Chapter 16
Mia found Charlie in the kitchen, standing in front of the coffee machine trying to decide whether it was already on or merely looked warm.
She had apparently been there for a while without quite daring to touch anything, and there was still something cautious in the way she moved through the clubhouse, as though she didn’t know which cupboards she was allowed to open or what she was allowed to help herself to.
“It’s on,” Mia said as she walked in and took the mug from Charlie’s hand. “And you need to eat.”
Before Charlie could protest, she had coffee in front of her and had been planted at the table while Mia dug out a plate of scrambled eggs and a few slices of bread that had definitely seen better days but were still perfectly edible.
“Thanks.”
Mia gave her a look as she sat down opposite with her own mug.
“Stop thanking me for everything. You’re here with Reeze.”
There was no question in the words, nor any suggestion that Charlie needed to explain or defend why she was there. Mia simply stated it as a fact before taking a drink of her coffee.
Charlie started eating and for a few minutes they sat quietly across from one another. Beyond the kitchen, the clubhouse had begun waking properly, voices mixing with footsteps and opening doors, while somewhere farther away someone was swearing loudly at something that apparently deserved it.
“That thing out there earlier,” Mia said eventually. “With Nathalie and Amanda.”
Charlie tensed almost automatically and put down her fork.
“I’m sorry if—”
“No.”
Mia cut her off before she could finish.
“That isn’t yours to apologise for. Nathalie gets jealous of anything that moves and always has. Jesse’s used to it. Amanda’s new and still doesn’t really understand how things work around here.”
Charlie looked down at her plate for a moment before raising her eyes again.
“How does it work?”
A crooked smile appeared on Mia’s face.
“That’s probably the most common question people ask the first time they come here.”
She leaned back in her chair, holding the coffee mug between both hands.
“The club isn’t just bikes, cuts and the bar.
There’s work too. Legal work. The pub, events, mechanics and a whole lot of everyday shit nobody on the outside finds particularly interesting.
People see the cuts and think everything in here is crime and shadows, but most of the time it’s the same crap as everywhere else.
Bills, things breaking and people not doing what they promised they’d do. ”
Charlie pursed her lips slightly.
“And the other stuff?”
Mia met her gaze across the table and this time the smile disappeared.
“The other stuff isn’t my table. And it isn’t yours either.”
It didn’t feel like an evasive answer. It was simply a boundary Mia had drawn, and one Charlie could accept. She already knew there were parts of the club no one would discuss with her, and she wasn’t entirely sure she wanted to know about them anyway.
Mia watched her for another moment before sighing and setting down her mug.
“Reeze isn’t... simple.”
“No,” Charlie said quietly. “I’ve noticed.”
A faint smile returned to Mia’s lips.
“He’s loyal to a fucking fault. Protects his own until he breaks himself doing it, and that comes from somewhere.”
Charlie didn’t ask where. Something in Mia’s tone told her the rest would come if she simply waited, and sure enough, after a moment Mia drew a slow breath.
“He had a sister. Older than him.”
Charlie’s hand stilled around her coffee mug.
“She was already an adult when it happened. She’d left home young and married young, to a man everybody thought was stable and decent.
You know the type. Held doors open for people, smiled at the neighbours and called everyone his friend.
” Mia pulled a face. “Not a biker. A lawyer with a good job and nice clothes. The sort of man nobody ever looked at twice.”
She fell silent for a moment, and Charlie saw something change in her expression.
“He beat her. For a long time. Nobody knew how bad it was, not even Reeze. She hid it, and the bastard was damn good at making sure nobody else saw what was happening. Not until it was too late.”
Charlie felt her fingers tighten around the mug.
“What happened?”
Mia looked down into her coffee.
“Reeze was barely an adult when he found her. She was still in the flat. Her ex had beaten her to death.”
There was no drama in the way Mia said it, and perhaps that was why the words hit so hard.
Charlie sat very still, thinking about Reeze, about the man who could joke with Molly one moment and turn completely cold the next.
She remembered his face when she had told him about Dennis and how quickly something inside him had changed once he understood what her ex had done.
Suddenly, pieces of Reeze that hadn’t made sense before began falling into place.
“That’s why he reacts the way he does to Dennis.”
“Yeah.”
Mia looked up and met her eyes.
“That doesn’t mean he’s only helping you because what happened to you reminds him of his sister, if that’s what you’re thinking. Reeze was interested in you long before he knew a damn thing about Dennis.”
Heat crept into Charlie’s cheeks, but Mia continued before she could say anything.
“But Dennis brings something out in him that very few people do. Reeze doesn’t tolerate men who beat women. Not even a little. And when it’s someone he cares about...” She shook her head slowly. “Then it gets worse.”
Charlie thought about the message Dennis had sent and about Reeze coming back to her after reading it. She had felt the anger in him even though he had done everything he could to keep it away from her.
“And that’s why I’m here now?”
“Partly. You’re here because Dennis and his partner are watching you, and because this is one of the few places they can’t just walk into and do whatever the fuck they want.
” Mia raised an eyebrow. “But mostly you’re here because Reeze wants you here.
He can’t protect you from a distance, and that man isn’t built to sit at home hoping nothing happens. ”
That made Charlie smile faintly because she had already worked out that much for herself.
“No. Doesn’t really seem like his thing.”
“Definitely not.”
Mia smiled back before becoming serious again.
“You don’t need to be afraid of him, Charlie, but there’s something you need to understand about Reeze. Once he lets somebody in, he lets them all the way in. There isn’t much middle ground with him.”
Charlie lowered her gaze to her hands. Only a few days ago, she had barely dared believe Reeze could genuinely want her.
Now she was in the middle of his world, had slept in his bed and had been introduced to the others as the woman who was with him.
It had happened quickly, perhaps far too quickly if she tried to look at it from the outside, but at the same time none of it felt forced.
“I think I’m starting to understand.”
“Good.”
Mia’s expression softened and she reached across the table, briefly covering Charlie’s hand with her own.
“Then understand one more thing. If you need anything today, tomorrow or next week, or if all this gets too fucking much and you need somebody who isn’t Reeze, you come to me. All right?”
Charlie nodded.
“All right.”
“Good. Then that’s settled.”
Mia got to her feet, picked up her coffee mug and began clearing the table before glancing at Charlie’s almost empty plate.
“And now we’re going to get some order into that head of yours before the world decides to interfere again.”
Charlie smiled and remained where she was as Mia disappeared from the kitchen.
The coffee had gone lukewarm between her hands, but she drank it anyway while she let everything Mia had told her settle. It didn’t make Reeze any easier to understand, and it certainly didn’t make the situation with Dennis any less serious.
But it had given her another piece of him.
And more than anything, she now understood why a man who could be so hard towards almost everything around him had held her so gently when she was afraid.