Page 19 of Devil's Vengeance

“Yeah, but it got you to look at me again. I don’t like it when your eyes aren’t on me, gorgeous. You’re stealing away the view.” He reached out, trailing light fingers from my temple along my jaw. It made my heart skip, and I floundered, looking for a response. In my entire dating history, no one had ever been so forward like that before. Not while still sounding charming. The guys who normally acted that way didn’t have the skill to back it up. They were all talk. Somehow, I got the feeling that this man was different.

“I, uh… I need a name for the library card.”

“Charlie Baton. My friends call me Trick.”

I was in a much better mood after Charlie left. He coaxed my number out of me and promised he’d be back. I was curious if he’d actually read the books I recommended. I got the feeling they were more an excuse to talk tome. It was flattering, but I couldn’t help but hope he read them. I loved reading, and it was important to me. If I were dating someone, I hoped they’d at least have some interest in books. Though I could let that go if necessary. It wasn’t like I needed it. It would just be an interesting conversation.

Regina had the day off, so it was just me at the end of the night. It made me a little nervous, but I’d parked as close as I could to the front door and underneath a light so I wouldn’t miss anything shady. Still, I was grateful when my phone rang and I heard Lacey’s voice on the other end.

“Hey, what’s up?”

“These books are hilarious. Do they seriously think the crew just lets women get involved like that?”

Smiling to myself, I set the alarm and locked up, looking around cautiously as I headed to my car. “It comes up from time to time. Do none of the women in the crew help out?”

She hummed thoughtfully. I could hear her son babbling in the background. If I had to make a guess, I’d say she was getting him ready for bed and wanted to chat.

“Closest to it is me, I guess. My club is owned by the crew. If my girls happen to get information, I share it with Croy. But it doesn’t really count. We aren’t wheeling and dealing or whatever else these books think we do. That’s club business. We aren’t even allowed to know half the time.”

That didn’t really surprise me. The fewer people involved in criminal activity, the less likely you are to get caught. At least that’s what I’d read anyway.

“What are you up to?” Lacey asked, before scolding her son. “Mijo, no. Mama’s earrings aren’t toys. Here, have this. Your daddy can throw a fit about it later.”

I couldn’t help but ask, “What did you give him?”

“A baseball. He caught it at a game or whatever. I didn't even know he liked baseball until after we got married. What kind of biker likes baseball?”

I snickered, starting up my car. “What? Did you think he only liked drugs and violence? They’re people too, you know.”

“Don’t start,” she growled, though there was no venom to it. I couldhear the smile in her voice. “Did I tell you I didn't even know his first name until he signed the wedding certificate? He introduced himself as Brewer and I didn’t really look into it.”

We chatted all the way home, and once I was safely in my apartment, she hung up. I got the feeling she called just to make sure I was okay after I mentioned the other night that I was still antsy after I was kidnapped. It was nice knowing I had some friends now. It made me happy that she cared.

The day overall went better than I thought. Even though Chase stopped showing up and still wanted nothing to do with me, I didn’t have to dwell on that for long. I met a cute guy who was actually interested in me, and didn’t once mention that I didn’t belong in his world. I felt like Lacey and I were officially friends, and my mom didn’t pester me for thirty minutes after I got home about moving again. Apparently, my sister was arrested again so her attention was diverted away from me. All in all, things were looking up. Maybe I’d finally be able to get past what happened and move on with my life.

CHAPTER 13

CHASE

The club wasn’t the last place I ran into Trick. He started showing his face around town, taunting me because whenever he showed up, he was either surrounded by his crew or had a woman under his arm. He was too chicken shit to face me alone. It was when he showed up at Lacey’s club that someone in the crew took notice.

We never wore our cuts at Lacey’s club, since we didn’t want the place tied with the crew. It was in our territory, but close enough to the edge that people from all over showed up. It was supposed to be a spot to gather information, and I was pretty sure Croy had money going through the place, too. Bear was playing bouncer that night, as he did most nights. He stayed near the stage, protecting the girls. I blocked the way toward the back, where Lacey’s office was. When Bear was leading one of the girls off stage, he leaned to murmur to me under his breath.

“Two o’clock. That guy look familiar to you?”

I scanned where he pointed out, and my lips twitched against a scowl. Fucking Trick.

“Let me handle it.”

The look Bear shot me said he didn’t like that idea, but I didn’t answer to him. We were crew brothers, but not in the hierarchy. The only people we could push around were the prospects.

“Don’t you think we should–”

“I said I’ll handle it,” I hissed.

He huffed, shaking his head. “Whatever. Good luck.”

He marched away, back to his work, while I abandoned my post to go confront Trick. He sat at a table, a stripper in his lap and a smug smirk on his face that disappeared when I gestured for the girl to go with a jerk of my head. She frowned, but didn’t argue. The girls knew better than to complain. We were there to protect them, so what we said goes.

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