by Joanna Wylde
Shade turned to Dopey, who stood watching Rebel. “Follow him.”
Dopey nodded sharply and a chill ran down my spine, because as much as I hated Rebel, I had a bad feeling about this—if Shade wanted to throw him into a truck, I was totally down with that. The whole disappearing thing, though… That sounded like some seriously bad karma.
“Shade—”
“Rebel’s not your problem anymore,” he said, glancing down at me. “He touched what was mine on my property. That’s a problem between him and me.”
I opened my mouth to argue, then closed it again because he’d gone back to scaring me, way beyond Batman level. Rebel was a piece of shit, but Shade was a whole different level of badass. I’d gotten so caught up in his kiss that I’d forgotten how dangerous he was.
Big mistake.
I needed to get home and get away from him. Maybe find a new job where I wouldn’t have to see him again. I didn’t care how sexy he was—I’d had enough dangerous men to last me a lifetime.
Chapter Seven
The ride home was anti-climactic.
Last night it’d felt like Shade was kidnapping me away to another world. In the daylight, I recognized the highway curving around rolling hills and clumps of forest. The same mountains that I saw above Hannah’s trailer stood over us, watching.
Just like our first trip together, I held Shade tightly around the waist, taking in his special scent and feeling the play of his stomach muscles under my hands. Everything about him felt sexy and right, scarily enough. I refused to relax into him, though, because I couldn’t afford that. When I’d met Rebel, I’d decided it was safe to have a boyfriend so long as I didn’t trust him with my heart.
Now I knew better.
By the time we pulled up in front of the trailer I shared with my sister’s family—and Shade knew exactly where it was, which was a little creepy in and of itself—I was utterly resolved. Whatever chemistry we might have, I wasn’t interested in acting on it. Self-preservation and all that.
That didn’t stop the strange twinge I felt, seeing the place as it must look through his eyes. Our home was quite literally on the wrong side of the tracks. Violetta only had nine hundred residents, with the poorest ten percent living on the flat behind the old grain elevator and rail yard.
My sister’s battered old minivan sat up on blocks and the trailer itself was frayed and stained from too many winters. A cheap swing set sat in the tiny yard, which was well-maintained because my sister took the whole mothering thing very seriously. She didn’t want the girls stepping on any rusty nails.
Two more Reapers—including Dopey—had followed us from the clubhouse. Shade gave them a wave and they passed, circling around the block as he pulled his Harley to a stop in the driveway. He turned off the big engine and my entire body quivered from a mixture of phantom vibrations and suppressed tension. I climbed down, determined to head off any ideas he might have about following me inside.
“You working at the Pit again tonight?” he asked, reaching up to touch my cheek. His touch was gentle, but it still hurt. I ignored his question.
“Don’t do anything to Rebel,” I told him seriously. “If you do, the cops will come talk to me, and the last thing I need is more cops in my life.”
“Whatever business Rebel has with the Reapers, it won’t roll over on you,” Shade said. “I wouldn’t put you in that position. You didn’t answer my question, though. You workin’ tonight?”
“Yeah, but I’m going to ask Bone to have someone else wait on the Reapers in the future. I’m out, Shade. I don’t want to be part of your world.”
Shade’s eyes narrowed.
“This thing between us isn’t over,” he said firmly.
“It is to me,” I replied, ignoring the way his hand had slipped into the hair at the back of my neck. I wanted to lean into him and purr like a cat. A very stupid cat. “There’s nowhere we can go with this personally. And the last time I served you at the Pit I busted ass all night and didn’t even get a tip. So far as I’m concerned, it’s a dead end.”
Shade cocked his head and smirked. “So I was supposed to tip you on top of the five hundred I gave Rebel to fuck you?”
“I never agreed to that,” I reminded him.
“Yeah, you made that pretty clear.”
“But even if I had, the tip was for serving drinks. If I was really going to sell sex on top of serving drinks, that would’ve been a separate service and deserves its own tip. Either way, you stiffed me.”
Shade’s smirk grew.
“Think I’m the one who got stiff and left hanging, if you want to get technical.”
I smiled. I couldn’t help it, even though I hadn’t changed my mind. Shade was pretty. He might even be fun to play with, but he was still the kind of guy who’d trade a woman for a motorcycle.
Part of a motorcycle.
“I’m serious. I’m sorry that things were so weird and that Rebel put us into this situation, and I appreciate the ride home, but there won’t ever be anything between us. I’m done with men. From now on it’s just me and my vibrator.”
Shade’s gaze intensified. “What kind of vibrator you got?”
“I’m going inside now,” I said, pushing against his chest. He ignored the gesture, leaning in to give me a soft, sweet kiss that left me aching. Then he let go, and I stepped away from the bike before I did something really stupid.
“We’re not done,” he reminded me. “But I get that you need to take care of your nieces. Oh, and I brought you a present.”
He reached into a pocket inside his vest and pulled out a black rectangle.
“A phone?”
“You said yours was broken,” he said. “This one works, although it’s just a disposable. My number’s already programmed into it, along with the landline at the clubhouse. You can also talk to Bone if you need to get hold of me. I’ll see you later, probably tonight. Now get your ass inside and cook those girls something besides candy bars.”
“Can I help make the macaroni and cheese?” Callie asked. She loved working with me in the kitchen, although I also got the sense she was stalling because she didn’t want me leaving for my shift at the Pit. The girls loved it when I stayed home at night. A twinge of guilt twisted through me at the thought of how many evenings I’d wasted with Rebel.
“Let me cook the noodles first,” I told her. “Then you can stir in the cheese packet.”
Callie pouted, but she stepped to the side, giving me room to work. Hannah was back among the living, although she still looked like shit. She’d been getting these headaches her whole life, but I knew damned well that stress made them worse, and she’d had more than her fair share of that lately.
Worrying about me and my disappearing act last night probably hadn’t helped.
At least the girls had been okay. I was still a little freaked out about what’d happened, especially Shade’s “touched what was mine” comment about Rebel. The more I thought about it, the less comfortable I felt about the situation. Hopefully I wouldn’t see the big Reaper tonight—I wanted to process and figure out my next step.
I should also get my ass in gear and get ready for work.
I’d need extra time to walk down because I’d left my bicycle there the night before. I’d also have to apologize to Bone for leaving him high and dry at work. Hopefully he wouldn’t fire me before I found something else, which could take a while. Violetta wasn’t exactly crawling with job opportunities. In the long run, I wanted to avoid bikers, but in the short term we needed the money.
I dumped the macaroni in the strainer, tossed it to get the water out and then poured it back in the pan. Callie dragged over a chair and climbed up to stir as I added the milk, the cheese packet and a glob of butter. Macaroni and cheese might not be the healthiest, but it tasted good and the kids loved it.
Hell, I loved it too.
Dishing up five bowls, I had Callie carry them to the table while I cut up a couple of apples for us to share. Then I join
ed Hannah and the girls at the table.
“It’s gonna take a lot of makeup to cover that,” Hannah said, nodding toward my face. I’d told her everything that’d happened already—we never kept secrets from each other.
“I know,” I told her. “But it’s not like I can stop working until it heals up. The bills won’t pay themselves.”
Hannah sighed. “They aren’t your bills. You don’t have to do this, you know. I hate feeling like I’m dragging you down with me.”
I set down my spoon to look at my sister and her children. The twins were babbling at each other in the special little language that only they could understand, and Callie was very carefully sliding individual macaronis onto each of her fork tines.
Sometimes I loved them so much it hurt.
“We’re a family. You and me, Hannah. We have to stick together because at the end of the day, we’re the only ones we can count on.”
They were Mom’s words, repeated to us a thousand times during our childhood. Hannah smiled at me, then reached across the table to catch my hand, giving it a squeeze. It was true. She’d always been there for me. I’d stay here with her and the girls as long as they needed me.
We’d finished eating and I was dabbing my thickest concealer on my bruised face when I heard the sound of a motorcycle coming down the street. Make that motorcycles. They sounded like they were getting closer, too. You’re just being paranoid, I told myself. Finish getting ready for work.
Then Hannah said, “Oh, shit” loudly from the living room. My hand stilled because Hannah didn’t cuss in front of the kids. Ever. Outside the roar grew, coming to a stop in front of our house. I left the bathroom to join her at the window.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, even though I had a pretty good idea. Sure enough, there were at least six bikers in the graveled street, all wearing the same matching colors. Reapers. Shade and his brothers were back.
Hannah and I shared a look.
“Girls, go play in your bedroom,” she said quickly.
“Why?” Callie asked, holding a Barbie in one hand and a brush in the other. The twins stilled in the corner, where they’d been building with blocks.
Get them out of here! I mouthed at my sister. Hannah walked over to the freezer and pulled out a container of vanilla ice cream. Grabbing three spoons, she handed them to the children, then held the carton out to Callie.
“You can eat as much as you like so long as you stay in your bedroom,” she said firmly. The little girl snatched the container out of her hand and disappeared before her mother could change her mind, the twins right behind her. Hannah turned back to me, all business. “Should I call the cops?”
“No,” I said quickly. “I don’t know why they’re here, but I don’t think we need to be afraid of them.”
Probably.
“What do you want me to do?” Hannah asked.
“I’ll go out and talk to them,” I said, running a hand through my hair nervously. “You wait inside and make sure the girls stay out of it. And remember—the Reapers aren’t the ones who threw me into the truck. They might be scary but they didn’t actually do anything to hurt me.”
“If I ever see Rebel again, I’m shooting him. For the record.”
I snorted. “If Rebel’s smart, he’s headed for the hills. And knowing your luck, you’d shoot yourself in the foot if you had a gun.”
“That’s why I don’t have one,” Hannah admitted, peeking through the window again. “He’s off his bike and headed for the door. Go see what he wants. I’ll watch from in here and call the cops if they pull anything. Sound like a good plan?”
“Not really. You know I hate cops.”
“Okay, then. I’ll call your fairy godmother and ask her to rescue you.”
I rolled my eyes, flipping her off as I stepped out the door.
Chapter Eight
I stepped out onto the old wooden porch, shutting the door behind me. Shade was almost across the lawn, although his fellow bikers were staying put. I guessed that was one small mercy.
“Why are you here?” I asked bluntly.
“Figured you’d need a ride to work,” he replied. “Seeing as you had to leave your car at the bar last night.”
“I don’t actually have a car,” I admitted. “I usually ride my bike to work.”
Shade raised a brow. “You ride? I only ever saw you with Rebel. Don’t tell me you gave up—”
“No!” I said, rolling my eyes. “Not a motorcycle. A bicycle. You know, the kind with pedals? That’s how I get to work.”
Shade’s face turned serious. “You ride a bicycle home at two in the morning from the Pit?”
“Only on the busiest weekends,” I said, shrugging. “We’re usually closed by ten or eleven during the week. And what do you think’s going to happen in Violetta anyway? Worst case, I get attacked by a deer.”
He opened his mouth for a second, then closed it again, staring at me like I was some kind of exotic beast in a zoo. I frowned.
“I had a car,” I told him. “But it was a piece of shit and I needed cash to move here, so I sold it. I’ll get a new one at some point. Right now I’m focused on helping my sister, and it’s only a couple miles to the Pit. No big deal.”
“This isn’t some city with bus lines and taxis,” he said. “You can’t just not have a car.”
“And yet I don’t,” I said lightly. “So far, the car fairies haven’t delivered one. Maybe they will tomorrow, but for today I’ll go ahead and ride my bike.”
Shade gave a low growl, which I decided to ignore.
“You told me your sister has kids—what does she do when they need to see the doctor?”
I looked away because it was a problem I’d been more than a little worried about. We needed to get the van up and running again, and soon. But we also needed to pay the power bill and buy food.
“There’s always the ambulance,” I said, smiling weakly. Shade shook his head slowly. “Her ex’s parents have a car. I suppose we could borrow that if we really needed to.”
“You gotta get this worked out, babe,” he told me, his voice serious. “Violetta’s a great little town, but there’s not enough here for you to live without a vehicle.”
No shit.
“Gee, thanks for pointing that out,” I snapped, feeling defensive. “I guess I didn’t understand until now that we were in a tough situation.”
“Mandy, I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to—”
“No,” I said, holding up a hand. “You don’t get to come in here and judge us. Hannah’s doing everything she can to give her kids a good life. She stayed in Violetta because her ex is a bastard but his parents aren’t. They own the trailer and they let us live here for free, which is huge. Not only that, they’re the girls’ grandparents and they adore them. We move away from here, we move away from the only family they’ve got, and as someone who doesn’t have much family myself, I know what a big deal that is. We’ll get the car fixed and we’ll get things figured out, but the last thing I want is some man in here trying to tell me what to do. Men cause problems—they don’t solve them.”
I took a deep breath, crossing my arms defiantly, waiting for him to argue.
“Okay,” Shade said, nodding slowly.
“All right,” I replied, feeling off balance. “I’m going back inside to get ready for work.”
“Great, you can introduce me to your sister.”
“What part of ‘go away’ are you not getting?” I asked, genuinely confused. “Have I done anything to encourage you? I don’t want a man. I’ve had men and they cause nothing but trouble. The last one I had tried to trade me for a motorcycle, remember? The one before that got me—never mind. Let’s just say he made Rebel look good.”
“Glad to know the bar is set low,” he said. “Makes it easier for me. You got a ride to work tonight?”
“No.”
“So you’re going to walk.”
“Yes.”
“Wouldn’t it be less work to ca
tch a ride, seeing as I’m right here and it’s because of me that you don’t have your bicycle? Not that I’m accepting blame—that’s on Rebel—but it’s not your fault you got caught up in any of this. Your situation is tough—you admit that. Why turn down someone offering you help just because he happens to have a dick?”
I opened my mouth to argue, then closed it because what he’d said made sense. Not only that, a ride would be nice.
“You promise you don’t have any ulterior motives here?” I asked, and Shade laughed, shaking his head.
“Baby, you know damned well I have ulterior motives. I want to fuck you—think I’ve been clear on that point. But the fact is, you need a ride, I’m right here and either way the evening’s gonna end the same. You’ll spend the night serving drinks, I’ll order a few, at some point I’ll probably drag you into the back room and make out with you for a while, and then I’ll leave you the tip you should’ve gotten last night.”
My face flushed. What he said should’ve pissed me off, but I kept thinking about how it’d felt to wake up wrapped in his arms. Guys are bad, I reminded myself. Didn’t you learn anything from Rebel? McBride women can’t afford to let men into their lives, not even for fun.
Still, the bar was nearly three miles away and I’d be on my feet all night… Shade wrapped his hands around my waist, pulling my hips toward his. A thin tendril of traitorous desire twisted through me, spiraling up my spine and warming my stomach.
“Ask yourself this, Mandy. Last night I could’ve done anything I wanted to you. I’m the fucking president of the Reapers and we were on my territory. By the rules of the club I had every right to take you, and what did I do? I slept next to you like a fucking monk. You really think I’m gonna pull over on the side of the road and rip all your clothes off between here and the Pit? I’m not Rebel. I don’t fuck around and I don’t play games.”
The words were blunt, matter of fact and they also happened to be true. Last night had been the recipe for rape, but it hadn’t happened. Yeah, but he still accepted you in trade for a bike, Wonder Woman prodded.