Page 52 of Petty's Crime

All the time RoseLyn sits close, snuggling under my arm. For some reason, I feel at ease, and find I’m forgetting the problems that I left at home and I’m in no hurry to get back to them. I stretch out my legs, feeling totally relaxed, pushing the wife waiting for me to the back of my mind.

Though I hoped to hear from the club that Saul has been caught and it’s safe to go back, my phone remains silent in my pocket. But it’s early still, and I have my hopes up that soon I’ll receive good news via message.

When the movie finishes, Rufus and Martina make sure we have everything we need, then take themselves off to bed. As soon as they leave the room, RoseLyn disentangles herself from me, and smooths her hands down her arms.

She looks up at me through her eyelashes. “I’m sorry for making you sit through that.”

I’m taken aback by her apology. To be honest, with all that I’ve got going on with Britney, this has been a pleasant interlude, an oasis of peace in an otherwise tumultuous situation. It’s given me some breathing space, and time to think with clarity.

“No worries,” I tell her, meaning it.

“What did you think about the pastor?” She hesitates. “I must admit it made me uneasy. I’ve been so fixated that Saul’s behind everything…” Shaking her head, she shivers. “Could I have been wrong? Or is it coincidence someone’s been asking about me?”

In situations like this is, it’s all too easy to see demons hiding in every corner. It too had made my sixth sense twitch. I’d long been on the bandwagon that her stalker wasn’t her ex, but recently, particularly after the snakes, I’d been convinced.

“I doubt it,” I respond, after giving her suggestion serious consideration. “Johnson was probably trying to get on your mom’s good side, and realised you were her Achilles heel. But we can’t dismiss anything at this point, so I’ve already texted Keys.” I brush back my hair. “We can’t ignore it. Anyone asking questions about you raises a red flag.”

“I wasn’t too happy about how easy it was to get information from my mom. Sometimes there’s a downside to her being so proud of me.” Her eyes cast a look in the direction her parents had disappeared, but she doesn’t seem critical, just accepting of what they’ve possibly done with the best of intentions. Back at me she suggests, “I suppose we better get some sleep.”

It’s been a long day, and that coupled with the previous two relatively sleepless nights, I’m completely down for that. When I raise my chin, she leaves the room and I follow her.

The guestroom we’ve been assigned has an en suite, so I let RoseLyn go through her bedtime routine first, and then complete mine after her. It’s a king-size bed so we can leave plenty of space between us. It seems strange when I recall so is mine, but I didn’t want to be anywhere near Britney. RoseLyn, though, is a different matter entirely. Probably because I know there’s no way she’d want to take advantage of me.

When I lay my head on the pillow and close my eyes, I feel nothing but relaxed. I’m drowsy and soon on the verge of drifting off.

I’m disturbed by her soft voice. “You’re so different to how I thought you’d be.”

My eyes blink open again. “How so?”

She chuckles softly. “I never thought you’d be able to convince them that we were together.”

I could continue to be an ass, tell her it’s an act I’ve perfected, but instead, I find myself giving a truthful reply. “Your parents are lovely people. It’s easy to relax around them.”

I hear a shuffling and turn my head to see that she’s situated herself on her side facing me, her head propped on her hand. “So who are you, really? The obnoxious Petty in Vegas, or Clark, the man who’s here with me?”

Copying her motion, I turn over as well. This places my back toward her. Half under my breath, I grumble, “I’m the same fucking man.”

It’s not something I want to discuss with her. The problem being, I’m not sure which I am. Clark is the man who was taken in by Britney, and who she rightly identifies as a wimp, the man my brothers wouldn’t want to ride beside and who’d be embarrassed to have in their ranks. Petty, though, well, he’s the rough, hardened biker who won’t take shit from anyone.

For some reason, it’s been all too easy to become Clark these past few hours. And he and RoseLyn haven’t butted heads in the same way that Petty and she would do. To avoid further questions, I stay quiet and allow my breathing to even out. Obviously getting the hint, she switches off the light.

Again I close my eyes. My mind ponders a while on how comfortable I’ve felt slipping back into the persona of Clark, but I must be overtired as my thoughts don’t keep me awake. If she speaks to me again, I don’t hear.

I feel hands fumbling at me. I try to push them away. I’m naked. My cock’s in her hands… I twist, trying to evade her touch.

Not again! She’s looming over me. I’m helpless… I can’t move. Feeling like I’m fighting against gravity, my limbs leaden, I struggle to raise my hands in an effort to fend her off… No, no, no, no, no. I’m trying to scream but I’m mute. My mouth opens but no sound comes out. My terror finally breaks through my paralysis and I shove and push my attacker away then roll, managing to get out from under her and…

And come awake as I land on the floor with a thump. When the light snaps on, I hold out my palms, warding my attacker off. I scramble away, half blinded.

“Hey, hey! It’s me.” A panicked face looks down from the mattress. “Petty, are you alright? You were having a nightmare.”

I… What? I shake my head, trying to clear it, still in the grasp of the vestiges of what I quickly realise was a bad dream, leaving me fumbling for the knowledge of where I am.

Fuck, I’m in RoseLyn’s parents’ house. I’m in, or was in, RoseLyn’s bed.

Recognising it’s RoseLyn’s face staring at me, I remember trying to fight someone off in my dream. “Did I hurt you?” I demand.

“I wasn’t the one who fell on the floor.”

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