Chapter Three
Katey
“W hat are we doing at the courthouse, Cal?” I snorted my disapproval as we walked through security and picked up our belongings. “You know these people can’t do shit to help me. No offense.” Protection orders. Restraining orders. They only worked if the other person gave a damn about facing consequences. I’d taken out eight different orders over the years, and Ethan never spent one night in jail. He had connections that made sure of it.
“None taken.” He smiled, shook his head, and guided me down a staircase and through a narrow hall before we stepped inside a room with stacks of paperwork and two exhausted-looking clerks. “We’re here because I have a solution to your problem, which you are going to hate with every fiber of your being. So I figured an ambush was appropriate.”
My brows dipped in confusion. “Ambush? What are you talking about?” The door opened and in walked a man I had met once but never thought I’d see again. Cole Davis. He served with Cal in the military, and I’d been smitten at first sight.
How could I not be? He was well over six feet with broad shoulders and thick biceps. Now, he was still tall, still broad, and still ripped to shit, but his arms were covered in tattoos and his black buzz cut was replaced by a short style that showed off a hint of a curl, and those green eyes were vibrant but haunted and hard. I took in the sight of him, and I took my time doing it since it had been far too long since I was face-to-face with such mouthwatering eye candy.
It was ruined when I caught sight of his leather vest. Disgusted, I took a step back. Cole was a biker, and that realization was the perfect bucket of ice water I needed to get my head on straight. I wouldn’t let my head be turned by a good-looking biker ever again.
“No,” I said and turned to my brother. “Absolutely the fuck not. Whatever you’re thinking about, forget it.”
“Katey, be reasonable.”
There was no being reasonable when it came to bikers. “You know what I’ve been through, what Ethan put me through. I won’t put myself in that position. I can’t.” My voice broke on the last two words, but it didn’t bother me.
“Katey, this isn’t the same. You can trust Sniper.”
I shook my head. “I can’t afford to. If you’re wrong, I’m the one who’s going to pay for it.” He trusted Cole with his life. That’s how it was in the military, but I didn’t have to trust him and I didn’t.
“You think I’m thrilled about this?” Cole’s voice was deep and each of his words as sharp as a knife. “I’m not, but if marrying you will keep you alive, I’m willing to do it. If not, I’ll find another way to pay Watchdog back for saving my life.”
I whirled on him, filled with so much hate my body vibrated with it. I hated him. In that moment, I hated him as much as I hated Ethan. I didn’t know this man, but I hated him. I hated him because he was hot. Because he looked at me like I was a piece of shit on the bottom of his shoe. I hated him… for too many reasons to count. But I did have another reason. “Did you say marry me?” I turned to my brother, betrayal swimming in my eyes. “Marry?”
Cal placed one hand on my shoulder to stop me from walking out of the suddenly suffocating office. “This is the first step to getting rid of Ethan. Another motorcycle club will scare Ethan, either because he’s outnumbered or out of respect.”
I shook off the traitor’s touch. “I disagree. He didn’t respect his own MC enough to abide by the rules.”
“She’s right,” Cole said in a low, completely in control voice. “He doesn’t sound like the type to just go away, but our marriage will be another roadblock.”
I folded my arms. “My answer is still no.”
Cole shrugged, his green eyes cold. “Okay. There are plenty of small towns you can run to every few months. It’s a tiring way to live, but it’s your life to throw away.”
“You don’t have to be an asshole about it.”
“I’m offering you my name, my MC, And my protection, and I’m the asshole? Whatever.”
“Yeah, the same so-called protection I had before!” I was shouting. “He beat me. He raped me. He tortured me, and do you know what his club brothers and their protection did? Jack shit. They didn’t do a goddamn thing, so excuse me if I’m not willing to become property for another group of bikers!” I rushed from the office at that point because it was stifling without any windows or fresh air, and I couldn’t breathe.
“Katey.” I expected to hear Cal’s voice, but it wasn’t. It was Cole. “Stop.”
Dammit, my feet obeyed instinctively, and I cursed my traitorous body. I turned as he moved forward, not in a hurry and not at all disturbed by my outburst. “What?”
“This isn’t easy, I know that.” His voice was soft, almost gentle. “Cal told me some of what this asshole has done, and if we’re married that’s one less thing he can do to you. It doesn’t mean I fucking own you or you belong to me, it means that I will protect you.”
God, how I wanted to believe that. “What’s in it for you?”
“You want the truth?”
I nodded eagerly, hungry for a piece of truth in all of this. “I only want the truth, Cole.”
“I owe your brother for saving my life and I don’t like to leave a debt unpaid.”
I grinned against my better judgment. “Marriage is a pretty big debt.”
“Not for my life. I’ll never be able to fully repay him, but making sure some crazy fuck doesn’t take your life? That’s a damn good start.” He scrubbed one hand over his face and sighed. “I don’t want anything from you, Katey.”
His rationale made sense, but I still didn’t trust him. “A paper marriage only?”
He nodded.
I didn’t trust him. I couldn’t afford to. If, or when, they found out the rest of what I knew about Ethan, they would realize I wasn’t worth the trouble and toss me to the wolves themselves. “I’ll think about it.”
Cole—I mean, Sniper—if I decided to go through with this, then I needed to distance myself, so I would call him Sniper like my brother did. He nodded once and walked away.