Page 12 of Dark Biker Protector

"You have your orders," he told them. "You understand exactly what you have to do?"

"Got it, boss," one of them replied. From the way he spoke, it was clear how much he respected Chuck. He would have done anything Chuck had asked him to.

"Lombardi’s not going to know what hit him," the other one growled, real venom in his voice. Lombardi? My ears pricked up. I’d heard that name a couple of times, with regards to Star’s case, but I didn’t realize he was still causing trouble. Were they trying to take him down now to keep him from going after Star again, or was there something else on the table too?

Chuck watched as the two men walked out, and then he turned to me, shaking his head.

"Sorry about that," he remarked, as he grabbed his jacket from a hook behind the counter.

"Is everything okay?" I asked him. He nodded at once, clearly not wanting to give away anything more than he already had.

"Its’ fine," he replied. "Nothing you need to worry about. You want to get something to eat?"

"Sure," I agreed, and I noticed Star glancing between the two of us, her eyebrow cocked slightly. My shoulders hunched up towards my ears. Crap. I didn’t exactly want anyone else knowing what was going on between Chuck and I. If there was anything at all, to be honest. I knew that we’d been spending more time together recently, but he had offered to help me feel a bit more settled in my apartment after everything that had been going on. I didn’t want anyone reading anything into it...

Not until I had figured out how the hell I felt about it, anyway.

The tattoo shop was just a few blocks from my place, and there was this little cafe between the two that did really good pastries. I probably shouldn’t have been eating them quite as frequently as I had been, but hey, when they were that delicious, who could blame me?

"So what was going on back there?" I asked him, as we turned on to the street where the cafe was located. He shook his head.

"Just someone trying to push in to our territory," he muttered. I could hear the anger in his voice, though he tried his best to hide it from me. There were times when I forgot that he was this big, scary biker gang boss, with how sweet he was with me and how gentle he was with Cinnamon. Whoever was causing them trouble, I wondered if they had any idea at all what they were dealing with.

"Lombardi?" I prompted him. "The guy who...Star was going to be sold off to?"

He nodded, his jaw set tight.

"The very same," he replied, as he sank into our usual seat outside the cafe. I noticed a few people shooting nervous looks at him as they went by, but he didn’t seem to clock it. He must have been used to looks like that, unbothered by people’s judgements of him.

"What kind of stuff is he into?" I asked, leaning forward with interest. "You think there might be a story there?"

"I think you should keep your distance from him," he replied, lifting his gaze to meet mine steadily. His voice wasn’t harsh, but I could tell this was a warning. He was making damn sure I knew that I would be in serious trouble if I went poking my nose into Lombardi’s business. A shiver ran down my spine. Even after all the shit I had been through with my ex, there were still men out there who scared me.

"I haven’t seen those guys around before," I remarked, shifting the conversation to something new. "Did they just join the club or something?"

"No," he replied, shaking his head, the corners of his mouth quirking up for a moment. "That’s Jake and Harry. They’ve been with us for years. Since they were teenagers. Started out trying to convince the guys at the Kennels to buy cigs for them, but we got them on the right track eventually."

"Right track?" I replied, raising my eyebrows. It wasn’t that I didn’t respect what they did, of course I did, but being part of a gang like the Dark Dogs was far removed from what most people would have called a good thing.

"Yeah," he replied, voice not wavering for a second. "Kids like that, if they don’t get pulled in by someone who’s willing to give them work, they’ll end up bored. And being bored on these streets...that’s a recipe for disaster. Too many drugs out there. Too many people who are willing to give them the kind of work that they wouldn’t be able to handle.

He shook his head. I guessed I hadn’t thought of it like that, but he was right – it would have been all too easy for teenagers, with their lack of critical thinking skills and experiences, to get exploited by someone who had nothing but bad intentions for them. While the Dogs might have operated outside the law, it was clear Chuck took care of his own, and that had to count for something.

We ordered our usual pastries, and then started on the rest of the way back to my apartment. The sun, which had been blazing bright all day, had suddenly started to dip behind a cloud, and I shivered.

"You alright?" he asked me, glancing over at me with concern. I nodded, waving my hand.

"I’m fine, I’m fine," I replied, but I could feel goosebumps appearing up and down my arms, contradicting my claims. He paused for a moment, eyeing me, and then pulled off his jacket. He held it out to me.

"Here," he prompted me. "Take this."

I shook my head.

"No, I couldn’t-"

"What do you mean?" he chuckled. "It’s a jacket. Of course you can."

"No, that’s not...that’s not what I meant," I replied, staring at the jacket. It wasn’t just any jacket, and he must have known that – shit, it was a jacket belonging to a member of the Dark Dogs; it wasn’t like I could just slip it on like it was nothing.

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