Chapter 38
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
Iris
Hours later, I wake in the random house, in the random bedroom, and Dark’s gone.
Loud voices rise. Not pissed off, but definitely male.
Not knowing the protocol here, I redress in the clothes I had on earlier, put on my wig, and peek out the door to see if anyone’s in the hall.
When the coast is clear, I tiptoe across an old, moth-eaten rug to the bathroom, take care of business, and when I’m done, I take the stairs to the main floor, where all the noise is coming from.
In the old farmhouse living room, Dark’s standing next to Sunshine and Kali, with their backs to me.
The men from earlier are on the couches, and with them are a bunch of other leather-clad men, filling all the empty space, sucking damn near all the oxygen from the room that now smells like a mix of oil, cologne, and the outdoors.
A flash of red hair catches my eye. Before I announce my presence, Sola notices me and wraps her arms around my neck in a big hug, which disrupts the entire room, and now everyone’s looking at us.
“It’s good to see you,” Sola cheers, rocking us back and forth, laughing like a kid when she’s probably running on fumes, in that punch-drunk state before your body collapses from exhaustion. Either that, or she’s hopped up on energy drinks.
“You, too.” I giggle and pretend that we aren’t drawing attention.
When we pull back, Rot comes into view, with a shirt on this time, and a leather cut that blends in with the rest of the crew, minus his Kings of Anarchy patches.
Dark maneuvers, so he’s right beside me.
Another round of introductions is made. Names of men I’ll never remember are shared, and when we’re through, everyone splits into smaller groups to catch up before we get down to business.
The woman we met earlier comes in carrying a tray of sandwiches.
The men grunt their approval and scarf them down.
Not comfortable standing around a bunch of men I don’t know and definitely don’t trust, I carefully separate from Dark to find a quiet corner.
Kali and Sola join me. Rot, somehow reading my body language and our need for girl time, posts up as a human wall to keep us hidden.
“Is Rot the only one here?” I whisper to Sola, looking at the back of her man’s dark head.
Leaning in, Sola nods. “Necro agreed to things, and Coffin is having a time-out.”
“Did you talk to Dee?”
“Not directly, but the guys know, so they’re gonna tell her. I didn’t wanna risk her trying to come along.”
That makes sense.
“How is she?”
“Adjusting. We’ve only had a few incidents.”
“Did she stab Creature again?”
Kali chuckles.
Forcing a smile, which confirms that my sister most definitely stabbed him again, Sola claps her hands together and changes the subject. “Why don’t we talk about what’s happening here?”
“Is it just the three of us?” I ask.
Kali nods, but it’s stiff, and her frown confirms that this isn’t ideal. “I couldn’t pull anyone off their current jobs on such short notice, and nobody with direct ties to the Sacred Sinners can help. It’s too risky.”
“Do we know the plan?” I ask.
“Sunshine said Gunz is working on our paperwork. We work for a temp agency that this resort often hires newbies from.”
“Let me guess. They hire outside workers so they can’t be traced when they go missing.”
“Bingo.”
“So, this resort is shady as fuck.”
“It sounds like it. They cater to special types of men.”
Pedophiles. Ah. Yes. The scum of the earth.
“Did he say anything about kids?” I ask to be certain.
“There’s gonna be kids,” Sola throws out, eyeing Kali.
“How do you know?”
“Kali asked me to come,” Sola explains. “She wouldn’t have asked if there weren’t kids.”
Kali’s face pales. “It’s true. I don’t… Handle kid stuff well.”
“What she means is…” Sola looks to the crystal-loving brunette. “You need to tell her.”
“Fine.” Kali sighs. “I can’t focus when children are involved. I have a difficult time doing my job.”
“And you don’t?” I address Sola.
“I was one of those children. I understand what they’re going through. I can stomach it because I lived it, and I can keep my shit locked down long enough to help. Kali asked me to come because she needs me to run point.”
I look to our leader. “Why didn’t you say anything?”
“Because I assumed it was kids, but I didn’t know for sure. Calls from the mother chapter only come my way when it’s really fuckin’ bad. Otherwise, it’s communicated through Cell or email. This was a phone call.”
Alright… This is as bad as I thought it was.
“Shit.”
“Yeah,” Kali agrees.
“Am I gonna need to kill?” I ask, so I know what’s expected of me.
“Yes.”
“Okay.” I can handle that. It’s not normally what I’m there for. That’s Dee’s thing. But it’s not like I haven’t gotten my hands dirty before.
Kali rubs my shoulder. “Are you sure you still wanna do this?”
“Of course I do.” I want to help.
Kali takes my hand into hers, then Sola’s, and we build a circle.
Kali whispers for us to close our eyes, and as the loud voices of men surround us, we breathe with her.
We focus on what we gotta do to get in and out safely, to give these children a new life, and help the club rescue as many as we can.
Strength and passion weave through our connection, a connection I’ve never had with anyone before.
In any job before this, I’ve been alone.
Running it alone. Communicating alone. Putting myself at risk, on my own.
But this is different. This is a family—a sisterhood of women, all focused on a single outcome—helping others.
That, I can do.
This, I can do.
I’m not scared.
I’m energized by the need to fight for those who can’t fight for themselves. Something I was raised to do. Just on a larger scale.
The three of us carry on for a bit longer in our bubble. Pizza arrives for dinner. We spread throughout the house, and Dark’s with me anytime I’m not with Sola and Kali.
On the porch, we sit on the top step, looking out into the vast darkness. Stars shimmer in the sky.
Dark rests his hand on my leg as the outside of our arms, down to our hips, meld together.
“What color wig will you wear?” he asks, making conversation.
“What color do you think?”
“Blonde.”
“Is that your favorite on me?”
“No. My favorite is when you’re not wearing a wig.”
Whatever. That’s not true.
I bump my shoulder into his. “You can’t mean that.”
“Well, I do. You’re beautiful.”
“I don’t know what to say to that.”
“Say you’re gonna be safe and won’t do anything that might put you in unnecessary danger.”
“I’ll do my best,” I vow and mean it.
He squeezes my thigh. “I can’t lose you.”
Somersaults go a million miles an hour in my stomach as I rest my hand on top of his. “Dark.”
“No. Just listen. The day you poisoned me, I got on my knees on the balcony of my room and surrendered to whatever fuckin’ thing rules this world.
If there’s even one. It could be fate. It could be a lot of things.
I don’t know. But I was tired. Sick of everything.
Hatin’ life. Then I woke up in that cabin. ”
“And almost died.”
“And met you.”
“You met me before that.”
“No, I didn’t. I met my father-in-law’s latest fling, with beautiful, mismatched eyes. Not you.”
“I don’t even know who I am anymore.”
“Me neither. Not when I’m away from work. Work’s easy. I don’t know how to be a father or a husband. My son Fog hates me, and his boyfriend’s here.”
“His boyfriend?”
“Lace is Fog’s partner.”
Oh.
“Does that bother you?” I ask.
“That my kid’s gay? No. That his boyfriend’s around my age and a crazy son of a bitch?
Yeah. That bothers me. When my boys grew up wanting to be Sacred Sinners, I was thrilled at first, then I wasn’t.
I wanted them to have a normal life. Work a legit job.
Go to college. The whole thing. Shit I never got to do.
But they’re bikers now, and Fog just had to go and date one.
He couldn’t have met a nice, average dude who grounded him.
He had to date… Lace.” Dark shakes his head, grumbles a paragraph of expletives, and when he’s done venting his frustrations, he kisses my cheek.
Patting his knee, I chuckle. “Feel better?”
“Not really,” he complains with a wide, forced smile that turns genuine when he adds, “You’re terrible to talk to.”
Pressing my lips together to keep my own grin at bay, I knock my shoulder into his. “I know. I’m the worst.”
Dark snickers. “Real talk…Is there anything you’re actually bad at?”
“Cooking on an actual stove.” I put up a finger, then another.
“Probably sex. Talking to men…” I tick off everything that comes to mind.
Laundry, too. I still screw that up. How much soap to use?
To use softener or not. Then there’s bleach.
How much is too much? What colors do you wash together?
We had few clothes growing up and washed everything by hand in a steel tub with a bar of soap.
As an adult, even when I wasn’t living in the cabin, I washed most of my clothes in the tub and hung them to dry.
“Cooking’s overrated,” he states. “There’s no way you’re bad at sex. You’re the hottest woman alive. That’s not possible… And you talk to me just fine.”
Gah! This man with his… words and… stuff.
“Are you flirting with me, Dark?” I tease, trying really hard not to laugh like a silly girl.
“Is it working?”
Yes.
“Maybeeee. What if I told you I wanted you to take me upstairs and take my virginity tonight?” I bounce my eyebrows suggestively.
Dark licks his lips. “Fuck.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“Fuck. I know. Give me a second.” Getting off the step, Dark paces between the bushes that flank the porch, muttering something under his breath. Every now and again, he looks over at me, adjusts his cock, and keeps marching through the gravel.