Chapter Seven. #2
I sucked on my milkshake, wondering if Wylde was out to trap me.
There was no way anyone would ever get me to snitch on my club or sisters.
But what if Wylde were hoping I’d let my guard down around him?
He could then find out shit and snoop through my stuff.
No, this wasn’t a good idea, no matter how much I wanted to jump his bones. Too much was at risk.
Hayden
I was making Sapphire uneasy, which was great.
I wanted her off guard and on edge. Sapphire tended to overthink things and would block any efforts made to breach her walls.
I wasn’t quite sure why I was bothering to push, but it was like a moth to a flame.
No doubt I’d get burned, but somehow, I thought it would be worth it.
I wasn’t even sure what I wanted from her, but sitting here, drinking a milkshake, was pretty good.
Sapphire was studying me, trying to work out what was behind my motives.
In all honesty, there wasn’t an ulterior motive right now; it was just about the company and getting to know her.
Tonight, I wasn’t a cop, just a man with an attractive woman in his vehicle.
Tomorrow, I’d tackle the difficulties of being with someone like Sapphire.
Sapphire shivered, so I reached over to the backseat and pulled my sports jacket across.
I tucked it around her as she watched with wide brown eyes.
A man could drown in their depths. Sapphire’s eyes spoke of secrets, making me want to unravel them and discover what she was hiding.
There was more to her than a beautiful face and a smoking-hot body.
“Tell me, are you afraid of anything?” I asked.
Sapphire frowned. “Of course, I am. Why ask that?”
“Well, you’re not worried about Storm being hurt; you’re quite secure in the belief you can protect her. You weren’t worried tonight about being in the fire. And your sisters tackled and brought down eight armed men.”
“Maybe we don’t have the sense we were born with?” Sapphire said, and I laughed.
“Now I call bullshit. You all run successful businesses, so I know none of you are stupid.”
“Those gang members weren’t a threat to us. They might think they are, but they’re wrong. My chapter doesn’t stand alone. We never have. We’re part of a nationwide MC, and we also have an ally across the border,” Sapphire said, and I wondered who she meant.
I racked my brain. “Do you mean in Vermont or Massachusetts?”
“Yes and no. The national chapter is in New York City, but there is also a chapter in Yonkers, NY. But we have an ally in Maine.”
I frowned. There was a notorious club in Camden, Maine, the Royal Bastards. I chuckled as enlightenment hit me. “Royal Bastards MC and the Royal Harlots, your MCs are linked.”
“Yes and no. If we needed help, we could call on them, but it would come at a price. There is an alliance between the clubs.”
“Cost you how?” I asked, intrigued.
“Protection always comes with a price. Nobody does shit out of the goodness of their hearts. If we contacted Jameson, the RBMC national president, he’d want to be paid.”
I read between the lines. “You said Jameson, he’s not the president of the club in Maine?”
“No, that’s Warden. Storm’s brother, Soul, is a member there,” she replied.
“Would they want to run your club?”
“No, but Jameson would want a cut of our profits, and I refuse to hand that over. We work hard for what we earn, and I’m not ready to share it. We’ve got plans, and I won’t let them be sidelined.”
“What plans?” I asked, wondering if she’d share.
Sapphire sighed and held my eyes before looking out of the window.
“My sisters will find men, or they’ll have kids without them.
Which means they’ll need houses. We own some land, and I want them to build houses there to create a community.
We’ve got enough land that our kids and grandkids can build homes there too.
” Sapphire clamped her lips together as if she’d said too much.
But I grasped what she meant. “That’s why you keep buying businesses and expanding. You’re building a legacy, a future.”
Sapphire’s eyes widened. “Yes. How did you guess?”
“Because I’m starting to know you. That’s an admirable plan, and I hope you see your dreams come true.”
“Through hard work, blood and sweat, we’ll get there. We’ll also protect it from anyone who means us harm.” Sapphire bit her lip and sent me a glance from under her lashes.
“I’m not a cop right now,” I said with a chuckle.
“Can you turn it off just like that?”
“Yes and no. Being a protector is ingrained in me, same as Cassidy. It was hammered into us at a young age. I fought for my country for ten years and served four tours abroad, Sapphire. Sadly, Cassidy, Warrick, and I saw and did things that haunt us. Cassidy and I could have left after eight years, but we signed up for another two because of Warrick. We all got out together.”
“How old were you when you joined?”
I was elated. Sapphire was actually showing an interest in me. “Both Cassidy and I were eighteen. We left at twenty-eight, and Warrick was twenty-six.”
“You didn’t leave him,” Sapphire mused as she sucked on her straw. My cock went hard at the sight. I could imagine those plump lips around me, sucking hard.
“No. Luckily, we ended up at the same company. Our captain may have pulled some strings to make that happen.”
“Why would he do that?”
“Because he knew us from here. He was older but looked out for the three of us.”
“Sounds like a good man.”
A chuckle arose from me. “Oh, he is, although you don’t like him.”
Sapphire stared at me as her brain figured it out. She laughed and shook her head. “Captain Chase Hatton was your captain there!”
“Yup. He’s six years older than us. He left two years before we did. Came here and joined the force. We followed him and, luckily, he was able to swing Cassidy and me into getting his precinct.”
“Damn, you four are pretty tight-knit.”
“We’re family.”
“What about your parents? Do you see them?”
That was an awkward question. Sapphire seemed to sense it.
“Sorry, I forgot you said your parents didn’t approve of your joining the army.”
“My parents are… my dad manages his own business; he’s a self-made millionaire. He runs the Imagine stores.
Sapphire gaped. “The nationwide gift stores?”
“Yeah, and he also owns the Sleepy Feet stores, the shoe stores. He hasn’t taken them public and still runs them with an iron fist. I’m an only child, so in his eyes I’d go to college, then university, study business, and take over from him.
That was something I wasn’t ever going to do. So, I signed up.”
“Damn, your father is a billionaire.”
“Yup. Yet I survive on a cop’s salary. Does that put you off?” I asked.
Sapphire shook her head. “No, it does make you more admirable. Not being a trust fund baby.”
I didn’t have the heart to disclose that I actually had two very healthy trust funds. One from my paternal grandparents and one from my parents, set up when I was born. I’d bet my dad regrets that now.
“And Cassidy?”
“That’s his story to tell, same as Warrick. What about your parents?” I asked.
“No idea.” Sapphire was curt.
“Huh?”
“I was abandoned as a baby.”
“Shit, Sapphire. I’m sorry to hear that.” I felt crap. That wasn’t in her file, not that there was much.
“Don’t be. I found my own family, and I’m sure it’s better than any I had out there. Don’t pity me, Wylde, because I don’t need it.”
I could tell from her face that she meant it.
“So, do you still see your parents?” she asked, changing the subject.
“Yeah, I meet them every couple of weeks at their country club, where they parade available spoiled bitches in front of me. In fact, I’m due to visit them again next Sunday. I’m hoping a big case comes up so I can get out of it.”
“I’ll go with you,” Sapphire blurted, and I stared before grinning. It looked like she wanted to take those words back, and she opened her mouth.
“Great! I’ll pick you up at the clubhouse at twelve next Sunday.” I started the engine, amused as Sapphire tried to find a way to wriggle out of it.
“You can’t be serious. Like I’d fit in there,” she stated.
“I couldn’t give a fuck.”
“Wylde, get real! I don’t have anything to wear to a country club, and nor would I put on a flouncy dress.”
“I know and wouldn’t want you to. Hell, come in one of Nun’s outfits for all I care.”
I sensed Sapphire’s eyes narrow. “You’re going to utilise me to send a message.”
“No. That I would never do. That’s against everything I believe in… to use a woman so badly. But would I be happy if you stood between me, them, and whatever bitch they’ve dragged out this time? Fuck, yes, I would, but I don’t expect it, Saph.”
“Sapphire.”
“Make no mistake, Saph, I wouldn’t ever be ashamed of having you on my arm.”
Sapphire grumbled and complained under her breath as I drove her back to the clubhouse. Inside, though, I was grinning. I just scored a date with the prickly woman!