Chapter 7
Winter
I’d been at the clubhouse for coming up on a week.
It had been a couple of days since all hell broke loose in the room the brothers called the chapel.
I know it was related to the first favor they did for Viper.
I was there when the Dark Slayers agreed to do three favors in exchange for me.
The brothers were pretty tight lipped but one of the club girls overheard them say someone died as a result of that favor, a club girl from Vulture’s club.
That was the moment when shit got real for me.
I always knew these one-percent clubs were a hotbed of danger and deceit.
I shouldn’t have been surprised when I heard someone died.
A small dark voice in the back of my mind was grateful it wasn’t me.
Vulture was the one that had bid the highest for me before Fuse stepped in and saved me.
That’s what Rosie says happened. I don’t know if I believe that.
I suppose the jury was still out on that in my mind.
Despite my precarious situation, Fuse and I had settled into a little routine.
We had breakfast together in the early morning.
He went out to work in the community if he had a job, and hung around the clubhouse if he didn’t.
I worked all day in the bar. We had lunch together if he was here and then dinner at the end of the day.
Other than that, he steered clear of me.
And so far, he hadn’t tried to horn his way into my room, which I was grateful for.
As far as MC cages went, this one was not the worst one I could imagine.
There was no denying that I was trapped in his world, living off his generosity.
I lived at his clubhouse, ate at his table, and the unspoken rule was that I followed his directions.
So far, he hadn’t approved me leaving the clubhouse, so I didn’t. Everybody here knew I belonged to Fuse.
This morning was no different. I was seated across from him, our food and morning coffee spread out on the table between us.
Today, Fuse seemed restless, shoving food around on his plate when he normally wolfed it down at the speed of light.
I did my best to ignore him, praying he wasn’t about to bring up some conversation about the future.
I already knew he wanted to keep me, and I wasn’t eager to see what life with him would look like.
He cleared his throat and slid his laptop across the table towards me. I wasn’t expecting him to be in a sharing mood and wasn’t particularly interested in whatever it was he wanted me to see. I shoved it aside with the back of my hand.
“I don’t have time for whatever this is. I need to finish my coffee and get to work. We got a liquor delivery last night and I need to restock the bar before all your little club bunnies wake up wanting their first drink of the day.”
Fuse snorted a laugh. “I noticed that you have the lot of them eatin’ out of your fuckin’ hand these days.”
I shrugged with one shoulder. “You called it. After cutting a couple of them off from drinks, they got friendly. I mean it’s fake friendly, but I’ll take what I can get at this point.”
“Free booze will do that, but that’s not what I want to talk to you about today.”
“Like I said,” I told him slowly, hoping he’d get it this time, “I don’t have time to talk. I’m here to work.”
He gestured to my body, “Look, you can’t keep running around the clubhouse in borrowed clothing. You’ve cycled down to shit that doesn’t half fit you.”
My eyes drifted down to the best used options I could pull together from the choices I had. Yeah, I was still wearing the donated remnants of other women’s wardrobes. It was an embarrassing reminder of how transient my life had become.
“Sorry if you’re embarrassed because the woman you bought doesn’t look top shelf. If I ever get paid for tending bar, I’ll be sure to buy trashy booty shorts and belly shirts first thing, so I’ll fit into my new lifestyle.”
His brow creased into a deep frown. “I traded for you. No fuckin’ money changed hands.”
“That doesn’t make me any less owned though, does it?”
Fuse cursed under his breath like he had a habit of doing, while I waited for him to get his mess together.
I knew the minute the finger came out and pointed at me that he was about to lay down the law.
I’d seen it too many times already. And not just with me.
He did it when dressing down the prospects too.
He started with, “You listen…”
I jabbed my finger right back at him, “No. You listen to me. You fuckin’ bought me, whether with money, or favors I don’t care. Don’t do shady shit and then try to lie about it. I was there, remember? I saw what went down firsthand.”
His hand dropped to the table, beside his plate. He stared at me for a minute, looking none too happy. In fact, he looked exasperated and miserable.
“I’m not tryin’ to say I didn’t buy you. I’m tryin’ to say that I don’t fuckin’ own you.”
“Yet you won’t let me leave the clubhouse. If you can control my movement, how does that make me free? I want to know how you’re justifying that in your own mind?”
“I already told you that I took you so you didn’t end up somewhere worse. What I didn’t say is that you’re not fully paid for until the favors are completed. You still belong to Viper. If he or one of his men caught you out in the community, they’d just pick up what they see as their property.”
I hadn’t thought of that. I assumed that since I was here, then the Slayers owned me, even if they’d struck up some deal. My hands began to tremble, because being back with Viper and no door that locks is the last thing in the world I wanted. “You think he’d really pick me up again?”
“Of course. You’re still beautiful and still a virgin.
To a man like Viper, you are just as valuable as you ever were.
Fucker values all the wrong things in a woman.
” After a second, he added, “He might even come up with some pretext to keep you, like claimin’ we didn’t execute our end of the deal good enough to suit him.
If that happened, I might not be able to rescue you a second time. ”
“I never want to set eyes on that man again as long as I live.” The words popped out before I could stop them.
Fuse dropped his fork down onto his plate and frowned at me.
“I didn’t want to scare you but there is a good chance that if he got a hold of you again that he might even gift, sell, or trade you to Vulture to make peace with their club.
That’s why you need to stay here at the Slayers clubhouse where I can protect you until the deal is concluded. ”
What he was saying made a certain kind of sense. “What happened to the club girl at Vulture’s clubhouse? The club girls say she died because of the deal you made with Viper.” It was a brave, ballsy question that I didn’t expect him to answer.
He leaned forward and lowered his voice.
“Viper got us to ride with him through Vulture’s territory.
It was payback meant to humiliate Vulture for getting him thrown out of the rally.
Only later in the night someone burned Vulture’s clubhouse to the ground.
Unfortunately, there was a prospect guarding the clubhouse and one of their club girls stayed back to keep him company.
She died of smoke inhalation while he was trying to get her out of the building. ”
My hands flew to cover my mouth. Knowing someone died and learning the details were two different things. “You think Viper did it, right? He was the one with a grudge against Vulture.”
He nodded, staring at me. “Yeah, we’re not sure why he burned their place down. He’d already gotten his revenge by violating his territory with enough men at his back to make sure Vulture and his crew couldn’t do anything about it.”
He paused while I was thinking over his words., and then he gentled his voice. “Just so you know, I’m not embarrassed by you.”
Nudging his laptop over to me again, he explained, “Right now, you’re my responsibility and I haven’t been taking proper care of you. I want you to order seven full outfits, shoes, and whatever shit you need in the way of hygiene products. That way you can do laundry once a week, like I do.”
Everything about this morning’s conversation was just too much. Letting him buy me a whole new wardrobe felt wrong.
“Like I said, I’ll buy clothing if and when I get paid.”
“You’ll be getting paid next Friday. The Slayers pay cycle is every two weeks with an initial holdback of one week.”
“Well,” I told him, “until then you’ll have to get over seeing me in baggy clothes.”
“I don’t know why every fuckin’ thing has to be an argument between us.
I’ve been tryin’ my damnedest to do the right thing by you every step of the way.
I saved you, brought you to safety and got you a job.
Now I’m trying to put clothes on your back.
I get that buying you was trafficking and you hate me for it, but I’m trying my fuckin’ level best to make it up to you by providin’ for you. ”
This man undoubtedly thought of himself as a hero. I made a snap decision. If he wanted to provide, then I would let him, through malicious compliance. My dad taught me all about what that was through a lifetime of watching him do it.
I tugged the laptop over and clicked through the open pages.
Fuse had given me a lot of choice with the stores he’d pulled up.
I quickly moved from tab to tab, buying a nice assortment of casual wear, one dress, and two pairs of shoes, in addition to underthings.
Then I threw in my hygiene supplies, and a large duffle to carry my stuff in.
I didn’t intentionally buy high end luxury stuff, but I didn’t go cheap either.
I triumphantly showed him the screen, thinking he would lose his mind over the two grand total.