Page 10 of A Biker for Noelle
“You’re a good man for protecting your sister.”
Zack immediately responds to my praise. “That’s what brothers and sisters are supposed to do. Take care of each other,” he says with pride, and I respect his answer.
I look back at Noelle. “Mind telling me why you neglected to mention you have a kid brother and why the hell the two of you are sleeping in your car behind my bar?”
She gulps, not willing to answer.
I turn to Tech, the club’s treasurer, as a sense of protectiveness washes over me. “I’m takin’ them to the clubhouse. Grab the keys from inside and pull the truck around.”
The wind whips through the cold winter air as I look back at Noelle and her brother. They are clearly in survival mode and have been for some time. I don’t like it, and I need to know why. “You and your brother are coming with me,” I demand, and I see Noelle wants to flee. “Just for the night.” I soften my tone and then lean in, getting closer to her. “Please,” I add, trying to override her instinct to run. “It’s not safe for you two to be sleepin’ out here in the fuckin’ cold.”
“I’ve got everything under control.” Noelle stubbornly refuses my help. I growl in frustration, but Noelle meets my heated gaze and displeasure head-on. “We are not your concern.”
“You became my concern when you walked into my bar,” I declare. “You and your brother are not sleeping in this piece of shit tin can. It’s colder than a grave digger’s shovel out here, and you two could use a warm place to rest. Now get your sweet ass out of the damn car, babe, before I haul you out myself,” I order, leaving no room for argument.
Through mine and Noelle’s heated exchange, Zack watches on, his gaze bouncing back and forth. He’s inquisitive, and I cantell by the way his body language changes that he no longer sees me as a threat.
Tech pulls up in the truck, gets out, and leaves the engine running. I stride over and swing open the passenger side door. “Get in.”
“But we can’t just leave our things. What’s in my car is all we have,” Noelle protests.
“Grab what you need for tonight. One of my men will handle the rest of your shit.” After a moment of hesitation, Noelle grabs her handbag, and her brother snatches a backpack from the floorboard. Before her brother jumps into the truck cab, he pauses and looks up at me. Unlike his sister, the boy doesn’t appear to be scared of me at all. “I think she likes you,” he says, his tone laced with sarcasm.
“Zack,” Noelle hisses, poking at her brother to keep moving.
I’m curious, so I bite. “What makes you think that, kid?”
“Because Nelly never listens to anyone.” He hops onto the seat and fastens his seatbelt.
Noelle tosses her bag onto the floorboard, then looks back over her shoulder at me. She opens her mouth as if to say something but doesn’t. Instead, she slides in beside her brother, buckles in, and I close the door.
“What do you want us to do about the car?” Wire asks.
“Get it over to the shop. Rooster can take a look at it later.”
Poet shakes his head as he lights a cigarette. “What the hell was she thinking, sleeping in this piece of shit car with a kid in the middle of winter?”
I’m wondering that myself.
“Did you see the kid’s face?” Brewer’s voice is tinged with anger.
“I noticed.”
“Do you think they’re runnin’ from something or someone?” Wire asks.
My attention never wavers from the truck’s cab, feeling the intensity of Noelle’s gaze locking onto me through the window. “I don’t know, but I intend to find out.”
CHAPTER FIVE
Noelle
Eazy shuts the truck door, walks around the front, and stops. That is when Rooster and Brewer, whom I have met already, approach. Brewer says something that causes Eazy to peer over his shoulder into the truck’s cab. For a split second, our eyes lock. I’d give anything to know what he’s thinking and what he and his friends are saying. Suddenly, the thought of Eazy thinking less of me puts my stomach in knots.
I have never cared much about what people think about me, so why does Eazy’s opinion matter? He must think I’m a horrible person.God, what if he decides to call the police?Sweat breaks across my brow, and my heart is beating out of my chest at the prospect of him getting the cops involved. I could go to jail for kidnapping. They would discover what I did, and Zack would return to his dad.
I can’t let that happen.
I won’t let that happen!
