The Mechanic: Brotherhood Protectors World

by Reina Torres

  “He told me that if I said anything... anything about what I saw, he would make sure that I never worked again. That didn’t matter to me, you know. Right at that moment, it was so damn obvious that it didn’t matter, because it was about Zoe. Because silence wasn’t going to stop him. I could see clearly. Right then. It wasn’t going to end, unless we did something to stop it.”

  Adam’s hand tightened around hers, but it didn’t hurt.

  He didn’t hurt her.

  It was a reassuring feeling, full of warmth and still managed to be gentle.

  She couldn’t manage to look at him, not yet. Turning toward Sadie she saw the sympathy in her friend’s eyes instead of pity. That, she couldn’t take.

  “Once we were outside, Zoe told me she was going to drive home, but I couldn’t let her do that. She was shaking like a leaf. I took her to my car and we left the studio together.

  “For a while I was worried that security wouldn’t let us leave. Seth controls everything at Megalodon. He could easily have kept us there.” Her gaze turned to Hank, begging him to understand. “I tried to talk to her about going to the police. Tried to tell her that Seth couldn’t do that to her. He should face consequences for what he’d done.

  “But she told me it wasn’t the first time. That she’d told her agent, wanted him to help her.”

  Hank huffed at the words. “He didn’t?”

  “Even now in this ‘modern era’ they’re still telling women that they have to pay their dues in Hollywood.”

  “Did you?”

  Oh God. Placing what she hoped would be a placid smile on her face, Blake turned to Adam and barely met his eyes.

  “Who did it?”

  There was a cold edge to Adam’s voice, but she knew it wasn’t directed toward her.

  “Who touched you?”

  Sadie set a hand on Blake’s knee and tried to derail the question. “Adam, maybe this isn’t the time.”

  Blake jumped on that bandwagon. “The problem here is Zoe. I took her home and we talked in her apartment for a while. I told her I would go with her to file the report. And yes, I would fill out my own.”

  Adam shifted closer on the couch and held her hand in both of his. He looked like he was going to say something, but she couldn’t let him. Not just then. She’d already admitted the truth even though she hadn’t done it in so many words, but this wasn’t about her.

  “I offered to stay with her, sleep on her couch, or even outside in my car. But she told me she needed some time alone to think.” I sent her a text when I got home to tell her I’d support her no matter what she decided to do, but I was going to report it. I’d kept silent too long and it was weighing on me, playing havoc on my anxiety.” Blake found a smile, for herself. “And that seemed to help her relax a little.”

  “Did you report it?” Sadie turned her head with her question. “I would have thought that the gossip rags would have been all over that.”

  “They would have,” Blake explained while her mood took a deep downturn, “if I had reported it.” Blake tried to pull her hand away from Adam, but he didn’t let go. “I went to the police substation closest to my house and I took a moment to get my thoughts... and my courage together but before I opened the door, something across the street caught my eye.”

  Adam drew her attention as he rubbed his hands against hers. The look he gave her was filled with concern. “Your hands are freezing, baby.”

  Baby. Goodness. Did he have to be so nonchalant about using words like that? She was already on edge. Somehow hearing that word directed to her was doing dangerous things to her heart. Other men had said that and more but it had never affected her like this.

  Never.

  “It’s like I’m back there,” she told him, “sitting in my car with my purse in my hand and my keys in the other, but there was no way I could get out of the car. Lurch was there.”

  She saw Hank’s expression out of the corner of her eye, but she didn’t blame him for looking at her like she’d seen a ghost.

  “Lurch is just one of the names people have for Seth’s personal security. He’s tall, but nowhere near as gaunt as the character in the Addams Family.”

  Hank nodded. “So, Coleman sent his henchman over to warn you away?”

  “He must have. It wasn’t like Lurch could ever blend in. I don’t think he was going to try to do anything more than just be visible.”

  “Of course they’d do that,” Sadie agreed, “try to keep you from going in.”

  “Well,” Blake grudgingly admitted, “it worked. I started up my car and headed over to Zoe’s place to make sure she was okay. She wouldn’t answer the door but she answered her phone. She told me she wasn’t going to report and that I should forget what I saw, because she was going to forget it ever happened.”

  “Oh, Blake, sweetie.” Sadie wrapped her arm around Blake’s shoulders. “That must have been hard to hear.”

  “It bothered me, but what could I do, Sadie? I’d done the same thing. I’d let myself be talked into silence. I told her I wasn’t going to give up, that I was going to report it. I was just going to have to go to another station.”

  Hank and Adam shared a look before Adam spoke. “What made you run?”

  She had to take in a deep steadying breath before she answered back. “There was another one of Seth’s security guys in a car down the street from my house.”

  Hank sat forward on the coffee table, bracing his elbows on his knees. “And he didn’t see you?”

  Blake shook her head. “He was looking at his phone.”

  “Idiot.”

  Adam nodded at Hank’s assessment. “And you kept driving.”

  “I couldn’t stop. Seth was going to keep trying to frighten me and I wasn’t going to let him, but after that I was bordering on paranoid.”

  “I don’t blame you, baby. He was trying to intimidate you. He doesn’t sound like a man who lets people go against him. Is that why you bought that horrible car?”

  She heard Sadie’s curious hum and turned to her friend.

  “I bought a car off a little old lady early this morning. She was going to sell it for scrap but I got it working well enough to get it on the road. My car is hidden in her old shed.”

  “And you made it all the way here,” Sadie almost laughed, “you were always good with mechanical stuff.” She turned to her husband with a proud grin. “Blake has a degree in Electrical Engineering from Cal Tech.”

  Blake saw Adam’s eyes widen a bit.

  “It certainly didn’t help me much with her classic car.” Blake huffed a little. “It didn’t make me happy to have to admit I was going to be useless in fixing it, but it got me here to Eagle Rock, so I’m going to count that as a success.

  “But if Zoe’s missing and the studio is saying that I have something to do with it.”

  “That’s at least the story they’re going to put out there.” Hank shook his head. “They’re going to try to gaslight the public and force you to come out of hiding.”

  Sadie started to get up, but Hank pulled her onto his lap. “Don’t get upset, babe. We’re not going to throw her to the hounds.”

  Sobering almost immediately, Sadie smoothed her hand over Hank’s chest. “I know. I just don’t like this. Blake’s too sweet for anyone to believe that she’d have anything to do with Zoe disappearing.”

  “Well, I would have if I could have gotten to her,” Blake had to admit the truth. “Still, now that I know they’re probably... that they’re definitely going to try to make people believe that I took Zoe somewhere, they’re going to want to make sure I don’t say anything.”

  “We’re going to protect you.” Sadie’s tone and expression brooked no argument. She looked up at Hank. “She can stay in one of our guest rooms and-”

  A child’s cry turned Blake’s head and she saw the baby monitor on the end table. “Oh, your baby.”

  Hank helped Sadie to her feet before he got up too. “We’ll be right back.”

>   Sadie gave Blake a smile. “You might have to do some snuggle duty once she’s over her cranky mood.”

  Blake watched the pair leave the room and her heart fell from her throat and straight into her stomach. “How could I forget that she had a baby? It felt like she’d moved here just a little while ago. How did I-”

  She lurched to her feet, pulling her hand free from Adam’s comforting touch. “I’ve got to go.”

  Moving around the couch, she started for the door, trying to ignore Adam’s voice as he called to her.

  When he was almost at her side, she held up her hand and walked faster. “It’s better if I just leave and then everyone can go on with their lives. There’s no way that I’m going to do anything to endanger Sadie or her family. That’s crazy!” She knew she was babbling, but that’s the best she could do at the moment.

  She really needed a good three weeks of sleep to get her head on straight.

  If she could sleep.

  And that, she knew, was going to be unlikely with all of this on her shoulders.

  “Blake, stop!”

  “I’m going to go back to town and catch a ride somewhere.” She paused at the door, her hand on the knob and looked at Adam, silently trying to commit everything about him to memory as it wasn’t likely that they’d see each other again. “I want to thank you for your help, for your kindness, for... everything, but you don’t deserve to be dragged into this.”

  “Dragged?” He shook his head. “Baby, no one has ever dragged me into anything, just ask Hank. But if you’re going somewhere right now, I’m going with you.”

  Blake knew in that moment that she’d lost her ever loving mind. She looked up at him and it dawned on her. “I’m such a nut,” she groaned, “you brought me here. I get it. Sorry,” she shook her head, “You must think I’m-”

  “I think you’re driving me crazy, Blake.”

  She stared back at him unsure of how he meant that, but before she could ask, he took hold of her hand and drew it up against his chest, just below his heart.

  “If you want to keep Sadie and her family out of this, that’s fine, but you’ve got me. I’ll see you through this.”

  “Well,” Hank’s voice reached them from across the room, “it’s about damn time, Adam. Welcome to the Brotherhood.”

  Chapter 5

  There wasn’t any time to lick his wounds. Adam still had to convince Blake that he wasn’t going to let her go. The woman seated beside him in his truck was beautiful and apparently brilliant, but she had this compulsive need to put a wall between her problems and others, trying to protect them.

  Hank had done his level best to assure Blake that Adam could kick any amount of ass necessary to protect her, but the curvaceous beauty seated less than two feet away was determined to protect him.

  Protect.

  Him.

  He wanted to throttle her.

  No.

  He wanted to kiss her. Taste her. Not just her mouth, but every inch of her skin. And when he’d done that-

  “How fast do you think you can fix my car?”

  Adam let out a breath before he took his foot off the gas pedal and pulled off on a smooth stretch of dirt beside the road.

  Once he put the truck in park, he turned on the seat, bending his right knee so he could set his leg on the seat. He looked straight at her gorgeous face and smiled when she kept her gaze straight out of the windshield as if ignoring him was going to make this any easier.

  “Let’s just get one thing straight, Miss Lennox.”

  He saw her spine straighten, but she kept her focus down the long road ahead of them on the way back into town.

  She was magnificent when she was stubborn. Which he realized was likely to be every moment that she was awake.

  “I’m going to fix your car, because I said I would, but you are not going to run away from me.”

  She turned to stare at him on an open-mouthed gasp. “I’m not trying to run away from you.” Her lips pressed together and the fullness of her bottom lip had him hard in an instant. “I’m just trying to keep you safe!”

  He could get used to her raging at him. The fire in her eyes didn’t stay there, it coursed through her veins and colored her cheeks to a dusky rose. When she swung her gaze back through the windshield, she folded her arms across her chest and huffed out a breath.

  He knew then that convincing Blake to stay with him until they figured out the shit show that was happening in Hollywood had a likely success rate of snow on the beach in Hawaii.

  It was also the same moment that he realized there was probably just enough room to pull her under him on the bench seat of his truck.

  Then again, they could also fit if he got her on top.

  And right there was the reason why he was a goner.

  Blake Lennox was the only one who could distract him like this. Everyone else in his life had their own place and their own space and he kept them all in order.

  But this woman who had literally been in his life for a few hours, was finding her way into cracks he didn’t even know he had and he knew if she was there for any period of time, she was likely to break everything open.

  The funny thing was, he didn’t seem to mind. He certainly wasn’t fighting it,

  She was certainly fighting him.

  He smiled at the thought and turned on the seat to get both feet back on the floorboard. Setting his foot on the brake he put the truck in gear and started back on the road.

  There was an ominous kind of silence that fell between them and her expression and the tilt of her head didn’t change. She was going to give him the cold shoulder and all the other parts that went along with it.

  And his reaction? It was just another indication that he might have lost his mind, because he ate it up.

  He was done arguing with Blake for the moment. He had a feeling she could out stubborn him, so there was little left to do than to just say something and hope for the best.

  “You know, it might take a bit to fix your VW clunker.”

  He saw the way her shoulders dropped and her neck seemed to grow another inch. She might think that the car was a certified antique, but it was hers.

  “I think there might be some mice nesting in your radiator.”

  “Really? I didn’t notice it.” The corner of her mouth twitched, but he didn’t let on that he’d seen it.

  “And there seemed to be some kind of a bird’s nest in your bumper.”

  She gave it a thought and her shoulders eased the tiniest bit. “Huh, well... I guess we could find a safe spot to move the nest to, unless you’re not a fan of nature.”

  “Oh, I’m a fan of nature,” he echoed, and chanced a look over at her, “after all, I can’t argue with nature when it created you.”

  Blake dropped her chin and then turned toward the passenger window.

  He had to keep his eyes on the road for the most part, but he saw the pained look in her eyes through the reflection in the glass.

  “What did I say?”

  A ghost of a smile touched her lips again. “It’s just me.”

  Adam turned onto the main road into town. “I think that whatever you’re feeling isn’t just about you. I bet there’s a bunch of people that put that look on your face.”

  She tried to hide the look of shock that traced over her features, but she hadn’t managed it well at all.

  “I bet there were people who were mean to you, Blake. Hurtful. Idiotic. Criminally stupid people.”

  Her shoulders eased a little more and she lowered her arms. “You say the nicest things.”

  His fingers itched a little and he didn’t even bother fighting it. Reaching across the small gap between them he wrapped his hand around hers. “Don’t do that, baby,” he felt her flinch, “don’t put me in the same category as other people. I’m not them. I’m not going to be.”

  “So, I’m just supposed to take what you say as the truth?”

  “Are you going to lie to me?”

  S
he let out a breath that was halfway between a scoff and a laugh. “No.” She snapped that word at him. “I may not tell you everything I’m thinking or feeling at the moment, but I’m not a liar.” Her next words were softer, almost a grumble under her breath. “No matter what people say about actors. I leave all of that stuff on the set.”

  “Then when I say something, try,” he saw her little wince, “I said ‘try’ to understand that I’m not putting on an act.” They drew closer to the shop and he had to let go of her hand to signal for the turn. “Give me a chance to prove that I’m not just like them.”

  When they pulled into the lot, Adam pulled the car up behind the shop, far enough back from the street that no one would see them. He touched her leg with a gentle pat, hoping that she would stay in her seat until he came around to get her.

  It was almost a miracle when she did just that.

  Opening her door, Adam held his hands out and she stepped out onto the runner and reached out to him.

  It was a moment that he’d never forget.

  In that moment he felt like they’d been in this very position a hundred times or more. Helping the lady down from a train, a stagecoach, a carriage, a horse. Reaching out to him, trusting him to see her safely to the ground.

  This couldn’t just be the only time he would have her give herself over into his care, hold her securely in his hands.

  Adam settled his hands on her waist, his fingers on the rise of her hips, and lowered her down to the ground.

  She felt warm against his skin even with several layers of cloth between them. She felt supple and lush.

  She felt like everything he’d ever dreamed of and knew he’d never have.

  And yet here she was looking up into his eyes with the kind of wonder he felt beating against his ribs.

  “I know.”

  It took him a moment to realize that he had lost himself in the moment. “You know...?”