by Harley Wylde
I stared out the window at the passing scenery, but I didn’t find any joy in it. Freedom seemed more like a curse than a blessing at the moment. I’d survive because I didn’t have any other choice. I wasn’t a quitter, even if lying down and not getting back up would be much easier. Looking at the phone in my hand, I forced myself to relax my grip and I set it down. The phone wouldn’t save me, and no one else would either.
When the town came into view, Irish drove through the streets and stopped in a place that looked a little like a warehouse. There was a closed gate and someone on the inside opened it to let us through. Irish pulled to a stop in front of the large building and got out, then opened my door. I hesitated a moment before stepping down from the truck. I swayed for a second, then managed to stay upright.
“Thank you. For helping me,” I said, tucking my hair behind my ear. “Will you give Renegade his phone back?”
Irish tipped his head toward the bikes pulling through the gate. “Give it to him yourself.”
I picked it up off the seat and waited for the bikers to shut off their engines. When Renegade stood up, I walked over and handed his phone back to him. His gaze locked on mine, and in that moment, I wondered if he could see right through me, see everything I was thinking and feeling, and I wasn’t sure I liked it.
“Thank you for letting me make a few calls,” I said.
The gate at the front of the driveway slid shut and I saw someone lock it.
“Um, will he let me out?” I asked.
Renegade glanced toward the gate before looking back at me. “Where are you going? Your brothers meeting you in town somewhere?”
“I just thought I’d go find a diner and get a bite to eat,” I said, only lying a little.
“They didn’t answer or call her back,” Irish said.
Renegade folded his arms over his chest. “So, where were you going? The truth this time.”
“I don’t know. I’ll figure it out.”
I heard a deep sigh and turned to see Havoc, his head hanging down and his hands braced on the back of his neck. He suddenly turned and stormed in my direction, making me tense and wonder if I should run. Before I could process what he was doing, he bent down and pressed his shoulder against my stomach, lifting me over his shoulder.
Too stunned to do much but hang there, I found myself staring at a rather awesome ass cupped in denim. Not a bad view. Some part of my brain was insisting that I should be putting up a fight, hitting him or at least struggling in some way. Honestly, the feel of his hand against my bare thigh and the other one grabbing my ass seemed to have short-circuited my brain. It felt way too damn good.
He stomped up some steps and then into the warehouse-like building. When my world turned right side up again, I realized I was sitting at a bar, and the inside of the building was nothing like the outside. The other three came inside and eyed us, but none of them approached. I looked up at Havoc then glanced at the others, wondering why he’d carried me in here. With the way he’d treated me before, I would have thought he’d be glad if I walked away.
“Jordan,” he said.
I snapped my gaze back to his. The commanding tone he’d used hadn’t let me do anything else. He was a big man to begin with, the type who probably expected to be obeyed.
“You’re not walking through those gates without having a place to stay or a way to take care of yourself,” he said.
“I can manage,” I said. “It’s not like I’m some kid. I’m a hardened criminal, remember?”
He snorted. “Yeah. I’m sure you were doing time for something really bad, like murder or some shit.”
Not murder, but assault. I didn’t think I should volunteer that information though. Right now they seemed to think I was a helpless female. I didn’t know what they would do to me if they learned otherwise.
“Where’s your release papers?” he asked.
I swallowed hard. I didn’t have the standard paperwork since the warden was trying to cover up his guard’s misdeeds. It was just a piece of paper saying I’d served my time. I’d folded it up and shoved it into my pocket. That wasn’t what made me hesitate. I’d only glanced over the document the warden had given me. What if it listed my crime? Or said something about the sentence I was supposed to have served? He’d promised I didn’t have to go through parole or anything like that. I didn’t know what strings he’d pulled to make it happen, but I was grateful. Sort of.
Havoc arched an eyebrow and held out his hand.
I pulled the paper from my back pocket and gave it to him. I watched as he unfolded it, skimmed over the lines, then his lips thinned, his jaw hardened, and his gaze clashed with mine. The fury in his eyes made me tremble and wonder if maybe I’d been a lot safer in the prison than here with him.
“You only get this kind of paper when something bad went down,” he said. “What the fuck happened in that prison?”
I shrank from him and would have climbed right over the bar to get away, if he hadn’t grabbed my arm in a tight grip. My heart hammered so hard, I thought it might beat right out of my chest. This wasn’t good. It really, really wasn’t good.
Chapter Two
Havoc
I’d seen a paper like this before. It had happened when they released me from the same fucking prison, except I hadn’t been in there for a small crime. I should have stayed locked up until I was too damn old to care about being free. But the guards had fucked up. Three of them had stood by and laughed as a gang tried to take me out. They’d beaten the shit out of me with a lead pipe, and the guards had even given them a knife. I hadn’t exactly made friends inside, but I think the guards helping is what made things go in my favor in the long run. The entire thing had been caught on film and when the warden had seen it, I’d been given a choice: remain inside and serve my time, or walk away a free man -- as long as I kept my mouth shut about what’d happened. I wasn’t fucking stupid. Staying would have meant a certain death.
So for Jordan to have this paper, it meant something had happened in that prison, something they wanted to keep quiet. And she’d likely been the victim. It pissed me the fuck off that someone would try to hurt a sweet woman like her. Just looking in her eyes, I could see she wasn’t some hardened criminal, could see how vulnerable she was. Whatever crime she’d committed, she hadn’t belonged in a hell hole like that. I also knew one other thing with a certainty… whatever guard had fucked up this time, they’d be coming for her, just like they had with me. I’d had my brothers at my back and we’d buried those fuckers, but Jordan? She wouldn’t make it on her own, no matter how tough she tried to appear.
“I won’t ask again, baby. What the fuck happened in that prison? And don’t try to tell me ‘nothing’ because I fucking know better.”
“Easy, Havoc,” Renegade said, placing a hand on my shoulder. “You’re a big motherfucker and you’re scaring the shit out of her.”
I closed my eyes and took a breath, then focused on her again. Renegade was right. She looked scared shitless, and I’d put that look in her eyes. It made me want to kick my own ass. I might do a lot of bad shit, kill people when the need arose, but I’d never hurt a woman and I never would. Well, not one who didn’t deserve it anyway. There were some evil, twisted bitches in the world, like the woman who had abused Scratch’s kid, and stood by while her fucked-up boyfriend filmed kids in her apartment to sell on kiddie porn sites. That bitch had deserved a shallow grave.
“He’s not going to hurt you,” Renegade said. “None of us will.”
Renegade took the paper from me and looked it over, then we shared a look. Yeah, he knew what that paper meant. Every man in this club did, or at least the ones who had been around back when I’d been released. I’d been a free man for ten years, but sometimes it felt like yesterday that I was in that cement cage, having my every move dictated.
It was hard to picture Jordan having to live that life. I knew it wasn’t easy on the inside. Even if she hadn’t had enemies when she went in, she’d ha
ve made some during her stay. There were fuckers in there who thought they had to prove something, and liked to pick on those they thought were weaker than them. I didn’t know how she’d survived without becoming hard, but somehow she’d managed it.
“What happened inside, Jordan?” Renegade asked, his voice softer than mine had been.
She licked her lips and her gaze darted around the room before settling on his. I didn’t like that. Didn’t like her focusing on him and not me, but I tried to hold back my snarl. She wasn’t mine, but for some reason, I didn’t like the thought of her being with any of my brothers. Or any guy who wasn’t me for that matter. Fuck! We hadn’t even spoken more than few words to each other and already I wanted to toss her over my shoulder and carry her back to my place. What the fuck was wrong with me?
The VP was down the bar a ways, but I felt his gaze on me. I looked over and he had a smirk on his face as he glanced from me to Jordan and back again. Yeah, that asshole knew I wanted her. Fuck. This wasn’t good.
“One of the guards tried to…” Jordan stopped and pressed her lips together.
“What did they do?” I asked, trying to contain my anger.
“He tried to rape me,” she said softly. “I fought him off, then I stole the stick thing he kept on his belt. I nailed him between the legs and managed to run. Another guard found me and took me to the warden.”
“And they pulled the footage from that area, saw what happened, and bribed you to keep quiet,” I said. “By giving you freedom in exchange for not pressing charges or shedding light on the prison.”
“Right,” she said. “I had another two years.”
“What the fuck did you do to get three years in that place?” Renegade asked.
“Assault,” she said, dropping her gaze and twisting her hands in her lap.
I couldn’t help it. I belted out a laugh, drawing the attention of everyone in the room. The thought of this pint-sized woman going to prison for assault, then taking out a guard who had tried to hurt her, just amused the shit out of me. Not that she’d been in that position, but that she’d managed to get the upper hand on anyone. Especially one of those asshole guards. They only hired big, mean motherfuckers. Or at least they had when I was inside.
Her gaze shot up to mine and her mouth dropped open. “It’s funny?”
Renegade was even smiling. “Honey, you look like you weigh a hundred pounds soaking wet. The thought of you doing enough damage to someone to get sent to prison, much less taking out a guard? Yeah, it’s kind of funny.”
Her lips twisted and she looked away, but not before I’d seen the flash of anger in her eyes. Seemed the pretty little angel had some fire in her. It just turned me on even more, but then I was a sick fucker. I liked that she could apparently fight and hold her own. Part of me wanted to see her in action.
“I weigh more than that,” she said. “A lot more.”
My gaze skimmed over her. “I don’t see how. You were light as a damn feather when I picked you up.”
“You mean when you brought me in here like a sack of potatoes slung over your shoulder?”
“How else was I supposed to grab your ass without being obvious?” I asked.
Her cheeks pinked and she bit her lip. So fucking cute.
Renegade snorted. “In case you hadn’t noticed, our Sergeant at Arms is fascinated with you. Especially your legs. And your ass.”
She opened and shut her mouth a few times, but never said anything.
“Your asshole brothers still haven’t called back,” Irish said, coming over to join us. “While some of our phones have blocked numbers, our personal ones don’t. I heard you leave a message for them. Do they usually ignore your calls?”
“They didn’t used to,” she said. “I… I think my two oldest brothers changed their numbers. It said the numbers I called were out of service. It was the younger two I left messages for, and one of them was supposed to pick me up when I was released. He didn’t show.”
“And they didn’t fucking tell you? Just ghosted on you?” I asked. The thought of her family abandoning her made me want to kick the shit out of them. I didn’t care that she’d gone to prison. It wasn’t like it made her a bad person. She probably had a good reason for assaulting someone, like the dickhead guard who’d thought to take what wasn’t offered. Brothers were supposed to watch out for their sisters. It seemed hers hadn’t gotten the message. I would be only too happy to enlighten them about that with my fists.
When I thought about her walking down that stretch of highway from the prison, the way she’d passed out on the side of the road, it pissed me off even more. If we hadn’t come along, she could have died out there. Her fucking brothers needed to have the shit kicked out of them. My crew might not care much for laws, but there were rules we adhered to, and not abandoning a woman who belonged to us was a big fucking rule. You just didn’t do that shit. If any of my brothers had pulled that stunt, every last one of us would have pounded him into the fucking ground.
“You could have died,” I said. “Do they even care that someone could have hit you, or that you could have passed out and dehydrated out on the road? Did they stop to think what would happen if no one picked you up today?”
“I haven’t seen any of them in a while,” she said. “Only one came to visit, and he didn’t come more than twice in the very beginning. I haven’t had a visitor in at least ten months.”
I crowded her, bracing my arms on the bar on either side of her, and leaned into her space. Her eyes flared, but she didn’t flinch.
“Your piece of shit brothers might have abandoned you, but you aren’t alone, Jordan. I’m not letting you walk out of here knowing that you have nowhere to go, no job, and would end up on the streets.”
“What are you saying?” she asked.
I heard booted steps and could see Scratch out of the corner of my eye.
“Yeah, Havoc. What are you saying? Because she’s not club pussy, and she’s not an old lady. You live inside the compound gates, which means…”
“I don’t give a shit,” I said, glancing at my VP. “I’m not letting her walk out of here to an uncertain fate. And you know damn fucking well the guard who assaulted her will come looking, see if he can find her and shut her up for good. Maybe even pick up where he left off. I know you aren’t going to stand for that shit any more than I will.”
Scratch shrugged a shoulder and cracked his neck. “Do you remember who you’re talking to?”
“Yeah, VP. I get it. You’re in charge when Cinder isn’t around, but let me ask you something. Just how welcoming will your wife be if she hears you kicked out a woman in need?” I asked.
Scratch looked from me to Jordan, and I could see his gaze soften. “You’re about my wife’s age, aren’t you? Early twenties? I couldn’t turn her away, and I don’t suppose I’ll be turning you out either.”
“She’s going home with me, VP. I’m not asking,” I said.
Scratch’s gaze locked with mine and I wondered if I’d been wise to assert myself. He might dote on his wife and kids, but I knew he’d put his fair share of bodies in the ground, and I didn’t believe for a second that he’d think twice about adding mine to the list. Brother or not, there were some lines you didn’t cross. Just because there was a good dose of silver in his hair, didn’t mean Scratch was any less of a badass. From fighting at his side previously, I knew he could be a scary motherfucker.
“You take her home, she’s yours,” Scratch said. “Think on that long and hard. I have a spare room she could use, and she could keep Clarity company. I’ll give you a minute to think it over. Might want to discuss it with her too. She seems like the type that might take you out if you make decisions for her.”
He winked at Jordan then went back down the bar to the beer he had waiting.
“What does he mean I’m yours if you take me home?” she asked.
“You’d be his old lady,” Renegade said.
Her nose scrunched and her brow furrowed.
“You’d be his. That’s all you need to know. You wouldn’t be leaving unless he was by your side or you had permission and protection,” Renegade said.
“You mean like a girlfriend?” she asked.
“More like a wife,” Irish said, then gave me a grin when I glared at him.
“Wife?” she asked, her voice squeaking her eyes going wide.
This was fucked up. I didn’t like the idea of her walking out of here. Even if she did stay with Scratch, what would stop the guard from coming after her? At least if she stayed with me, she’d be locked behind a gate with round the clock protection. And did the VP even think about the danger to his wife and kids?
“She could stay in one of the rooms upstairs,” Irish said.
“With the Prospects?” I asked. “Yeah, because that sounds like an awesome idea. You know those jackasses can’t keep it in their pants.”
“I can take care of myself,” Jordan said. “You don’t have to keep me here under lock and key. I’ll be fine.”
My gaze locked on hers and I saw the hint of fear and uncertainty, even though she was trying to sound all brave and tough. Her lip trembled slightly and it was all I could do not to lean forward and kiss the hell out of her. I’d be willing to bet she tasted sweet. What the fuck was I going to do with her? I couldn’t just claim some random woman, but the VP had backed me into a damn corner.
Scratch came back toward us, then snatched her release papers from Renegade. His eyebrows shot up and he stared hard at the woman I was fighting the urge to keep.
“Jordan Withers?” Scratch asked. “Any relation to Jameson Withers?”