Total pages in book: 38
Estimated words: 34926 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 175(@200wpm)___ 140(@250wpm)___ 116(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 34926 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 175(@200wpm)___ 140(@250wpm)___ 116(@300wpm)
“We’ll need to get her things from the motel,” I said. “I don’t want her going back.”
“Not a problem. Have Daniel, Cliff, and Deadeye go with you. That should be enough to make anyone wanting to cause trouble to think twice.” Cain sent off a quick text. When his phone buzzed, he gave a satisfied nod. “They’ll meet you in the garage.”
“I can do this myself,” Cotton muttered. “Seems a bit overkill to send four guys with me to get one backpack full of stuff.”
“We take the safety of our own seriously, honey,” Angel promised. “That includes you. Besides, it makes the boys feel needed and wanted. We have to keep their fragile egos intact.”
“Come on,” I said. “Let’s get this done and get back here. We’ll get you settled then you and I can have a talk.”
She glanced up at me, looking equal parts resigned and defiant. “I don’t see there’s anything to talk about.”
“Plenty to talk about.”
“Can’t you just take me back to the bar? When we left, it put Pops down a server.”
“Already taken care of,” I said.
“I’ll need to… uh…” She looked up helplessly at Cain. “You know. Notify…”
“I’ll take care of that,” Cain said. “Just check in with them tomorrow. It’s all good.”
“My life hasn’t been good for more than ten years,” she said.
“It will get better.” Angel gave her a hug. “I promise, it will get better.”
Chapter Three
Cotton
Chase led me back through the common room where the party was in full swing. All around were naked and partially naked women. Several of the guys threw up hands at Chase as we walked. Several of the women, too. Chase acknowledged the men, ignored the women, and kept a firm grip on my hand as if to keep me from twisting free of him. I’m not too ashamed to admit I clung to his hand. I had never welcomed the advances of men. To do so meant to open myself up to attack. Chase felt different. Had from the first day I saw him. Maybe it was my attraction to him. But when we entered that room full of strange or mostly strange men, my first instinct had been to stay close to him. He’d protect me and never take advantage of me. I had absolutely no reason to believe that, but I did.
As we walked, three more guys fell into step behind us. I recognized Deadeye. In his late forties, the man frequented the Boneyard. The other two men were younger, and I’d never seen them before.
Once out of the clubhouse and away from the noise, Chase introduced us. “I know you’ve met Deadeye at the bar. Cliff and Daniel are Cain’s adopted sons and prospects with Bones. They also work at ExFil with us as well.”
“ExFil?” That wasn’t a name that made any sense to me.
“It’s a paramilitary organization Cain owns,” Chase explained. “We run ops all over the world for various countries, including the U.S. Cliff was a Marine while Daniel was a Navy SEAL.”
“Seems several of your club have been in the military. Has everyone?”
“Mostly. There are a few who weren’t, but everyone has their own talents and training they bring to the club. Even a few of the ol’ ladies work for us.”
“I didn’t expect that,” I responded softly. “Seems like these types of clubs are very male dominated.”
“One of our members, Shadow’s woman, Millie, has a sister who is a trained assassin. Millie’s just as deadly as Venus and is prospecting for us. She’ll probably make a patched member if she wants it.”
“Yeah.” Daniel chuckled. “Likely before either me or Daniel and we grew up here.”
Cliff took up the narrative. “Millie’s a tiny little thing, but don’t let that fool you. She could probably kick the asses of every member of Bones. And her sister is even worse.”
“Cliff’s right. You don’t wanna mess with Venus or Millie.”
The two brothers seemed good natured and oddly proud of the women they spoke of. Like they were little sisters or something when it was obvious they didn’t consider themselves as skilled a fighter as either of the women. And these men were military? Definitely not what I was used to.
Chase started up the truck as we all climbed in. The second we were on the road, Chase reached over and took my hand again. For some stupid reason, I let him. I knew better than this. Letting him get close to me would only invite heartache when he found out about my past. And I knew it was just a matter of time. Probably just the time it took to get my shit and get back to the clubhouse. I knew without a doubt Chase would have my secrets tonight.
In a way, I was almost relieved. Sure, I was frightened. I didn’t want him to look at me differently, but it would also mean I had no secrets from him. He’d see me at my worst and maybe, just maybe, he could see past it and still want to hold my hand as we walked across a roomful of men at his clubhouse.