Chapter Six #2
“Somewhere private. Wanted to have a little fun with you.”
“I have a feeling our idea of fun isn’t the same.”
“Mmm. Probably not.”
“So, you planned on capturing me, on your own, and taking me somewhere to have a little fun with me? You’re gonna need to give me more than that.
I’m giving you an opportunity to talk to me, Saige.
There’s no way out of this until you tell me what the hell your plans were and who you’re working with. ”
“Camden, and I do mean this the way that it sounds, fuck off.” A smile slowly inches upward across his face, my eyes narrowing as frustration starts to heat my veins.
“You see, Saige, that’s all bullshit, and I don’t believe you. You know what I think?”
“And what’s that, fearless captor?”
“I think someone put out a hit on me, to bring me in, and you got to me first. But you failed. Is it money you need? Freedom? Someone forcing your hand? Whatever it is, I can help you. You got lucky it was me. Any other club president, hell, any other member that’s not a Heathen, wouldn’t have hesitated to put a bullet right between those pretty brown eyes of yours.
You have a deep disdain for clubs, that’s clear as day.
Tell me why. Is that who you’re working with? ”
Before I can say anything, there’s a knock at the door. Camden growls in frustration, standing up quickly and stomping to the other side of the room. He opens the door wide, a giant, muscular, tattooed beast walking in with a petite woman at his side, her hand firmly dwarfed in his.
“Saige, this is one of my two road sergeants, Rogue, and this is Kinsey, Rogue’s old lady. She’s going to watch you while you shower and make sure you don’t kill anyone. And you think I’m bad? Harm her, and this one will enjoy torturing you.”
“Thought you said you’d never hurt me.”
“I won’t. You hurt my family, though? You hurt her?” he says, pointing at the brunette standing between the two giant men. “There’s nowhere on Earth that could protect you from him.”
I roll my eyes at him, knowing I have zero interest in hurting the girl standing in front of me.
She’s wearing a boho-style dress that fits her body like a glove at the top and flows loosely at the bottom.
Her hair is tied up in a messy, stylish bun with loose strands falling free around her face.
She’s cute and looks entirely out of place next to the monster beside her, inside an MC clubhouse.
“Hey, I’m Saige, this one’s prisoner,” I deadpan. To her credit, Kinsey winces and looks at Camden with a fierce look that says she’s not happy about the situation. Hmm. Maybe I’ll like this one.
“Under normal circumstances, I’d say it’s nice to meet you. I know this isn’t an ideal way to meet. I’m here if you need anything, and I promise to make this as un-awkward as possible.”
“Thanks, I guess. You live here?”
“No, we live an hour away in Aspen Ridge, we’re here a few times a month, though. I’m a kindergarten teacher, so we have to be there during the week.”
My head snaps back to Camden as her words register. “What the fuck is a kindergarten teacher doing at a fucking MC clubhouse?”
“They’re my man’s family. My family. And just because I’m a kindergarten teacher doesn’t mean I can’t be here,” Kinsey snaps. “Are you really in a position to be judgmental about things you know nothing about?”
“Nice. Classy. Real awesome place you’re running here, Camden.”
“Get in the goddamn shower, Saige, while you have an opportunity to take one. They leave this afternoon. Kinsey will show you a kindness you won’t get from the patch bunnies. And after she leaves, your choices are me or them.”
I had briefly seen women in the main part of the house when Camden carried me inside, but I hadn’t heard any female voices carrying.
I’ve heard all about patch bunnies, or sweetbutts, the women of the clubhouse that live and breathe chasing the men who wear the cuts, fucking them, cleaning up after them.
I’m not typically judgmental, but I’d love to know what kind of women fuck die-hard criminals for a living.
“Fine, Camden. You win this round. Do you two plan on staying for a show, or can I shower without any dicks in the room?”
“Saige . . . fucking watch it,” he says through clenched teeth like I’ve just plucked his last nerve. “We’re leaving. Rogue will be right outside the door.”
Camden moves to pull the door open, but Rogue doesn’t immediately follow, instead taking two large steps in my direction.
“I don’t know what happened to you to get you to this point, but it’s not too late to turn things around.
We can help you. Talk or don’t. The choice is yours, but don’t try to hurt a hair on my woman’s head.
Chaos warned you about me, but it’s her you should be worried about.
” His words are said as statements rather than an attempt at comfort or in warning, which I appreciate.
I don’t need comforting from any of them, and I sure as shit don’t need to be threatened.
The threat is a palpable, living, breathing thing around me; I don’t need the reminder.
Rogue leans down in front of her, bending his knees slightly, threading his fingers into Kinsey’s hair, and dropping a kiss to the center of her forehead. She smiles up at him like he hung the fucking moon, love radiating between them. “I’ll be right out here, little fighter. I love you.”
“I love you. Go. We’re fine.”
Rogue leaves with one last longing look at his woman, and envy washes over me.
I’ve never seen anything like that . . .
since my parents. The way they would float around the kitchen, dancing together, my dad dipping my mom and kissing her throat, her laughs echoing through the house.
It used to make me smile—and gag—and now I would do anything to see it one more time.
“Little fighter?” I ask, repeating back the nickname Rogue called her.
“I’ve been boxing with my four older brothers since I was little. Plus, some shit happened last year, and I put up one hell of a fight.”
“But you’re still with him?”
“What? No. Reid saved me. They all did. He’d never hurt me. We’re a family here.”
The look on her face is pure shock, as if it’s completely out of the realm of possibility that I could have assumed he was the one things went down with.
It goes against everything I know about motorcycle clubs.
But nothing since I’ve been here has been what I imagined.
Not that it matters. I know they were responsible for taking my family from me, and I’m going to make sure they pay for it.
Eventually.
I stand up, stretching my legs and back before walking to the small en suite bathroom Camden let me use last night.
Kinsey follows, but she gives me some space.
I don’t even bother shutting the door, knowing it’s just going to cause an issue, and this girl doesn’t deserve my hate. Even if she’s guilty by proxy.
“So, what happened?” I ask, only out of pure curiosity, maybe selfishly to get more information on the club I could use to my advantage.
“With me last year? Jesus. First off, I had no idea Reid was in a club; that came as a shock. But long story short? He had been living in my town for the last ten years or so, working as a tattoo artist. I wanted to move out of my parents’ house, moved above his tattoo shop, and was kidnapped by a rival MC.
I put up a fight, but they still took me.
It was pretty fucking bad. But Reid and the Heathens .
. . Chaos . . . they saved me. Knowing what would have happened to me if they hadn’t still haunts me.
It still feels fresh. I’d probably be dead, to be honest.”
Whatever living piece of my heart that still beats in my chest aches for her, and I have the strongest urge to wrap her in a hug. But I’m struggling to see the difference between what happened to Kinsey and what’s happening to me right now.
“I know what you’re thinking. I’ve got four older brothers—technically five—and three sisters-in-law, and I can read people.
This isn’t the same. The men who took me wanted to take turns raping me, to cut me apart piece by piece just for the pleasure of knowing they were hurting Reid and the club. That’s not what’s happening here.”
“How do you know I haven’t been threatened, Kinsey? You’re making a lot of assumptions while telling me not to do the same.”
“Because they’re my family and I know them.
They wouldn’t hurt you. Whatever image you have in your head of what a motorcycle club is like .
. . you’re wrong when it comes to Hell’s Heathens.
They aren’t like the others. They fight to protect people who can’t protect themselves, they seek out justice for those who can’t defend themselves, they help women and children flee abusive relationships, they purge the earth of evil, not contribute to it.
You know what? I’m done with this conversation.
Think whatever you want. But I won’t stand here while you let your rage hide what’s right in front of you.
You haven’t been hurt, and I know you haven’t been threatened.
In fact, I’d bet everything on the fact that Chaos has been reassuring you that you’re safe here.
Get in the damn shower or I swear, I’ll put you in there myself. ”
Yeah. I definitely like this one. I get why the two of them work now.
She’s strong, and not because she wants to be; she’s strong because she’s had to be.
I get it. Like recognizes like. Even if all the shit she just spewed fucked with my head.
I’ve been locked inside this room for barely twenty-four hours, and I’m confused as hell.