Chapter 5
ROSEMARY
“Why don’t you go take a shower, Princess?” Dad suggests upon us stepping into the clubhouse. The Devil’s Riot MC clubhouse.
I remember Jade telling me about the move and asking me to come with her.
Of course, I agreed. She’s my best friend, and I could’ve found another gym to work at, even if it wasn’t a management position.
Either way, I intended to move with her and Viper when they moved here.
Now they’re here, and I’m not sure what to do or make of it all.
I wrap my arms around myself and nod, not speaking a word.
“Rosemary,” Jade cries out and rushes forward, only to come up short by my dad. Her eyes wide as she takes a good look at me and the blood coating my hands, my body, and my hair. It’s everywhere, and I don’t have to see it to know I’m covered in tonight’s victim’s blood.
“Easy, sweetheart. She needs room to shower and get cleaned up.”
I flinch at the gentle tone of my dad’s voice. It’s a rarity to be heard. I think the last time he spoke so softly to me was when he told me my mother was gone. I cried in his arms. Later, I’d gotten mad and blamed him, him and his club. Because of them, I didn’t have a mother.
“Come on, I’ll show you where you can do that.” Jade nods, holding her hand out.
“I’ll show her.”
The voice comes from directly behind me, causing me to tense. I hadn’t heard him come in. I didn’t know he was there.
“I can do it, Kevlar,” Jade remarks, narrowing her eyes.
“Yeah, but Viper needs you to do something for him,” Kevlar states, coming up next to me, his hand taking mine. “I’ll show her where to go.”
I refuse to speak, to say a word. It all feels like a dream. That at any moment, I’ll be back with Dominic, and he’ll succeed in doing as he wanted to do with me. What he’d been telling me he intended to do while we’d been in the back of the SUV.
“Let me know when you’re done, Princess, and I’ll bring you something to eat,” my dad says, releasing me to Kevlar.
Again, I nod and allow Kevlar to pull me from the room.
I have so many questions.
Questions that I want answers to, but I don’t know where to begin.
I mean, for one, what were my dad and brother doing here?
I didn’t think they knew any of the members of the Devil’s Riot MC.
I knew Jade’s brother, Jensen, knew who they were.
He was even friends with my brother somewhat, but they both swore to keep my relationship to themselves.
I didn’t want anyone to know I had anything to do with them.
It’s not that I don’t love them. I do, but at the time, things were so bad, I’d been so angry, I needed to be away from them all.
I cut ties with them, and they allowed me this on the condition I don’t close the door on them.
That they give me the chance to stay a part of my life, even if at a distance.
Now they’re here. They came for me. I can only assume they heard something.
That’s something else I want to know, how they found me.
How they got me away so easily. Nothing is ever that easy.
There’s always something. Dominic went with them without a fight, and that can’t be good.
He must have had something up his sleeve.
He had to. It’s the only explanation that makes sense.
Kevlar guides me into a room and closes the door. “Jade refused to leave your stuff behind when we moved. She said you need it here when we finally found you. They’re still packed up in another room, but for now, you can use one of my shirts.”
I blink, uncertain I heard him correctly.
Letting my hand go, I stare after him as he steps over to a dresser, opens the top drawer, and pulls out a gray shirt.
Next, he opens the middle drawer only to grab a pair of sweatpants.
Turning toward me, Kevlar holds the clothes out.
“Here you go, Rosie, the pants are gonna be big, but they’ll do for right now.
Later, you can go through your boxes and find something else if you want. ”
I take the clothes, nodding. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Kevlar be this nice. Not to anyone. Unless you’re one of the kids who were always around the clubhouse.
Kevlar points to the bathroom and shows me where the towels are. “Take your time, Tigress,” he whispers and closes the door, leaving me alone in the bathroom.
Briefly, I stare at the closed door before sighing heavily. This is real. It has to be.
Shaking my head, despair overwhelming me.
I set the clothes on the counter, start the shower, and strip out of the clothes I’d worn to the fight tonight.
Stepping under the spray, a shiver rushes down my spine as the warm water hits my body.
I glance down and stare at the drain as the water washes away the blood.
I suck in a breath only to allow a sob to escape my lips. Tears stream down my cheeks, and I crumple to the bottom of the shower. Everything I’ve done, that I’ve had to do, sinks in.
Wrapping my arms around my legs, I cry, replaying the months of training, the fights I had to fight, what I had to do to win, to live.
Oh God, I hate myself for what I had to do.
Unable to handle it, I bring my hands up, brush my fingers through my wet hair, tangling them in the strands, and scream as the pain consumes me.
I don’t know how to deal with this. To know I took lives doing a sport I used to love.
Why is this even happening to me? Dominic told me that first night I won a fight I was chosen because I was good. I was a winner and would do what it takes to win every match. He knew it because he studied me that they all knew what I could do.
Crying out, sobbing, I try to shake the thoughts away, but they won’t leave. I can’t stop thinking about it.
Hands wrap around my fingers, stopping me from yanking only to bring them around my body.
Those hands were attached to arms that surround me.
“I’ve got you, Rosemary. Let it out, baby.
You can get through this, Tigress.” Kevlar’s soothing voice cuts through the anguish, and I curl deeper into him.
“Swear, I’m going to make things right for you,” he murmurs and keeps talking, sweet words soothing.
His arms hold me, keeping me grounded instead of free falling.
I don’t know how long we sat there, me crying in his arms, but eventually, he moved, standing, bringing me with him. Without a word, he grabs a washcloth, puts some of the soap on it, and starts washing me, cleaning every inch.
I should probably be embarrassed by this, but I’m not. Instead, I know he’s still wearing jeans and a tee. Something inside me tightened further. He heard me and came to me, not worrying that he was still dressed.
“You’re soaked,” I croak, speaking for the first time.
“Doesn’t matter.” He shrugs, drops the washcloth, and picks up the bottle of shampoo. I stare at him as he washes my hair, massaging the shampoo on my scalp. It feels amazing.
Far too soon, he’s shutting the water off and reaching out of the shower to grab a towel. He wraps it around me. “Do me a favor, baby, grab another towel for me.”
Nodding, I get out, reach under the sink, and grab one of the towels for him. Turning back to give it to him, I find him stripping out of the sopping wet clothes. He’d already removed the shirt and was working on dropping his jeans.
Seeing him naked isn’t a hardship. Kevlar’s body is as impressive, if not more so, than it was the night I got to know it very well.
I hand him the towel as he steps out, takes it, and wraps it around his waist.
“Thank you,” I find myself whispering.
“No need to thank me, Rosemary.” He grunts and moves in close, takes my hands, and brushes his fingers over my busted knuckles. “Get dressed, Tigress, so we can bandage your hands.”
“You don’t have to do that.” I was used to them being like this. It’s not like anyone was around to fix me up. The most I got was a few bandages to use to take care of myself and that was so I wouldn’t get an infection.
“Know I don’t have to, doesn’t mean I’m not doing it. So, get dressed, we’ll bandage your hands, and then I’ll take you to the kitchen and get you something to eat. I’m sure your dad and brother want to see you along with everyone else,” he says.
“I’m . . .” I clear my throat and drop my gaze. “I don’t want to be around a lot of people right now,” I admit.
I haven’t been around people much in months. The only time I was, it was at fights, and I don’t think I can handle a lot of folks surrounding me right now.
“I get that, baby,” Kevlar mutters, nodding. “How about just four for now?”
“Four?”
“Yeah, me, your dad, your brother, and Jade.”
“With Jade comes Viper,” I inform him. When it comes to my best friend, her man is always close by. I’ve always found it cute, if not slightly annoying, but I get what he’s doing it for.
“True,” he grunts, “so a total of five people, can you handle that?”
“I guess I don’t have a choice,” I mumble and grab the shirt off the counter.
Without a bra to put on, I drop the towel and pull the shirt on, aware he’s watching my every move.
I didn’t get privacy for months, and though he tried, he’s still here.
And I don’t know what it is about him, but he makes me feel safe.
Kevlar steps into my space, his hands cupping either side of my face, holding me still at the same time, ensuring he has my attention.
“You’ll always have a choice, Rosemary. Always.
If you want to stay in my room, then you can do that.
I’ll go get you something to eat and bring it to you.
You want me out of the room, you got that too, but you were gone, baby.
Jade was freaking out. We were looking for you.
You vanished without a trace. There were no hits of you anywhere.
We didn’t get anything until earlier today when your dad and brother showed up.
They all want to see you. If you don’t want to talk, I’m sure they’ll give you that too, baby. ”
“Why do you keep calling me baby? And you called me Tigress earlier, why?” The question passes my lips before I can stop myself.
He never called me either. Well, except for that night.
He’d called me a Tigress and said to go wild for him, and I had.
What we’d done was hot, wild, and amazing.
But the next morning, he sent me packing.
It was good, and though it stung, I’d just broken up with a guy I was seeing after finding him cheating on me.
I wasn’t ready for anything serious. Kevlar gave me what I needed.
What really hurt was when he’d gone off on me for showing up at the clubhouse.
“We’ll get to that later,” he states, stepping past me and heading for the bedroom. “Now, can you handle going out of this room and eating in the kitchen?”
Seeing his point, I nod. I don’t have to speak in order to eat. I also want to get this over with. I’m exhausted. “Honestly, I just want to sleep.”
“We’ll make it quick. A sandwich. How’s that sound?”
The thought of a sandwich causes my stomach to tighten. “Anything but that,” I whisper, finally pulling on the sweatpants. They engulf me, but that’s okay. The fact they’re nice and loose works for me.
“Soup then?” he offers.
Nodding, I step toward him. “Tomato?”
“If that’s what you want,” he agrees and finishes getting dressed in another pair of jeans, a solid gray tee, his boots, and lastly, he pulls on his cut.
“Can I borrow a hoodie and socks?” I ask, rubbing my arms, feeling cold. I’m used to it, but I hate it. I always get cold easily and suffer from cold feet all the time.
“Yeah, Tigress, you can have whatever you need,” he says, pulls out a pair of socks for me, and hands them over. “You put those on while I get you a hoodie.”
“Thank you.” Sitting on the edge of the bed, I do just that.
“No problem. Now put this on.” Kevlar holds his hoodie for me to put on. Once I have it on, my still-damp hair falls down my back. He threads his fingers with mine and lifts them to brush his lips across my fingertips. “Let’s get these bandaged up and see if we can’t find you some tomato soup.”