by Fox, Regina
I thought back to the first day I met him. It was just a few days ago when he offered to help with the groceries. I nibbled down on my lip feeling guilty for my behavior today. Talking back to him when he could have fired me already or kicked my ass out of his shop and told me not to come back, but he did neither. Instead, he showed me how to work the program and told me to scribble down the customer’s needs if I wouldn’t remember.
Aiden confused me.
At five o’ clock, the guys from the workshop filed out, done for the day. Thick nodded my way, and Daryl sauntered over to my desk. He played with Jack and asked how my day went. I replied honestly, saying it was fine, filled with information, but overall uneventful. A crooked smile appeared on his face at my reply.
“Uneventful? Heard you talked back to him during your interview.”
I felt my face growing warm as I shook my head, trying to disregard the subject. “Well, not exactly. We were just having a misunderstanding, that’s all.”
He threw his head back and laughed. Shaking my head at him, I grabbed my son’s bag and went out to the parking lot with Jack in my arms. I tried to juggle him and his stuff and my stuff as I tried to insert the key into the hole, but I couldn’t manage.
“Here, let me,” Thick offered as he made a move toward me.
Aiden’s voice stopped us both. “Thick. I’ll do it.”
I watched with stunned eyes as he grabbed Jack from me. I jammed the key into the door and threw the bag on the passenger seat, before taking Jack from Aiden again. I looked back at my boss and saw him talking to Dave, his back now turned away from me.
I tore my gaze away and hopped into the car, wondering about his need to help me out. Thoughts of him looking after Jack came to the surface of my mind, allowing me to maybe glimpse at Aiden’s soul.
He wasn’t as tough and intimidating as he tried to come off to other people. Sure, he could be a bit scary and all, but today I saw another side of him—something I was sure that no one else had seen before; his soft side. He was so gentle with Jack, and I found myself softening toward him.
At the same moment that thought popped into my head, my mind screamed, “No.” I couldn’t have myself softening up to him. He was dangerous. An intimidating biker who ran a gang club that many people—the sane people—feared. If none other, this was the enough reason to avoid him outside of the office.
Aiden Jackson was out of the question, and he was certainly out of the picture as far as lust was concerned.
I pushed thoughts of him away and drove home. One block away from the shop, the empty tank light went on reminding me exactly why I had to get Aiden out of my mind.
Chapter 6
“This is my number. You can call me whenever there’s an emergency,” I said, handing the babysitter a square of paper containing my new number.
“A new job? Again?” Kyla took the note from me.
I shrugged. “Yeah.”
“Didn’t you just get a job last month, too?”
I nodded.
For the past two years, I got into the habit of changing my phone number whenever I could, in the fear of having Vince call me. I hadn’t heard from him in a long time—not that I wanted to either—so you could call it paranoia, but I wasn’t willing to take the chance.
“Just keep me updated how he’s doing, okay?” I said.
I placed Jack down, looking at him as he made a dash for his toys.
Kayla looked at him with kind eyes. “You don’t have to worry about him. He’ll be fine. But I can text you if that will reassure you.”
I nodded and said, “Thanks.”
I ruffled my son’s hair and said goodbye to Kyla. I knew Jack was in good hands though I was still edgy when it came to having people care for him. I probably would always be.
I closed the door behind me and walked to my car. On my way to work, I stopped at the gas station to fill up my tank. I had a few bills in my wallet, and I was sad to let them go. The only thing that lifted my spirits was knowing that by Monday morning there would be good money in there. Money that I earned from a sensible job and not from stripping.
This money would be one I spent with joy, unlike the money I earned from my previous job. Being a stripper wasn’t easy, and it had always taken me a whole five minutes before I could go out there to put on a show for my perverted audiences. I hated every minute of stripping. I hated the lusty eyes that followed my every movement and made me feel dirty after each session. I never slept around like some other strippers at the club and had never sold my body for money, nor did I ever plan on doing so.
The lurid sound of motors started to cut through my thoughts. I looked up to see Thick, Dave, Aiden and the rest of the gang members swarming the parking lot. I turned the ignition off and hopped out of the car, making sure that I looked down. I didn’t even want to look at the emblem on their black leather jackets in fear of being caught. It was enough for me to work for these men every day; I didn’t want to get myself involved with their club business too.
“Hey, B!” I heard Dave say.
I didn’t know who he was calling so I didn’t turn around and just kept on walking, kicking a small pebble along the way.
“B!” Dave repeated.
I looked around and didn’t see anyone other than me and the bikers, who didn’t seem to care much for Dave’s hollering, walking through the lot. I gathered that not many people wanted to come over since A.) It was still early in the morning; and, B.) The bikers were around and intimidating as ever.
I figured Dave was calling out to me.
“Are you talking to me?” I asked, turning back to see him strolling toward me.
Dave nodded and didn’t even pant as he ran my way. “Yeah. I thought you weren’t going to look back.”
“You were calling out to ‘B.’ I didn’t know who it was until I looked around, and I figured you were calling out to me.”
The biker lifted a shoulder and grinned sheepishly. “Sorry, sweetheart. I thought B was a cool nickname to call you. Abigail’s too long to say. Besides, I’ll feel like a pussy if I call you that. The guys are already calling me a cunt for considering Abby.”
I laughed and nodded, as weird as it was it made sense. Dave obviously looked after his reputation well, and I didn’t want him to be considered nor called a pussy just because of my nickname.
“The rest of the brothers are waiting for you. Cam said you can open the shop while we look into the garage.”
I frowned. “Cam?”
“Aiden,” Dave answered, never missing a beat.
“Oh, right.” I nodded. “Sorry, I keep forgetting you guys call him that. I guess I’m just used to calling him Aiden.” I needed to get used to Aiden being called Cam by his club brothers if I were to work with them in the long run.
“No, don’t be sorry, B. If it’ll make it easier for you I can say Aiden instead of Cam. It ain’t really matter to me. Different names, same person.”
We talked about whatever as he walked me to the shop door. As I fished my keys out of my purse, I could feel someone was watching me. I looked over my shoulder to see Aiden looking at me with an unreadable expression on his face. He held my gaze for just a second before he turned away and started talking to Thick; once more turning his back to me.
Prick.
I fought the urge to walk up to him and tell him that staring at someone was rude, and so was turning their back to them, for that matter, but I didn’t. I shook my head and unlocked the front door, turning the caption to ‘OPEN’ on my way.
At the office, I threw the keys on Aiden’s desk beyond caring whether it messed up the paperwork he had there. He was starting to piss me off with his mood changes. I had never done anything to him. Or at least, I liked to think so.
I pressed a button on the phone’s keypad and listened to the voicemails. Apparently, some clients liked to leave late messages just because they wanted to. I shook my head and deleted the unimportant ones while I waited for the computer to
load. Once the program was ready to go, I sat down and went through the files and photos I had to upload today on the shop’s website.
The bell chimed, and I looked up to see a bald, tattooed man walk in, his mossy, green eyes assessing as his gaze finally settled on me. He seemed as intimating as Aiden though my boss was a lot handsomer than him. Considering I worked with a group of bikers just as threatening, I shouldn’t be so bothered about this man, right? Still, I was.
I flashed him an uneasy smile.
Instead of returning my kindness, the bald man snarled, “Jackson here?”
I nodded. “He’s in the workshop at the moment. Do you want to make an appointment?”
The bald man leaned in and looked me straight in the eyes. He leaned over the desk, our green spheres never breaking away. This man was seriously creeping me out and obviously didn’t know the word ‘personal space.’ I clutched the armrest and pushed my chair back a little, trying to put as much distance between us as possible.
“I don’t wanna book a shitty-ass appointment, sweetie. I need to see your boss. Where’s he at?” A muscle ticked in his jaw.
I gulped. “He’s in the garage like I told you. He might come over soon or you can go and see him—”
“Go get him, darlin’,” the bald man said.
“Sir, I can’t leave the shop. I’m the only one here, and I’m being paid to sit my butt here. Aiden will kill me if I leave. There’s always a choice to go and see him yourself or—”
The bald man never let me finish. He snarled again, this time a little louder. “Fuckin’ go get him now!”
He scared me so much I might have bolted for the door before he was even finished talking. I slid off the chair and ran around the counter, rushing out the back to get Aiden. At the workshop, I found the boys sweating and dirty and with no shirts on. If I wasn’t in such a hurry, I might have stopped for a few seconds to admire the sight, but I needed to haul my boss’s ass to the front door and deal with that nightmarish man.
Aiden was under the car, maneuvering himself out from under the vehicle when I saw him. “Aiden!” I called.
He looked at me as he wiped his greasy hands on a small towel, his chest filthy and sweaty. “What do you want, babe?” he asked, seemingly unalarmed at my desperate tone.
I walked up to him and kept on talking. “There’s a bald man up front with tattoos all over his face. He was looking for you, and I told him that you’re out here, but he wouldn’t listen to me. He told me to come and get you, and so I did.” I was mostly out of breath after blurting all of that out.
Aiden stopped wiping his hands and stared at me, never blinking. “You left the shop?”
I chewed at the inside of my cheek and nodded, knowing that he wouldn’t like my answer.
A flash of anger, irritation and disbelief flickered in Aiden’s blue eyes before he cursed, loud and curt, “Fuck!”
He hurried out of the workshop. As I followed him out of the workshop, I saw concerned glances from the most of the men, but Dave merely shook his head and pressed the bridge of his nose.
I was in deep trouble. Actually, trouble might be an understatement at this point. I could literally feel the madness rolling off Aiden.
We rushed into the shop but found the intimidating bald man gone, not even a footprint could be found on the carpet floor. I glanced around the room and saw Aiden doing the same, the small towel he was using earlier clutched tightly in his angry grip.
“Where the fuck is he?” my boss growled as he continued to search the room.
“I think he left,” I answered and poked my head outside, trying to see where the bald man went.
“Abigail,” Aiden gritted out behind me.
Oh, shit.
Chapter 7
“How many times do I have to tell you not to leave the fuckin’ shop? Did I not make that clear on the first day you fuckin’ worked for me?” Aiden snarled.
“Look, I’m sorry, okay? I didn’t know what to do. I told him that if he had business with you he could go and see you out back, but the man wouldn’t listen. He yelled at me to come and get you, and he was very scary and intimidating, Aiden,” I reasoned.
Aiden’s jaw clenched, and I could see fire in his eyes. “I don’t fuckin’ give a shit if he intimidated you or about how fuckin’ scary he looked. Don’t you ever listen? I’m trying to fuckin’ run a business, Abby. I deal with the cars and shit from the office, and I need you to do your job and help. Can’t you get that in your thick fuckin’ head?”
I blinked a few times before his insults sank into my brain. He called me thick as if he had any right to. I was surprised to feel the stinging of tears at the back of my eyes. I blinked them away before looking back at him, but he was already talking away. Frustration and anger radiated off of his taunt body.
“Do you fuckin’ know who he is Abigail? Or what he could have done to the shop?” I shook my head. “He’s fuckin’ part of the Vipers and Vipers don’t fuckin’ step a foot into my shop. This is my territory, and I don’t want to see another gang member in it, do you understand?”
Did I understand? No. No, I didn’t. But I found myself nodding just as I had done on my first day when he asked me if I had gotten all of the information he gave me.
“Fuckin’ stupid,” I heard Aiden say under his breath.
I gulped down the sudden lump in my throat. I wouldn’t cry. I would not. Not after Dick Face insulted me in front of the others.
“Thick, check out my office and see if anything’s missing. Dash and I will look at the security recording to see what that fuckin’ asshole did in my shop,” Aiden barked and motioned for the rest to stay back with me.
I slid back down to my seat and looked ahead of me.
“Don’t take what he said to heart, sweetheart. He doesn’t mean it,” Dave reassured me.
I chose to remain quiet, but he kept on going. “Don’t mind him. He’s in a dick mood at the moment and generally got something up his ass. Don’t stress yourself out, babe. Shit happens.”
I flashed him a smile, grateful to have Dave around. “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome, and don’t worry. You tell me if he gives you a hard time, and I’ll make sure to beat him up for you. Though, he packs a mean punch and got at least ten pounds over me.”
I laughed, though it lacked humor, and patted his arm. “You can break one of his arms and maybe a leg too, if you want. But save the rest. He’s trying to run a business.”
Dave laughed and tugged at my ponytail. “That’s my girl.”
Aiden and his minion spent half an hour going through the camera surveillance history. According to Dave, after I left the bald Viper looked around the shop for a couple of minutes before walking out.
“So, he didn’t steal anything?” I asked, fearing that Dave would say that he did.
Luckily my co-worker shook his head. “Nope. Found out he wanted to talk to Aiden about some chick he dated.”
I cocked a brow. “Oh.”
“Aiden was fucking his sister.”
“Shit. He gets around, doesn’t he?”
“I wish I had women lined up like that. That lucky son of a bitch. But he shouldn’t be banging the enemy’s sister.”
“He didn’t know,” one of the other guys said in passing.
I nibbled down harder on my bottom lip, feeling anxious. I felt like this was entirely my fault, or at least ninety percent my fault since the bald man bullied me to run and get Aiden, which I stupidly did to.
I ran my hands over my face and murmured, “I’m so sorry, Dave. I didn’t know he was part of the other gang. If did, I would have told him to leave the shop.”
Dave shook his head. “You couldn’t have done a thing. Luckily, he didn’t bring a weapon. If he did, he could have killed you right on the spot just for pissing him off.”
Indeed, I was lucky. This knowledge, however, did not reassure me at all.
A couple hours passed before all of the boys went back to the wo
rkshop, but Aiden was still in his office. Probably stressing over the situation I put them in. I gnawed on the inside of my cheek for a whole five minutes before I finally stood up and knocked on my boss’s door. I waited, fidgeting, for him to bark out a “Come in!”
“Aiden?” I said quietly, poking my head through the opening.
He didn’t even lift his head up from the papers in front of him, as he barked, “What do you want?”
“Is everything okay?” I immediately regretted the question that came out of my mouth.
Aiden stopped writing and took a deep breath through his mouth, pinching the bridge of his nose as he looked at me. “Do you think everything’s okay?”
“Err, no. Look, I—”
“Then why the fuck are you asking, babe?” Aiden growled.
Shit. I seemed to bring out the worst in him all the time.
Chapter 8
It was seven past eight in the evening, and I was getting ready to go home when I saw that Kyla texted saying she had an emergency and had to drop Jack off at my dad’s. Although I was reasonable and could understand that life sometimes just happens, I could feel the rise of a headache settle in my skull.
Rubbing my eyes, I fought the groan that threatened to spill past my lips as I grabbed my keys and locked up after me. On my way to my car, a familiar rumble brought my head up.
I looked at the source of the noise and watched silently as a tall, blonde got off Aiden’s bike. His face turned toward the girl—her short, denim skirt rode up to the top of her pale thighs, and her top was tied into a knot exposing a flat stomach—and said something that made her throw her head back and laugh. Her smooth, pale neck glinted against the moonlight.
I tore my eyes away and jumped inside the car, slamming the door after me with a loud bang. Jamming my car key into the ignition, I drove out of the parking lot, blocking out the blonde’s giggles that continued to echo around in my head. The last thing I needed was to see that man having fun after the hell he put me through today.
