by Sam Crescent
Seeing Kasey on the floor, he was about to speak when she pressed a finger to her lips and pointed down. Moving around the bed, he saw Lindsey curled up on her lap, passed out, and he nodded.
She didn’t get much sleep last night.
The guilt and fear had kept her awake. Sitting on the floor, he watched her sleep, feeling this overwhelming need to protect her, to love her. Lindsey was brassy, taking life as it came at her, but right now, she looked like a shell of her former self. Even Mary and Holly had warned him that she wasn’t being herself, and he hated that.
“How has she been?”
“She’s been sleeping for a few minutes now,” Kasey said.
When Lindsey made a sound of distress in her sleep, Kasey started to him.
It tore at his heart to see her like this, knowing what he saw. She’d been begging Richard to stop. The scream she gave wouldn’t get out of his head. It’s what he heard as he kept on hitting the bastard. To make the sound stop, he’d snapped the fucker’s neck.
“Do you know?”
“Yes, I know. I’m a nurse and I shouldn’t agree with what you did, but … seeing her. Knowing what he was going to do. I’m pleased you did.”
Pie snorted. “You shouldn’t agree with me.”
“He hurt my friend.” She sniffled. “She always told me she could handle it. That she could handle everything. Seeing her so lost, kind of broken, she’s just no more invincible than the rest of us.”
“Something happened between the two of us,” he said.
“What?”
“Me and Lindsey. She’d been avoiding me for a couple of days when it happened.”
“Oh.”
Pie ran a hand down his face. “You know I’d been tempted to ride back home. To leave her to deal with whatever problems she thought we were having. I didn’t. I got … I don’t know. Something told me to get inside that damn building. To make Lindsey talk to me. To see reason.”
“I know she loves your friendship and that it scares her something happening to it.”
“Nothing will. I’ll never do anything to hurt her.”
“I know that. I think she knows that as well. She’s just scared. She doesn’t want to be the reason anything happens to you.”
“It doesn’t matter now, or ever. I’m not going anywhere.”
“Do you love her?” Kasey asked.
Staring at Lindsey, he nodded. “Yeah, I do.”
“Then I know she’ll be all right.”
For another few minutes Kasey stood there, but he knew she had to get home.
“Let me take her,” he said.
With Kasey’s help, he picked Lindsey up and carried her over to the bed. When he placed her down on the bed, she curled up in a ball. He stroked her head, and then followed Kasey out of his room. Leaving the door shut, he made his way downstairs.
“Tell her I’ll be by tomorrow. We’ll spend some time together.”
“I will. Thank you.”
“Don’t need to thank me. She’s my best friend.” Kasey placed a hand on his shoulder. “Take care of her.”
He watched her go before heading into the kitchen. Holly and Mary always left food in the fridge for any of the club to take, so he grabbed a plate and filled it with some sandwiches and other things that he knew she’d love.
When he got back upstairs, Lindsey was already awake, sitting up in bed, pillow resting between her thighs and stomach. She tucked some hair behind her ear and smiled. It didn’t quite reach her eyes, but it was on her lips.
“Hey.”
“Hey, yourself,” he said. “You’ve not eaten, so I think it’s only fair we share a meal, you know.”
“Okay.”
Sitting on the bed, he rested the plate between them.
“Don’t you want to eat on the floor? The crumbs.”
“You look so comfortable there.”
She shook her head. “Crumbs of food are the worst.”
They sat in the same place she’d been with Kasey.
He watched as she picked up a small sandwich triangle and began to nibble it.
“I don’t feel very hungry.”
“You’ve got to eat something.”
“I am.”
He picked up a small triangle and shoved it into his mouth, chewing as he did.
She giggled. “You’re hungry?”
“Starving. I’ve been thinking about food all day.” It wasn’t a total lie. He didn’t feel hungry, but he wasn’t about to let Lindsey starve because of it.
She finished off one sandwich and picked up another.
Holly and Mary were always experimenting with different glazes to go on small sausages, so he picked one up and popped it into his mouth. Now he saw why there were so many still in the bowl. They were like fire in his mouth.
He kept on chewing.
“Don’t eat them,” he said.
“Why?”
“They’re too spicy.” He breathed out. “Is there fire there?”
“Oh, that was my bad. I like things spicy and hot.” She grabbed a sausage and popped it into her mouth. “Yum.”
“You’re crazy. That is just … way too spicy.”
She shrugged. “I like a lot of heat.”
For a few seconds she was able to forget, and he saw that, but with many times before, she remembered and the smile disappeared.
They finished their food in silence. She ate a couple more sausages without pulling any faces or showing signs of heat.
He took the rest of the food back downstairs.
When he returned Lindsey was in the shower, and he sat on the edge of the bed, waiting. Removing his leather jacket, he kicked off his boots and waited his turn. Any other day, he’d have been sitting on the toilet, chatting with her.
Why don’t you?
Stop letting him change you.
Getting to his feet, he entered the bathroom.
“I didn’t think you liked cooking,” he said, taking a seat on the toilet lid.
For a few seconds she didn’t respond. He’d not looked toward the screen. Seeing her naked body, even through the frosted glass, wouldn’t help matters.
“I don’t, not usually. Mary and Holly have a way of making it fun. They needed some help around the kitchen. They had me mixing up batter while they worked, dealing with some stuff. You know, the normal things that friends do.”
“You three are friends now?”
“I hope so. Mary admitted that at first she didn’t like me. It has taken her time to realize I want nothing to do with her man, or anyone’s man for that matter.”
“I thought you were adorable,” Pie said. “You talked a lot and you didn’t speak any shit. I liked that. I liked that you always knew what to say.”
The shower shut off, and he watched her hand reach for the towel. Seconds later the door opened, and she stood before him, wet, dripping, with only a towel between them.
“Did you have any intention of looking for a woman? Of looking for your Miss Right?”
“Yes.”
“Why have you made it so hard to find her?”
“Because every single woman doesn’t compare to you, Lindsey. You’re … different. You make me laugh, smile, and you’re just amazing. Don’t you see that?”
He watched as she licked her lips.
“I don’t know what to say to that right now,” she said.
“Just think about it. I’m not going to pressure you into anything. That’s not who I am, but know this is happening between us. I’m not going anywhere.” He took her hand, locking their fingers together. “And I never will.”
****
After a week away from her life and simply hanging out at the clubhouse, going through the motions, Lindsey was more than ready to get back to work. She needed to do something other than sit around all day.
She had to get back to work.
Go to her apartment and toss out the milk that would certainly be nothing more than curdled lumps by now.
&nbs
p; Air out her place, and just try to move on.
“What are you doing?” Pie asked.
She’d already started gathering a few of her things together in a bag. “I’ve got to head home. I’ve already called Marie at work and let her know that I’ll be back tomorrow.”
“You’re not going to back to work.”
“Pie, I have an apartment to pay for, a life to get back to.”
“I’ll pay for your apartment.”
“I’m not going to sit around all day.”
“Look for another job,” he said.
She chuckled. “You’re so cute when you’re like this. Why do you think I stayed at the clinic?”
“I don’t know.”
“Because they paid good money, Pie. You think I would have put up with that crap for anything else?”
“I really don’t know.”
“Wow, okay, I don’t know what to say about that.” She rubbed at her temples. “If I quit now, Pie, you don’t think that is going to look suspicious?”
“I don’t give a shit what it looks like. You shouldn’t have to go back there.”
“I’m a big girl, okay? I can handle it. Nothing actually happened there right, and if I quit now, and the cops come calling as to where he was, I don’t want you or the club to deal with that.”
“They’ll deal with it for me,” Pie said.
She tilted her head to the side, pressing her lips together, not really knowing what else to say.
“I’ve already called Marie and told her I’m coming in. She told me that Richard took an extended vacation. No one has seen or heard from him. Just a call in that he’s gone away.”
Pie shrugged.
“Is that you?” she asked.
“Diaz is a very thorough guy. It’s why he demands so much to get the job done.”
She sat down on the edge of the bed.
“You mentioned the other day that you found some tapes.”
“Yes.”
“Do you know what was on them?” she asked.
From the way he started to pace and rub the back of his head, she saw he was uncomfortable but also knew exactly what was on them.
“Please, Pie, tell me.”
“He … something wasn’t right with him or the whole situation.”
“What do you mean?”
“He cut the security feed and paid the guard to leave. You were both alone.”
“Okay.”
“He’s done it before, Lindsey.”
“What do you mean?”
“The dates, the attention. A woman doesn’t show him the right amount, he’s taken her home, raped her, and he’s filmed it.”
Lindsey couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “No, that’s not right. He always had women hanging off his arm.”
“Not the ones he clearly wanted. Diaz said it wasn’t the worst he’d seen, but it’s right up there with some of the stuff he’s encountered on the streets. He actually gave me my money back,” Pie said.
“The money you paid him?”
“Said it was a pleasure to get this kind of sick fuck off the street, and I don’t blame him. There were a lot of DVDs. Diaz has changed a bit in the last few years. He rules his streets, and no one gets anything past him.”
“But he’s a doctor. A respected plastic surgeon.”
“And no one is squeaky clean, Lindsey.” He sat down beside her, pushing some of her hair back from her face.
“It doesn’t seem to make sense.”
“There are people that are qualified in the most respectable fields and still have a dark side to them. Richard hid his for years.”
Lindsey felt tears spring to her eyes.
Over the years she’d thought there was something dangerous about him, but never in her wildest dreams could she have imagined this. It seemed almost too surreal to be true.
“I don’t know what to say.”
“There’s nothing for you to really say.”
“I worked for him for a couple of years.”
“I know.”
“He’d been trying to get in my pants.”
“I know,” Pie said. “And every time you put up a fight, he started to plan. He wanted you, and regardless of what you wanted, he was going to take you.” He shrugged. “There’s not a lot you can do about that, babe.”
She took a deep breath, really needing to deal with this new information. One thing was for certain, she wouldn’t be quitting any time soon.
“I can’t let anything happen to you or the club.”
“Nothing is going to happen to either of us, Lindsey. You don’t have to go back there. I’ve got plenty of money to pay you.”
She tucked some hair behind her ear. “I can’t, okay? I have … I need to do this. To go back there, and even if it is just to hand in my notice, either way I look at it, cops come calling for whatever reason, they’re going to look at the club, at you.” She gripped his hand within her own. “And I can’t let them do that. Not to you.”
He sighed and kissed her knuckles. “You’re going to be a pain in the ass, aren’t you?”
“Every single day, and you know I’m right.”
“Why are you packing up?”
“I still need to head back home. I’ve got an apartment that’s probably stinking a whole lot right now. Check through my groceries, you know, toss everything out that’s off or moldy. Ugh, I think I even bought some giant shrimp. They are going to smell so bad right now.”
“I’ll take you home.”
She walked downstairs behind Pie and noticed Matthew at the bottom, scrubbing the steps.
“You okay?” she asked.
“Yep, I’m fine. Just cleaning the dog shit from the stairs.”
“Ew, there’s dog mess?”
“Yep, but I think Dime did it on purpose. Went and stood in it and walked it all in the clubhouse. Don’t worry. Just walk where I cleaned,” Matthew said.
“You’re sure?”
“Positive. Don’t want you getting dirty mess on your shoes.”
She held the banister and walked past. Pie had told her what Matthew was doing. How at the weekends and in the evenings when he wasn’t at the local college he was prospecting for the club.
“I hope you do really well and you pass. You know. Become a full-fledged member and stuff,” she said.
“Thanks, Lindsey. I’m sorry about what happened to you.”
“Well, I’m getting over it.” She bent down and gave his shoulder a squeeze. “Take care.”
Walking away, she nodded at several of the club boys, and ignored the sweet-butts that were hanging around the guys’ necks like fucking sucking fish. She could never remember their real aquarium name, only that they sucked on the sides of the tank, looking ugly as fuck.
She had no claim to Pie, but she’d seen several of them look at him like he was a piece of meat for them to nibble on.
Once outside, she saw Pie setting up his bike. She put the strap of the bag over her neck and secured the latch.
“You’re heading back to your place?” Duke asked.
“Do you always sneak up on people?” She turned to see the club Prez, cleaning his hands on a dirty cloth. He didn’t wear his leather cut and had been under the hood of his car.
“Only the ones that don’t pay attention.”
“Yeah, I’m heading back. I kind of need to get back into the swing of things.”
“What about the bruising on your face?”
It had faded a lot in the past week. “I’ll get some makeup on there. It’ll be fine. Thank you for putting up with me this past week.”
“You’re not that bad to have around. Mary and Holly both approve of you. Both of them spend the most time here, unlike some of the old ladies.”
She had noticed that. Only during special parties or big events did all of the old ladies visit. Otherwise they had their own lives to get to.
“They’re good women. I think I put on a few extra pounds while I was here, but oh,
well, no biggie.” She shrugged.
“Don’t let that asshole have any power over you. You’re the one in control, no one else.”
“You’re speaking from experience?”
“I’m speaking from my own knowledge, and seeing you around the past couple of days, I didn’t think it was possible, but I did miss the old you.”
This did make her smile. “Thank you, Duke.”
“Anytime. I don’t need to tell you to keep Pie’s involvement to yourself.”
She twisted an imaginary key against her lips and threw away the key. “Consider it gone, completely gone.”
He nodded at her and headed toward the house.
“Do I want to know what that was about?” Pie asked.
“Just a couple of warnings, you know. Don’t do this, don’t do that. His daddy routine.”
Chapter Seven
“Your woman headed back to work?” Diaz asked.
“Yes.” Pie had spent the night with her. First, they’d gone through her apartment, tossing out all the bad food and shit that hadn’t been eaten. Then they’d aired out her place. He’d gone shopping while she cleaned. He’d then cooked as she showered, and they’d gotten back into their own routine before the party, before she started avoiding him. Before he’d killed her boss.
“Are you sure you’re ready for this?” Diaz looked at him.
“Do I look like a pussy?”
“Look, I’ve seen a lot in my time, but I want to warn you, okay? It’s not pretty what you’re going to see. We’ve done some bad shit in our time but rape? Nah, man, when a chick digs you, then you fuck her until she can’t remember her own name, let alone yours. A chick says no, you hold your hands up and leave it. You don’t force it.”
Rubbing the back of his head, Pie nodded. “I need to see this.”
“You better not be regretting taking this asshole out,” Diaz said. “After seeing the shit I’ve seen, I’m so fucking pleased you did what you did. Someone needed to. There are so many tapes here, man.”
Releasing a breath, he nodded. “Then, yes, let’s do this.”
He sat down in front of Diaz’s computer.
Diaz nodded at the guy who was manning the shit. Once the screen came to life, the man left them to it, so that there was only him and Diaz here.