Chapter 9
9
ZARINA
Neither Larissa nor Theo suspected a thing. Larissa was too caught up in Theo, and Theo was too caught up in being mad.
“We can’t do that again,” he scolded. “No more separating, especially in crowds like this.”
“Wouldn’t it be safer with a crowd around?” I asked, lifting an eyebrow and trying to keep the irritation out of my voice.
“No,” Theo lifted his cap to run his hand through his hair, before placing his hand on the small of my back and guiding me across the parking lot as if I might be hit by a car without his help.
“With a crowd, there’s a lot more going on. Sure, there might be more witnesses if there was a big scene or something. But, crowds can help disguise things too. Nobody would notice a single person disappearing or being grabbed.”
I pursed my lips, seeing his logic but not being happy about it.
“Look,” he let out a breath, leaning his arms against the car and looking towards me. “Toni has trusted me to look after you, Zarina. Please,” he begged, clasping his hands together, “let me do my job.”
I sighed, shaking my head.
“Fine,” I relented as I opened the door. “I’m sorry.”
“Thank you.” His shoulders dropped, holding the door open as I slipped inside. “You’re going to make this difficult for me, aren’t you?”
I smiled up at him, crossing one leg over the other. I noted the way his eyes dropped to watch the movement, but then quickly lifted back to my eyes.
“I would never,” I breathed, returning his smirk before leaning forward and closing the door.
Larissa was already in the back seat, and honestly, I had forgotten that she was there until she let out a long and annoyed breath.
I didn’t respond to it, or pay attention to her visible frustration. It was already obvious that she had a little crush on Theo, and I didn’t care in the slightest. She could have him, because I had no interest in the man.
The one that I was interested in was the one I was supposed to stay away from. And I had no idea why I was so infatuated with the idea of Ashe.
Perhaps it was a childish rebellion in me. Just wanting him now that I knew that I couldn’t have him. Maybe it was because he was one of the few men that I actually remembered after one of my nights spent with them. Or maybe, it was because in the short few encounters that I’d had with Ashe, he’d made me feel more seen, more alive, more exhilarated than I ever had in my whole life.
We drove in silence for a little while, and I looked out the window at the passing traffic as Theo drove through the city. He and Larissa made some form of small talk that I had blocked out before I interrupted them with probably the most stupid question I could have asked.
“What do you know about Ashe?” I asked, turning towards Theo.
He arched a thick eyebrow at me and straightened slightly.
“What? Why?”
“Well,” I shrugged, letting my shoulders drop to appear much less desperate than I was for the information. “He’s supposed to be a threat to me, right? I should know who I’m up against, shouldn’t I?”
Theo considered for a while, opened his mouth, and then closed it again.
“That’s really something you should discuss with your brothers,” he said, using the professional tone that I had only ever heard him use around Toni.
“Come on,” I rolled my eyes. “What harm could it possibly do?”
He inhaled deeply and shook his head.
“Henny is the MC’s sergeant-at-arms,” was all Theo offered.
“Okay?” I dragged out slowly. “What does that have to do with anything?”
“Basically, he’s like their security. He oversees everything. He’s like the president’s eyes. Any threat from outside or inside the club, it’s his job to know about it and it’s his job to sort it out.”
My mouth went dry.
Did that mean Ashe thought I was a threat somehow? Or did he just think that I was an easy target to use in order to manipulate the club’s biggest threat—my family?
“What else?” I managed.
“Well…” Theo scrubbed the back of his neck. “He’s one of the few younger guys to reach the higher ranks in the Redliners.”
“So?”
He scoffed. “How do you think he moved that far up so quickly?”
I shrugged. “They liked him?”
Theo just shook his head. “There’s… tradition. Just like in The Family. You would be familiar?”
“Not really.” My voice was quiet, and I looked down at my hands.
I knew nothing about the ranks, the traditions, the roles, or the jobs that any of them did. I was, for the most part, completely fucking clueless about the whole ordeal.
It was something that I was told wasn’t my business.
I didn’t mind that up until recently.
Another sigh. “Look, there are… stories. About his rise to infamy,” a smirk from Theo. “None of them are pretty. But, for the most part, he was also just taken in young. He used to tattoo the older members and I think they just took pity on the kid.”
I cocked my head to the side. “So, he’s a tattoo artist?”
Theo’s jaw hardened, maybe realising that he had given away too much. “Yes,” he said quietly.
“Where does he work?” I asked.
Theo rolled his eyes my way and gave me an incredulous look.
“Fine.” I put up my hands, realising I had pushed too far.
It wasn’t much, but it was something.
Theo parked the car in the underground garage of me and Larissa’s building, and Larissa got out with a slam of her door but without a goodbye.
“Well, thanks for coming, I guess,” I sighed, picking up my bags.
“It’s my job, Zar.”
With a smile and a nod, I leaned over to open my door.
“Zarina,” Theo said, grabbing me by the arm. “Promise me. Promise me that you won’t go looking for trouble.”
I frowned at him. “Why would I do that?”
The corner of his mouth twitched upward slightly. “Call it a gut feeling.”
My eyes flickered down to his hand wrapped around my forearm, then I looked back up into his dark brown eyes. I felt a little guilty momentarily, seeing the concern in his face.
I softened my face, forcing a sweet, innocent smile. “You don’t have to worry, I have much better things to do.”
He smiled for real this time and let go of my arm.
“Bye, Zar,” he said, sitting back in his seat and leaning his head back against the headrest. When I closed the door behind me and fumbled with my bags, he was still watching me.
“What?” I snapped, leaning down towards the window.
He rolled it down, now laughing.
“I don’t know. I just…” he shook his head, “I feel like I know you already.”
The sincerity in his eyes caused me to give him probably the first of the genuine smiles I ever gave Theo, and I knew what he meant.
Though I didn’t enjoy having a babysitter around, I’d been surprisingly comfortable with his presence and we’d fallen into an easy routine that felt like it was old and worn in. But, though I could sense the sincerity in his words, something in my gut was still churning with suspicion.
I didn’t trust this guy, and that was all I knew.