CHAPTER4

Abby

I wokeup the next morning feeling disoriented and uneasy. I blinked my eyes open and sat up in bed, wondering where the hell I was. And then it came to me in vivid detail. I was in the clubhouse. I was going to be living with a motorcycle gang until Walter could be found.

I remembered the terror I had felt last night when the man I thought had been Walter had slammed into my apartment. For a second, I thought I was going to die a slow and painful death. I recalled the words that Ryder had thrown at me last night and part of the reason I had reacted so badly was because they were true.

He was right. I was weak, and I was helpless. Why else would I have ended up here, relying on a brother I wasn’t very close to and a bunch of men I didn’t trust? I thought about their president, and I felt a hot coil of desire grip my body.

I could still feel that kiss on my lips and my tongue. He had grabbed me without permission… but in some ways, he had read me just like he had told me he did. I hadn’t given him consent to put his hands on my body or kiss me the way he had, but he had known I wanted it… he had known I wanted him. As annoyed and angry as I was for the way he had felt he could touch me like that, a part of me was also annoyed at myself too.

I got out of bed and realized that the second door in my room opened out to a tiny bathroom. It was practically a crawl space, but it meant that I didn’t have to use a communal bathroom, and I was grateful for that much at least. I brushed my teeth and had a quick wash that required a certain amount of talent because of how cramped the space was. Then I walked naked back into the room, dried myself off, and slipped on jeans and a white tank top.

I opened the door softly and stuck my head out. I couldn’t see that anyone was around, but I did hear voices coming from downstairs, in the vicinity of the kitchen. I went downstairs cautiously, noticing that everyone seemed to have congregated in the kitchen. I was hidden from their vision and they were hidden from mine, but I could hear the conversation clearly. I hung back, realizing that they were talking about me.

“So… how hot is she?”

I felt myself bristle at the question, but another part of me waited for the answer.

“What the fuck does that matter?” I recognized Ryder’s deep, authoritative voice immediately.

“I’m just curious… seeing as how you agreed to let her stay in our cave.”

“She’s Devon’s sister,” Ryder replied.

“Fuck that shit; you don’t really expect us to believe that you did this out of the kindness of your heart.”

I heard snickers run through the group. “Based on what Devon told me about this ex-boyfriend… I think he’s trouble.”

I frowned, feeling the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. It wasn’t like I didn’t know that Walter was dangerous, but the way that Ryder said it made me feel that this was danger on a level that I was unfamiliar with.

“Trouble?” someone repeated. “How much trouble?”

“I think he may be connected to another gang,” Ryder admitted.

“Fuck…” I heard someone way.

There was a slight hush that fell upon the group, and I sensed there was something more to this story than I was aware of. I knew that Devon wasn’t a part of the group in the kitchen, and I wondered for a moment where he could be. I felt slightly uncomfortable being here without him. We may not have been tied at the hip or anything, but he was the only one I knew.

“Do you think…?”

“It’s possible,” Ryder replied before the sentence was finished. “But I don’t know. I can’t be sure, and until I am… we need to lie low.”

“If it is though… this could be opening up old wounds and starting a brand-new battle. Are you prepared for that?”

“Are you?” Ryder demanded.

I heard someone hoot loudly, and someone else wolf-whistled. “Fuck, you know we’re ready. It’s been awhile since we had a good fight around here.”

“Do I need to remind you what happened at the last fight?” Ryder demanded.

Again another silence fell, and I wondered about the history of the club and what they stood for. My brother had found a home here, but I had never asked him what had drawn him to the Fallen Angels. I had made my assumptions about them, without ever bothering to actually ask any real questions.

“Abby?”

I whirled around and found Devon standing behind me, having just walked in through the main door. He was in jeans and the motorcycle jacket that every member of his crew seemed to possess.

“Morning,” I said, aware that the rest of the group now knew I was there. “Just came in?”