Page 23 of Chains
“He’ll use those two days,” she said, her voice hollow.“He’ll try to manipulate everyone, make them feel sorry for him, charm his way into staying longer.”
“He can try,” I said, squeezing her hand.“But Knuckles knows exactly who and what kind of man he is.We all do.No one’s falling for his bullshit, Ellie.”
She looked up at me, her dark eyes searching mine.“How can you be so sure?”
“Honey, we were all in the prison system.We can manipulate with the best of them.Added to the fact that the Butcher did time in Terre Haute, every man here knows every fuckin’ word out of his mouth is a Goddamned lie.”I brushed a strand of hair from her face, tucking it behind her ear.“The only reason we don’t kill him the second he sets foot outside this gate is because of you.If nothing else any of us has done earned your trust, this act of kindness toward your father is the ultimate offering.He was in solitary for a reason, and it wasn’t because he was too dangerous for men like us.”I shook my head.“It was for his own protection.Frankly, I’m amazed he made it out without having a nasty accident.”
“He probably managed to pay someone off,” she muttered.“Wouldn’t surprise me.”
“Yeah?Well, no one here will accept his money, Ellie.I promise you.He has no idea what he’s walking into, or I guarantee you he would run in the opposite direction as hard as he could.”
The cats grew more agitated as we talked, sensing the tension.Salem paced along the back of the couch, tail lashing, while Binx jumped from my lap only to rub against our ankles restlessly.Lucifer pressed himself harder against Ellie’s leg, eyes never leaving my face.
“Let’s go back to your place,” I suggested.“These three are wound up, and you could use some quiet.”
She nodded, gathering Lucifer in her arms -- who, surprisingly, allowed it -- as she stood.Salem leapt gracefully to the floor, and Binx moved away from my legs so I didn’t step on them.We walked in silence through the compound, the cats trailing behind us like a small, furry procession.The afternoon sun slanted through the windows, casting long shadows across our path.
When we reached her apartment, Ellie fumbled with the keys, her hands still unsteady.I took them gently from her fingers and unlocked the door, pushing it open for her to enter.The space inside was warm and lived in, scattered with Halloween decorations and the small touches that made it uniquely hers even in the short time she’d been here.
“Can we talk in the bedroom?”she asked, setting Lucifer down.“I just… I need somewhere quiet and… enclosed?I feel too exposed out here.”
I nodded, following her down the short hallway to her room.The cats tried to follow, but Ellie gently blocked them with her foot.“Not now, babies,” she murmured.“Mama needs some space.”
Lucifer yowled in protest as she closed the door in their faces, but she ignored him, turning to face me in the dim light of her bedroom.The space was smaller than the living room, dominated by a queen-size bed covered in a dark purple comforter.
“Come here,” I said, opening my arms to her.
She stepped into my embrace without hesitation, her body melting against mine as if she belonged there.I wrapped my arms around her, feeling the tension in her shoulders, the rapid beat of her heart against my chest.We stood like that for a long moment, neither speaking, just breathing together in the quiet of her room.
“I’m sorry,” she finally whispered against my shirt.
I pulled back enough to look down at her face.“For what?”
“For bringing this mess into your life.Into the club.”
“Already been through this,” I said firmly.“You have nothing to apologize for.Not one Goddamned thing.”
Her hands fisted in my cut, clutching the leather as if it might anchor her.“I feel so stupid.Part of me still wants his approval, still wants him to be the father I remember from before everything fell apart.How fucked up is that?”
“It’s not fucked up,” I told her, brushing my thumb across her cheek.“He’s your father.That shit runs deep, no matter what he’s done.”
“I’m afraid,” she admitted, her voice barely audible.“Afraid of seeing him again, afraid of what he might do or say and that I’ll fold and let him manipulate me like he always did.”
“I won’t let that happen,” I promised.“I’ll be right there with you the whole time.We all will.”
She looked up at me then, her eyes clearing slightly.“Why are you doing this?Why are you all helping me?You barely know me.”
The question caught me off guard, not because I didn’t know the answer, but because the answer seemed so obvious to me.“Because you’re one of us,” I said simply.“Mine.Because from the moment you stood in that hallway with your three black cats and told me off, something in me recognized something in you.And because I care about you, Ellie.More than I’ve cared about anyone in a long fuckin’ time.”
Her breath caught, and I watched something shift in her expression, fear giving way to determination.She rose on her tiptoes, her hands sliding up my chest to curl around the back of my neck.
“Show me,” she whispered, her lips a breath away from mine.
I hesitated, searching her face for any sign of doubt.“Ellie, you don’t have to --”
“I want to,” she interrupted, her fingers threading through my hair.“I need to feel something good right now, something real.And this, what’s between us, feels more real than anything has in years.”
Her words broke something loose inside me, a dam I’d built against feeling anything too deeply since Larissa died.I lowered my head, capturing her mouth with mine in a kiss that started gentle but quickly blazed into something fierce and hungry.She made a small sound against my lips, pressing her body closer to mine, her curves fitting perfectly against the hard planes of my chest.
