by S. Nelson
As soon as Tripp rescued me I had something else to focus on entirely, whether it was the anger from being fired or my lusty attraction to the stranger who swooped in on one of my darker moments. What I wasn’t doing was dealing with the near rape that had occurred. A part of me was used to violence, but I thought once I moved to California I’d be able to leave all of that behind me. The incident at the club proved otherwise, and instead of dealing with all of those raw emotions, I chose to deflect. To shove everything so deep down it was as if nothing happened.
But it had, and now I had to deal with it. Breaking down in Tripp’s arms was apparently the first step.
After I’d dried all of my tears, I dressed in a pair of sweatpants and a fresh shirt he’d given me. Of course I looked ridiculous in the overly large clothing, but Tripp grinned when he saw me enter the kitchen, taking me in from head to toe. A flirty smile I was becoming all too familiar with played on his lips as I sat down to a bagel and glass of orange juice.
“Sorry, it’s all I have right now.”
“It’s more than enough,” I said before taking a bite.
I ate in silence, my breakdown before quite embarrassing. Looking up every now and again, I saw that Tripp was watching me. He would go from frowning, to biting his lower lip, which was extremely sexy, to cocking a brow. An internal debate no doubt wreaking havoc on his thoughts.
Eventually one of us had to speak. It just so happened that we decided that very same thing at the same time.
“So,” both of us said, amusement in our tone at the coincidence.
“You go first,” he insisted, taking a sip of his coffee. I watched the muscles of his throat swallow the hot liquid, then stared at his mouth as he licked his lips. “Reece?”
“Sorry. Um . . . well . . . I guess I should be going. Can you give me a ride back to the motel?” I’d hoped he wasn’t going to give me a hard time about going back there. In reality, I had no place else to go.
“No.” His answer was final. He placed his mug on the counter and crossed his arms, looking like he was preparing himself for an argument. Well, he was right. I hardly knew him; I wasn’t going to let him dictate anything for me.
“No?” I asked incredulously, my tone raising an octave in disbelief, although his answer shouldn’t have shocked me. I pushed my empty plate away and stood from the table, bracing myself behind my chair for support.
“No. I already told you you’re not stayin’ there. You can stay here. With me.”
“I can’t do that.”
“Why?”
“Because I don’t know you. Plus, it’s . . . inappropriate.”
He laughed, uncrossing his arms and stepping forward, mirroring the way I rested my hands on the back of the chair. “Why is it inappropriate? Unusual. Quick. Those are the words I’d use before saying it would be inappropriate.” Clearly he found me amusing, a sentiment which irritated me.
My brain couldn’t function when he stood so close, so I couldn’t come up with a defense as to why I’d chosen that word. Instead, I blurted out something else which came to mind. “I just can’t stay. Please. If you won’t take me back to the motel, then I’ll find my own ride.”
“You can’t stay? Or you don’t want to stay?”
He just wouldn’t give up.
Looking away, I said, “I don’t wanna stay.” I lied, of course, but I figured he’d relent if he knew I didn’t want to be there with him. Thankfully, it worked. But when I glanced back at him, I saw a look of disappointment and hurt cross his face. It was brief, but I caught it.
“Fine. But you’re not goin’ back to the motel. I’ll find you a place you can crash at until you get back on your feet.” I opened my mouth to object, but he cut me off. “No argument, Reece.” His hardened expression softened. “Let me do this for you. At least I’ll know you’ll be safe.”
I eventually nodded, giving him the go-ahead to make the arrangements.
Tripp
I left Reece in the kitchen while I stepped out on the porch, closing the door behind me for added privacy. Since I couldn’t force her to stay with me, I had an idea where she could stay. I just needed approval first.
“What?” Marek practically shouted into the phone, no doubt losing all his patience for . . . everything.
“Sorry to bother you, Prez, but I was wondering if I could set someone up at Zip’s place. I need somewhere safe, and close to the clubhouse.”
“For her?” His tone was curt, his question irritating me right away. But since I detected a slight slur to his words, I let it go.
“Yeah.”
“Is this rash move on your part gonna come back on the club in any way?”
Confused, I answered as honestly as I could. “No.”
“Then I don’t give a fuck.” He hung up before I could thank him.
Zip’s place was the perfect solution, but as I smiled at the compromise, I couldn’t help thinking about our fallen brother.
Zip was a good kid. Always trying to prove his loyalty to the club, even though there was never a need. Marek had entrusted him to follow Rico Yanez, Rafael Carrillo’s right-hand man. And when the leader of Los Zappas Cartel found out Yanez went behind his back and continued to deal with the Savage Reapers, our most hated enemy, it was enough to seal his fate. The proverbial nail in the coffin. When they’d finished with Yanez, they passed him on to us on Marek’s request, where he was tortured and finally disposed of once and for all. Revenge for what he’d done to Sully.
When Psych found an opportunity to exact his own kind of revenge against our club, he’d managed to kidnap Adelaide and Kena, Stone and Jagger’s women. Zip had been the one assigned to accompany them on their shopping trip, and devastatingly enough, he’d been killed when the Reapers ran him off the road. This club was everything to Zip, and we paid him homage by burying him on the compound. He spent most of his time at the clubhouse, so we found it only fitting.
Walking back inside, I saw Reece pacing in the kitchen. Her head was down, sections of her dark hair shielding her face from me. As soon as she heard the creak of the door behind me, however, she looked up and directly into my eyes. I swore a jolt of something indescribable ricocheted through me.
“So, I found a place for you to stay.” Shaking off the odd sensation that’d just racked through me, I leaned my hip against the counter. Her fingers had been playing with an area on the bridge of her nose, and when she caught me looking, she dropped her hand. It was then I noticed a small scar, a dent in her skin indicating she’d broken her nose at some point.
Jerking my chin at her, I asked, “What happened?”
Her response was immediate and deflective. “What do you mean?”
“How did you break your nose?”
“How . . . ?” She gently touched the scar again. “An accident. I’d had too much to drink one night and tripped over the curb. Clumsy, really.” Her nervous laughter screamed she was lyin’, but I didn’t know her well enough to demand the truth. So I let it go.
Deciding to focus on something else, I raked my eyes over her, her appearance making me smile. The woman was drowning in the clothes I’d given her, but she’d never looked more beautiful. No makeup, her long hair piled loosely on top of her head. Something innocent about Reece tugged at my soul, and I’d be damned if I wasn’t gonna find out what it was exactly that made me feel the way I did whenever I was around her.
Staring into her eyes calmed me, all the while heightening my need to protect her. I could spend hours, days even, trying to dissect my newfound feelings, but I wanted to live in the moment with her.
“I can’t let you do that.” She broke into my thoughts by responding to my original comment about Zip’s place.
“Well, it’s done.” I tried to come off as cool and casual, but my clipped words gave me away. More than anything I wanted her to allow me to do this without an argument, but with the small amount I knew about her, it shouldn’t have come as a surprise when she pushed back.
“Tripp, I really appreciate everything you’ve done for me. Besides firing me, of course. But I can take care of myself.”
The next words to leave my mouth were certainly a surprise. I didn’t want her anywhere near Indulge, but I also knew I shouldn’t stand in the way of her making a living either. Maybe if I relented then so would she, taking me up on my offer to put her up at Zip’s place.
“If I agree to let you go back to work at the club, in a different position, will you stay where I want you to? Where I know you’ll be safe?” Zip had installed top-of-the-line security, as we all had, and his place was close to the clubhouse, which turned out to be rather convenient.
After his parents had died years prior, Zip had assumed all responsibility for the place, even thinking ahead and leaving it to Marek in case anything happened to him. He was young, and whereas most guys his age weren’t even thinking about wills and what would happen to their shit when they died, most didn’t have danger creeping around every corner, threatening to snatch their lives in the blink of an eye.
“What position?” she asked skeptically.
“You can assist Carla with bartending. She’s been on us to hire someone to help her out, so I doubt she’ll have any complaints about the new arrangement.”
There was but a minute of contemplation on her part before she answered.
“Okay,” she said enthusiastically. “Yes, I’ll stay where you want me to, but only until I save up enough money for my own place.”
I could have offered her the money she needed, but I selfishly wanted her close by so I could check on her anytime I wanted. With her permission, of course.
“All right then, let’s grab your things from the motel and I’ll take you to your new place.” I gestured for her to walk ahead of me, resting my hand on the small of her back. She flinched from my touch, but I saw from the flush of her cheeks that she liked it.
“I still can’t believe you stayed here,” I growled, walking around the small room and tossing her stuff into a bag she had opened on the bed. The place was fuckin’ filthy, the walls a dingy white and the seventies shag carpet a horrible shade of worn green. And the smell—holy fuck, it smelled like stale smoke, vomit, and piss. A white-hot surge of anger strangled me at the idea that she thought so low of herself she chose to stay in this dump. “What the hell were you thinkin’, Reece?” I stopped in front of her and lifted her chin so she had no choice but to look at me.
Embarrassment stole over her skin and she tried to move her head, but I tightened my hold, all without hurting her.
“What were you thinkin’ stayin’ in this shithole?” I repeated.
“Stop it,” she whispered, placing her hands on my chest and shoving me away from her. I stepped back only because I saw the sad look in her eyes and I didn’t want to add to her already distressed state. “I told you I didn’t have any money. This was the only place I could afford.”
I couldn’t help but press her for more information. More personal information. “Why didn’t you ask your family for money, then? I’m sure they’d help you out.”
With her back turned toward me, busying herself with gathering the rest of her things, she said, “I don’t have any family. My parents and brother died in a car accident.” She took a deep breath. “And I left my house so quickly I didn’t have time to think about what I’d do once I got wherever it was I was going.”
“What does that mean?” I tried to turn her around but she shrugged away from me, zipping her bag before quickly walking toward the door. Once outside, I decided to let the conversation die—for now.
I still had Hawke’s truck from the night before, and thank God because it had started to rain on the way to the clubhouse.
“When can I start back to work?” Reece asked, tapping her fingers on the door rest.
“Tomorrow, if you want.” My hands tightened on the wheel, a reaction she most definitely noticed.
“What’s wrong?”
“What makes you think something is wrong?” My knuckles were turning white.
“Because of that,” she said, pointing to my hands.
“I hate the thought of you around all those fuckin’ men,” I grunted.
“Are those men the same ones who keep making your club money?” She smirked, toying with a strand of her hair while giving me the coyest smile. While I didn’t like the topic of conversation, I had to admit that I liked the relaxed mood she appeared to have switched into, especially since she seemed so upset moments earlier.
“Yeah. Doesn’t mean I like you being in their line of sight, though.” Blowing out a frustrated breath, I loosened my grip on the wheel. “Just stay behind the bar during open hours and we’ll be fine.”
“You mean you’ll be fine,” she teased.
“Yeah.” I knew it was a lie as soon as the word left my mouth.
Tripp
Twenty minutes later I pulled into the clubhouse lot. “I’ll be right back. Just have to grab the keys.” I jumped out of the truck and was about to close my door when Reece’s voice cut through the air.
“Can I use the restroom?” she asked, clenching her thighs together. “I really have to go and I don’t think I can hold it.” Her face scrunched up while she squirmed in her seat.
“Yeah, okay. Come on.”
Leading her inside, I directed her to the bathroom while I headed toward the bar, having spotted Marek hunched over talking to Trigger. Slapping him on the back, I took the stool next to him. “How ya doin’?” I asked tentatively. His only response was a grunt, followed by a slew of drunken words.
Looking to Trigger, I frowned, to which he simply shook his head. He mouthed, “Not good,” before serving Marek another shot. The only guys who knew about what was goin’ on with our prez were the men who were at the safe house. We agreed not to tell anyone else until we found out whether or not Psych had been telling the truth. Once the DNA results came back, then we’d let Marek decide what to do next. Until then, we swore to keep our mouths shut.
Marek’s cell vibrated on the top of the bar, Sully’s face flashing across the screen before he reached over and rejected the call. “I can’t,” he mumbled before shouting to Trigger to pour him another drink.
“Are you sure, Prez?” Trigger asked, slinging his bar towel over his shoulder. “I think you’ve had more than enough. Don’t you want to sleep it off? Or better yet, do ya want me to take you home? I’m sure Sully’s worried about you. She keeps calling.” Trigger looked to me for assistance, which I readily gave.
“Yeah.” I tugged on his arm. “Come on. One of us will give you a lift home. I’m sure your wife is worried sick.” I looked back to Trigger. “He hasn’t been home yet, has he?”
“Nope. Been planted on that fuckin’ stool the entire time. I’m surprised his drunk ass hasn’t fallen off yet.”
“I ca . . . can hear ya,” he muttered, finally staggering to his feet and walking toward Chambers. “Bring me a bottle,” he shouted before slamming the door to the club’s meeting place.
He left his phone on the bar, and when it rang again, I answered. I probably shouldn’t have, but I knew Sully would be worried. No doubt she’d already spoken to Adelaide and knew Stone had returned home.
“Hey, Sully.”
“Oh. Hi.” A brief silence ensued before she spoke again. “Who is this?”
“Sorry, it’s Tripp.” Trigger stared at me, disbelieving that I’d actually answer Marek’s phone. He shook his head and walked into the kitchen, most likely not wanting to be part of me going behind our prez’s back.
“Is Cole there? Why do you have his phone? Is he okay?” she asked, her words coming out faster and faster the more she spoke. “Did something happen to him?” Short pants of air hit my ear and I knew I had to calm her before she really freaked out.
“Marek is fine. He’s just. . . .” I trailed off, not quite sure what to say to her.
“He’s what?”
“Drunk.” Short and to the point.
&n
bsp; “Drunk? Why? What happened?” Before I could answer I heard someone in the background—Adelaide. Then I heard Stone’s voice.
“Sully, give the phone to Stone. I need to speak to him.” I thought for sure she’d give me a hard time, insisting I tell her about Marek, but she didn’t.
“It’s Tripp,” I heard her say before Stone came on the line.
“Everything okay?” he asked.
“Not really. Marek’s at the club, drunk and mumbling all sorts of craziness.”
“Can you blame him?” he whispered. I heard the women’s voices fading into the background and knew Stone had walked away from them for more privacy.
“Not at all. But you need to calm Sully down before she freaks out and makes things worse. Whatever you do, keep her away from here.”
“Yeah, I got it.”
“Good. Hey, did you give Adelaide that shit to get tested? Did you tell her whose it was?”
“I’m not an idiot, Tripp.”
“Well, that’s debatable.”
“Fuck you. And no, I didn’t tell her anything except that I needed her to put a rush on it. She knew enough not to question me about it.”
“And by that you mean she asked and you had to promise her some kind of sexual favor to let it go.” I laughed because I’d witnessed the dynamic between the two of them, Adelaide certainly giving our VP a run for his money.
“Fuck you,” he repeated before hanging up on me.
I’d been distracted from the call and didn’t notice Reece walk up behind me. She gently touched my arm to let me know she was finished and ready to go.
