Chapter 2
Sadie
Sadie loaded her groceries into her car and closed the trunk.
Cathy had invited her and Oliver to her house for Thanksgiving later this week, and she needed to pick up a few things to prepare what she was taking to her house.
She’d really been dreading Thanksgiving this year, now that her brother was gone, and she feared Christmas was going to be even worse.
Bellamy had invited them to the clubhouse, but Sadie was still trying to avoid all things biker club related.
She was already too connected to them through her job and the apartment they'd set her up in. She’d felt bad, but she’d politely declined, saying that she and Oliver were already going to Cathy’s.
Her phone started to ring as she pulled out of the parking lot. She clicked the speaker button on her steering wheel to accept the call. “Hello?”
“Hey, Sadie. How are you doing after last night?” Tom asked.
“Okay. I’ve got some bruising around my throat, but I can cover it with a scarf, so all’s good.”
“That’s good.” Tom let the silence stretch out a little longer than normal, and she started to get a bad feeling.
“Tom?”
“Yeah. Hey. I hate to do this, but until the Tinker situation is under control, you’re not going to be able to dance.”
“What?” Did she hear her boss correctly? Was he firing her? “Are you firing me because some asshole laid his hands on me?”
“I’m not firing you. I’m trying to keep you safe. After they straighten this out, you can come back.”
“Tom, this is bullshit. I’m being punished for being attacked.” She couldn’t afford to lose her job. She needed this job. There was no guarantee that her house in Taos would sell anytime soon, and she couldn’t continue to live off of and pay her house payment out of the savings she had.
“I’m sorry, Sadie. I’ll call you when everything is resolved.” Tom said goodbye and clicked off.
“Son of a bitch.”
Taking the next right brought her past Bling Boutique and then Ink Envy.
From there, she would pull around back and park in the lot in the alley.
The anger she’d been feeling skyrocketed when she spotted Jed getting ready to enter the tattoo shop.
This was all his fault. She just knew it.
Not giving herself time to rethink what she was about to do, she pulled into a parking spot opening up several places down from the tattoo shop and got out.
“Hey! Jed!” she shouted as she stepped up to the sidewalk and hurried his way.
His body tensed before he turned to face her.
“Thanks a lot, you jackass!” She poked him in the chest.
“What?”
“You cost me my job!” She poked him in the chest again. “Don’t try to deny it.”
“Yeah. I’m not going to deny it. You got Tink’s eye, and you don’t need to be strutting your sweet ass all over the stage with him in the crowd. It’s like waving a red flag in front of a bull. What if the next time it happens, one of us isn’t there to save your ass?”
“I thought that’s what all your security is for; to keep the girls and me safe.” Her hands landed on her hips as she looked up at him.
“It is, but as you’ve discovered last night, shit still happens. Sometimes unexpected shit. Besides, how are you supposed to work nights with a kid?” He rubbed his chest where she’d been stabbing him with her finger. Damn. That had hurt.
She didn’t think her body could get any tighter, but he’d proven her wrong.
“You have got to be kidding me. I’m not the only woman working there who has a child to look after.
I had it covered. And not that I owe you this, but if it helps you sleep at night knowing I can take care of my nephew, it's Cathy. Cathy keeps Oliver for me while I’m working. ”
“Cathy?”
“She works for Bellamy at Bling.” She said it slowly in case his skull was too thick to understand.
“Oh.”
“You had no right to take my job from me.” She shook her head and turned to leave, truly fearful that she might start slapping the shit out of him right there on the street where the whole world could see.
It was bad enough that she saw Race and a few other brothers standing with their faces all but plastered to the window of Ink Envy, watching the show unfold as it was.
“Where are you going?” Jed followed a couple of steps behind, a dumfounded expression on his face as she walked backward toward her car. This conversation was getting her nowhere.
“Look, stripping at Bottoms Up isn’t my dream job, but it pays well.
And in case it escaped your attention, I’m doing this all on my own now.
I don’t have my brother’s support any longer.
Do you have any idea how hard it is to be the responsible one?
The one who’s supposed to have all the answers?
News flash. I don’t have any answers. In fact, the only time my brain isn’t running like a hamster on a wheel is when I’m out there dancing on stage.
My mind goes blank for three minutes, and it’s amazing.
The music takes over, and I don’t have to think about anything other than keeping time with the music.
I do three dances a night. That’s nine whole minutes twice a week that I can just let go of all my problems and worries.
Nine. Minutes. And you took that away from me. ”
Done with Jed, she got in her car and drove around to the back.
She still had groceries that needed to be put away, and her phone call with Tom and then her argument with Jed left her emotionally drained.
She felt like she was on the verge of tears, and it pissed her off. She wasn't a crier, damn it.
Once she parked, she got out and opened the trunk.
She stared down at the number of bags she had to cart up all those stairs, and her shoulders slumped a little.
It was going to take more than one trip to carry it all up to the apartment.
If Oliver were here, they might have gotten it done in one.
Well, he wasn’t here, so it was up to her to cart them upstairs. See. All on her shoulders.
She grabbed what she was able to carry in one trip and shut the trunk until she came back for the rest. Trudging up the stairs, she couldn’t help but miss her house in Taos.
There, she didn’t have to lug everything up 224 stairs every time she brought something home.
Yes, she was exaggerating; it wasn’t nearly that many stairs, but it sure felt like it right now.
She still hadn’t gotten over whatever bug she’d had over the weekend, and thanks to Tom and Jed, she felt a headache coming on.
She set a couple of bags on the porch and unlocked her door.
She grabbed her bags and moved inside, using her foot to push the door closed behind her.
She placed the groceries on the kitchen table and thought she really should empty her bladder before she went back down for the rest of the bags.
She’d been holding it since the grocery store, and now she really needed to pee.
Hitting the bathroom, she flipped on the light and stopped.
Something wasn’t right with this picture.
“Huh. That’s weird.” She could have sworn that she’d put the seat down to use it right before she left to drop Oliver off at school.
Peeing was always the last thing she did before leaving home.
“Whatever. Just get on with it.” She lowered the seat and did her business.
Once she was finished, she went to carry up the rest of her groceries.
She pulled a gallon of milk from the bag and went to put it in the refrigerator. Her attention was snagged by an empty beer bottle sitting on her counter. What the heck? “Where did that come from?” The only time she ever kept beer in her refrigerator was when her brother was alive.
Maybe one of the brothers from the Sons had stopped in for some reason?
She was sure one or more of them had to have a key to the place since it was the Sons' property.
They could have brought the beer inside with them and then, when they were finished drinking it, left it on her counter.
But why would they be here in the first place?
And why not throw the bottle in the trash?
An uneasy feeling settled over her, and she wondered if anything else was out of sorts.
She checked out the living room first and found nothing unusual.
Next, she checked Oliver’s room and again, found nothing out of place there either.
Going to her room next, she flipped on the light, her breath freezing in her chest. Her brain might not be firing fast enough right now to explain what she was seeing, but that inner part of herself that warned there was danger was firing on all cylinders.
Was that her panties in the middle of the bed? She stepped closer. And why were they wet? “What the hell?” Someone had been in her apartment!
She spun on her heel and fled her apartment, too afraid to stick around in case someone was still there, planning on doing something to her.
She ran down the stairs so fast, it was a wonder she didn’t fall and break her neck.
As soon as she made it to the bottom, she swung right, heading for the back door of Ink Envy.
She beat on it as if her life depended on it.
The whole time she banged on the door, she kept scanning the alley for anyone suspicious. Answer the door! Answer the door!
She stumbled and almost fell to the ground when the door flew open. Thank God, Race had quick reflexes. He caught her before she face-planted on the floor at his feet.
“Sadie? What’s wrong?” Race asked.
* * *
Jed
Sadie drove away, leaving Jed standing all alone on the sidewalk, shaking his head.
What the hell? The woman drove him nuts.
From the very first time he’d met her, she’d had him spinning in circles.
One minute, he wanted to fuck her, and the next, he wanted to strangle her.
He hadn’t been this frustrated with a female since junior high.