Chapter 11
I used to tell my mom she’s always mad for no reason. But look at me now, always mad Jr .
— Cutter’s secret thoughts
CUTTER
Amusement was simmering in my veins and had been since she’d called me her husband.
Had my ex-girlfriend tried that, I might’ve laughed it off, but I sure the fuck wouldn’t have gone with it.
I wouldn’t have let Rome think that I was actually married.
I wouldn’t have introduced her as my ‘wife’ to my brother.
I sure the fuck wouldn’t have been so okay with the thought.
Yet , there I was, sitting next to a crime lord’s sister, introducing her to my brother, and I felt…great.
I felt great.
Dorie had never met Copper .
Dorie had never asked to meet Copper , and I’d never asked her if she wanted to go.
Which really should’ve been her first red flag when it came to me.
Didn’t she ever wonder why I’d never asked her to come?
Because on my end, asking her to come would’ve indicated that she actually meant something to me. And since I hadn’t asked, that meant that I’d never seen the relationship going anywhere long term.
“ I like you, girl,” Copper said, then lowered his voice. “ Don’t look now, but the douche that’s trying to singlehandedly add to my sentence is sitting behind you. Not sure how the fuck he got out here on good enough behavior to get visitors, but there he is.”
“ Is that the same one?” I asked.
“ Lyle Pennington ,” Copper grumbled. “ The fuckin’ ass wipe that’s trying to make himself king of the pen.”
Copper had mentioned in his letter the day that Lyle Pennington had arrived.
He’d been transferred from another prison in Tennessee and had immediately started to assert his dominance and solidify his place in the prison.
From day one of his arrival, he’d been a thorn in Copper’s side.
First , he’d tried to win Copper over with his smarmy wiles. When Copper didn’t fall for it and not only refused to speak to him, but have anything to do with him, it’d pissed him off.
Because Copper had been here so long, he’d established himself as a man not to be messed with.
Everyone respected him from inmate to warden.
All the guards loved him.
Hell , there wasn’t a single person in the prison that didn’t respect him.
And Lyle Pennington wanted that kind of pull.
When Copper wouldn’t give him the time of day, Lyle had started to target him.
The last two years had been worse because of Copper having to constantly defend himself from Lyle’s attempts to hurt him.
If I could kill one man and get away with it, it’d be that douchebag.
I hated that my brother was struggling with it and hated even more that I couldn’t fix it for him.
“ I …” I started to say, but the woman at my side started to sway.
I turned to her to see her face drained of all color.
There was no life to her face at all, and her breaths were coming in uneven pants.
Her entire body was shaking, and she was swaying on her seat, looking ready to fall over.
“ Ahh , look who it is.”
The sound of his voice had me narrowing my eyes, but the absolute blankness out of the woman at my side had me terrified.
The shaking. The fear.
She was having a panic attack.
Had to be.
And she’d only started exhibiting these symptoms when she’d turned around and looked at who was behind her.
Who was now standing at the side of our table.
“ Go sit down, Pennington , or you’ll be escorted back to your cell,” Rome’s deep, authoritative voice called out.
“ Sorry , sorry.” Lyle held up his hands.
When they dropped back to his side, he purposefully reached out and brushed that finger down the back of Milena’s head, fingers running through her hair.
I got out of my seat so fast that Lyle took two very large steps back with his hands up.
“ Whoa , accident!” He laughed. “ I’m sitting…”
“ You’re done, Pennington ,” Rome said. “ Back . Now .”
Lyle’s face went slack. “ I haven’t had a chance to talk to my friend.”
“ Not my concern,” Rome said.
“ Is there a problem here?”
Warden Beauregard .
“ No problem at all,” Lyle replied sweetly.
“ Go . Now ,” the warden snapped.
Lyle left with Rome to escort him.
Warden Beauregard , also known as Bayou to the outside world, took one look at me and said, “ Your girl needs some help.”
I could see that.
Especially since she was all but collapsing on my body.
If I moved at all she’d fall over.
I had one hand on her head, holding her to my belly, and the other fisted at my side.
The need to murder that piece of shit was still boiling in my soul.
“ I know,” I said.
“ Go .” Copper looked on. “ It’s okay.”
I bent down and gathered her into my arms.
Bridal style, I carried her out of the meeting room door—with everyone watching on curiously, even the fellow who’d been meeting with Lyle —and carried her to the row of chairs at the exit.
I sat down and pulled her deep into my embrace, surrounding her small body with as much of me as I could.
“ Hey ,” I said to her. “ We’re gone. He’s gone. You’re okay.”
What in the hell could have happened?
The worst thing was, I couldn’t fuckin’ leave.
Not with her freaking out the way she was.
There was no way I could keep her on my bike and get us out of here.
“ Here’s y’all’s things,” Bayou said, holding out a brown paper sack with our phones and my keys.
I gestured toward the seat next to me.
Bayou didn’t put it down.
He watched me for a few seconds before saying, “ I have to go get my kids from school later. I have my wife’s Suburban . Do you want to take it to the diner?”
I glanced at him. “ That would be great. You think you can get my bike down there to switch it out?”
“ Sure ,” he said, digging into my bag for the keys to my bike. “ My keys are in the Suburban .”
I didn’t bother to ask him why they’d be sitting in there unattended.
Likely , no one had the balls to steal a prison warden’s vehicle, let alone the president of a motorcycle club.
And most everyone around the area knew who Bayou was.
Hell , I knew who Bayou was, and I lived two hours away from him.
A buzzing sound pulled my attention from my thoughts, and I reached into the paper bag to make sure it wasn’t mine, but saw Milena’s going nuts instead.
I glanced at the screen and couldn’t stop myself from reading all of her messages.
Shasha :
Swear to God , if you don’t tell me why you’re at that fucking prison right now, I’m going to burn it to the ground.
Shasha :
Answer me.
Shasha :
Seriously , Milena . Answer me.
Shasha :
I’m on my way.
Shasha :
Fuck . Please don’t go in there.
Shasha :
I’m an hour away.
Shasha :
Goddammit , Milena . Please answer me.
Shasha :
Forty -five minutes.
Shasha :
Please , please, please answer me.
The messages went on, and on, and on.
She had over a hundred messages from her brother and was getting them every minute.
Like he was texting her to keep her paying attention to him, and not the prison.
I looked back at Bayou , who nodded his head and said, “ Get her out of here.”
I didn’t waste time.
I did stop and glance at Bayou as we were leaving to say, “ I want to know everything that you have on Lyle Pennington .”
Bayou nodded once, and I headed to his Suburban .
The trip took a minute tops, but instead of putting her down when I got behind the wheel, I kept her in my arms for the mile it took to get me to the diner.
I pulled to a stop, turned off the vehicle, and wrapped both arms around her.
It was in that moment that I made a decision.
A stupid one? Most definitely.
A rash one? Of course.
One that I would never regret? Bingo .
Milena’s phone buzzed again, and with it, she shivered hard.
Shasha :
Please fucking call me.
Deciding he’d been worrying enough, I used my own phone to call him but used her phone to get the number from.
After I had it dialed, I hit Call , then placed her phone on the console face down.
Shasha answered the first ring. “ Milena ?”
“ Not Milena ,” I said. “ This is…”
“ I know who you are. How’s Milena ?” he snapped.
I didn’t bother to ask how he knew.
I looked down at Milena’s face, which was buried into my chest.
Her breathing had slowed.
I didn’t know if it was because she knew who I was talking to, or if it was the sound of my voice.
Whatever the reason, I kept doing both.
“ She had a panic attack when we were inside the prison,” I said. “ Lyle …”
“ Fuck !” I heard something bang. Likely Shasha’s fist against a steering wheel. “ Fuckin ’ shit!”
I smoothed my hands through Milena’s hair, hoping that it would help soothe her.
Her hair was so fuckin’ long.
Down to her damn waist.
Seriously , some of the strands were touching the seat that I was sitting on, it was so long.
“ I wouldn’t have taken her in there had I known…”
“ She didn’t know, either,” he admitted, voice hoarse. “ No one but me and Dima know.”
“ Tell me everything,” I pleaded. “ This same motherfucker has been messing with my brother’s good behavior in prison. I want to know what we’re dealing with.”
I needed to know.
And the brother thing was a lie.
I needed to know solely because of the fact that it was Milena .
That decision I’d made earlier?
It was resolute.
She was going to be mine.
She might’ve inadvertently claimed me earlier, but I was advertently claiming her now.
She would be mine.
She would be my old lady.
She would eventually be my wife.
She would never go another day without me there.
I just had to ease her into it, first.
“ Lyle Pennington —” The name sounded like a curse. “ He and Milena briefly dated. She was seventeen, him twenty-five. I had no clue about it at first. Just knew that she was dating someone. When I finally met him, I was fucking livid. At first, I’d noticed changes coming from her. Her attitude. The way that she treated Dima and Nastya . The constant undertone of not feeling good enough. I watched my baby sister change from a budding young woman to a scared, hollow version of herself. And that was all because of him. The moment I met him, I knew that he was the reason for her change. And , because there’s no way a man that much older than my sister was going to date her, I forced them to break up.”
I was guessing it didn’t end so easily, or the man wouldn’t be in prison right now.
“ Did what I needed to do to make sure that he stayed away. Until one day he snapped. He came by the house dressed as a guard. Even looked exactly like the one that usually came in for his shift around that time. The other guard left, leaving the house pretty much unprotected. I’d forgotten my wallet at the house, so I came home to get it before a meeting. When I walked in, it was to find Milena on the ground…”
He trailed off, and I didn’t need to hear more.
I knew.
I knew deep in my heart exactly what had happened.
“ I was on the verge of killing the motherfucker, but at some point, Milena must’ve gotten a phone call out to the cops. They showed up lights and sirens and pulled me off of the disgusting piece of shit. Another minute, and he would’ve been dead.”
Good riddance.
“ And he gets out this year,” Shasha said quietly. “ I’m not sure how, but he made bail.” He blew out a deep breath. “ I’m heading there now. I’m assuming she won’t make it home on the back of your bike.”
No , I didn’t think she would.
I squeezed her just a little bit tighter.
I was probably cutting off her air supply, but at this point, I couldn’t stop myself.
The shivering had come down.
She was no longer shaking in my arms, but she was sitting deathly still.
“ I’m in front of the diner about a mile from the prison,” I informed him.
“ I’m less than thirty minutes out.”
I didn’t bother to ask how he’d gotten to that point so fast. I just said ‘okay’ and hung up.
Milena never said another word.
She did relax in my arms, though.
She went from a shaking, stiff mess to a loose, languid, melty woman in my arms.
She fell asleep at some point, and I kept holding her exactly like this for the next twenty-four minutes.
Shasha arrived beside the Suburban and didn’t wait for me to get out myself. He walked right up to my door and stared at his sister.
Since he could see her face, he didn’t say much.
He only opened his passenger side door and gestured for me to put her in.
I did, placing her gently into the car.
Shasha rounded to the other side and pulled a couple of pink blankets from the back seat.
One he shoved underneath Milena’s head, and the other he gave to me to cover her with.
Carefully closing the door, I looked at Shasha over the roof.
“ I would’ve never brought her here had I known,” I commented. “ I was just trying to get her on the back of the bike again. I didn’t want her to be afraid.” I paused. “ She’s had a really bad day today.”
Shasha’s head turned. “ What else happened?”
I told him what I’d heard the two women talking about at the park bathrooms today.
His eyes narrowed.
“ I don’t know what else happened, but she was really fuckin’ down when I saw her last,” I elaborated. “ Running on the side of the road where a car could’ve hit her.”
He rubbed his hands over his face.
“ Sometimes , she puts on such a good front that I forget that she’s broken,” he murmured.
Broken .
Was she broken?
I didn’t think so.
“ She started running when she first got…” He couldn’t even say the word. Which tracked, because I couldn’t even think it. “ She started running, and she got back to herself. Started going on dates. Started living life again. But sometimes, if you catch her at the right moment, she forgets to put the mask on. Forgets to act like she’s happy.”
My stomach, which had already been in knots, seized into one large ball of horror.
“ She’s moved on. She’s dated. Had sex. Seen a therapist. She’s doing all the right things. I just know… I know that she still has issues,” he intoned. “ But I never see those issues, because she tries her hardest to act like everything’s okay around us.”
I rubbed the back of my neck.
“ I have a guard on her twenty-four-seven now,” he confided. “ That was how I knew where you were. He gives me constant updates on her.”
I imagined.
“ I knew he was there,” I nodded. “ I just wanted her to escape.”
“ The night that her ex tried to kill her on the back of the bike…she’d surprised the guard by leaving. He tried to keep up, but it was impossible,” he explained.
I hadn’t really thought about that, but it made sense.
A vehicle wouldn’t have a chance of keeping up with a bike.
“ I’ll watch out for her now, too,” I told him.
His eyes met mine over the top of his car. “ She has a bad track record of choosing losers.”
I grinned. “ She hasn’t chosen me. I’m choosing her.”
I imagined that it was going to take some convincing on my end to get her to give me a chance.
But it was work I was willing to put in.
Shasha sighed. “ I’ll take her from here.”
Meaning , he decided that I was done.
Maybe for now, Shasha Semyonov , but not forever.
Jerking my chin up at him, I stepped away from the car, and he opened his car door.
The purr of his Mercedes engine sounded, and seconds later he was driving away.
Rubbing at the spot on my chest that was all of a sudden aching, I watched them leave.
Then I went back to the prison.