Chapter Six
Theo
“You WHAT ?!” James shouts, face turning nearly as red as his hair.
I shrug, applying antibiotic ointment to the slice on my forearm.
I cleaned and bandaged the cut on my side before James walked out of his room, saw the blood, and demanded answers.
Hearing the story, everything from the syringe to the fight to the deal we struck, has done nothing to calm him down.
In fact, his pacing in the living room only grows more intense, while I pinch the skin on my forearm to inspect the damage.
“Did you forget that this chick is a murderer who tried to kill you an hour ago?”
I wave my hand in the air, brushing off his concern. “Who here isn’t a murderer?”
“It’s not the same and you know it!”
“She’s not going to kill me, James.” I dig for the largest bandage in our First Aid kit. The slice needs stitches, but I don’t want to do it myself, and calling Valor, our resident doctor, would mean dodging several questions I have no desire to answer.
“Except you told her she could!”
“In a month. Do you really think she’ll still want to kill me in a month?” I apply the bandage, then start wrapping my arm, watching James come to a stop directly in front of me.
“I think she’s crazy, and you’re not nearly as charming as you think you are.”
“If it comes to that, then I’ll let you and the boys do what you do best. Protect your own,” I say, even as something plucks in my chest at the thought of what they’d do to June to protect me.
“You’d go back on your deal with her?”
“No. I won’t try and stop her from killing me. I never said anything about what the rest of you would do.”
For the first time since this conversation started, a smile fights through the anger and fear on James’s face. It’s not permanent, though, and soon he’s back to scowling. “What will you tell everyone about our new member?”
“That her name is June, and she has a vicious streak. They’ll love her.”
“ I mean ,” he stresses, “What will you tell them when they learn she can’t even ride a bike?
Or that she’s moving in with us ? I’m not sure if you know this, but you don’t scream boyfriend material.
No one is going to believe that, overnight, you have a girl important enough to move in with you and join the Saints, who doesn’t even own her own bike. ”
“I’ll buy her a bike.”
“You can’t just throw money at this problem, T.”
“Why do I need to tell them anything?” I ask, throwing my hands up in exasperation. “I’m their leader. I don’t have to explain myself to them.”
“You’re the best damn leader the Saints have seen in decades, and that’s not because you do whatever you want without explanation. They trust you. You can’t throw that away because some murderer made your dick hard.”
I curl my hands into fists and wonder if the vein in my forehead James claims responsibility for is bulging. Part of me wants to end the conversation by decking him. But James is my second for a reason, and I can’t throw June at the Saints and expect everyone to make it out with all their limbs.
“We’ll tell Luna the truth,” I say. “Kip will get a version of it. Not that she wants to kill me, but that we’ve come to an…
agreement that she has to last a month with us if she wants to pay off a debt.
” James’s look is unimpressed, and I forge forward before he can argue.
“We’ll tell the rest she’s my girl, but I want to see how she gets along with the family before we take it any further. All those are versions of the truth.”
“She’s not your girl.”
“She is for the next month.”
James shakes his head, a muscle popping in his jaw as he bites back several retorts I’m sure are simmering in his throat. “I don’t like it.”
“Well, it’s already done.”
“Theo…”
I stand and step over the coffee table so I’m right in front of him. He might be two years older than me at thirty-three and an inch taller, but I still have a good fifteen pounds on him. “You didn’t meet her, James. She might not be a biker, but trust me. She has what it takes to be a Saint.”
“Being a killer doesn’t make you a Saint.”
“She’s not just a killer. She’s…” I roll my lips together, unable to properly explain this woman to him. He’ll just have to meet her. “She’s one of us. You’ll see.”
“I hope you’re right, T. Because if she’s not, if she tries to kill you again—”
“I know,” I interrupt, squeezing his shoulder. “But she’s not stupid. She knows she’ll be outnumbered here. She’ll be armed, I’m sure, but she won’t try killing me. At least, not right away.”
James’s glare is unamused. “You’re an idiot.”
“Thanks. Now, I need to shower. Tomorrow, we get a new roommate.”
I turn, heading to the private bathroom inside my room. Just before I shut the door, I hear James mutter, “We’re so fucking dead,” and I don’t try to stop the smile from forming.
~
I text Luna to come over the next morning, and she waltzes in with a box of donuts, a Red Bull, and two cups of coffee, earning a dramatic kiss on her cheek from James.
I sit her down to deliver the news, and she’s predictably more excited than wary that I’ve invited the serial killer targeting me to live with us.
Her first question is, “She’s that sexy chick who came to the Iron Cage a couple of times, right?”
James groans from the kitchen.
“Yeah, that’s her,” I say.
“Fuck yes.”
“You realize she wants to kill Theo, right?” James says.
Luna shrugs. “We all want to kill him sometimes.”
“Are you sure you two aren’t siblings?” James asks, gesturing between us.
“Could be. It’s not like my dad is the most committed husband.”
“ Anyway,” I say, reclaiming their attention. “I’m picking her up this afternoon. Don’t forget that no one else knows all of this. Kip thinks—”
Luna cuts me off with a waved hand. “Yeah, yeah, I got it. Fake dating and all that. You realize about fifty percent of romance books start with fake dating or enemies to lovers? You’re doing both of those with this little charade.”
“He’s only doing the enemies part,” James corrects. “I don’t foresee them becoming lovers. Beyond the inevitable hate-fucks they’re sure to have.”
I have to agree. As hot as June is, she’s not girlfriend material, and I’m definitely not boyfriend material. I don’t want a relationship, anyway. Not when the last one turned out so poorly.
“Please, don’t. Just let me go.” Amber’s pleas fill my mind, and I look down at my hand, expecting to see them stained red. But they’re clean, and Amber is gone.
“Does that mean I can go for it?” Luna asks.
“Absolutely not.” The response snaps free before I can stop it. At James’s narrowed eyes, I add, “Remember, the crew thinks she’s my girl. And rule two…”
“Respect your fellow member and don’t touch their bike, girl, or cut. Yeah, yeah, I got it,” she says. “What about after the month is over? Can I go for it then?”
“I doubt you’ll have the chance,” James says. “I don’t care what Theo promised. The moment she tries to kill him, she’s dead.”
Luna groans in disappointment, and I fight down the sudden anger at my best friend. More to avoid speaking than because I’m hungry, I grab one of the kolaches from the box on the coffee table and shove half of it in my mouth, letting Luna and James carry the conversation from there.
An hour later, we all ride the short distance to the clubhouse, where I find Kip in the garage. I feed him the half-truth about June, and though he’s not ecstatic, he doesn’t argue.
I borrow James’s Jeep to pick June up since I don’t know how much stuff she’s packed, and by the time I pull into the lot, parking diagonally across three empty spaces, she’s already walking out, keys in hand. Her eyes land on the bright yellow Jeep, and her nose crinkles.
“You were actually serious?” she greets.
“Of course I was. Where’s your bag?”
“I didn’t pack one. I’m not moving in with you.” She turns away, unlocking her little Camry.
It takes three long strides to reach her. I push the front door shut before she can pull it fully open. “That was our deal.”
“I changed my mind.”
“That’s not an option.”
She grits her teeth. The small motion captures all my attention, and my hands flex with the desire to grip that jaw between my fingers.
“I’m not moving in with you.”
“Fine, then you’re moving into the clubhouse.”
“With a dozen of your criminal underlings? No.”
“Thought so. Lucky for you, I have an extra bedroom. Sheets are brand new, and Luna even brought over some fancy pillows.”
“I could kill you in your sleep.”
I sigh in frustration. Of course, she’s not going to make this easy. “Look, you may be Miss Never-Do-Anything-Wrong on the surface, but don’t forget about a certain little packet of your misdeeds ready to anonymously go to the cops.”
Her eyebrows pull together. “I think you’re lying.”
Partly. “You might not leave evidence, but I have a recording of you talking about killing me. Plus, the knives, drugs, and rolls of plastic drop sheets in your soundproof basement would raise a few brows.”
Briefly, her eyes widen at the mention of her murder paraphernalia James found a few weeks ago. Then she carefully pulls the surprise back and stitches her expression into one of unconcern. “I’ve never talked about killing you to anyone.”
“No, but you do talk to yourself. And you’re not very good about sweeping your house for bugs.”
This time, she doesn’t bother covering her fury. “You didn’t.”
“I had to know why you were stalking me, didn’t I?”
“Talking about doing something is different than doing it. In case you forgot, you’re alive.”
“And I’ll remain so, because if I turn up dead before this month is up, those cops will receive that little recording, which proves premeditation and points all eyes to you.
It doesn’t matter how good you are; no one is perfect.
The reason you’ve never been caught is because no one has ever suspected you.
The moment they do, your luck will change fast.”
With every word, her face darkens further, fury swirling in her eyes. “You’re a psychopath.”