by Ryan Michele
With all the confidence as ever, I asked, “Do you have a phone I can use?”
He reached into his leather vest, pulling out a cell phone. “Yeah, use mine.” His words came out a bit raspy, like he either hadn’t gone to sleep last night or he had just woken up.
My heart jumped, not wanting to know the answer. After all, if he’d just gotten up, I was sure the brunette did, too.
Head held high, I brushed it off as I walked his way then took the phone out of his hand. “Thanks. I need to call my mom and Grams and—”
“Already took care of it. Had some brothers check it out last night. They stayed, keepin’ an eye out. Talked to them a while ago and everythin’ was quiet.”
I expelled air in relief that they were okay. I’d felt the panic at the thought of something happening to them, but I hadn’t let it fully penetrate. Knowing Stiff had taken care of that, knowing he’d taken the time to have his guys check on my mother and Grams hit me in the heart … hard.
It was an incredibly nice thing for him to do, and he’d done it without a word from me. That felt even better. I had to wonder, though, how he had found out about Grams and Mom. How did he know to go and take care of them? Regardless, the relief of them being safe outweighed those thoughts.
“Thanks,” I whispered softly. “I need to tell them what happened to Jenn.”
Regret filled my lungs. This was something no one should have to tell a loved one.
“‘Kay,” Stiff responded.
I stared down at the phone, my thumb pausing on the little bar to open up the screen to dial the number.
“I mean, it’s not every day you tell your mother and Grams that the youngest in our family got the shit beaten out of them. And it’s all because of our worthless piece of shit father.” I clenched the phone, still staring down as my mouth seemed to lose the ability to shut the hell up. “I mean, hey, he always used me, anyway.” I shrugged, looking up. “So I should be used to this, right? Once an asshole, always an asshole.”
Stiff sat there, unmoving; no tick of the jaw, nothing in his eyes—just blank. I hated that; hated the stony expression of his face that I couldn’t register.
“Never mind.” I turned away and began dialing the number.
Just as I was about to press the green button, Stiff spoke.
“What’d your dad do to you?”
I stilled, all the feelings of what my father had done to me coming back and smacking me in the face: the betrayal, the heartache, distrust, lost love, and everything a child should have from a father, but I never had.
“He was a worthless piece of shit and still is,” I replied.
“Didn’t answer my question,” Stiff retorted.
I turned back to him, seeing his attention was fully on me.
“Ran up a few thousand in credit card bills using my name and social.”
He snapped his lips together then pulled out a cigarette, lit it, and inhaled. I watched as his Adam’s apple moved when he swallowed. How that could be sexy on a man, I did not know, but on him, it was. Everything about him seemed to be.
“When’d you find out?”
Rolling my head from side to side, I felt a cramp in the side of my neck, most likely from sleeping wrong. I was surprised I had been able to at all.
“When I was nineteen and signed up for a credit card, I was declined. Then everything came out.” Instead of allowing him to ask any more questions he had no right to the answers of, I hit the green button and called my mother.
“Hello?” my mother’s chipper voice came through the other end of the line, and I turned my back to Stiff, knowing he was there yet not giving him any more than that.
“Hey, Mom. How are ya?”
“Chelsea, where are you? I don’t know this number.” Mom’s happy tone deteriorated, and I hated that because I was about to make it worse. Some things in life sucked, but she needed to know so I could take Jenn over to her house later today and move in with them. Strength in numbers and all that. As a result, I needed to suck it up and tell her what was going on.
“I’m …” I thought then said, “with a friend. Mom, I …” A frog lodged in my throat, finding the perfect spot to make a home. No words came from my lips, only a small cry. I cursed my father once again.
The phone was snatched from my grasp, and Stiff stood in front of me as he spoke. “Hello, ma’am. Name’s Stiff. I’m with Chelsea.”
I could hear my mother’s screams through the air, and I turned from panicked to angry. How dare he take the phone from me and speak to my mother!
“Give me the phone back,” I growled, holding out my hand and tapping my foot in the ultimate bitch stance.
“Ma’am,” Stiff stated with authority, and the sounds on the other end quieted. “Chelsea’s fine, but she needs to talk to ya. I’m gonna have two of my boys come up to your door. One of them is Xander, my brother. Need you to follow them to the Vipers Creed clubhouse.”
Stiff paused, and I fumed. If smoke could come out of my ears, I had no doubt it would be.
“Give me the phone,” I demanded.
Stiff ignored me.
“No, ma’am. I promise you Chelsea’s perfectly fine.” His eyes roamed my body and sparked like they’d just woken up from a nap. It was intense, but it did nothing for my anger. “Just need you to come by.
“Yes, ma’am,” Stiff answered.
Damn, I hated listening to one-sided conversations, especially when they involved my mother.
“Yes, ma’am.” This time, he smirked with his answer then added, “I completely understand that you’ll have my balls in a sling.”
At that, my anger cracked. Damn, I loved my mother. Look up spitfire in the dictionary, and her name would be right there. Between her and my grams, I had great role models.
“Yes, ma’am. You’ll be comin’ to the clubhouse.”
At this, I paused. Mom knew Stiff. Sure, being in a small town, mostly everyone knew everyone, but I hadn’t thought Mom knew him well enough to know where he lived.
“Yes, ma’am.” He removed the phone from his ear and held it out to me. “She wants to talk to ya.”
I snatched it back from him, a sneer on my lips. “Mom.”
“Chelsea Anne Miller! What is going on, young lady?” Crap. I hated when she pulled out the full name, and the young lady was a double whammy. It meant she was pissed. She would be pissed the whole way here. Then she would be pissed about my father. Then pissed about Jenn on top of that.
I needed to prepare myself for my very irritated mom.
“Calm down, Mom.”
“I will not calm down,” she snapped.
I blew out a breath. “Mom, will you please just come to the clubhouse? I promise I’m okay, and I know this is weird, but it’s for the best.” Was it for the best, or was I just going along with it because Stiff suggested it?
I shook my head and weighed everything. If I told her over the phone, she would be extremely upset, and I wouldn’t be there to calm the beast. She’d also be hell-bent on seeing Jenn, which was totally reasonable, and getting here would make her already crazy driving worse. Telling her here, I could do it in person and cushion things more. Better yet, she could see Jenn immediately. I could also comfort her once she came down from the anger so she’d be able to tell Grams.
The scowl left my face. He was right, even if I didn’t want to admit it.
“Young lady—”
“Mom, seriously. Please just come to me, and I’ll explain everything. I promise.”
“Fine. He says his brother is coming here. He a nice boy?”
I thought back to how well he had taken care of Jenn last night, his calm, and how he’d kept me feeling it.
I answered honestly, “Yeah, Mom. He’s a good guy.” I’d tell her why later.
Stiff crossed his arms over his chest, the stance utterly imposing. With his eyes narrowed, I wondered what the hell his problem was.
“When Xander gets there, just follow him. Okay
, Mom?” My gaze never left Stiff’s.
“I’ll be there as soon as possible, and you’d better be ready to explain all of this.”
“I will.”
“Bye,” she said curtly.
“Bye, Mom.” I swiped the phone off and held it out to Stiff.
He released one of his arms then took it from me, sticking it back in his cut.
Hand on hip, foot jutted out—also known as bitch stance—I let him have it.
“How dare you interfere in my family business! If I wanted to tell her on the phone, that was my choice. You don’t have a say so.”
“Chelsea, knock that shit off.”
Anger bubbled. “I’m not knocking anything off, Stiff. I appreciate the help with my sister, but that’s where this ends.”
“Oh, yeah? What’re ya gonna do when those guys come back? You gonna get your bat and swing it around when bullets are flyin’ at your head?”
“I can take care of my family,” I argued. In actuality, I had no clue how I was going to do that. It was just the principle of the matter. Never once in my life had a man talked or acted like Stiff was to me. I’d never once dealt with a man who just was what he was: blunt, demanding, straight talker, and fixer of problems.
I’d always been the one to fix everything. Every time something went wrong, I’d figure out a way to make it work. I was damn good at it and had a shitload of experience. I took care of my family. Me.
“True, but now ya got us to help.”
“What do you mean?” I removed my hand from my hip and crossed my arms over my chest, mimicking Stiff’s stance.
“The moment those fuckers dropped your sister in the diner was the moment we got involved. Nobody does that shit, and until it gets sorted, you’re gonna need to stay here.”
“I can’t stay here. That’s crazy. I need to move Jenn into my mother’s house, and then—”
“No. Not safe.”
“If it’s not safe for me and Jenn, how’s it safe for my mother and Grams?” Arguing with Stiff was almost like a war I wasn’t sure I could win. Although I was stubborn, he kept at me, meeting me at every turn.
“It’ll be safe for them.”
“What does that mean?”
“Woman.” His tone turned very impatient, like he was done with this back and forth we had going on. Well, too damn bad; I wasn’t backing out.
“Man,” I retorted in the same tone.
“Dammit.” He rubbed his hand over his sexy, bald head, and I forgot for a moment that he’d had a beautiful woman next to him mere seconds ago, kissing him. “Listen to me. Shit’s goin’ down. I need you here at the compound, and it’s best your sister stays here so we can have Needles check on her.”
“I have to go to work.”
“No, not for a few days until we can figure stuff out.”
“No? Did you really just tell me no I can’t go to work? You’re utterly insane if you think I’m gonna listen to your bullshit. I have to work. It’s life. It’s how the world goes around.”
“Weren’t you gonna take a few days off to take care of Jenn?” he questioned.
He had me there. I did think of that, and I couldn’t lie to him. I’d evaluate why another time. It did piss me off to have to admit it to him, though.
“Yes, okay?”
“See? Problem solved.”
“You can’t just—”
He moved so quickly that scooting out of his path proved impossible. Then he wrapped his strong arm around my waist, crashing me into his hard body. Every hot inch of him that touched me burned through my clothes, and my breathing picked up along with his. The tension between us was combustible.
“Chelsea,” he said gently, taking me off guard, “Need to protect you.”
“Why?”
His nose was so close to mine as I looked up at him that I could feel the pull to rub the tip against his, but I somehow refrained.
“Don’t know. Just gotta do it.”
The air grew thick, vibrating through the space with each passing moment that we looked into each other’s eyes. My lips suddenly felt incredibly dry, and I darted my tongue out to moisten them.
“Gotta stop doin’ that,” he murmured.
“What?” I asked, surprised I even had a voice at this point.
“Lickin’ those sexy as fuck lips.”
I felt the rigidness of his erection through his jeans, and it seemed to grow larger with each moment that ticked by.
I inwardly smiled to myself. Yes, he turned me on. Yes, I really wanted his lips on me again. Yes, I’d more than likely give him more, but the images of the snide look from the brunette lit my memory along with her lips touching Stiff’s cheek and the way he’d smiled at her. If he thought for one damn moment that I would roll over and be like that, he had another thing coming.
I leaned in just as he loosened his grip on me, thinking I was giving in. Quickly, I moved out of his grasp and out of his range. Then I glared into his eyes, fire burning out of them. If it were possible, I would have lit him aflame.
“Keep your hands off me,” I warned, hoping it came out as firmly as I’d intended.
“And why’s that?”
Why did everything that came out of his mouth have to be so sexy? It wasn’t normal. Why would a higher being give one man so much power? It wasn’t fair to the rest of world, and having it directed solely on me …
I would not back down.
“Because I said so.”
Damn, I sounded like my mother from when I was a kid and Jenn and I would fight over toys.
I shook the thought from my head. That route wasn’t going to work with Stiff. I needed a different tactic.
Sucking it up, I replied, “Thank you for your help. I appreciate it, but we can’t stay here. I need to be with my family.”
“I’m not sayin’ this shit to piss you off, Chels.” God, the way my nickname came off his lips snaked under my skin, warming me. “I’m doing it to help you.”
He wasn’t going to let this go, and I needed to get out.
“I really need to go and check on my sister.” I turned and bolted from the room, hearing a soft chuckle behind me.
“I cannot believe that man,” I grumbled, closing the door to my sister’s room, her busted eyes coming to me. Damn, Stiff had me so twisted I had forgotten to keep quiet.
Jenn groaned as she tried to turn to better face me.
Rushing over, I sat on the bed, touching her arm gently.
“What’s going on?” she asked, but it came out in a broken mess. I didn’t think the pain pills would have kicked in this fast, or maybe I’d been out with Stiff longer than I thought.
“Nothing,” I reassured her. She needed to recover, not deal with anything else.
“See your eyes.” Her words fell off a bit, but she remained awake. “You’re pissed.”
My sister always had a knack for reading me like a book. Unlike my mother who thought I held so much inside of me that sometimes she couldn’t tell how I really felt about things, my sister had absolutely no problem at all. One look—good, bad, or ugly—and she got me. Always.
“Stiff,” I began, lying down next to her on the bed. If I was going to tell her a bedtime story, I might as well get comfortable in the process. I stared up at the ceiling. “He thinks he can just tell me—us,” I amended, “what to do and we’re gonna follow. He says we have to stay here to keep safe, but dammit, Jenn, we’re Millers; we take care of our own. I’ll take care of all of us.”
Jenn covered my hand with hers and gave a small squeeze.
I turned to her immediately, seeing pain etched across her face from the slight movement.
“You always …” She groaned. “You’re always protecting us.” Her eyes fluttered closed, and her breathing evened out. The meds completely knocked her out.
I turned back toward the ceiling, thinking, who in the hell did he think he was, telling me and my family what we were going to do? He had no right. No right to me. No right to
even think I would listen to him. Millers always stood on their own two feet, never backing down from an obstacle.
The problem with this scenario was not knowing exactly who I was dealing with. Could he be right?
“SHE’S BEING A PAIN in the ass,” I grunted to Spook as I walked into his office and shut the door. “Damn woman is hell-bent on fixing this shit by herself, but has no idea how the hell to do it.” I plopped down in the chair in front of Spook’s desk. Then I reached into my cut and pulled out a smoke, lighting it, and inhaling deep the burn filling my lungs.
His brow quirked. “And this is a surprise to you?”
I sucked in another lungful of nicotine, waiting for him to go on.
“Brother, she’s been working her ass off forever at that diner. You know that. Her dad is obviously shit. You see how fucking protective she is with her sister. Fuck, you told me yourself she was gonna go after those two fucking men with a damn bat. She’s got balls and determination. Can tell that already.”
The damn man was right.
I blew out the smoke. “I get that, get her.” It was unusual that both she and I had taken on the protector roles in our families, both working our asses off to provide. I understood her fierceness, also respected it. “She’s stayin’ here until the meeting with Gonzo’s man.”
Spook nodded.
“Her mom and grandma are comin’. They should be here in twenty.”
“And you pulled that off by …?” He lit his own smoke, sucking in deep.
“Takin’ the phone and dealin’ with it.”
Spook shook his head, but a smile played on his lips. “This is gonna be fun.”
“What the fuck does that mean?”
“It’s like a clash of the titans. Two strong ass people. Who’s gonna come out on top?”
I looked him dead in the eye, exhaling my drag. “Me. I always fucking come out on top.” Then I shrugged. “Unless she’s ridin’ me.”
Both Spook and I laughed.
“WHERE’S MY DAUGHTER!” a feminine voice called loudly from the front door of the clubhouse.
I turned my head toward the sound, and the moment my eyes landed on her, I knew she was Chelsea’s mother. Fucking spitting image of her, only years older: blonde hair, tits and ass, body, and the same piercing blue eyes that were fierce and glaring around the room, searching.