Chapter 2
Chapter Two
NOAH
Iwas furious.
Not only at the fact that someone thought they could target her, but the fact she had hidden the first two acts of vandalism against her.
Fuck.
I wanted to hurt whoever it was, for causing her pain, for fucking with her shit, for the sheer fact they thought they could.
It had been years since she was in my orbit, and for good reason. She was a goddamn temptation I didn’t need in my life. I’d kept my hands to myself where it came to Vanna, out of respect of my friendship with Vice, but fuck me, I wanted her. I always had.
The way she was fighting me, it had my cock hard as stone behind my zipper. I wanted to slam her against a wall, rip her panties off and thrust into her, marking her from the inside out as my woman. I’d never wanted to make anyone my ol’ lady, but her.
It couldn’t happen.
I knew that.
But the older I got, the more I was questioning whether or not my friendship was strong enough to keep staying away.
Seeing her again, after so many years, fucked with me. My cock didn’t know what was happening, but my brain knew. It knew I was going to beat the ever loving fuck out of who was fucking with her.
“Noah, you can’t just tell me to stop working. This is my business.”
“You can’t exactly accept clients in a shop that has graffiti over the windows,” I shot back at her as I headed out into the main area. The cops were talking with Vanna’s assistant and all eyes shot to me.
“You,” I demanded of the woman. “Call all her clients and reschedule them until the club can secure this shop.”
“Noah!”
I ignored her, before I turned to the cops.
“What leads do you have?”
The younger one bristled, trying to look down at his notes, while the asshole who spoke to Vanna like it was her fault this happened, looked away and shrunk away.
“Vanna?” the girl asked.
“Well?” I ignored her and asked the cops again. “Two other times, and now a third. If she’d been here, she could have been in danger. What the fuck are you gonna do about it?”
“Did you install the cameras like we suggested?” the younger one asked, aiming his question at Vanna behind me.
“Yes,” she answered. “I haven’t checked it yet. I didn’t have an alarm go off.”
“Show me the cameras,” I demanded.
Vanna pushed past me and toward the cameras outside the shop in the corner. I had to hand it to her, they were hidden well, but when I looked up, I noticed the immediate problem.
“You won’t get anything off the video.”
“Why?”
“Whoever it was, sprayed the camera. These are motion activated cameras, so if the screen is black, they won’t turn on.”
“What the fuck?” she exclaimed as she looked up and saw what I did.
“Who else knew about the cameras?”
“No one,” she said. “Bria didn’t even know. I had them installed by someone through the alarm company.”
“You sure no one else knew?”
Vanna shook her head, but I could see her mind working a million miles a minute. The worry in her eyes.
Fuck I hated this.
Being close to her was going to test my restraint, but it was necessary. I couldn’t risk her getting hurt and whoever the fuck this was, obviously knew her.
“Vanna…close up the shop.”
Her head snapped back to me, almost like I’d slapped her, and I saw the indecision in her eyes. She knew coming with me was the best choice, but she was so independent, that she didn’t want to admit defeat.
“I’ll chase off any client who rocks up, Vanna.”
She rolled her eyes and by god I wanted to grab her jaw, yank her to me, and kiss the shit out of her until her eyes rolled into the back of her head.
My phone rang just as she moved off to go and talk to the cops inside and I looked down at the name.
“Yeah.”
“Rabbit told me you went to see Vanna’s shop.”
“Yeah. He was busy.”
Truthfully, the second I heard Vanna’s name, I’d gotten myself involved in the conversation, and since Rabbit was a prospect, I outranked him. I wasn’t going to trust someone like Rabbit with this, especially not with Vanna.
“You could have asked Prez for someone else.”
“You trust anyone with Vanna’s safety, brother?” I spat, angrily.
“Isn’t it just some vandalism? What aren’t you telling me?” he asked, and I heard the seriousness in his tone.
“It’s more, Vice. I’m on it, but she’s coming back to the clubhouse until we can sort it out. There’s something she’s not telling me.”
“She’s not going to tell you. She doesn’t know you, brother. I’m coming home from the run.”
“She’s fine,” I said, through gritted teeth. He may think we don’t know each other, but that’s because when I was getting to know her, he was busy burying his dick in every available woman that came through our doors. “Finish the job. I got her.”
He was quiet, almost like he was running through all the options. He and Vanna were similar with how they handled the issues.
“I know, brother. I just…feel like shit. She should know to come to me.”
“She’s independent,” I told him. “Always has been, like your mum. I got her. I’ll keep her safe, and I’ll find out who the fuck is fucking with her and end them.”
“Keep me updated, yeah?”
“Yep.”
“Where’s she going to stay at the clubhouse, brother?” Vice asked me. “I don’t trust half those newer fuckers. They don’t know who she is.”
“I’ll sort it out, brother,” I told him. I didn’t need to tell him she wouldn’t be staying at the clubhouse, because he was right. We couldn’t trust the younger members, they wouldn’t know who she was and that had been her choice.
We ended the call and I turned back to see the cops leaving and Vanna locking her shop. She said goodbye to her assistant and moved over to me.
“I’ll meet you at the clubhouse,” she said.
“Get on my bike, Vanna.”
“What? My car is here.”
“I’m not telling you again. Get on my bike.”
I moved over to it, holding my helmet out to her. She hesitated and for a moment, I thought she might actually disobey but slowly, she climbed on behind me and put the helmet on her head. When she wrapped her arms around my waist, I had to bite back the warm feeling running through my body.
Her being on the back of my bike just felt right. I had to push that thought away as I pulled out into the traffic and headed back to the clubhouse.
A word with the prez and then I’d take her to where I’d keep her safe until we sorted her little issue out. I just hoped I could keep my hands to myself while Vice was away.
With no one to stop me, and chemistry between the two of us that could rival Romeo and Juliet, there was too much temptation when it came to Vanna. I didn’t think I was going to survive her walking away again.
VANNA
I could not get off the bike fast enough the second we were at the clubhouse. Being in such close proximity to Devil was going to be the end of me.
Marching up the steps of the clubhouse, I looked around and saw so many new faces that I faltered in my confidence. I’d been gone for years, and that had been my choice. Back then, my dad had been the president, and I’d been royalty. Now, I was just someone who used to be royalty.
I don’t know what was worse.
“Come on,” I heard Devil say from behind me. “Prez wants to see us.”
I ignored how my body trembled when he said us, and followed him toward the office. It was just past the room they called Chapel, where they held club business, and in a small makeshift room that barely fit the desk, computer and two chairs.
I remembered this room from the numerous times my dad would have to reprimand me after a night out or if I’d done something stupid and the prospects were paying for it.
Now, it felt so much smaller than I remembered.
The man behind the desk looked vaguely familiar, but I couldn’t place the name, until I looked down at his cut.
Ode was his name, and I wondered if he sang or played music. I always wondered about their road names.
“Vanna, I take it.”
He stood, which was rare for a president to do when a non-member came to the office. “Yes.”
“Come, sit down.”
I waited for Devil to leave, but he simply stood behind my chair. Somehow I was happy he was here in the office that felt familiar and yet strange at the same time.
“I hear you’re having trouble with your business,” Ode said. “Mind telling me what’s been happening?”
“Ah…it’s been vandalized a few times.”
“A few?” he asked, his brows knitting together in confusion. “I suppose the police aren’t doing anything about it.”
“No,” Devil grunted. “They seem to think it's not important.”
Ode’s eyes shot to Devil before they landed back on me. “And you didn’t tell your brother about it earlier?”
I sighed, realising Ode wasn’t going to yell at me for wasting his time or his resources. “I am used to doing things on my own, and well, I didn’t think it was serious at first.”
“What do the police say?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know…that I should have better security, or have someone on duty with me. A man.”
I scoffed at the last part. When Detective Oswell said that after the second time, I wanted to rip his balls off.
“I see,” Ode said. “Well, I’m glad you called your brother. We’ll start with the first attack, track our way through and have our tech guy on the security at your shop.”
“I don’t need babysitters, Ode. I need to know who it is. I called my brother because…well I ran out of options. I shouldn’t have, I’ve been independent for a while and I should stick to that.”
I stood up. Ode did the same.
“Don’t be stupid,” I heard Devil grunt behind me. White hot rage took over as I spun to face him. His eyes were dark, anger stealing over his expression.
“What did you just say?”
“You heard me.”
“I’m not stupid.”
“Then stop acting like it,” he gritted out through his teeth.
I wanted to slap him. I wanted to kiss him. I wanted him to take me up against the wall with his anger.
My head was whirling with possibilities as I watched his nostrils flare. Was he feeling it too?
Turning my back to him, I smiled sweetly over at Ode. “Thank you for your time. I’m sorry it was wasted. I’ve got this.”
“Are you?—”
“Tell him what they took.”
Ode’s eyes flicked from me to Devil, then back to me. “They broke in? What did they take, Vanna?”
“I’m not a member of this club, and all due respect, I’m declining the club’s help, with many thanks and apologies for wasting your time. I don’t need to stay here.”
I opened the door to the office and walked out, feeling mighty proud of myself, before I felt a hand clamp around my arm and pull me back. I swung around, my fist balled and swung. Devil caught my fist in his hand and held both my arms down by my sides, his nostrils flaring again.
“Van…”
“Vanna,” Ode said, coming out of his office and standing beside us. I didn’t take my eyes off Devil, my own anger competing with his own. “Let her go, Devil.”
Slowly, I felt the sharpness of his fingers that were dug into my arms loosen, and the ache of bruises forming kept me from screaming at him. I liked it. I liked how hard he held me, how he looked at me like he either wanted to fuck me or kill me. Maybe both.
“Vanna.”
I turned my head to Ode, thankful for the distraction from whatever was passing between Devil and myself.
“You may not be an active member, Vanna, but you are one of our officer’s sisters. That makes you family. We don’t let our family deal with things like this on their own, and if they took something important, we need to keep you protected.”
I didn’t know what to say. It could have something to do with the demon behind me, breathing down my neck, or the fact that I knew I needed the help. I had no idea. All I knew was I needed air.
“Come back inside,” Ode said to me. “We’ll talk about logistics that you’re comfortable with.”
I nodded, and moved back into the office.
“Alone, Devil.”
I hid my smirk at Ode telling Devil to stay outside, and did a little finger wave from behind Ode as he closed the door before I sat back down in the chair and waited for whatever it was that he was going to say.
“So…I think we need to start with what the hell is going on with you and my enforcer.”