard for me to keep my head level. I loved it when his eyes traveled over me. There was something exhilarating about it.

  It filled me with a fire, one that I hadn’t felt in a very long time. I tried not to think about Shade. I hated to think of what he would do to me if he knew I was thinking about someone else like this.

  At the same time, he was the one who set me up as a prostitute in the first place. As much as I didn’t want to think about it, I couldn’t help but wonder if he really had been through with the relationship entirely, and he had resorted to making money off me in any way he could.

  After spending the time we had together, I didn’t want to accept that that could be a possibility, but it was hard for me to come to terms with the entire situation, really.

  “Well, it’s true,” I told him. “I’ve just been living here and wondering
when my boyfriend is coming back.”

  “Hopefully, he’s not thinking this is going to be your home now,” Harley looked around the room. “If he keeps up the tab, you might find yourself here for an extended stay.”

  “I doubt they would let me stay that long,” I told him. “I’m sure they’ve got some sort of limit if they see that I’ve been here a long time.”

  “Well, he might move you from one hotel to the next. I’m just saying you don’t want this to become your life now,” Harley said with a shrug.

  “Do you really think that could happen?” I asked. I was sure he could see the surprise in my face now. How could I not be shocked? The thought hadn’t occurred to me, but he had a point. And, if Shade had gotten to the point that he was willing to do something like this to me, then where did he draw the line?

  At what point did he say he wasn’t going to do something to me? There were plenty of times in our life I was sure he would kill me and not think twice about it. That was just the sort of man he had become. And, with the kind of men he was spending his time with now, I hated to think he would get into human trafficking in addition to the things he was already running under the radar.

  He had drugs coming out his ears practically, always on to the next run and the next deal. He didn’t seem to have any sense of right or wrong, and I didn’t know what to do with him anymore. That was part of the problem – part of the reason we were falling apart.

  I hated to think there was no end to this but me ending up being a whore on my back all day long, finally ending up dead in a ditch somewhere. I didn’t have much in the way of family or friends I could run to anymore.

  With the way our relationship had progressed over the years, Shade had done a good job of making sure I was isolated. He wanted me all to himself, and he hated it when there was a chance I could find my way out. He wanted me to be entirely dependent on him, and if there was anything he could do to make sure that happened, he would do it.