Page 13 of Devil's Work: Dark

“At the shop. What’s up?”

“Need you to come down to Dusty’s office. I’m calling in the brothers on this one. Vlad, Sarge, Cut, and Rough are on their way. It’s important, man.”

“Right. Be there in a few.”

He doesn’t give me much over the phone. It must be bad. Since it involves Dusty, it must be about a woman. The Horde run a safehouse for abused women or women who’ve escaped from trafficking. Since Bentley ain’t that big, I get to the office before the other brothers. Nurse Ratchet in there knows my face well. She buzzes me back.

“Reap,” I call out.

“In here, brother.” The door is open to one of the exam rooms, so I assume that’s where he’s calling from. When I walk in, I stop cold. This woman. This fucking woman. She’s the hottest piece of ass I’ve seen in years, but I’ve never seen her around before. The crutches are somewhat worrisome.

Because I realize that I’m staring like a pussy, I blink then turn to Reap. “What’s up?”

“I’ll wait to go into it all until the other brothers arrive. But this is Rae—I’m sorry, I didn’t get your last name, sweetheart.”

“Conrad,” she says and fuck, she’s got this husky Kathleen Turner voice that attacks my dick.

“Rae Conrad,” Reap repeats.

“They call me ‘Dark,’” I say to introduce myself.

“Hi, Dark,” she says. Fuck, the way she forms my name… Imagine that mouth wrapped around my cock sucking me off? My eyes drop to her left hand. No ring. Excellent.

It takes about ten minutes for the rest of the brothers to arrive. Rae’s gorgeous eyes get fucking huge. The intriguing combination of blue, green and brown don’t necessarily look scared, but hungry. Why hasn’t she been around the club? Bet she’s a fucking fantastic lay. She’s got a body made for sin and I, myself, am the biggest sinner.

All the brothers stutter their steps when they enter the small room, getting their first look at Rae. Even Vlad and Sarge, who have two of the hottest bitches around, do double-takes.

“Brothers,” Reap says, calling our attention to him. “This is Rae. She’s got one hell of a problem.”

After a round of headshakes and introductions, Rae launches into this tale that seems almost too ridiculous to be true. “My sister invited me to Nashville for a job. She led me to believe it was a catering gig. When I got there, the party was at this huge mansion filled with old men in suits. She told the guy that I was fifteen. He asked if I was a virgin.” She looks each brother in the eye. Damn, she’s strong, too. “He brought me up to a room to have sex with me. He wanted a fifteen-year-old virgin. I had to figure out a way to escape. He got called away, I bolted. Tried doors, one opened. It was this old man with his trousers down attempting to get it on with a little girl. And I meansix.” She pauses to let us take that in. I want to fucking kill someone right now. “I hit him over the head with a lamp and escaped with the little girl. We were followed. I got her to the police. They sent me on my way. When I stopped for gas over the Kentucky border, I was attacked. Clearly, I got away, but now I’m scared shitless.”

“No doubt,” Sarge says.

“We can put her in the safehouse,” Cutter offers.

“Or she can stay up at the club,” I offer. Having this bitch close wouldn’t exactly be a hardship.

“Neither of those will work,” she says. “I don’t think I can keep my kids hidden at a safehouse and I’m no expert on bikers, but I assume a clubhouse is no place for a toddler and a five-year-old.”

She’s got kids?Dammit.I’d have hit that, but I don’t get involved with women who have kids. I ain’t gonna be stuck playing daddy to someone else’s problems. She doesnotlook like a mom.

“No,” Vlad speaks up. “I don’t see how either of those places will work for you, then. There’s no one you can go stay with for a while?”

Rae shakes her head. “Mm… no. My sister is my only family and I’m not heading back to Nashville for all the money in the world.”

“What if we put a guard on her?” Dusty asks.

“I’d do it,” Reaper says, “but that’d keep me away from what we’ve got going on at the safehouse. It’s a bad time for me to step away. We’re so close…” He trails off. We’ve been hunting down the women who were taken from the safehouse Vlad’s woman, Nic, ran back in Texas.

I notice neither Cutter nor Roughneck offers their services. Vlad can’t do it, he’s the president of the club, and he’s got Nic.

“Then I’ll do it,” Sarge says. “Greer will understand.”

Now that’s bullshit. Sarge’s woman is getting ready to pop out a brat of her own. He’s fucking ecstatic because he lost his son years ago. He can’t leave her. Even I’m not dumb enough to think a pregnant woman is gonna be okay with her man moving in with another woman and her kids—and that’s what it’ll take. Rae will need 24/7 protection, at least until we take care of the larger problem.

I rub my hand over my face. I fucking can’t believe I’m about to say this. “Sarge, your bitch is pregnant. You can’t leave her alone. I’ll do it.”

Every head turns to face me, most noticeably Rae’s. “Look,” I say to her specifically. “You need a full-time guard. Your best options are either me, Cut, or Rough because we don’t got bitches waiting at home for us, but since neither of those pussies volunteered, you get me.” I hate the eyes on me, but what I hate more is trying to convince a woman to let me do afavorfor her.

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