Chapter Six
Inferno
I held my mouth against Juniper’s arm, over the offending bruises, longer than I needed to, breathing her in, convincing myself she was OK like she claimed.
The bruise under my lips felt hot even though I knew it wasn’t.
She didn’t pull away. Her hand settled on the back of my neck, her fingers working into my hair, and for a long moment neither of us moved.
Then the moment broke. She stepped back, tugged her sleeve down, and started wiping down the last counter.
“Can I walk you home?” I asked.
Her mouth curved. “I have a car, Inferno.”
“I know that,” I muttered. I did know, but I was kind of going on instinct, and my instinct was to pull her close, lock her away, then go hunting. Unfortunately, I couldn’t do that.
We locked up together. She flipped the sign, killed the lights, and we stepped out into the cooling evening. Her sedan sat at the curb. My Harley waited a block down where I’d left it.
On impulse, I reached out and touched her shoulder as she opened the door to her car. “Follow me back to the compound. We can hang out and watch movies. Darby’s been asking about you too. You could exchange phone numbers…” I trailed off as she gave me a soft smile.
“Are you worried about me, Inferno?”
I scrubbed the back of my neck, then over my face. “Yeah, honey. I got a bad feeling.”
“I appreciate what you’re trying to do. I’m not sure I’ve ever had anyone actually worry about me, and it means more than I can explain. But I’ll be fine. I promise to call if he gives me any more trouble.”
“You promised the last time, too, Juniper.” When she merely raised an eyebrow, I sighed and gave her a sheepish look. “Sorry.”
“Tomorrow,” she said, and it wasn’t a question. “I’ll even text you when I get home, and when I leave in the morning and when I get here if it will make you feel better.”
“Sorry,” I muttered. “You don’t have to. Just what you feel comfortable with, but I’ll be here tomorrow. OK?”
She smiled up at me and cupped my face with her hand, stroking my face. Goddamnit, I leaned into her, soaking up her touch like a dry sponge to water.
She drove back to her place and I followed. Her apartment building was three miles north of the bakery, a brick fourplex with a gravel lot and chain-link fencing around the dumpsters. She pulled into her spot and I parked across the way, under a streetlight that flickered occasionally.
She waited at her door while I caught up once she had the door open. I gently moved her so I could enter first. I thought she might protest, but she simply turned and shut the door behind me. The apartment smelled like bleach with a hint of lemon, like she’d been cleaning pretty heavily.
I did a quick check through her apartment without asking, but she didn’t protest. Instead, Juniper stood in the kitchen doorway, arms crossed, watching me. She didn’t look scared. She looked like a woman who’d seen men do stupid things before and was adding this to the list.
“Sorry,” I muttered.
“You’re worried,” she said. “I get it. What I don’t understand is why.”
I shrugged. “Do men need a reason to be protective over a woman who’s clearly at the beginning of what promises to be a spectacular breakup?”
“Look.” She sighed heavily as she moved to me. “Brett is a lot of things. Most of them asshole-ish. But he’s not dangerous.”
I couldn’t help but nod to her forearm where his fingerprints stood out like the accusation they were. “All evidence to the contrary,” I muttered.
“Inferno --”
“You’re coming to the compound tonight,” I said, sticking my chin up. Maybe if I made it an order she’d give in. I winced, knowing that was stupid.
“No, Inferno.” She sounded firm, but I plowed on.
“You can have your own room. All by yourself. Darby and the other women would love the company. Most importantly, you’d truly be safe.”
“I have to bake starting at three-thirty. Five dozen croissants, two batches of scones, and a wedding cake that needs its final decoration.” She reached for a mug in the drying rack. Filled it with water from the tap and took a drink. “I’m not hiding from Brett or anyone else.”
“This isn’t hiding. It’s being smart. Just until he settles down.”
“It’s hiding.” She set the mug down with a firm thunk. “I’m not a coward.”
“He put his hands on you, Juniper. That bruise isn’t going away by morning.”
“I know what a bruise looks like. I’ve had plenty.”
“This is different.”
“No, it’s not.” Her voice was calm even though I knew from the aggressive way she sat her water mug down there would be no talking her into doing what I wanted.
“He’s an asshole. Assholes do asshole things.
But I have a business to run, and I’m not rearranging my life because Brett lost his temper.
He doesn’t get to occupy that kind of time in my head anymore. ”
I ran a hand through my hair. “At least let me park outside.”
“You’re not parking outside my building all night.”
“Why not?”
“Because it’s creepy, for one. And because I don’t need a babysitter.
” She stepped closer, close enough that I could smell residual sugar on her skin.
She smiled up at me, probably to take the sting out of her words.
“I appreciate the concern. Really. But I’m not going to the compound, and you’re not camping outside my building. ”
We stood there, toe to toe, neither of us backing down. Her gaze held mine, steady and clear, and I saw the stubborn set of her jaw and knew I’d lost before I’d even started.
“Fine.” I stepped back. “Lock up behind me.”
“I always do.”
“And you’ll call me if that asshole shows back up.”
She opened her mouth, then shut it again. “I will. If I feel threatened, or he doesn’t leave when I tell him to.”
I knew that was the best I was going to get.
“Come here,” I said roughly, and I pulled her into my arms, wrapping my arms tightly around her.
She stood rigid for several seconds before melting into me, surrendering to my needs at the moment whether she realized consciously what she did or not.
“I’m sorry I’m being domineering. I don’t have a good reason other than I’m just built that way. ”
“Bossy and domineering?” There was humor in her voice, but I noticed how she snuggled against me. She didn’t want me going any more than I wanted to leave. But I got it.
“Yeah. That’s me.” I gave her one more hard squeeze, then pulled back slightly so I could look down at her.
“You don’t know me. I understand that. I also suspect you feel like you need to deal with this on your own.
I get that too. I just don’t want you to resist calling me if you truly get scared.
You can deal with this on your own and still have me as backup.
” I tried to give her a reassuring and benign smile, but my emotions were bleeding over so much I didn’t know if I managed.
She didn’t try to pull away from me like she was scared so there was that.
“Everyone needs a good backup. I can bring the full weight of my club down to protect you if you need it.”
This time, she moved closer to me, burying her face in my chest and she sighed.
When she looked up at me, there were tears in her eyes.
Thank God she smiled instead of looking fearful or angry.
“Thank you, Jonah. The offer means more to me than you could possibly know. I appreciate it, and I promise to take you up on everything if I feel unsafe.”
“You call me whether or not you feel unsafe. Just until we’re sure everything’s leveled out.”
“OK. I promise I will do all of that.”
I didn’t kiss her, though I wanted to. Desperately. Instead, I let myself out. The door closed and the deadbolt turned with a click. I stood outside her door for a moment, wondering if I did the right thing by not staying with her. Maybe I should camp out in her backyard?
No. Definitely not.
Finally, I walked to my bike. I rode to the gas station two blocks over, filled a thermos with coffee, and parked in the shadows across the lot from her building.
The light in her apartment stayed on a while, and I watched the shadow of her moving behind the blinds before they went dark.
Yeah. I felt like a fucking stalker, but that itch between my shoulders wouldn’t go away. And I couldn’t ignore it.
I sat on my bike all night. Watching the apartment of a woman I barely knew when she expressly told me not to. This wasn’t who I was. Men who sat in cars watching women were the kind of men I put in the ground. The irony wasn’t lost on me.
In the pre-dawn hours, a prospect pulled into the parking lot and killed his lights.
The kid hadn’t been here long, but he was really trying to turn his life around.
He’d done everything anyone asked of him and more.
It’s how he’d gotten his road name. Zero.
As in, he was trying to zero his life out and start fresh.
“Knuckles said to stay until she leaves for work and to not let her see me. If she does, I’m supposed to call Darby or Hannah. ”
“I’m good. Tell Knuckles I’ll call him later.”
“He said to…” He cleared his throat and I swear I thought the guy was trying not to laugh. “These are his words, not mine. To get your ass back to the clubhouse. He’s callin’ church, and they’re going to help your girl.”
“Fuck.” I scrubbed my hand over my face a couple of times. Fuck, I was tired. “You’ll call me, too, if you have to call the women.”
“Understood, Inferno.”
Tossing him my empty thermos, I started up my Harley and took off. The ride to the compound took twenty minutes. The gates rolled open, and I parked beside the clubhouse. Knuckles was on the porch, coffee in hand, watching the mist burn off the gravel.
“Come on, lover boy,” he said. “Come tell us what’s wrong with your girl.”