Chapter 4 #3
That earned another tiny curve of her mouth, and I knew I needed to leave before the sight made me do something that would spook her. I gave her one last look, then I stepped into the hall and pulled the door mostly closed behind me, taking my questions with me.
Most of my guys had clocked out, and the rest were putting away their tools and getting ready to head out.
I helped them finish up, making sure to spread the word that the upstairs was temporarily off limits to everyone.
I’d decided I didn’t want anyone on the floor with her, not just in the room she’d settled in.
Once we’d finished, I waited until the last person left, then flicked off the lights before glancing up at the interior window.
As I’d hoped, Riley was standing in front of the glass, looking down at me.
I gave her a short wave, then pointed at the alarm panel.
She nodded, and I jerked my chin up in farewell before forcing myself to leave.
Outside, the evening air hit heavy and humid when I walked across the lot to my bike. The sun had dropped low, turning the metal fence around The Pit into dark lines against the light.
I swung a leg over my Harley but didn’t start it right away.
Instead, I waited until I saw the notification on my watch that the garage’s alarm had been set.
Then I pulled out my phone and called my prez, because if a woman was sleeping upstairs in his office, he needed to know before he or some other brother walked in and scared the shit out of her.
Also, Kane finding out from anyone else would be a pain in my ass I didn’t feel like dealing with.
He answered on the second ring with a flat, “Yeah.”
There were many dangerous men in the world.
Kane Beckett stood in a category most of them weren’t smart enough to understand.
He’d built Redline Holdings from race winnings, brutal instinct, and the kind of business sense that made millionaires look like amateurs.
Then he’d built the Redline Kings into something bigger than a club.
We had legal businesses, illegal races, protection routes, land, tracks, garages, crews, and enough influence across the South that people who didn’t even like us still knew better than to ignore us.
Kane was our president not just because he’d founded the club, but because he’d earned our respect long before any of us patched in.
When he gave an order, men followed it knowing he’d already measured the risk, blood, and cost.
“Need to make you aware of something.”
He went quieter than usual, which was Kane’s way of telling me he was listening.
I gave him the short version, leaving out the part where my body had been hard half the damn time she was in front of me. And how something in my chest had locked down on the word mine before I knew her favorite color or how she drank her coffee.
Kane could read people better than anyone I’d ever met, and I knew no matter how hard I tried, he’d pick up enough without me handing him ammunition.
When I finished, he asked, “You’re letting a stranger stay at The Pit?”
I grunted.
“A woman?” There it was, the faint thread of amusement under his voice.
I looked back at the building, my gaze moving to the upstairs windows even though I couldn’t see her from where I sat. “She needs a place to sleep for a bit.”
“You met her a couple of hours ago, right?”
“And?”
Kane let out a low sound that was almost a laugh. “Nothing. Just wondering if I should order a property vest now or wait until tomorrow.”
“Fuck off, brother.”
This time, he did laugh. “Send her name and description to Jax. I’ll have him start a background check.”
“Will do.”
“And Gauge?”
I waited.
“If she’s in trouble, find out before it gets here.”
My grip tightened around the phone. Whatever was circling her might be dangerous, but that wasn’t the same thing as her bringing poison into my shop. “Yeah.”
Kane heard what I didn’t say. I knew he did, because his voice shifted just enough to hear his humor. “Keep your head.”
“Always do.”
“Bullshit,” he rumbled. “But I’m sure you’ll keep it long enough to get the job done.”
I huffed a laugh despite myself. “You done?”
“For now.”
“Good.”
I hung up before he could say anything else annoying, shoved the phone into my pocket, and started the bike.
The engine rolled to life beneath me, vibrating through my thighs and up my spine as I pulled out of the lot.
The ride home usually helped clear my head.
The road, the salty wind off the ocean, the steady pull of the machine beneath me, all of it worked better than sleep most nights.
Not tonight.
Every mile carried me farther from The Pit and the woman I couldn’t get out of my head. By the time I reached my house, my cock was hard again, my temper was high, and every instinct I had was pointed back toward The Pit.
Riley was under my roof.
Not my house, maybe.
Not yet.
But close enough for tonight.
And if whatever had scared her decided to follow, it was going to learn exactly how bad of an idea that was.