Page 35 of Devil's Vengeance

Croy dismissed us with the demand to get him more information. He’d be breathing down our necks until we figured it out, too. Maybe if I kept Mariah in lockdown? Or dropped her off to stay with the girls when I had to go to work? She got along with them, and they had constant security when rumors like this kicked up. She’d be safer with them.

I was heading upstairs to tell Mariah the new plan when Bear stopped me.

“You’re sure it’s not him?”

I froze midway down the hallway.

“He followed you to town. Came to the club. Seems like he’s planning something. Scouting, maybe?”

Spinning around, I moved until we were close enough not to be overheard. I growled low, my hands shaking with the need to hurt someone.

“The shit between me and Trick is personal, asshole. He went to the club to taunt me. It’s got nothing to do with the crew.”

Bear and I were friends. We hung out a lot outside of work. Because of his size, he was on security almost as often as I was. I thought he’d trust my judgment when I said it wasn’t about them. And I was fucking pissed that he tried to call me out in front of the crew.

“Personal or not, he’s in our territory with his crew. You can’t face all of them on your own.”

“I don’t need to face all of them. I just need to get to him. I don’t give a shit about the rest of them.”

Bear crossed his arms with a frown. “Pretty sure the crew would. If you aren’t gonna tell Croy, then at least talk to me. You shouldn’t face that many alone.”

The last thing I wanted to do was bring another person into my issues. But then Mariah poked her head out of my door, looking around with a frown.

“Chase? I’m starving. Trick never took me out to eat last night. Think we can order something?”

Fuck. The look Bear gave me said it all. Mariah just inadvertently admitted that I fucking lied about what happened last night and if I didn’t come clean to him, he was going to Croy. His loyalty, like mine, was to the crew first. He’d throw me under the bus if he had to.

Anything for the crew.

CHAPTER 22

MARIAH

Chase was acting… off. He’d been all sweet after Trick tried to hurt me. Let me use his shower to wash off any remnants of Trick touching me and made sure I was okay after I laid down to sleep. He was nice when we woke up too, teasing me about the books I read and being playful. But after he went to church with his crew, he came back in a mood and the nice Chase was gone again. He wasn’t outwardly rude. He took me back to my place to pick up some things and get ready for work, and stuck around after dropping me off to watch over me. But he was back to barely looking at me and all his responses were short and to the point. No more chatting, no more playful banter. Nothing.

“How’d your date go?” Regina asked. We’d been busy since I arrived at work with weekend club meetings and such, and hadn’t had time to catch up before now. I didn’t want to explain everything that happened, it would only freak her out, but I wasn’t going to ignore her either.

“Awful. You were right. He was putting on a show. He wanted me to put out before we even went out and was pissed when I told him no.”

She wrinkled her nose in disgust. “It’s so hard to find a decent man nowadays. They all want the milk for free without putting any effort into it.”

My gaze flicked to Chase. He was hard to read, but he hadn’t once mentioned doing anything more with each other. Even last night, when Islept next to him in his bed, he didn’t touch me. He only cared about protecting me. If he stayed that guy who softly apologized when I was upset and held my hands so sweetly in his, I’d think maybe he was one of the good ones. But his constant mood changes were giving me whiplash. And I was starting to regret agreeing to let him guard me for who knows how long until he dealt with Trick.

The rest of my shift passed without issue or any visit from Trick. I found myself eyeing the silent alarm sometimes, wondering if it really did work, but Trick never showed up and Chase never left. And when the day was over, he met me outside, his hands shoved into his pockets.

“I’ll shadow you back to the clubhouse. We can drop off your stuff before you go hang out with Sam. Still good for that?”

“Like I have much of a choice,” I grumbled to myself. He went over the plan with me that morning. He would take me to work, would bring me to one of the girls’ places to hang out, and then he would pick me up on his lunch break and bring me back to the clubhouse to sleep. He said it was the best way he could figure out right now to keep me safe. And while I missed my bed and my privacy, I wasn’t stupid. I heard Trick’s warning. He was targeting me to get to Chase.

I was starting to regret going to that party to thank Lacey in person.

I wasn’t willing to leave my car behind, so after we stopped at my place that morning, I put my stuff in my car and Chase drove behind me. He did the same thing on the way to Sam’s. I was closer with Lacey, but Lacey was working and I wasn’t going to hang out at a strip club all night until Chase took me home.

When we pulled up out front, Sam was on the porch with a lanky man with long brown hair pulled back in a bun. She waved at me, smiling brightly, and I felt myself relax a little. Maybe hanging out with a friend was a good idea. It’d be a nice distraction.

I thought Chase would leave right away, but he called me over to him before I went to join Sam. I backtracked, shooting him a questioning look.

“I need you not to talk to Sam about Trick. I don’t want her spilling to Clink about my business. Alright?”

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