"Any tips?" I asked, wanting to engage him.
"Don't fall asleep and don't be a hero. You think you hear or see something, investigate, but don't engage if you don't have to. Get help. You won't impress Repo by getting yourself killed."
At that, I tilted my head a little as I leaned down to slide into my boots and tie them up. "Repo? Shouldn't I be worried about impressing Reign, not Repo?"
Duke shrugged. "Reign has the ultimate say. But he's not here all the time. Repo is and Repo is, for all intents and purposes, in charge of us. So the only way you can impress Reign is to impress Repo."
"Good to know," I said, nodding at him. I didn't need to say thanks for him to know that was what I meant. Along with some self-defense training and the most intense study session of my life about The Henchmen MC and their members, K had drilled it into me that I needed to stop thinking like a chick. He said that if I wanted to get into a boys club, I needed to learn to communicate without having to say much. It wasn't exactly something I excelled in, but I was learning.
"Now get a move on. There should be fresh coffee and you'll want to relieve Renny. He gets cranky when his relief is late."
"Renny? Cranky? I can't imagine that," I said with a small smile as I reached up to settle my sheets back into place.
"Not everyone is who they appear to be, Ace."
I stopped my walk toward the stairs and turned. "Is that a warning?"
"Let's call it a word of advice," he said, jerking his chin at me then falling back into his bed.
With that little nugget to mull over, I made my way into the kitchen that did, indeed, smell like fresh coffee. I found the pot with a sleeve of disposable insulated cups and tops, poured myself a cup, added a sugar, then slipped on the top as I looked over at the clock. I still had twenty minutes. But it was always better to be early than late. Especially if it meant I got to stay on Renny's good side.
"Won't get you far to kiss their asses," a voice said behind me, making me jump on a gasp as I whipped around to find Repo sitting at the table in the corner, hand around a steaming mug of coffee. He was slouched back in the chair, eyelids a little swollen, the skin under his eyes looking purple from lack of sleep. A part of me wondered if he had stayed up to keep an eye on me which I found incredibly insulting. But a bigger part was seriously worried about how I hadn't noticed he was there when I walked in. K would box my ears if he ever found that out. Luckily, I had no plans of telling him.
"I'm not kissing anyone's ass. I'm just an early riser," I said with a chin lift even though it was only mostly true. Yes, I rose early. But early for me was around four-thirty in the morning, not three-thirty. But whatever. He didn't know that.
"Sure, honey," he said, nodding in a way I found condescending.
"Two out of six isn't that bad," I mumbled to myself as I walked toward the doorway.
"Two out of six what?" he asked, apparently having some kind of super hearing.
I turned my head over my shoulder, chin lifted, and told him flat-out. "Two out of six of you aren't close-minded sexists," I said with a brow lift. "In case you were wondering, you're of the six, not the two." With that, I made my way out into the great room then out the back door, my stomach swirling around ominously. I knew I wasn't supposed to talk back to them, but I also had the feeling that I wasn't going to get myself anywhere by being a withering flower either. Especially if they were discounting me on the sole ground of my sex.
Besides, I'd rather be kicked out because I wasn't afraid to speak my mind than be kicked out because I proved myself simply unimpressive.
"Thank God, Violet," Renny's friendly voice groaned as I made my way toward the front gate where he was leaning against a tree.
"Tired?" I asked, taking in the heaviness of his bright blue eyes.
"Hate this fucking shift. Guess that's why they gave it to me," he said with a knowing smirk.
"Well I may or may not have just let on that I am, by nature, an early riser. So I imagine I'll be getting stuck with your shift in no time," I mused.
"Aw, Violet, don't be getting all down on them yet. You just got here," he said, pushing off the tree. "Here," he said, holding out a huge, heavy, black Maglite. "You still have a good hour of darkness," he explained as I reached for it.
He moved to walk past me and I blurted out the question I had wanted to ask someone since I learned about us being the ones to patrol the grounds. "Hey, um, do I just watch the gates or am I supposed to walk this whole thing?"
Renny turned back and gave me a knowing smile, like maybe he knew what it was like to be the new guy. I guess, at one time, he had been as well. "You can stay at the main gates for ten minute intervals only. Then you need to do laps, alternating your route each time in case someone is watching. They had a breach years back because some probies fucked up their watch. Don't want that happening on your shift."
"Right. Thanks, Renny. Get some rest. Dream sweet." I cringed the second it was out of my mouth, knowing it wasn't something a biker would say. Damn it.
"Don't lose the soft," Renny said, as if sensing my thoughts. "It's easy to fold into the mold they all seem to fit into. But don't do it at the expense of who you are." With that, he turned and made his way back toward the compound, leaving me to exhale so loudly that it could maybe be called a sigh.
Because, as a whole, I agreed with him. I didn't believe in squeezing yourself into someone else's mold. But, that being said, this was not a case where I had a choice. By whatever means necessary, I needed to integrate. I needed to become one of them.
If I didn't, well, like K said earlier... I would die.
On a deep breath, I gripped the Maglite tight and started my first round of the night, taking the enormous fence at a clockwise path.
Eight and a half incredibly long, incredibly boring hours later, completely out of new ideas of how to switch up my rounds, Moose and Fox finally came ambling out of the clubhouse, laughing at something until their eyes landed on me.
"You look like shit, Maze," Moose informed me.
I would have taken offense, but I was pretty sure his assessment was nothing but accurate. As soon as the sun rose in the sky, it started pelting down on me in a way that made the sweat start to bead up on what seemed like every freaking inch of skin. I had tied my hair up with a band I kept around my wrist, putting into a messy knot at the top of my head. My tee was sticking to me with sweat and my face felt sunburned.
So yeah, I looked like shit.
So I didn't even bristle at the comment.
"Don't worry," Fox said attempting (and failing) to give me a charming smile, "I'd still do 'ya."
"Lucky me," I deadpanned, moving away from them, snagging my discarded coffee cup off the ground as I went.
"Hey babe," Reign's distinctive voice called to me as I stepped into the great room, almost crying the air conditioning felt so good.
"Yeah?" I asked, attempting to push the misery out of my voice as I turned to find him standing at the bar with a sweating beer in front of him.
I totally didn't wet my lips at the thought of a nice, cold beer. Nope. Not me.
"Bring this out to Repo, will you?" he asked with a smirk that I knew meant he knew it wasn't something I could turn down doing. It was normal for probates to have to run drinks to members. But, that being said, Duke was sitting on the couch and from the looks of it, had been there a while. And Renny had just walked out of the kitchen with a cup of coffee. So... me getting the job? Yeah, it was because I was the girl.
Assholes.
"Sure thing," I said, giving him a saccharine smile as I reached for it. "Do you need me to make everyone a sandwich too? Maybe vacuum the carpets in high heels and full makeup?" I asked, but in such a sweet tone that there was no way he could call it insubordinate. I swear to Christ, I made it sound like I was just tickled at the prospect of being subjugated.
From behind me, I heard Renny chuckle and Duke snort. In front of me, Reign's l
ips were totally twitching. He might not have wanted me there, but he respected my spirit. I couldn't really ask for more than that.
I took the beer and made my way back outside to where I heard the music blaring in the back field.
Repo had made his way out to his cars sometime around eight in the morning. I could occasionally feel his eyes on me, but I did everything in my power to not return the favor.
The metal music was blaring from a dock propped up on an overturned garbage can and clanging was coming from under the hood of the faded red old school muscle car. That was about as specific as I could get. Cars mattered to me about as much as high school trig, meaning not at all. I skirted around the car to find Repo leaned into the hood, his shirt discarded, sweat beaded on his skin, all the muscles from his hand to his shoulder tensing as he used it to screw or unscrew something inside the engine. I swallowed hard against the unexpected stab of desire at the sight.
It wasn't that Repo wasn't attractive; he was. He was actually one of the best looking men I had seen in a long time. And it wasn't helping that he was half naked and that I got to see all the ink he kept covered with his shirt. There was something across his chest I couldn't quite make out given his position, but his back had a huge piece in the American traditional style. There was a giant red and black snake with a jeweled knife stabbed through its head, blood dripping down from it. There were words above and below it spelling out: "snakes and snitches get it where they slither".
"Honey..." Repo's voice called, sounding amused and I jumped, eyes shooting up to his face to find his lips twitching. He'd totally seen me staring at him. Great. That was just wonderful.
"Snakes and snitches get it where they slither?" I asked, trying to keep my eyes on his face though I did notice that he had "Henchmen" written across his chest in a huge, bold font.
His head cocked to the side slightly as he turned and leaned against the car, a wrench still in his palm. "Words to live by," he said, his tone a little guarded. There was history there, meaning. "That for me?" he asked, jerking his chin toward my hand where I was still holding the beer.
"As per orders," I said, giving him a humorless smile as I held it out.
"Thanks," he said, reaching for it, tipping it back, and taking a long swig. I felt my own throat go dry as I watched him swallow.
I coughed awkwardly, not sure what the hell was wrong with me. "Um... anything else?" I asked, shifting my feet slightly. How was it that I was somehow more at ease with Reign than I was around Repo? That made no sense whatsoever.
Repo shrugged a shoulder. "How was your first patrol?"
"Uneventful," I said, leaving out the fact that it was quite literally the most boring eight hours of my entire life.
Somehow reading between my words, Repo smirked. "Yeah, I remember those days." Then suddenly he pushed off the car, taking a big step in my direction, surprising me enough to forget to take a step back and therefore allowing him to be all up in my personal space. There was barely a breath of air between us, his beer hanging down at his side actually touching my thigh over my jeans. His hand moved out, brushing the sensitive pad underneath my eye. "Might want to remember sunblock next time," he said as I felt a shiver work its way up my spine at the light, sweet contact.
"Ah, yeah," I mumbled, looking up into his deep blue eyes and feeling a heaviness settling on my chest.
And through the heat and the pressure of trying to fit in and the ever-present worry about what could happen to me at any moment if they found me or The Henchmen found me out, I felt another realization dawn on me- Repo was trouble.
First, because he was in charge of me.
Second, because he was attractive and I wasn't exactly unaffected.
Third, because he was definitely willing to take me to bed.
Normally having a really hot, somewhat alpha badass you were attracted to who wanted to take you to his bed would be a good thing. But for me, yeah, it was another major complication. If he decided to act on his attraction, I was in for some deep shit. Because I would have to turn him down. And turning him down would bruise his ego. And bruising his ego could be enough for him to want to kick me out.
Shit. Shitshitshit.
"Maze," Repo's voice called in a way that was almost... soft. When my eyes found his again, he exhaled a little heavily. "Relax. That's not a line I'm crossing."
I swallowed hard. "It's not a line I'd let you cross," I countered, but a part of me was pretty sure it was bluster.
"So we understand each other," he said, taking a step back. I was getting ready to step away when he quirked a brow. "Did I say you could leave?"
I felt myself jerk at the chastisement, biting my tongue to keep from lashing out. "No," I said, my tone clipped.
"Right. Because you're going to keep your ass right here and hand me tools."
"Hand you tools?" I repeated, my tone a little dumbfounded.
"Yeah, probie," he said, his tone going so dead that I felt a sliver of cool rush through me. "Forget your place already?"
My place.
Nope. I definitely didn't forget that.
And I got the distinct impression that if I ever did so, for even a second, someone would be right there to remind me.
Four
Maze
For the next week, Repo decided to tick off me and, by extension, all of my fellow probates, by switching up patrol rounds daily with no notice. One day I was working the early morning shift, then I was informed only minutes after completing it that, surprise, I was pulling the afternoon one. With Fox. The next day, I had the overnight with Duke. The next, I was back on my early morning. Then the overnight with Renny. I was getting the impression that the overnight was too important to The Henchmen to screw with it. For whatever reason, Reign, Cash, Wolf, and Repo trusted Duke and Renny more than the rest of us and therefore always wanted one of them on the shift.
By my ninth day, I was sick.
Literally sick.
Over a week of a weird sleep schedule and being out in the unyielding heat or rain at any given time with no protection from the elements, I woke up from a short sleep to start my early morning patrol to realize that every single inch of my body was sore. I groaned as I rolled off my bunk, not realizing how weak my muscles were and collapsing into Duke's bed, my hand slamming down hard on his stomach.
He flew awake on a grunt, hand automatically moving to my throat before his eyes focused and released me. "What the fuck?" he whisper-yelled at me as I pushed myself up.
"Sorry, I... my legs gave out," I admitted, each word like swallowing glass to my sore throat.
"You sick?" he asked, taking in the croaking weirdness of my voice.
"No. Nope," I said, shaking my head and ignoring the dizziness brought on by the motion and my clogged sinuses.
"Billy, don't be a hero," he said, moving to follow me out of his bed. "I'll take your..."
"No," I snapped, wincing at how loud the word came out. It was loud enough to make Moose's snores stop as he rolled around in bed. "It's fine. I got it," I objected, biting my cheeks to keep from groaning as I bent to tie my boots.
"Ace, come on," Duke said, reaching out as I straightened and putting a hand at the side of my neck. "You're burning up..."
"I'm fine. Go back to sleep. Sorry I woke you."
With that, I made my way up to the stairs, cringing when each step made me feel like I used to at twelve, lying in bed with growing pains bad enough to prevent me from walking.
It was okay. I just had to make it a couple of hours and then I could take a handful of medicine and crash. Plenty of people had to do worse jobs feeling a whole lot shittier than I did right then.
I grabbed a bottle of water from the kitchen and made my way outside to find Renny. "Violet, you look like hell," he said as I approached at my grandma pace.
"Gee thanks," I grumbled, taking the Maglite and waving him away.
"You sure you..."
"
I'm fine!" I snapped, my voice echoing across the empty night.
I wasn't exactly fun when I was sick. It wasn't that I liked to wallow in it, but I damn sure never forced myself to go into work when I felt like I was going to pass out at any moment. I always would just hole up in bed with orange juice and a heating pad and wait it out.
"Alright," Renny said, holding up his hands and nodding. "I get it. You're as capable as all of us. But don't forget, Maze, you don't have to make yourself sick to prove a point either." With that, he walked away and left me to drown in my misery as I walked the grounds.
I was pretty sure I finished my first round. See, I say pretty sure because at one point, I sat down to give my screaming leg muscles five minutes of rest... and then I must have either fallen asleep or passed out.
Because the next thing I knew, I felt a cool hand touching the side of my face and a annoyingly smooth voice calling my name over and over. My eyelids felt weighted and I had to struggle to force them open. It was still dark out. I noticed that first. All around, it was still pitch black out. There was a hand underneath my head and another rested at the side of my face. And those hands belonged to Repo. He was kneeling down beside me on the ground, his brows drawn together and his mouth in a firm line. "Hey honey," he said when he noticed I was awake. "Scared the shit out of me," he admitted.
"Shit," I gasped, trying to push myself up, realizing what had happened. I had fallen asleep while on duty. Fuck. There was no way...
"Easy," Repo demanded in a soft voice, his hand landing in the center of my chest and pushing me back down on the ground. "It's alright."
"How long..." I started to ask, my heart slamming in my chest so hard that I felt nauseated.
"Not long. Duke told me you were sick. Then Renny came in and said you looked dead on your feet. Figured I should check on you. Good thing I did. You were out fucking cold. What were you thinking?"
"I had a job to do," I objected, moving to push myself to a sitting position, my arms shaking under the pressure.
Repo (The Henchmen MC Book 4) Page 4