Chapter 5
FIVE
NIC
Keeley’s reaction to me handing her my hoodie plays on a loop in my head the entire fucking night. In the bar, on that piece of shit couch contemplating my life choices, and when I wake the next morning exhausted and irritated.
Everything about this woman costs me sleep. Not just because this is a fucking mess, but because Keeley’s right in the centre of it, and I don’t know why.
Which is pissing me off. I don’t like being in the dark.
“Prez.” Diesel’s voice comes from behind me.
It takes a second before I realise he’s talking to me.
Right. I’m prez. Shit. I’m still getting used to that.
I wait for him to catch up, his long strides eating up the corridor. There’s tension in his shoulders and I brace for whatever punch he’s about to land.
“Blade’s burner,” he says. “I got in.”
We’ve been trying to crack that thing since Blade died with no fucking luck. It’s been weeks of dead ends, wiped data, and security blocks that shouldn’t exist on a cheap burner. After I saw Keeley in the bar, I asked Diesel to run it again. I didn’t think he’d manage it, not when he hadn’t before.
We step into my office. Diesel’s gaze lingers on the folded blanket and pillows stacked on the end of the couch. Neither of us says anything about it. Obviously.
“Tell me,” I say.
His fingers twitch like they do when the stakes are high and he’s choosing his words carefully. That makes me nervous. “There are no names or identifying details,” he says, “but he was doing a deal.”
He digs into his pocket for the phone. I wait while he pulls up whatever it is he wants me to look at and then hands it to me. I drop my gaze to the message thread and read.
They’re fragmented, wrapped in vague shit. Useless. Times with no dates, half-sentences that assume inside knowledge I don’t have. There are only a few messages between Blade and this unknown number, but the last one he sent makes my stomach drop.
Relax. You already have her as insurance.
I stare at that message longer than I should, gripping the phone so hard my knuckles ache. There’s a slow, ugly roll working through my gut.
It’s starting to make sense and I wish it wouldn’t.
Motherfucking cunt.
He put Keeley in that cage so she couldn’t run in case he needed to cash her in. She was his insurance in whatever fucking deal Blade was doing with this unknown number.
What the fuck was he involved with that needed a human as collateral?
“Prez?”
I lift my gaze to look at Diesel. “Do you know who he’s talkin’ to?”
I know the answer before he gives it. I know how this shit works, how people fly under the radar using burners and fake accounts.
“No, and there’s no way to find that out unless they put their name on the account or in the messages.”
And no one is going to be stupid enough to do that.
But they were stupid enough to work with Blade.
“Fuck.” I scrub a hand over my face. “We killed that cunt far too fast. No wonder he was fuckin’ smiling while he was bleedin’ out. He knew he’d left a shit show behind him we’d have to clean up.”
Diesel’s fingers curl around the back of the chair in front of the desk. “Keeley was still in that cage when we found her, Nic. We have to assume Blade hadn’t met whatever the terms of this deal were before he died.”
Which means the moment I killed Blade, she became payment.
And I set this in motion. Then I added fuel to the fire when I took Keeley from that cage and brought her to my clubhouse.
Fuck me.
This isn’t a tangle. It’s a knot.
The only play we have is this fucker might not know Blade’s dead yet. Or that I have Keeley.
Which gives us time. Probably not much, but I’ll take whatever we have.
“Keep diggin’,” I say, trying to ignore the slow churn in my gut. “I wanna know who Blade was talkin’ to.”
And how fucked we are.
“Hard to dig when we have so little to go on.”
“I know, but this ain’t just about Keeley anymore, Diesel. We put a target on our back the moment we opened that cage. You think this guy is gonna care that we didn’t know we took his insurance?”
Diesel takes the phone from me. “I’ll let you know what I find.”
I sit in the quiet for a long time after he leaves my office. I’m done playing nice. I’m done watching my club get fucked over every time someone thinks they can come at us.
And I’m not handing Keeley over like a bargaining chip to whoever is on the other end of these messages.
There are only a handful of reasons to use a woman as collateral, and none of them are good. In fact, they’re so fucked up I can’t imagine how Blade did this to his own sister. Her brother tied her to something so ugly I don’t know how to make sense of it.
The truth is none of us knew him, not really. He was a wolf in sheep’s clothing. He was far worse than any of us fucking knew. Knowing he slept under this roof, watched my back, wore my patch?
Yeah, it makes me sick.
I drag a palm down my face. He sold his fucking sister. What did you use her to buy, Blade?
Weapons? Men? Drugs?
He knew what would happen if that deal went south. He knew, and he still used her as insurance.
All I can see is Keeley being handed over to some nameless fuck. Her, in a room, men holding her and—
I push back from the desk, the chair scuffing against the floor. There’s no reason for me to check on Keeley, but I need eyes on her. I can’t settle until I do.
As soon as I set foot into the bar, my eyes are moving, tracking. She’s sitting at a table by the door, observing every move my brothers make.
That makes me freeze.
I watch her for a moment, but it doesn’t take a genius to figure out what she’s mapping.
Routines. Patterns. Escape routes.
Is she joking?
Irritation claws under my skin. Keeley has no idea what her brother’s done. I don’t even know the full extent of it yet, but I have enough intel to know if she walks out of that door, she risks putting herself in the hands of someone who might use her as currency.
Break her in ways she’ll never come back from.
And she’s looking for ways out.
I cross the room, eyes locked on her like if I look away, she might slip out under my nose. She’s so focused on her task she doesn’t see me until I step in front of the table, blocking her view of the door.
She jerks her gaze from the exit so fast it’s almost comical—or it would be if she wasn’t risking her life.
“Stop lookin’ for ways out.” It comes out sharper than I intend.
“I’m not.” She’s not good at lying. The guilt is written all over her face.
I sit down at the table, elbows on top like I own the space, and then I crowd her to make sure she hears every word that comes out of my mouth. “You try to escape again and I’ll start lockin’ doors that weren’t locked before.”
My meaning lands heavy and unmistakable. She flinches and I hate that I caused that. I don’t want to scare her, but leaving the clubhouse puts her in danger. She needs to get this fantasy of escaping out of her head. Needs to understand I’m the only person on her fucking side.
“I don’t wanna do that,” I continue, my voice roughening as I try to soften my tone. “But I need you to understand you ain’t safe outside these walls.”
Her chin lifts, stubborn, even though she’s pale and clearly freaked. “I thought I wasn’t a prisoner.”
“You’re not.”
“Then let me leave. I don’t need you to protect me.” She stands abruptly, her chair rocking. “You don’t get to take me out of one cage and put me in another.”
Fuck, that lands like a punch. I take it, absorb it and deflect.
Then I rise slowly to my feet, aware of how much I loom over her smaller frame. I don’t want to dominate her or force her into anything, but I don’t know how to make her understand.
It sits on the tip of my tongue to tell her what I’ve learnt, but I don’t want to give her nightmares either.
And it will.
This is fucking nightmare fuel.
It takes all my strength, but I bite it back. I’ll hold that horror for her.
“I’m not tryin’ to cage you. I’m tryin’ to stop you from ending up back in one.”
Keeley slips out from behind the table, leaning heavily on the edge. “I can take care of myself. I’ve been doing it my whole life.”
I almost laugh. If we’re dealing with the kind of animals I think we are, there’s no taking care of anything, no bargaining. They won’t see Keeley as a person—just an asset.
And assets get stripped down to nothing.
“Not with this you can’t.”
Her eyes narrow, reading my face. “I’ve dealt with bad situations before, Nic. I grew up with my brother, remember?”
She tries to walk past me, and desperation has me grabbing her wrist. She’s soft beneath my fingers, delicate—even if she thinks she’s invincible. “Keeley.”
The warning in my voice doesn’t work. She pulls free and I don’t reach for her again. “Look, Phoenix—Nic. I appreciate everything you’ve done for me. I really do, but you can’t control my life.”
“I’m not tryin’ to. I’m not your jailer, Keeley.”
Right now I’m the only thing standing between you and ruin.
“Then stop acting like you are.”
She wobbles, and I reach for her without thinking. “Easy.”
“Fuck,” she mutters through clenched teeth. Her hand clamps over her hip, like she’s trying to stem a tidal wave of pain.
I guide her down into the chair, worry flaring through me that has no business being there. “Talk to me. What hurts?”
“I’m fine.” Her eyes are tight and her breath is shallow.
“You ain’t fine.”
“Please, stop.” She sounds tired, not angry. That feels worse somehow. “You don’t get to threaten my freedom on one hand and pretend you care about me on the other.”
Well, fuck. She really knows how to hit me in those places I didn’t know were soft anymore. “I’m not your enemy, Keeley.”
And I’m not sure I’m pretending to care.
She stares at me before she says quietly, “I don’t know what you are.”
That’s fair—she doesn’t. “I’m the guy who’s tryin’ to keep you breathin’.
” I let that sink in for a second before I give her the rest. “You don’t have to like me, Keeley,” I drop my voice low.
“In fact, it’s smart that you don’t, but if I’m gonna keep you safe, you gotta stop tryin’ to leave.
When I tell you you’re in danger, you listen.
” I exhale through my nose. Then I straighten, moving back just enough to give her breathing space.
“You do exactly what I tell you and you get to go back to your life when this is over. You don’t, and I won’t be able to stop what happens next time. ”
The words hang heavy between us. Her eyes flick to mine and for the first time, I don’t see defiance there. I see hesitation.
That’s when I know she finally understands that whatever deal her brother made? She can’t outrun it alone.
And right now, I’m the only thing standing between her and whoever is coming for her.