Chapter 7 #2
She had every excuse in the book, blaming it on not wanting to take him away from his club and family; him needing to be there for his business; it being too suspicious that he would be randomly gone for so long, whereas his employees’ comings and goings were less conspicuous…
Keys didn’t want to push her, didn’t want to make her run and cut contact completely, but he was getting damn frustrated with her insistence that they couldn’t meet in person.
But at the end of the day, Keys would take an unconventional cyber relationship with her over no relationship at all.
Whatever was holding her back, whatever was keeping her from trusting him completely, wasn’t permanent.
He’d break through her barriers, show her that he was worth fighting for rather than hiding from.
It would just take time, and until then, he was grateful that Grimm, Thorne, and Goose were able to set eyes on her every few weeks or months. It was enough—for now.
There were days when his patience was paper thin, and when that happened, he had to remind himself that Rose had her reasons.
“Two more things,” Keys said to his man. He held up a potted cactus and box of bath bombs.
Thorne took the items, his expression apathetic at best. “Geez, thanks, boss. They’re what I’ve always wanted.”
“Smart ass,” Keys scoffed. “Rose doesn’t like flowers, says they die too easily and they’re a bit on the nose, given her name. So I thought maybe a cactus would be better. And according to the forums I’ve read, she’d have to try to kill a cactus.”
“Yes, and nothing says ‘romance’ like a phallus-shaped plant with a million prickles,” Thorne deadpanned.
Keys’ cheeks flamed. He chose to ignore that, not really wanting to get into the topic of romance with his employee. “The bath bombs are for the kid,” he continued. “Supposedly they make the bath foam up and then there’s a toy inside.”
“Damn, I’m old. I remember when ‘a bath’ was rinsing off with the garden hose.
” Turning, Thorne placed the items on the passenger seat of the hatchback.
“When you gave us this assignment, you warned us not to ask questions, but there’s something that’s been bothering me that I need to get off my chest.”
Keys shifted, a little uncertain. He was tall, but Thorne was massive. All the Riley brothers were, with Thorne slightly taller than Goose and Grimm. “What’s that?”
“Rose seems like a sweet girl, and I say ‘girl’ because I’m pretty sure I’m a couple decades older than her.
I don’t know much about her kid. The two of you are keeping that hush-hush, which is your right.
It’s my job to escort them, and nothing more.
But there’s got to be a better way to hide her than constantly moving them.
Destroying her life and creating a new one every few weeks?
I’m sure the two of you have worked out some pattern that makes tracing her problematic at best, but I still have to wonder about their mental state.
Eventually that kid’s going to ask questions, and I don’t know what those answers are—nor do I need to know—but he will.
Maybe the two of you need to work on a more permanent solution.
I would think we’d be able to protect them here a hell of a lot easier than we can when they’re across the country. ”
Keys tried to keep his face neutral. Unfortunately, Thorne wasn’t voicing anything that Keys hadn’t already thought about.
He wanted to bring Rose to Mount Grove, wanted to create and have a life with her here.
The one time he’d brought up her coming this way, she’d panicked and hadn’t talked to him for almost a full day.
She claimed she wasn’t good with emotion, which maybe was why they got along so well.
There weren’t a lot of emotions portrayed in written messages, and a lot of it was interpretation.
But she didn’t seem as aloof over the phone and video calls as she claimed to be.
There was a good chance that Rose didn’t realize how expressive her face was, and it was processing her emotions that was the struggle.
Either way, she wasn’t ready. She trusted Keys enough to tell him her location, but that seemed to be the extent of it. And as much as he wanted to jump in with both feet, he had to remind himself that she wasn’t ready.
So they would go at her pace.
“I appreciate the concern,” he said to Thorne. “For now, we need to keep with the current arrangement, though.”
Thorne, being the smart man that he was, didn’t ask why.
He simply nodded once before walking around to the front of the cage.
Keys watched him pull onto the road, and then headed across the street towards the VDMC gate.
On nice days like this when it wasn’t too nippy, he tried to walk the half mile path between the clubhouse and his building’s front door.
Angel would argue that it was no ten mile jog to work, but Keys pointed out it was still movement. To which she couldn’t exactly argue.
The clubhouse was quiet. Ghost and Ranger had left the afternoon before for Ranger’s mother’s house in Alabama.
Becks, Ranger’s younger sister, was getting married in two days, and Ghost was attending as Ranger’s plus-one.
Actually, if rumors were to be believed, he was blackmailed into attending as Ranger’s plus-one.
Since Ghost had taken over as president over a year ago, there were times—more often than not—when he struggled to delegate.
Doing too much and trying to be there for every member of the club was making it so Ghost had zero downtime and was perpetually late for everything.
Lucky and Ranger weren’t the only ones worried about him, but they were the only ones in the club with the power to do anything about it.
Keys really hoped Ghost got some rest. Lord knew the man needed it.
He barely made it to his room before his phone notified him of a message on the club’s group chat with the ol’ ladies and the adult club kids.
Ranger: Lil Sis took down Big Bad Prez with a single knee to the nuts. It was epic! This is going to be a fantastic weekend.
* * *
The second Keys’ ringtone went off, he was reaching for the device before even putting his glasses on. “Hello?” Was it Thorne? Rose? Had something happened?
“Keys, why are you asleep?”
Keys frowned at Ghost’s voice. “Because it’s,” he reached for his glasses and then looked at his phone to confirm the time, “two o’clock in the morning.
” He sat up, trying to think of what issues could be happening at Ranger’s mom’s place that Ghost would be calling him like this. “Why, what’s up? How’s the wedding?”
“Fine,” Ghost snapped, clearly not telling the truth. “What’s happening at home? Is everything okay? Do you need me to come back?”
Keys snorted. “Not sure if I should be amused that the lovey-dovey atmosphere is too much for you to handle or offended that you think we can’t run the club for four whole days while you’re taking a break.”
Ghost practically growled into the phone. “Watch it, kid. You might be all grown up now, but I can still kick your ass.”
Exhausted, Keys laid back down on his pillow.
Clearly there wasn’t anything that was actually the matter, and Ghost was just looking for an excuse to come back early.
Keys had no idea what Ranger had blackmailed him with, but it must have been good if Ghost was calling in the middle of the night, behind Ranger’s back, to try to get out of it.
“Hey, I’m just saying. You’re the one calling me in the middle of the night to see if there’s an excuse for you to come back. ”
Ghost let out a sound that made Keys think he’d rubbed his hand down his face as he let out a groan. “Go back to bed, you little shit.” Before quickly adding, “But call me if you need me to come back.”
Keys stifled his laugh. “Sure thing, boss. Hey, real quick, did Ranger’s sister really get you in the balls? I’ve looked her up and I’ve seen the heels she wears. I mean, after that, I can understand why you want to run away—”
Ghost hung up the phone before Keys could finish his inquiry.
* * *
Gl!tch.OS: A cactus, really? You think I’m THAT horrible with flowers?
WiseWave620: No, YOU said you were that horrible with flowers.
Gl!tch.OS: I didn’t mean cactus-horrible!
Gl!tch.OS: Oh hell, maybe I did. I’m honestly surprised I’ve been able to keep OS and I alive. Do you know how many goldfish I killed as a kid??
WiseWave620: According to the pet store records down the block from your childhood home, about a dozen in one summer.
Gl!tch.OS: That was RHETORICAL!
WiseWave620: Oops.
Gl!tch.OS: But thank you. I’ll try not to kill the cactus.
WiseWave620: Make sure you give Thorne all the heavy lifting. I don’t want him coming back next week and saying you just made him stand around twiddling his thumbs while you moved everything.
Gl!tch.OS: But… But… My things! I need them to be packed correctly.
WiseWave620: Then stand there and SUPERVISE him packing them correctly.
Gl!tch.OS: You’re so bossy. When did you turn so bossy??
WiseWave620: When YOU became my person. It’s hard enough sending my men to go help you while I sit on my ass. I sure as fuck am going to make you sit on your ass, too, Rose.
Gl!tch.OS: Fine.
WiseWave620: Thank you.
Gl!tch.OS: I’m sorry.
WiseWave620: For what?
Gl!tch.OS: For not letting you come here to help yourself.
WiseWave620: I’m not going to say it’s fine, because both of us know it’s not. But I respect your wishes and choices, even if I don’t agree with them.
Gl!tch.OS: Thank you.
Gl!tch.OS: I’ve been thinking about it recently.
WiseWave620: What?
Gl!tch.OS: Letting you come here. Or moving closer to you.
WiseWave620: Yeah? I’d love that, Rose. Really and truly.
Gl!tch.OS: I know. & I’m sorry it has to be this way. Really. I just… It’d be a big step.