Chapter 17 #2
Soon, I was passing a group of guys who were talking near the entrance to the stairs. I’d need to skirt past them in order to head down to bed. It was still shamefully early, but I wasn’t hungry, and anything else I needed would be downstairs.
I hedged close, hoping to go unnoticed when I heard the men talking.
“Now that the Roman has taken over, we’re not allowed to move on the Death Raiders.
It’s complete and utter bullshit. I heard it was from some deal Ryan made back when he was president.
Killian wouldn’t stand for old bets and promises.
One of the reasons he’s going to turn this club around.
The second he gives the green light; I’m gettin’ one of them fuckers. ”
The man who was talking wasn’t a regular member, not from what I could tell. He might show up for weekend rallies and a few parties, but I didn’t recognize him.
A new voice piped up, this one from a man I did recognize. Riley from earlier, the biker who’d driven me here. His focus was on the floor while he sipped from a glass bottle of beer.
“Honestly, I like the peace. I’m tired of all the fucking fighting. I lost my brother to a war with those fuckers. Enough is enough.”
Three of the men yelled, clapping shoulders, the other four yelled their dissent. I chose that moment to slip past them and down the stairs. A dark hallway greeted me, so I pulled out my phone and used the flashlight app to navigate.
The noise began to fade as I stepped off the last step and my feet sank into plush carpet.
Finding the light switch on the side of the wall, the space illuminated, revealing a spacious room.
Three leather arm chairs, in addition to a long leather couch, faced a massive flat screen television.
A pool table sat off to the side. Behind it was a darkened bathroom, and next to it was a space for a simple top loader, washer and dryer.
A closed door sat on the opposite end, and another tucked farther back, almost hidden away.
Making my way back in the direction of the hidden space, I relished the quiet.
Down here was even better than Killian’s space.
Somehow the room seemed to completely muffle the party from upstairs.
It was a wonder that no one was down here, unless the members just instinctively knew that this area was off-limits.
This was the first time I had ever been down here, or even realized it was here, and I’d been here for three months.
Just as I suspected, the hidden room was the empty one that Red had mentioned for me to use. A single twin bed rested against the far wall, and a small side table and lamp were next to it. The rest of the space was sparse.
Setting my bag on the floor, I went searching for the linens Red had mentioned.
They would likely be near the washer and dryer, or the bathroom, so that’s where I headed.
The silence wrapped around me, cocooning me in a way that I hadn’t realized I needed.
The chaos of the club and rage of the party couldn’t reach me down here.
It almost felt like I could just breathe for a second and forget where I was.
Forget Killian and Natty, and the way their actions felt like a knife to my chest, digging into a place they had no business being.
I knew better, I knew falling for him would hurt. He’d warned me; from the first moment I met him, he was a walking, talking, red flag.
Yet, I wanted him.
I craved his destruction, the devastation I knew he promised.
I had some sick and twisted desire to hurt.
There was no other explanation as to why I let him under my defenses.
It was the stupid nickname he called me, and the way he was so protective of me.
It confused me, nothing more. It was a stark contrast to what I had grown up with.
My father, being the mayor when I was little, made me feel like we were living in a glass snow globe.
One wrong move and our world would upend, or even shatter.
When he became governor of the state, it only got worse, until as senator, I had to leave.
Everyone was expendable, especially his only child.
I was a pretty face, but my wild nature was constantly getting me into trouble.
The one constant I had, the one that always stuck, were the threats and promises from my father about ruining my life.
Every time his arm came around me for a photo op, he’d pinch my side while whispering threats of behaving.
I grew up feeling like my peace and safety were on a thin line, every waking moment. I hated the wildness that lived within me. I hated how curious I was, and how I’d always needed to investigate, and how it inevitably would end with me getting into trouble.
Killian made me feel protected, and like I could unapologetically be myself for the first time in my life, while still being cherished.
Blinking past the burning in my eyes, I gripped a bundle of sheets and a pillow.
Perhaps if I had some space from him, some time away from seeing him or being near him, just like I did over the past three months, I could go back to being apathetic toward him.
I was still standing, staring at a closet with the linens in my arms when I heard the door to the top of the stairs open and close. Then feminine laughter.
Oh shit.
I quickly ducked as Giles made his way down the stairs, kissing a Sweetbutt. I couldn’t recognize who she was from here, but it didn’t matter. This was his space, and I had just invaded it, like I did to Killian.
Shame flared aggressively in my chest, as I got on all fours and began crawling out of sight.
The couple was kissing and heavily petting when they paused near the pool table, making me freeze.
“You ever fucked on one before?” the girl asked in a sultry voice.
I was within viewing distance of Giles, but he wasn’t paying attention. Hopefully she’d strip or something and he’d be distracted.
“Why don’t you just take those shorts off and show me exactly what you want me to fuck, and we’ll start there,” Giles muttered, all low and sexy.
Oh no. That was definitely Sadie. She was the only Sweetbutt that was still wearing shorts in November. I was still on the floor and I did not want to have to watch them, or hear them, have sex. Maybe if I—
“You mean these shorts?” Sadie asked, and I could see from my spot she’d tossed the denim at Giles’s face. She stood in front of him in just a light blue thong. Her shirt went next, and of course, she wasn’t even wearing a bra.
Giles smiled at her, his hands dropping to the copper button on his jeans.
“You gonna let me have your ass this time?” he asked all husky, and oh my god.
They were about to fuck, and I had a decision to make.
I could scatter across the floor while they were going at it, but if they didn’t move to the couch, or his room, then he was going to catch me.
It wasn’t that I cared that he did. I just didn’t want to talk to him.
I knew he was going to mention Killian, and I wasn’t ready.
I was so stuck deliberating my choices, I missed that his phone had rung…and the idiot answered.
“Hey boss. Nope, not busy at all.”
Poor Sadie was just perched on the edge of the pool table, watching Giles as he held the phone to his ear.
No girl wanted to hear that, but especially not while she was in front of a man naked.
“Yeah, I can go check on her, but I’m almost positive I saw her earlier mingling at the party.” Giles placed a sweet kiss on the side of Sadie’s face before tucking himself into his boxers.
Were they talking about me? Was I conceited to assume they were?
“She saw you two…no she saw her get on the back of your bike, and how you tried to hand her your jacket. She was hurt, Kil. No idea what she plans to do tonight, but whatever it is, it’ll likely be with that image in mind.”
Definitely me then.
I heard Killian’s billowing “fuck” all the way from my place on the floor.
“I tried to explain it to her,” Giles said, now walking back toward the stairs.
Sadie was scrolling through her phone, half naked on the pool table as if she were completely used to this. Maybe she was, but I’d eat a dead cockroach before this ever became my life. Where I just lay around, ready to be fucked only to be silenced and shelved a moment later.
I needed to get in my room before Giles found me.
Eyeing the open doorway once more, I dared another few paces on my hands and knees when I heard Giles continue.
“What exactly do you want me to do? If she is with another member tonight, there’s nothing I can do about—”
He stopped, and I heard Killian yelling, but I couldn’t make out what he was saying.
“No,” Giles muttered.
This was so ridiculous; I wasn’t going to fuck anyone tonight. I wanted to read about people fucking and get into my pajamas. Have a nice pity party, if these idiots would just let me.
“You got it. But…” Giles hesitated, rubbing the back of his neck, “Killian you need to fix this. It’s getting past the point of anyone being able to deal with you. You were willing to give your patch to Natty for protection, but you won’t give it to Laura? Doesn’t make any sense to me.”
His words landed painfully hard in my chest. My eyes burned with unshed tears, and the fear that I would never truly understand what had happened today threatened to choke me.
Not with the way Killian reacted to me, the danger I was in, or the reason he’d taken Natty.
Maybe it was all innocent, but the fact that Giles had just said Killian wasn’t willing to give me his cut even for protection, spoke volumes.
In fact, it said absolutely everything I needed to hear.
Giles must have hung up because he resumed talking to Sadie.
“Let me make it up to you, but come upstairs with me real quick. Okay?”
He kissed her long and hard, feeling her up and then letting out a sigh as he pulled away.
“Okay, as long as you promise.” She purred, and then she was hopping off the table and gathering her clothes.
I waited for them to hit the stairs, and then I reached back for the pile of bedding and shuffled the rest of the way into the room and shut the door.
I knew what Giles was doing. He was searching for me, and any signs of the guy I was hooking up with. All I could do was hope that Red didn’t rat me out because if she didn’t then I might just be successful for once in driving the new president of the Stone Riders a little crazy.
Flipping on the switch in my new room, I took my time stretching the fitted sheet over the mattress. Then I shook out the top sheet, and laid it flat, smoothing out any wrinkles. There was a threadbare blanket I found in the closet, but there wasn’t anything else in there, so it would have to do.
Red was right, it was freezing in the basement, so I pulled on a hoodie and some sweats then crawled into bed. My phone was in one hand as I navigated my playlist, while my kindle was in the other, and I was two seconds from hitting play when I heard the sound of rumbling engines.
I paused, glancing up at the wall as if I could see through it to the yard. The sound of approaching motorcycles permeated the walls, and from the echo, it was a lot of bikes, which had my stomach churning.
Most of the Stone Riders had already pulled in, which meant these bikes weren’t Stone Riders. Killian was gone, so was Wes, which meant the highest person in charge was Giles, and while I loved the guy, he was not ready to hold off whoever had just arrived.
The rest of the club was here though, he’d be fine.
But why did Killian leave, and by himself? That wasn’t normal, was it…he was the president, which meant he should have had backup.
I could just ignore it; the club wasn’t my business. I turned my phone back on, about to hit play once more, when suddenly someone screamed, and then a gun went off.