Leader.
That was the word that came to mind when I saw him. I don't know if it was simply the way he carried himself- tall and effortlessly confidant, or the fact that command and danger seemed to seep out of his pores and into the air around him or what, but yeah, the tall and dark and impossibly hot hazel-eyed biker was definitely not on the same level as Duke and Renny. If I wasn't entirely mistaken, no one was on the same level as him.
"I have kids already. I don't need to be fuckin' babysittin' your asses," he said, his tone implying that Duke and Renny's obvious rivalry had been a problem for a while. "What's the God damn problem? I thought the orders were pretty clear."
Renny moved toward the leader, turning his back to me and speaking low enough that I couldn't even make out the occasional word. The leader's face was mostly impassive, though his eyes moved to Duke twice and me once.
The leader moved away from the other two men and toward the bed, stopping a foot or so from the edge of it, giving me space. "I'm Reign," he supplied in that deep, gravely, incredibly sexy voice of his. "I run things around here. I sent in Renny to get some information on what happened to you. But apparently I have to do fuckin' everything myself," he said with a small lip twitch that my own responded to for reasons I didn't consciously understand. "Fact of the matter is, you were beat up and left outside our gates. We figured this might be personal. We want to know what is going on before any of our women or kids get hurt."
Nail. Head.
He knew exactly what to say to get what he wanted out of me.
"We were actually in the middle of one of the kids' birthday parties when Duke saw you," he went on for good measure.
"No one was..." I started, stomach rolling at the idea of any kids getting hurt.
"No," Reign said before I could finish. "But we want to make sure things stay that way. So whatever you can give us, whatever you remember, it will help."
I felt myself nod at that, looking over Reign's shoulder at Duke who had already been watching me. Following my line of vision, Reign looked at Duke as well before looking back at me. "Do you drink coffee?" he asked, unexpectedly.
"Only with my oxygen."
To that, he gave me a smile that showed some teeth and, let me tell you, it was effective. "Renny, can you go get us some coffee?"
Renny looked between us and nodded, not so much as glancing at Duke on his way out.
"There. That better?" Reign asked.
"I don't have an objection to him per say. I just..." I lifted a hand a little helplessly and let it fall.
"Get it," Reign nodded, moving back a few feet at the same time that Duke moved forward. It was so perfectly timed that it was almost synchronized and, therefore, practically funny.
"How's the pain?" Duke asked, reminding me why, out of all of them I had met so far, he was the one I felt most inclined to trust.
I looked at him and answered honestly. "It feels like I got beat up."
"Well, I'd be a little worried if you felt like you had a vacation in Fiji," he said, moving toward the empty side of the bed and sitting on the edge of it, but bringing a leg up on it so he could turn to face me. "What can you tell us, baby?"
The endearment made a fluttering overtake my insides for a long second, reminding me how long it had been since a man fed me one.
I took a breath, shaking my head.
It was all so insane, so ridiculous, so unbelievable.
"I dunno. When I left Bella's I kind of felt like I was being followed. But I figured I was being paranoid because this was a new town and all. I brushed it off and went home. Then the next morning, I was walking out of the lot of my apartment building to go grab coffee... and something slammed down on the back of my head. I was out a second later. I didn't see any car or anything," I said, looking at Duke and then Reign a little apologetically.
"It's alright," Duke said with a shrug. "Did you wake back up?"
I nodded, the memories slowly coming back, blurry around the edges like a dream sequence in a movie, then slowly clearing up, getting crisper. And as that happened, the feelings seeped back in as well.
Nothing had ever felt like waking up on that cold concrete floor. Ever. It was the most terrifying moment of my life. I finally understood that saying 'blood turned cold'. Mine did. I felt like ice ran through my veins, making me freeze all over, making my heart slow down and slam harder like it was trying to fight off hypothermia.
"I woke up in some abandoned building."
"How did you know it was abandoned?" Reign prompted.
"It was filthy. The floor was dirty and old leaves and dusty crates were all over."
"Did the crates have names on them?" Reign continued his gentle, but somehow also firm, interrogation.
I took a deep breath, trying to focus on them in my memory. "Um. They were a faded white and green with, ah, GG Greens written on them?" I asked, looking at Duke who shook his head like he had no idea, then to Reign who was nodding.
"It's an old farm where they used to do hayrides and scarecrow stuffing and shit. You were probably in the gift shop of it. It closed a decade ago."
I nodded, not having anything to add to that.
"Were you alone?" Duke pressed.
I shook my head, looking down at my hands for a second. "No. There were two guys there, standing half the store away and arguing quietly."
"Were they American?" Reign asked, oddly.
"American?" I asked, brows furrowing. "Like did they look cornfed?" I asked with a weird smile.
"Did they have accents, babe?" he corrected. "Or speak in another language."
"Oh. Yeah, no. They were speaking English and when they spoke to me, there was maybe a hint of a New York accent."
"What did they look like?"
See, this was the hard part.
I would sit and watch those stupid TV crime shows and they would bring the victim or witness in with one of those police sketch artists and roll my eyes or marvel at the idea of being able to describe features. I sucked at that. I once described Hugh Jackman to a coworker as 'that guy with the V-shaped face and sideburns'. It took her the better part of an hour to figure out who I meant.
"They were both tall. But, I mean, to me... everyone is tall," I said, gesturing toward my short legs. "But maybe like... Renny's height?" I guessed, brows drawing together. "But they were darker. Dark hair, dark eyes. They were white but had a bit of a tan skin tone."
"Black hair or dark brown?" Reign asked.
"Dark brown. And dark brown eyes too. Almost black, really. They had on slacks and button-ups. All dark colors. They weren't fat or thin or particularly built either. Just... average, I guess."
"Alright. What happened then?"
"Then they realized I was awake," I said, my voice dropping a little.
"Did they say anything to you?" Reign asked.
I swallowed, pulling in my cheeks and biting into them hard for a long second. Out of nowhere, Duke's giant, scarred hand dropped down on my knee and gave a bit of a squeeze then just settled there after. I looked down at it for a long minute. I lifted my eyes to find his. Then I told it to him.
"They said, 'Now the ugly part begins,' and they started kicking," I admitted wincing at the memory, how each tip of their dress shoes brought a wave of pain so intense in my stomach and back that I thought I would vomit, how it seemed to radiate outward until it took over my whole body, until all I felt was pain. I had scrambled away, crying, begging, losing all sense of pride. I rolled, I tried to take my feet, I grabbed their feet. I even bit one of their legs through their pants. I was no hero and the most self-defense I knew was one Youtube video I watched that showed women how to effectively get out of 'rape position', advising women to never 'give up their back'. But I had never been in rape position and I had given up my back time and time again. I lost all sanity in those moments.
Pathetic.
That was how I felt about the whole ordeal.
Pathetic.
I knew it wasn't my fault. I knew t
hat rape culture teaches women to feel like they needed to be fighters to fend off attackers instead of teaching men to never attack. I knew that random acts of violence happened all the time to better women than me.
But I felt weak because of it. I felt vulnerable and defeated.
And I knew down to a soul level that I never ever wanted to feel that way again.
I mentally made a note to look into local self-defense or martial arts classes.
Never again.
"Hey, hey," Duke's voice called, gentle but insistent and I snapped back to realize I had completely zoned out.
"Sorry."
"It's alright. It was traumatic," Reign said with a shrug. "After the kicking and, I assume, hitting..."
There was a lot of the hitting that followed the kicking. Most of it was to my face. The throbbing I felt all over it further proved it.
"Then I was on my stomach and I felt one of them drop down on my hips and pin me down. I thought, well, you know," I said, shaking my head. "But then I felt my shirt get sliced upward just a second before I felt the knife dig into my back. I, ah, screamed," I admitted. I wasn't entirely sure if I screamed from the pain alone. And there was pain, a burning, ripping sensation. But I think a big part of it was shock and disbelief and horror too. "And I didn't stop so the other one cursed and said they had to shut me up before someone heard me. Then one of them, I don't know which one, grabbed me by my hair close to my scalp, yanked me backward, then slammed me down and I was... out again. The next thing I knew I woke up here with... you," I said, looking at Duke, feeling my eyes get a little wet and annoyed at the weakness of that.
"Okay. That helps a lot, babe," Reign said, but I heard the lie in his voice. He turned to go toward the door and I found my voice stopping him.
"Am I in, ah, more danger?" I asked, making him stop.
He turned back and paused for a second. "Yes," he said with enough conviction that I stiffened. "I think you are. Which is why I really think you should resist your urge to flee and stay here for at least another day or two. We won't force you," he said and I could have sworn Duke stiffened beside me, but I hadn't been looking so I wasn't sure. "You're no prisoner here. But I don't think I need to tell you that you are safer here than you would be in your apartment. At least until we figure out the threat."
With that, he jerked his chin at Duke, turned, and left.
I watched the closed door for a long moment. "He's... intense."
Beside me, Duke let out a strange snorting chuckle. "That's one way to describe him."
I turned to him, already finding his gaze on me. "Do you think I should stay here?"
"I think you should go with your gut," he said, surprising me. I had figured he would jump right on Reign's bandwagon. "I get that this is all nuts and I would understand if you don't feel particularly safe here. Though I would strongly advise you not to go back to your apartment. If you have family or friends nearby, that would be safer."
"But what is your opinion?" I pressed, knowing I had no friends and that even though I could spend a few nights with my grandmother, I didn't want to bring whatever the hell situation I found myself in around her.
"You should stay here."
I figured he would say that.
"Will you be here?" I asked, wincing a bit at the whisper of neediness in that question.
To that, his lips tipped up and I even saw a hint of teeth too. I got the strong impression that he wasn't someone who found cause to smile often and it made the fact that he gave one to me even nicer.
"You're in my bed," he informed me.
I was in his bed.
If I was in his bed, then...
"This is your shirt too, isn't it?" I asked, fingers running over the hem.
"Fits you like a dress," he said, nodding.
"Yeah," I said, smiling a little self-deprecatingly. "I guess I'll never be a supermodel with these short stumps of mine." I paused at that, taking a breath as I looked around, realizing how little it looked like someone lived there. If he lived at a biker compound, then this was his only space. But it seemed oddly impersonal. There were no knickknacks or pictures, no piles of clothing laying about that suggested he was comfortable making a mess. "So, um, where will I be staying if I do decide to stay?"
Duke's head cocked to the side for a minute. "You'll stay here."
"But this is your..." I started to object.
"I'll find somewhere to crash."
"I can't let you..."
"It's already done," he cut me off as he moved off the bed and started to make his way to the door.
"Hey Duke," I called, stopping him. He turned back to me, blue eyes on me and I swear they felt like they saw through me in that moment. What came out next, I wasn't sure if it was out of fear or a feeling of comfort or just the pull I felt around him, but whatever it was, it came out before I could think to stop it. "Can that place you crash be here too?" At his immediate brow raise, I rushed on. "I mean like. Um, not in bed with me. Obviously." Though, he wasn't exactly the kind of man you'd kick out of bed if he found himself there. But that might have been my long-neglected sex drive speaking. "But maybe if..."
Again, there was the lip twitching, but it looked like he was trying to fight it so it didn't look like he was laughing at my bumbling. But he totally was. "I'll see what I can do about turning up a cot," he said just as the door opened behind him, bringing back Renny with the coffee Reign had none-too-subtly shooed him out to fetch.
"Didn't know how you take it, sweets," he said as he moved in, practically tossing one of the cups at Duke as he passed then setting mine down on the nightstand and reaching into his pocket where he drew out what appeared to be a small salad-dressing plastic container full of milk or cream. "So I got cream and," he said, going into another pocket and pulling out a huge assortment of sweetener packets. "The yellow, blue, and pink stuff along with the white stuff which, in my humble opinion, is the only even remotely healthy sweetener of the bunch," he said, meaning the regular sugar.
I smiled, reaching for both the cream and three of the sugar packets. "I agree."
"Sweet tooth, much?"
"Don't give me your coffee snobbery," I said, lowering my eyes at him.
"Fair enough," he said, smile easy and blinding. All the traces of the man who had been in my room a while before were gone. It was like there was two parts to the same person and one couldn't exist when the other was present.
The words split personality flashed across my mind for a second before I pushed them away. I was no therapist. That wasn't my place to assume. Maybe he was just a moody dude.
This version of Renny I liked immediately. Everything about him seemed easy, boyish, charming, and open. And I think, after growing up in a society getting more and more obsessed with deceit and secrecy, there was nothing more refreshing than openness.
"Want some food to go with that fix? No one is gonna be cooking tonight with all this stuff going on, but there's always something I can scrounge up if you're hungry."
I was vaguely aware then that Duke was still in the room, watching the interaction between us in such an intense way that I almost felt like I should feel guilty for smiling at a man he obviously loathed.
But that was ridiculous.
"I, ah, I'm fine," I said, lying. I was hungry. But it seemed like they had a lot on their metaphoric plates. I didn't need them to worry about my empty literal one. I could wait. The coffee would help.
"You sure? I can get my Julia Child or Betty Crocker on," Renny said, flipping a pancake in an invisible pan.
"I'm sure you look lovely in an apron," I allowed. "But, really, I'm fine."
"I look lovely in everything. Or nothing at all," he said with an eyebrow wiggle that made me chuckle despite the severity of the situation I found myself in. "But if you're sure," Renny said, still giving me a lazy grin. He looked over toward Duke, the grin falling. "Then we have church in ten," he said and Duke nodded.
"We'll be down the hall," Duke
told me. "You need anything, holler."
"I think I am just going to drink my coffee and lay back down," I lied, giving them a smile. "But thanks."
He gave me a chin jerk and moved into the hall, but didn't move away because, I think, Renny was still in the room.
"I'll check on you later, blondie," Renny told me, giving me a wink that, on anyone else, would have been creepy. But because he did it with that lazy grin, it was sweet.
"Okay," I said with a smile as he moved into the hall and Duke closed the door.
Then I was alone.
And while I did drink my coffee, I sure as hell didn't plan on sleeping.
FIVE
Penny
I woke up to something slamming down, not so far removed from my little ordeal to not have my heart shoot up into my throat as my tummy dropped to my feet simultaneously as I tried to shoot up in bed. Tried. Because I had aching ribs and stitches in my back. I managed to get halfway to a seated position, balanced on my palms, before a small shriek of pain stopped me.
I hadn't meant to fall asleep.
Really, I hadn't thought it was possible.
I was in a strange place full of strange men, only a few of whom I had met, and I had been... kidnapped and beat up and stitched and interrogated. Things were weird as hell. I shouldn't have been able to have my mind rest enough to pass out.
But whatever 'church' was lasted an insanely long time and all there was in the room was a TV. I flipped around, finding that I didn't know any of the channels in the area, and getting frustrated and leaving the stupid shopping network on.
What can I say, when they are advertising freaking pots and pans for three and a half hours, it was as good as a handful of sleep medicine.
I had left the light on so my eyes didn't need to adjust to see what the slamming was.
Duke had dropped a cot down against the wall to the opposite side of the bed as the one I was sleeping on. He turned at the sound of my pained shriek, looking apologetic as it was possible for a big, burly man to look.
"Fuck, sorry," he said, shaking his head. "Didn't mean to wake you. Hands were full," he explained.
Duke (The Henchmen MC Book 5) Page 5
