9. Reese
Reese
Summer’s rage was palpable. She stared straight ahead, arms crossed, her jaw tight.
It had been a long time since I’d seen someone go mama bear like that.
My mom had done it, standing up for her kids when we’d needed her.
I’d never forget the first time I witnessed her chewing out an adult at school.
My mom was usually gentle and soft-spoken.
But not when someone mistreated her kids.
I glanced at Nate in the rearview. He’d been quiet, but he didn’t seem upset. Hopefully he could see that his mom’s outburst hadn’t been about her. She didn’t give a shit about that job. She was mad because getting fired was bad for him.
A lot ran through my mind on the way to the grocery store. Whether the cops would come looking for Summer to get a statement. How far Mayhem would go to screw up her life. How long it would take them to figure out who I was and where I lived. And ultimately, what I was going to do about them.
That question weighed heavily on me. A douchebag ex was one thing. An outlaw motorcycle club was quite another.
At least I no longer had to worry about how to protect both Summer and Nate while she was at work.
She seemed to have calmed down by the time we reached the store.
We went in together, and I made it clear the groceries were on me.
Her eyes flashed with anger, and I had to hold back the insane urge to smother her rage by hugging the fight out of her.
In the end, she took a deep breath and thanked me.
I was only a little bit disappointed.
We managed to get through our shopping trip without any disasters. No rumble of motorcycle engines or unexpected encounters. No one followed us back to my place.
I made sure of it.
Still, home felt safer. I could relax my vigilance—at least for the moment.
We brought everything inside, leaving their bags near the door.
While Summer and I put the groceries away, Nate got a pile of Lego pieces out of his bag and started building something.
It reminded me how young he really was. He might have been the size of a small adult, but he was still very much a kid.
“Do you mind if I go shower?” Summer asked. “I feel like I need to wash off…everything.”
“Yeah, of course.”
“Thanks.”
The thought of following her into my bedroom flashed through my mind. I wanted to take control. Make her set down all her burdens and lose herself. Make her forget her own name.
But that wasn’t what she needed from me. And it wasn’t a risk I could take.
She wouldn’t want me if she knew the truth.
Besides, I had two people to protect. That was my focus.
I made sure Nate knew to stay indoors and stepped out back to call Gunnar. I needed to run the situation by someone I could trust.
“Yeah,” he answered after two rings.
“I have a situation.”
“Go ahead.”
“Client’s name is Summer.” I didn’t like referring to her as a client, but it was easier to explain.
“Single mom, ten-year-old son. Her ex is in town causing trouble. Two of his buddies harassed her at work. Then he showed up outside her son’s school.
Last night, they vandalized her workplace.
Got her fired. But my gut tells me the son is the real target. ”
“What’s she got going on the legal side? Protection order?”
“Not yet. She hasn’t needed one. The ex has been locked up.” I paused. “There’s a complication.”
“What’s that?”
“He’s a member of Midnight Mayhem.”
“Oh, shit.”
“It gets worse. Her mom’s an old lady to someone high ranking.
Summer and the ex have been split up for years, but the club never really left her alone.
Sounds like they send a couple idiots to harass her every now and then.
Make sure she knows they can always get to her. I’d put the mom behind that.”
“And now that the ex is out, he wants his kid. And the club will back him.”
“Exactly.”
He let out a long breath. “Don’t take that client, Reese. You don’t want to get mixed up in this.”
“Too late.”
“Come on, man,” he said, his tone a mix of concern and exasperation. “You know what you could be bringing down on yourself. You don’t want that.”
He was right, I didn’t. But there was no way I was abandoning them.
“I need a way to get rid of these assholes without starting a war.”
“Good luck with that.” His voice dripped with sarcasm.
“There’s gotta be a way.”
“Anything you do risks retribution. You know that. Especially if they find out who you are.”
“Fuck that. Those pieces of shit do not own the world.”
“Tell them that. If you try to stay legit, they’ll ride right through anything issued by a judge.
Do whatever the hell they want. And if you go mercenary, they’ll overpower you with sheer numbers.
They’ll take the girl and the kid. And if you’re still alive when that’s over—which I doubt—they’ll put a bounty on your head. You’re dead either way.”
I growled in frustration.
“I know that’s not what you want to hear. But it’s the truth. Don’t take this job.”
“I already told you, it’s too late for that.”
He hesitated for a long moment. “You know we always have your back. All of us. But there’s only so much we can do.
If you want us to rally, we’ll be there.
But I don’t like it, and neither will the others.
” He let out a heavy sigh. “Us against an outlaw club? Really bad odds, man. I don’t know if any of us would walk away from that. ”
“I won’t ask that of you.” I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Let me think on it. I’ll figure out something.”
“There is another option. Probably a better one.”
“What?”
“Get her out of town. Hide her somewhere.”
That very thought already lurked at the edge of my mind. Leave. Hide. Help her start a new life where they wouldn’t find her.
“Yeah, I was thinking about that, too. It’s not a bad idea. If she’d go for it. I’ll have to talk to her.”
“Sounds good, man. Keep me posted.”
“I will.”
I ended the call. He was right. Hiding them was a better option than trying to face an outlaw club head-on. The question was, where?
Closing my eyes, I groaned. I already knew the answer. I just didn’t want to face it.
Home. I could take her to Tilikum.
I spent the next few minutes trying to talk myself out of it.
There were thousands of other places she could go.
What about the Northeast? Didn’t something like 80 percent of the country’s population live east of the Mississippi?
It would be easier to hide among all those people.
Or California. There were big cities to get lost in, and great weather.
So why was my gut telling me to go to Tilikum?
Small mountain town. Not a lot of people, but most of them were notorious gossips. Reese Haven returning would attract a firestorm of curiosity. And showing up with a woman and her son? The gossip line would go nuts.
But it was also a town almost no one had ever heard of, especially outside the immediate area. And it had to be at least 1,500 miles away. That was a good chunk of distance to put between us and Mayhem.
My mom’s request ran through my mind. Promise me you’ll consider it.
Damn it, Mom.
What would it be like to face them again? To stop keeping so many secrets. Just tell them the truth about where I’d been and why I’d stayed away.
The hollow space in my chest ached. There was a part of me that wanted that. Wanted the freedom of finally living in the truth. Even if it meant they all rejected me.
And regardless of how they felt about me, they wouldn’t reject Summer. My family—especially my mom—would help. My brother Josiah had rental houses, and they all had connections. It would probably take all of five minutes to find her a place to live and a job.
But damn it, I didn’t know if I could do it.
I went inside right as Summer came rushing out of the bedroom, wrapped in a towel, dripping wet. It wasn’t Nate’s presence that kept me from immediately fantasizing about licking all that water off her body. She was on the phone, and whoever she was talking to had her upset.
Holding the towel with one hand, she stopped and met my eyes. Hers were wide with fear.
Nate looked up from his toys on the coffee table. I gave him a reassuring nod.
“No, that’s not necessary. I’ll take care of it. But thank you so much for calling.” She ended the call and lowered her phone, and when she spoke again, her voice shook. “Can I talk to you in the other room?”
“Sure.” I glanced at Nate again and tipped my chin. “It’s okay. I’ve got it.”
He nodded and went back to building.
I followed Summer into my bedroom. She dropped her phone on the bed and readjusted her grip on the towel.
“I heard my phone and had the strongest feeling something was wrong. So I got out and answered.” She met my eyes. “It was Nate’s school. Axel was just there. He told them he’s Nate’s dad and needed to pick him up early for an appointment.”
My hackles went up, but I kept my voice even. “What did the school tell him?”
“There isn’t a father listed on Nate’s paperwork, so they were suspicious. Plus, Nate’s not there, and Axel obviously didn’t know that, which was another red flag. They told him Nate wasn’t at school and called me after he left.”
“Well, shit.”
“He’s going to take him, Reese. I can’t watch over him every second of every day.” Her voice became increasingly frantic with each word. “I have to get another job, and he’ll have school. And even if Axel leaves town today, he’ll be back. Next time I might not know he’s here until it’s too late.”
“I’m not going to let that happen.”
“How? And what happens when you have to go to South America or something? Some archaeologist is going to need you to do security, and then what? You can’t spend the next eight years being my son’s bodyguard.”
Her towel started to slip, and it was very hard to keep my eyes up. The last thing I wanted to do was objectify her in the middle of a crisis. But damn it, she was gorgeous.
And still dripping wet.
Averting my eyes, I cleared my throat. She got the message and adjusted the towel.
“I should put some clothes on. Can you turn around?”
“I’ll wait out—”
“It’s fine, it’ll only take a second.”
Squeezing my eyes shut, I turned. In the absence of sight, my ears took over. I could hear every movement of the towel as she rubbed it over her wet skin and lifted it to dry her hair. She stepped into her underwear and slid them up her legs. Fastened her bra.
The woman had no idea what she was doing to me.
“Okay, I’m dressed.”
I let out a long breath and turned to face her. She wore a loose tank top and leggings, but that was no less tempting.
Focus.
“I have an idea,” I said. “But I don’t know if you’re going to like it.”
“What?”
“I think you and Nate need to leave town. Secretly. Go somewhere and start over.”
“I’ve tried that. They always find me.”
“You haven’t gone far enough. Mayhem is based in southern Nevada. That’s not far from here.”
“True, but… Wait, how do you know where Mayhem is based?”
The lie came easily, but it still rankled to keep the truth from her. “I looked them up.”
“You don’t know how many times I’ve dreamed of disappearing.” She lowered herself onto the edge of the bed. “Whenever I try to go somewhere new, there are always so many obstacles. And by that, I mostly mean money. Moving is expensive, and the farther you go, the more it costs.”
“For just a minute, don’t worry about the money. We’ll figure that out later. If that wasn’t an obstacle, would you go?”
“Where?”
It took me a second before I could get the words out. If I said it, I was going to do it.
“I’m from a small town in central Washington called Tilikum. It’s in the mountains. Real pretty. And really remote. Not a lot of people have heard of it. And it’s at least fifteen hundred miles away.”
“That sounds like paradise.”
“So, you’ll go?”
“Are you serious? You’ll really take us?”
“Yeah. I won’t be able to stay, but I can get you there and make sure you’re safe.” I stepped closer. “I won’t let him get your son. I promise.”
Her eyes filled with tears, and she nodded. “I’ll go. Please get us out of here.”
And just like that, I was going home.