Tyrant
As we sat eating breakfast, I couldn’t get over how the morning had started.
However, I shouldn’t be surprised. After leaving them last night, I went home and spent a very restless night.
I couldn’t stop thinking about their situation, reliving things best forgotten, and dreaming about Lakelyn.
When I got up this morning, I still had no idea what I planned to do with them, but the first order of business was to feed them.
When that door opened, and I saw what she had on, I wanted to slap my hands over the prospect’s eyes and then stand there feasting my eyes on her.
However, I saw how uncomfortable she was, and I didn’t like the thought of any of my brothers looking at her, so I removed my shirt.
It was the only thing I could think of to get her covered as quickly as possible.
Walking into the common room and having the men ask questions wasn’t unexpected. River’s defense of her and her subsequent attempt to protect him by offering herself up had enraged me. I was a first-rate son of a bitch, but I wasn’t someone to allow that.
When Mera came out and made her remarks, I was stunned at Lakelyn removing my shirt, and I wanted to punch all the men in the face for daring to stare at her sexy body.
Thinking of it made my jeans uncomfortably tight in the groin section.
I was hard. Even if she had lost weight, she was incredibly alluring.
You’d have to be dead or into men not to find her attractive.
It was all I could do not to throw her over my shoulder and carry her out of there, where no one could see her but me.
Now, seated in my office with them and Cobra, I didn’t know where to start.
Cobra was the one to start the conversation rolling.
“So Pres found you in the dumpster at the garage. If you were there to steal shit, he wouldn’t bring you home with him.
I take it you were looking for food. How long have you been living on the streets? ”
The siblings exchanged glances, and then she answered.
“It’s been over two months. We had no idea that anyone was still there.
We were searching the dumpsters behind the buildings along that section of road.
We thought it would be better to try there than near a restaurant or store where others have already staked their claim. River ended up taking that one.”
“What the fuck do you mean, he took that one? Do you mean to tell me you weren’t hiding out there until you got the courage to come in? You were at another location alone doing the same thing?” I snarled.
She gave me an outraged gasp. “Of course, I wasn’t hiding until I got brave. There’s no way I’d do that. Yes, I was two shops down from your garage. It was deserted. We made sure, then I sent him ahead. I had no idea he’d gone inside. I thought he’d moved on, then I heard your voices.”
I swung my head to stare down her brother. “And you left your sister there alone in the dark, where anyone could’ve come along and taken her and done God knows what to her? You keep going off on us like we’re rapists, yet you left her alone to be raped and killed!” I barked.
“Hey, that’s not fair,” Lakelyn objected.
“Like hell, it’s not. I outta beat his ass all over this room for that. Do you two have any fucking clue what can happen to you on the streets? Did you just wake up one day and think it would be fun to try it out?” I got louder.
I had this sick feeling low in my gut at the thought of the possible danger she could’ve found herself in. There were far more dangerous animals out there than us. Not that we let that stop us from taking them on.
Lakelyn came to her feet. She leaned closer to the desk. “No, I didn’t just wake up and think, let’s become homeless today and drag my brother with me. Go ahead, Lakelyn, give up your life, work, home, everything, and drag him away from his to go live without shit to our names! It’ll be a blast!”
The fire she was spewing at me made my cock stiffen again. Jesus, she was breathtaking, and I wondered if she’d bring that same fire to the bedroom.
“She did it to protect us!” River shouted.
Instantly, my warning bells went off. He was telling the truth.
“Shush,” she softly hissed.
“What do you mean, she did it to protect you? Protect you from what? Who?” I asked, jumping on the slip-up. He was casting a guilty look her way. He hadn’t meant to say it.
“Nothing. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about.
I think we’ve taken enough of your time and hospitality.
You don’t need to worry about driving us anywhere.
We can walk from here. Let’s go, River,” Lakelyn said, turning away from me.
She froze when she noted that Cobra had eased over to stand between them and the door. He shook his head.
“I can’t let you leave until Tyrant says you can. And he doesn’t look like he’s gonna say it. Why don’t you sit and answer him?” my VP suggested.
“Why don’t you go to hell? If you mean no harm, you have no reason to keep us here against our wills. We want to leave,” she demanded.
He chuckled, which only made her madder. Her face flushed, and her fists were clenched by her hips. “Fuck you,” she spat out.
He grinned. “Baby, don’t tempt me like that.”
I let a growl escape. When Cobra glanced over at me, I shook my head. He knew I wasn’t happy.
“Lakelyn, we’re not here to hurt either of you, but I can’t let you two back out there without knowing if you can take care of yourselves. It sounds like being there isn’t by choice and not for the typical reasons. Tell us what River meant.”
She shook her head. She hadn’t faced me again. “I can’t.”
“Yes, you can,” I said softly. I was trying a different approach. My usual was to bulldoze my way through.
She swung around. “No, I can’t! I’ve already dragged River into my mess. I’m not bringing anyone else into it. Believe me, Tyrant, you don’t want to be a part of this. I know what we have to do anyway.”
“And what’s that?” Cobra asked.
“We need to leave Nebraska. I thought staying here was doable, but it’s not. We need to get somewhere warmer before next winter.”
“And how do you think you can do that? You have no money for a bus ticket or to rent a car. If you had a vehicle, you wouldn’t have left it. Do you have anything? You came here last night with only the clothes on your backs. Tell us who you’re running from?” I added a bit of steel to my tone.
“No, I won’t.”
She and I were in a staring contest. I knew she wasn’t yet willing to tell me, and I knew if I let them leave, I’d be wondering about them for possibly the rest of my life.
That wasn’t like me, but they struck a chord in me that, once touched, couldn’t be ignored.
I scanned Cobra’s face. He was frowning. He didn’t like what we heard, either.
“Well, VP, it seems we have no choice. Don’t you agree? She refuses to tell us anything useful.”
“I do agree, and we haven’t been left with another option, Pres,” he said.
“We’ll grab our clothes, and then we’ll be out of here,” she said.
“Oh, no, that wasn’t what we meant. See, we can’t have your deaths on our conscience, so until we know what or who you’re running from and feel you can take care of yourselves, you’re not going anywhere.
Congratulations. You’re the guests of the Kings.
” I smiled, which, if she knew me, she’d realize it rarely happened.
“You can’t do that!” she cried out.
“Yes, I can. You’re in my world now. Who can stop me? You? Him? I don’t think so. So, tell us what you’re hiding or plan to stay,” I demanded.
“Go to hell, Tyrant. It’s none of your goddamn business,” Lakelyn snapped.
“Lake, maybe we should tell them,” River said.
“River, don’t you dare say a word. You know what’ll happen if we do. It’s not their problem,” she warned him, then returned to me. “I don’t know how you think you’ll keep us here. Or are we now to become guests of the dungeon we heard about last night?”
The damn woman was stubborn as hell. While putting them out there would possibly scare the truth out of them quickly, the thought of her in the dungeon twisted my stomach. It didn’t mean I wasn’t mean enough to make the threat.
“I might.”
“Then do it,” she challenged.
As we glared at each other, I noticed River appeared sick, and Cobra was amused and studying me. Shit, I didn’t need him picking apart why I was doing this. I didn’t know the answer myself. Not really.
“If that’s how you want it, let’s go,” I stated.
They were both on their feet, and Cobra opened the door.
He held it open. I came around my desk, and as I passed Lakelyn, I grasped her wrist and tugged her after me.
She tried to resist, but she was no match for me.
River was behind her, with Cobra bringing up the rear.
I took us to the end of the hall and out the exit door.
Each hall in the clubhouse had an exterior door.
Outside, instead of heading toward the building where the dungeon was, I led them toward the townhomes. Cobra had moved beside us and had River tucked alongside his sister. He raised an eyebrow at me, but I kept going. It wasn’t a far walk.
“Where to, Pres?” he asked.
We had one that was empty on the backside of Cobra’s home.
That wasn’t our destination, though he thought it was.
My VP’s surprise was evident when I stopped outside the first townhome.
I opened the door. We didn’t bother to lock our houses here.
I brought Lakelyn into the house, and Cobra pushed her brother in after us.
They were both checking it out. She frowned.
“This is your dungeon? Where’s the torture chamber? Why would you hold people here?”
“It’s not the dungeon. You said that was where we were going, not us. Welcome to your temporary home. I’ll show you to your room. And then, Cobra, I’ll need you to take River to his. I think they need to spend some time apart. If you don’t want him with you, assign one of the others to keep him.”
“No, don’t separate us,” her brother pleaded.
“Then tell us what we want to know,” I added.
He shifted his eyes to her, and when she shook her head, he looked away and hung his head. “I can’t.”
“Then you can stay elsewhere.”
“He can stay with me,” Cobra offered.
“Then who will I be with? Who lives here?” she asked.
“Me. Welcome to my home, Lakelyn. I hope you like having a roommate.” I smirked at her.
Her look of astonishment changed to alarm.
I thought she’d break at the prospect of being alone with me, but I was wrong.
She straightened her spine and lifted her chin.
Game on, her face said to me. Deep down, I felt that I would relish this battle.
But mark my words… I would know their story before they left here.