Chapter 9
Mari
The way Cassie’s looking at me breaks my heart. “Sis,” I say, reaching for her hand.
“No, M. I don’t know what happened to you today, but this is wrong.”
I take a breath. She doesn’t know about the reason I got fired. Just that I am taking a job at the compound and the money is good.
“There’s something I haven’t told you, and you’re not going to like this,” I admit as I slump into a broken chair.
She glares at me, her foot tapping on the floor. “Get on with it.”
I take a breath and spill the truth. “I got fired because there was a confrontation at work.”
She swings her angry stare toward the open door. “Let me guess. Mr. Leather and Scowls had something to do it.”
“Yes, but—”
“M, did he brainwash you with his dick?”
I gasp. “Cassie, stop.”
“You fucked him, didn’t you? There’s beard rash on your neck. And I can smell his soap or whatever it is on you.”
“I had on his coat.”
“Why would you sleep with a man like him?”
I’m not explaining myself. I’m a grown woman. “That’s not the important thing.”
“No, moving me into a locked compound with a bunch of criminals is.”
She snatches her backpack off the floor—the one with her diabetic supplies—and goes to the fridge where she gets her insulin.
“I’m going to stay with friends,” she says as she fills her bag. “I wish you’d listen, but I can tell he’s already won.”
My heart falls and shatters at my feet. “Wait, Cassie, please listen. They are giving us a really nice place to live as part of the new job.”
“Good luck with that.” She storms toward the door and disappears.
Oh my god. What have I done? Outside, Ridge’s voice is sharp. “Cassie, where the fuck are you going?”
Fletch appears in the doorway. “Are you okay?”
“No.” I push past him to go after Cassie, but as soon as my feet hit the sidewalk I screech to a halt. An oil field truck is driving slowly past.
Dammit. No. I don’t want him to see my sister. “Cassie!” I scream.
Ridge is in pursuit, his boots slamming on the sidewalk. But instead of going faster, Cassie slams to a stop and Ridge plows into her, barely catching her before she hits the ground.
When he sets her on her feet, she’s pale.
“Cassie, oh my god. Are you okay?” I yell as I run toward her, but she’s talking fast to Ridge. His angry gaze follows the truck as it passes again.
“Get in my truck,” he tells her. Cassie doesn’t argue. She doesn’t look at me, she bolts for his truck.
Fletch has my arm in a tight grip. “Inside, Mari, I don’t want you out here.”
“What’s happening?” I ask both men, looking between them.
“Looks like the guy that’s been harassing has been stalking your sister too.”
I sway, my stomach swooping. “Oh my god. She didn’t tell me. I didn’t tell her.”
“Let’s get you two out of here,” Fletch growls. He ushers me to Ridge’s truck and helps me climb inside. Cassie scoots over. Her color is still bad and my panic only grows.
“What’s your glucose?”
She glances at her smartwatch, the one we saved for months to buy. “It’s okay.”
But her voice trembles and she reaches for my hand and whispers, “I didn’t tell you about that creep because I didn’t want to worry you. But I’ve never seen him here. Now he knows where I live.”
A painful knot twists in my stomach. “I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you too, but he’s the reason I got fired. Fletch was in the store when that guy was harassing me. They had a standoff and then Gary fired me.”
Her lips press flat and she squeezes my hand. “Maybe the biker isn’t such a bad guy after all.”
I hug her neck fiercely. “We stick together. I don’t know what will happen, but for now they’re giving us a safe place to land.”
“I don’t think he’s going to let you go,” she says as Fletch carries the last of our belongings out of the apartment.
“I think you might be right.” I hope, but I don’t say that aloud.
Fletch loads the bags in the back, and Ridge climbs in the driver’s seat, pressing his thigh against Cassie’s.
“Could you take up any more room?” she hisses at him.
“Yeah, I can.” Manspreading his muscular, denim-clad thighs, he starts the truck.
Cassie mutters, “Asshole.”
“Got one of those too.”
They’re still going back and forth as Fletch aims his bike at the road and revs that big engine. My heart shoots back into my throat as I watch him handle the big black machine.
I can’t speak the whole ride back to the compound. I’m too much of a mess. But Cassie holds my hand, and at least one thing is normal. We stick together. She’ll be close. I can keep an eye on her.
When the compound gate comes into view, she mutters, “Cult. See, I told you.”
Ridge growls. “Club.”
“Is there a difference?” she challenges.
One hand on the wheel, he takes the curve with cocky competence. “For one, we don’t treat women like shit.”
“Like kidnapping?” Cassie half-snorts. “I’m pretty sure I didn’t get in your truck on my own.”
“The first time,” he replies without looking at her. He drives straight to the cabin. A little sign hangs on the lamp post—Cabin 1—and just seeing it makes a whole new layer of emotion tighten my throat.
“So this is it?” Cassie asks. “I expected it to be a concrete building with bars on the windows.”
He chuckles, but it’s not a warm sound. “You always have such a smart fucking mouth?”
I cover that mouth with my hand. “No. She’s extra spicy today.”
Cassie bites my hand, not hard, and I drop it from her face.
He’s already out of the truck, helping Fletch move our things into the cabin. “We should go help.”
“Suit yourself.”
“Wow, you are extra spicy.”
She crosses her arms. It’s not like Cassie to act like this. But whatever happened before we got to the hardware store must have really set her off.
A flicker of light catches my eye. It’s one of the other club members closing the big metal gate. When I look at Fletch, he’s watching me.
“Did you ask them to close the gate?”
“I want my girl safe.” He tugs me into his hold. “Your sister will figure it out too.”
“I’m worried about her.”
“Don’t be. Ridge is irritating as fuck, but he’s gonna make sure your sister’s safe. So will all the other men here.”
Worried, I chew on my fingernail. “You really think Clark will stay away?”
“Let me worry about that.” He kisses my forehead, and loops his arm around my neck. “Let’s get you unpacked and make some food for you two.”
“You cook?”
“Was I weak and scrawny looking when we were in bed?”
Oh! My entire face heats and my nipples catch on fire. “Um. No. No issue in that department.”
“I’ll keep you nice and warm tonight.”
With that he drags me into the house where Ridge is standing close to my sister.
But the Prez steps back. Tips his chin at Fletch and walks away. Cassie’s lips are parted. She skates her tongue across them and averts her gaze, muttering, “I’ll be in my cell.”