Page 11 of Diesel
Tom gestured toward the alley, and Diesel followed.He knew what this was about before a word was spoken.
Tom crossed his arms, leaning against the brick wall.“You and Sophie,” he said.“What’s going on there?”
“Nothing,” Diesel said flatly.
Tom snorted.“You sure?‘Cause from where I’m standing, it looks like something.”
Diesel didn’t answer.
Tom tilted his head.“Look, I trust you.Beast trusts you.That’s why you’re here.But Sophie’s been through enough already.”
“I know,” Diesel said quietly.
“She’s not like the girls who hang around the clubhouse.She’s ...softer.Kinder.You get close, you hurt her, even by accident, you won’t be answering to Beast.You’ll be answering to me,” Tom said.
Diesel met Tom’s eyes.“I’m not gonna touch her.”
Tom studied him.“Good.Then we’re square.”
He left Diesel standing there in the alley, his own words echoing in his ears like a goddamn lie.Because he wasn’t going to touch Sophie, but hell if he didn’t already want to.
Chapter Four
Diesel wasn’t gonelong.Ten minutes, tops.Just enough time to grab another thermos of coffee and check in with Beast over the phone, relaying everything he’d observed that day.
It was standard protocol: check-ins, updates, presence.His job wasn’t glamorous, but it was effective.
When he turned the corner back onto Main Street, coffee in hand, his boots hit the pavement harder than usual.There was a chill in the evening air, and his gut twisted with unease before he even saw her.Sophie was standing on the sidewalk in front of her shop, and she wasn’t alone.
A man towered over her.He was in his mid-thirties, stocky, wearing a leather jacket that didn’t belong to any club Diesel recognized.Not from around here.His stance was wrong.Aggressive.
He had one arm braced against the shop’s brick wall near Sophie’s head, boxing her in.He was talking low, too low for Diesel to hear.Sophie’s shoulders were drawn tight.Her arms were crossed, defensive.She wasn’t smiling.
Diesel’s vision tunneled.He was moving before he made the conscious decision to.The thermos dropped from his hand and clattered to the ground, rolling toward the curb unnoticed.All he could think was that this guy had no right to be near her.Not like that.Not with that tone, that posture.Not when Diesel had made it very fucking clear she was not to be bothered.
“Step away from her,” Diesel said coldly.
