by Jayne Blue
“Torch,” George said. Damn. He was already halfway to being hammered. I made a gesture to the bartender. George could have one more beer, but that was it. None of the hard stuff.
“Torch,” he said again. “I’ve been meaning to talk to you.”
“Well, here you are,” I said. There was movement at the back of the bar. The crowd dispersed. The undercard fight only went three rounds. We had about three hours until the main event.
“My niece,” he said. “She speaks highly of you.”
I eyed George. “Why do I get the impression your niece probably rarely speaks of me at all?”
George laughed even harder. It devolved into a fit of coughing. I slapped him on the back and motioned for the bartender to bring him water.
“I wasn’t sure I wanted her working here,” he said. “This isn’t her normal element, you know.”
“Yeah?” I asked. “What element is that?”
“Sydney’s a thoroughbred. My brother and his stick-up-her-ass wife have put a lot of money into her upbringing and education. Some of it though, you just can’t teach.”
“Some of what?” I asked. Now he had my attention. I started to think George wasn’t as far gone as I first guessed.
“I mean, look at her,” George said. I followed his gaze. Sydney had come back to this part of the bar. She had a tray of drinks in her hand. Her cheeks were flushed. I could see the hint of sweat, making her skin shine. She wore her black tank top and a pair of red shorts that barely covered her ass. It was no different than the rest of the girls, but I didn’t like the stares she got as she sashayed through the crowd.
“That,” George said. “You can’t teach.”
I knew what he meant, and my blood boiled. Sydney’s smile disarmed the customers around her, all men. She had a sexy little tilt to her head as she laughed at whatever one of them said.
God. That red hair of hers shimmered behind her. She’d pulled it into a ponytail to keep it out of her way. It cascaded all the way down her back.
A vision flashed through my mind. I saw myself wrap that ponytail gently around my arm as she knelt before me on all fours. I saw her legs quiver as I made her hold that position and worked her from behind.
“A thoroughbred,” George said. “She doesn’t belong here. She belongs on the arm of a governor. A future president, maybe. She knows how to play that game. It’s only a matter of time.”
“Time for what?” I asked.
“She surprised me,” he said. “I’ll say that. I thought she’d turn tail and run back to my brother, his church, and his bank account after about a week. She’s smart though. Eager to learn. I don’t know what I’m going to do when she finally decides to leave, if you want to know the truth. And this place ... look at her. She’s almost thriving. Who would have thought it. I guess Sydney’s more like me than I understood at first. Who knows. Maybe she will prove us all wrong.”
One of the men at the high-top said something to Sydney as she tried to get by. She laughed, indulging him for a second. She pointed to one of the other waitresses. This wasn’t her table.
I didn’t like the look in the guy’s eyes one bit. I started to rise.
“Torch,” George said. “I need your help with something. And I’d like to think I can count on your discretion.”
“What?”
“As much as I enjoy having her around ... I mean, I never had a daughter of my own. That girl is the closest thing to it. And ... she’s got a quick mind. She’s hungry for something. She just doesn’t know what.”
“George,” I said. “What the hell are you trying to say? Spit it out.”
“Fine,” he said. “I need you to make sure Sydney doesn’t thrive here as much as she wants to. I need you to help me help her find a reason to go back to Connecticut, where she belongs.”
“What? You just said she’s been an asset to you. She told me you’re the one who encouraged her to come out here. To follow in your footsteps and break free of your family.”
George sighed. “That’s all true. Unfortunately, my family still has the ability to make things difficult for me.”
I heard Sydney squeal. Another of the guys had stood up and blocked my view of her.
“Listen,” I said. “George, I’m gonna need you to leave me out of your family drama.”
He was still talking as I turned my back on him. My pulse pounded in my ears.
Sydney was gone. I saw her flaming red hair trailing down the hallway toward the restrooms. The first guy had a hand on her arm; he was pulling her into the shadows.
I pulled the walkie clipped to my belt and signaled Brax. Where the fuck were the probies?
Then I saw them. The asshole had his hands on Sydney’s shoulders. He leaned in close, his lips brushing her cheek. Her eyes were wide with fear.
Fucking hell. His hand moved up her thigh. The second undercard fight started, and the crowd grew thicker, blocking my path to her. I would kill him. I would bounce his fucking skull off every wall in the bar.
Then I heard another scream. His. As I finally broke through the crowd and got to Sydney, I found the dude doubled over on the floor, clutching his balls.
Chapter Twelve
Sydney
He came so fast. One second before, the guy was staggering, slurring his words. All hands. All gross.
The next second he wrapped his arm around me, quick as a snake.
“Come on, baby,” he whispered in my ear. Sweat poured down his face. He licked my ear. The creep actually licked. My. Ear.
“Let me see what’s under that wolf,” he said, looking straight at my chest.
Then his other hand came up. A second later, he’d have it up my shirt.
I kept my eyes locked with his, a smile on my face. Keep their focus away from your hands. I’d taken a self-defense class when I was sixteen years old. The biggest lesson was to develop a strategy not to get in a dangerous situation. But once you did. It was balls or eyes. The two most vulnerable areas.
I brought my knee up. Hard.
He froze for a moment. Suspended in time before his impaired brain caught up with the sensation between his legs.
Then it did.
He took two steps backward then doubled over, puking.
After that, a wall of muscle slammed into him with the force of a freight train. Torch plowed him into the back wall. Snarling, he grabbed the guy by the shirt and hauled him back up.
He was still trying to catch his breath from the blow I delivered. It was as if he hadn’t even processed that the biggest, baddest motherfucker in the bar was about to rip his lungs out and make him wear them as a scarf.
“Torch!” I yelled.
He’d kill him. I saw red murder in his eyes. “Torch!” I yelled again. I knew better than to put myself between them. I shouted a third time.
Torch’s eyes flicked to mine. Then three of the prospects got there. Torch’s nostrils flared. Spit flew out of his mouth as he rounded on the guy.
“Get your sorry ass out of here,” he said through gritted teeth. “If I ever see you in town, let alone the Den, I’ll fucking kill you. You got that? You ever so much as look at any one of these girls again …”
He shoved the guy hard. He crashed into one of the prospects. They caught him, grabbing the asshole under the arms. The last I saw of him, his feet dragged across the floor as the men of the Great Wolves M.C. made him disappear.
Then Torch loomed over me.
“Are you okay? Did he touch you?”
“What? I ... no. He almost did. I’m okay.”
“She handled it.” Shannon was at Torch’s shoulder.
“You good?” she asked me.
I nodded.
“Torch, the fight’s getting started. We’re under control here. Kellan sent me to find you.”
Torch wouldn’t take his eyes from mine.
“I’m okay. Really. Thank you for being there.”
“We don’t tolerate that shit in here,” he said.
“I go
t it,” I said. He stood with his fists curled and fire in his eyes. It was as if he was looking at me but not seeing me. I took a tentative step forward and put a light hand on his chest. Next to him, Shannon looked concerned.
“It’s okay,” I said to both of them.
Shannon nodded. “Your big table needs some attention. If you need help, just ask.”
“I will,” I said. “And I’ll be right there.”
Right now, I was more worried about Torch. Shannon disappeared back into the crowd. There was a circle of space around Torch and me now that the drama had subsided.
“Torch, are you okay?”
He considered me for a moment. “I’m good.”
“You better go,” I said. “Kellan …”
Torch looked down the hall. “Yeah. Tonight. You don’t leave by yourself. Come find me.”
“It’s okay. Actually, some of the girls are getting together after closing.”
He took a step back. For a moment, I thought about asking him if he wanted me to change my plans. Something intense had just gone through him. Through me too. The truth was, I wanted to make sure he was okay. This little drama seemed to have shaken him far more than it did me. But it was Shannon who’d invited me out with the girls of the club. I wanted to go. Since I’d come to Lincolnshire, my world had been Uncle George and Torch. I needed more.
“I just want to make sure you get home okay,” he said.
“I will. Promise.”
“Promise me you’ll call me if you need anything.”
I nodded.
“Torch!” The shout came from down the hall. It was Kellan.
Torch gave me a weak smile and finally stepped away from me. A flood of heat went through me. It was as if the air changed when he wasn’t close to me. It got colder. More still. Torch was a storm within himself, and I knew I was about to get swept away.
Chapter Thirteen
The rest of the night was a blur. My big table kept me hopping. They were having a great time and were in a party mood. By the end of my shift, it translated to big cash, just like Shannon predicted. By the time the fight was over, it was past midnight.
I was dead on my feet, drenched in sweat, but I felt great. It was good work. Hard work. We finished clean-ups and locked the doors by one thirty. I should have been exhausted, but adrenaline still coursed through me. A night out was exactly what I needed.
I got a ride with Lori, and we met up at an ice cream parlor in town. It was closed, of course, but I found out Nicole, Brax’s wife, actually owned it. In addition to the bartenders and wait staff, Amy, Colt’s wife, and Tara, Joker’s wife, were there too. I ended up in a booth with both of them, along with Lori and Pam, one of the bartenders.
“How’d you do?” Lori asked me.
My purse was still weighed down from the cash tips I’d made. I had almost three hundred on me plus another two-fifty I’d made off credit card tips.
“Great,” I said, telling her. “I wish every night could be like that.”
“You did really well,” Pam said.
“Thanks,” I said. “That means a lot.”
“High praise,” Nicole said. She had a pretty head of brown hair and the warmest smile I’d ever seen. She always looked so tiny compared to her husband Brax who stood like six foot seven or something. They had a little boy, Victor, who looked exactly like his daddy. Blond hair almost white and the kid was a small, rambunctious giant.
“I’m serious,” Nicole said. “Pam never compliments anyone.”
“We had a bet, you know,” Pam said.
“Don’t freak her out,” Tara said. I’d learned she and Joker had only been married for a short time. Tara ran a preschool in town.
“They take bets about everyone,” Nicole said. “Not just you.”
“What,” I said. “On how long I’d last?”
“Or if you’ll make it at all,” Lori offered. “Suffice it to say everyone lost when it came to you.”
Her words were harsh, but she said them with a smile on her face. Though we’d had a rocky start, in the last couple of weeks, I wanted to believe I’d earned Lori’s respect.
“So,” Shannon said. She sat at the booth beside us. “Settle another bet. Rumor is you’re a billionaire or something.”
I choked on my root beer float. “Ah ... no. Not even close.” I held up my apron. “I have five hundred and fifty dollars.”
“Your family though,” Nicole said. “You’re George Bailey’s niece.”
“I am,” I said, stirring my float with my straw. “And yes, my dad’s family is wealthy. But like I said, I’m not.”
“So, what are you doing here?” Lori asked.
I realized what was happening and couldn’t decide whether I was offended. I’d just walked into some other trial by fire. I wasn’t one of them yet. It seemed they all wanted to know if I planned to be.
I sat back against the soft leather booth seat. I wasn’t sure I knew the answer to that myself.
“It’s complicated,” I said. “But the simple version is, it was just time to leave the nest, you know? I’m not my father. Or my mother. And I like it here.”
The group fell silent. Had I said the right thing? I realized it didn’t matter because it was the truth.
The interrogation eased up after that. Instead, we shared a few war stories from the night. Pam and Lori regaled us with their tales from other fight nights they’d worked. It turned out tonight was pretty tame.
As I finished my float, Pam got up to leave. Lori moved to another booth to talk to a couple of the other waitresses. That left me with Nicole and Tara. The two of them shared a knowing glance. I got the feeling I’d misjudged the shape of the conversation. The interrogation had just begun.
“I heard you had a little excitement,” Nicole said.
I finished the last of my float with a slurp and pushed it to the center of the table.
“Nothing I couldn’t handle,” I said.
“Good,” Tara said. “I’m sorry that happened to you. You have to know it isn’t usual. Most of the people who come into the Den know better than to misbehave.”
“It’s okay. Really. I mean, not that it happened, but I am.”
“Torch though,” Nicole said. “He, uh ... he’s into you. You know that, right?”
My throat went a little dry. I decided to turn the tables on this particular line of questioning. “So, do you want to tell me what the deal is with him?”
At that point, Amy Reddick sat down. The other women regarded her with deference. She was the club president’s wife, after all. I’d so far found her to be nice, but a little standoffish. A den mother. I realized at that moment, that’s exactly what she was.
“Torch is an enigma,” she answered, having heard that much of the conversation. “He’s been through a lot in his life. Like a lot of the guys, the club saved him. Gave him a home and a family. It was my father who first gave him a job.”
“Ace McCann,” I said. “Torch told me that much.”
Amy’s brow went up. “Well, then he’s told you more than he tells most people. I’d consider it an honor.”
“I do,” I said, feeling defensive for the first time.
“He feels things deeper than others,” Amy said. I wasn’t sure I knew what that meant.
“He’s definitely intense,” I said. A shiver went through me as I recalled the look in his eyes as he got in between me and the handsy asshole at the bar.
“He’s ... he’s suffered a lot of loss in his life,” Amy said. Nicole and Tara went silent. I got the impression Amy was revealing things about Torch even they didn’t know.
“He’s fiercely protective about people he cares about,” Amy explained. “And he rarely lets anyone in close enough to care.”
She zeroed in on me with laser-like focus. Her meaning was clear. If Torch cared about me, it was a serious thing.
“I care about him too,” I found myself saying. “But we aren’t ... he’s just ... he’s been a fr
iend. That’s all.”
“Club life isn’t easy,” Nicole said. “We don’t just marry the man. We marry the club and all that goes with it.”
“Marry?” I said, incredulous. “Who said anything about marriage?”
Amy put a hand up, signaling to the other two women. “Nobody. I’m glad that you found us, Sydney. For as long as you decide to stick around.”
Her smile was light. But she spoke in a way that signaled a deeper meaning. It was a warning maybe. Or just making sure I understood what might be at stake. It wasn’t just Torch who protected what he cared about.
Club life. Torch. The Wolf Den. In some ways, I felt like Alice falling through the looking glass into a different world. The only question was whether I wanted it to be home.
Chapter Fourteen
Torch
I rode. I thought it was the only thing I could do. It had been the only thing that had ever worked when the monster crept in. The open road. The wind whipped through me as if it had the power to reach down and wrap itself around the worst parts of me and sweep it all away.
Maybe it could. But only for a while.
Tonight though. The wind wasn’t enough.
I saw her. No. I saw him. The malice in his eyes. The way he looked at her. She thought she knew. She thought she could handle it. Make him laugh. Defuse it. Maybe if she even let him have a little, it might be enough to make him back off.
It wasn’t. It just made him want her even more. She was nothing but tits and ass to him and everything else he could overpower and control. He would go too far with her. No matter how smart she was. How strong. It wouldn’t be enough to stop him. It would take something even darker to do that.
The monster stirred within me.
I didn’t mean to go to Sydney’s apartment. Truthfully, I don’t even remember making the turn or pulling into her parking lot. I just found myself there, sitting in the shadows.
Her window was dark. I don’t even know how long I sat there. The first faint-pink bands of light streaked across the horizon.
