Page 13 of Double the Dilemma

She tried not to feel too much dread as she headed for the clubhouse grounds. She needed to talk to Esme, and then she needed to get out of here. She avoided her for the past couple of days, telling her that she grabbed a few more shifts this week, but she knew she couldn’t keep up the lie forever. Esme would sniff it out quick enough, and it was better not to have her best friend pissed at her more than she was about to be.

When she arrived at the gates to the clubhouse grounds, she rolled her window down and looked at the Prospect expectantly. He smirked at her and opened the gate without a word, but was already reaching for his phone. She glared at him. “I’m here to see Esme, and if you call or text who I think you’re about to, we’re going to have a problem. Got it?”

“Gotta let someone know that you’re here,” he replied with a shrug.

“Then let Fury know,” she told him with a hard glare. “Seeing as his house is where I’m going.”

The Prospect arched a brow but said, “Sure thing.” She narrowed her eyes at him for a moment, but then decided it wasn’t worth the fight. Instead, she put her car in drive, heading for Fury and Esme’s house. She ignored the bikers that milled around and nodded at her. She didn’t miss that a few had smirks on their faces, making her grit her teeth.

Maybe it was a stupid idea to come here. Especially since half of them were probably going to let Razor know she was here. She bit back a growl of annoyance and instead pulled up in front of Fury and Esme’s place. She headed up the stairs, but stopped when she heard someone call out to her. Turning, she saw Steel, Harlow’s man, standing across the gravel road. “She’s at the shop,” he called over.

She took him in for a moment, trying to figure out if he was bullshitting her. Steel was a large man, stopping at six-four, with military-short hair, plenty of muscles, and icy blue eyes. He was not a man to mess with, and if she remembered correctly, Harlow said that he was a former SEAL. She had high amounts of respect for a man with that kind of training. Not to mention he was known as a straight shooter, so she supposed he wouldn’t lie about where Esme was just to piss her off. “Thanks,” she called back to him, walking back down the steps and heading toward the shop.

Steel fell into step beside her, and she gave him a sideways glance. He just arched a brow at her. “I’m heading to the clubhouse,” he finally told her.

“Uh huh,” she said conversationally.

“Razor’s not here right now,” he added after another couple moments of walking in silence. Karissa didn’t even look at him, but felt relief run through her. “He’s out on a tow, just left before you got here, so you probably got an hour before he’s back.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“Because I know you’re avoiding him,” he replied simply.

She didn’t bother to deny it. Instead, she kept quiet, and when they reached the garage, she nodded at him and headed inside without looking back. When she walked in, Esme was glaring at Jax, who was giving her his best aww-shucks grin. “What the hell is this?” Esme demanded, her eyes narrowing at him.

“The list of parts that the car is going to need,” Jax replied. “Is there a problem?”

“Oh is that what this is?” Esme asked sarcastically. “I never would have known that considering it’s on the back of a receipt,one I’ve been looking for,covered in oil and grease stains so that it’s barely legible. Whatever could be the problem, huh?”

Karissa bit back a grin, because she could see that it was finally starting to sink in. His eyes widened slightly, and he slowly backed away. “Ah, yeah, sorry about that. I’ll, uh, just leave that with you, and just holler if you have any questions.” Then he turned on his heel and headed back into the shop, shutting the door behind him with a slam.

Esme let out a growl and turned to give her an exasperated look. “Why do I put up with this shit?”

“Because Rogue will drag your ass back here if you try and quit,” Karissa offered helpfully, leaning against the desk.

Esme rolled her eyes. “It’s not like he doesn’t have other people to do it. He could hire the twins.”

Karissa laughed. “Yeah, right. Could you see those two working here? They would be organized and great with the paperwork, sure, but eventually they would get bored, and that would end with Rogue losing his shit at them, then Scarlett and the girls getting pissed, and he would come and drag you back so he wasn’t cut off for the rest of his life.”

Esme grinned. “Yeah, you have a point. Did you hear what they did to his bike?” Karissa shook her head. Esme laughed. “Well, they apparently taped a sign to the back of his seat that said “honk if you like dicks”, and he didn’t notice it when he was leaving because he was running behind. He caught up with Savage and Fury for a run, after being constantly honked at and getting more and more pissed off. Of course, the guys saw it, took pictures, and sent it to everyone. He was pissed. He grounded them for a month, not that it stuck.”

Karissa was doubled over in laughter by the time she finished. “Damn, that is genius, and it’s only better that he didn’t notice it,” she gasped out, wiping the tears of laughter from her eyes.

“So, yeah, he probably doesn’t want them anywhere near here and his bike right now.” She could see why, but still, she wished she could have been there for that. She’d have to ask the girls to see if they got any pictures. “Not that I’m unhappy to see you, but what are you doing here?” Esme asked, changing the subject as she got to work on the computer deciphering whatever Jax had written on the receipt.

Karissa lost her smile and silently took a deep breath. “I needed to talk to you,” she said seriously.

Esme stopped typing and quickly turned to look at her. Her eyes narrowed. “What’s going on?” she demanded, her hazel eyes pinning her in place.

“I need to head out of town for a while,” Karissa said simply, trying to be as calm and matter-of-fact about it as she could and also as truthful as possible.

“Out of town,” Esme repeated slowly. Karissa nodded. “Where are you going? With who?”

“By myself, and I’m not sure where yet. I just need to get away.”

Esme spun her chair to face her and stood, eyes flinty. “Don’t you dare lie to me, Karissa Valentine,” she snapped at her. “You don’t just decide to do anything. You plan shit out meticulously. Like when we moved around a bit before coming here. You had every stop planned out, every possible danger planned for.”

“Yes, because you had the cartel after you,” Karissa reminded her drily. “You know, I was trying to make sure you and Gabe were safe.”

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