Page 12 of Ruined

I hesitate, thinking carefully about his words.

“Never mind,” he adds before I can answer. “No need to explain. You paused long enough.”

I decide to wait to ask him for some more guns and knives. I have mine, but I’m worried I need a few more.

“Come on.” He waves me toward the doors.

I walk through the doors of the Royal Bastards Mat-Su chapter clubhouse. Their place is nothing like ours. Where we have a small party area, this clubhouse has the whole main floor as a bar. Bodies are sprawled out on sofas and some of the tables.

We head to the back, where his office is. He goes by Zero, but his full road name is Below Zero. I don’t know why, and I’m not going to ask. One thing I learned is that the Handmaidens will break the law only if they have to, but this club is a one percent, which means they break the law all the time. They are into illegal things, not women or drugs, but I don’t want to think about what they really do.

When we enter his office, he kicks someone on the bottom of their boot. I watch as his VP sits up. Aftershock was the man who went to the coalition to get Jinx to ride for them.

“Is this part of the favor we owe you?” Zero asks me.

“No,” I respond without hesitation. “This is for me. I have to go dark for a bit, and I don’t want Keys to find me.”

“What kind of trouble are you in?” Aftershock asks, his voice gruff and thick with sleep.

His dark hair is messy, and his beard is full. Light blue eyes peek out from beneath a rugged brow. Like his president, he’s handsome too, but there’s a darkness to him. A bit of an edge, as if he’s seen the ugly of the world and spit in its face. When he stands, I realize he’s only a bit taller than Dylan. He moves to stand behind his president.

I think about lying to them, but something in Zero’s stare makes me tell him the truth. I look to Aftershock, who is staring me down too. But he doesn’t intimidate me like Zero does.

Zero is much taller, and when he leans forward in his chair, it causes his large arms to flex. For the first time since I came in here, I’m scared and questioning why I did this.

“My past has caught up—” I swallow down my nerves and try again. “My past has come for me and is threatening my sisters and the kids.” I pause. “He also threatened the man I was with. I need to end him.”

“We can help with that.” They don’t even know about my past.

“No. I need to do this. I need a place to lay low and my GPS turned off.”

“Okay. We can help with that. But you should know, if Riddler asks, I will have to tell her the truth,” Zero says honestly.

“I understand.” I stand up and move toward the door.

“Wait,” Aftershock says, and I stop and turn around. “What kind of man is this you’re going after?”

I hold my chin high as I answer, “The man who kidnapped me and gave me to my rapist. He’s the worst that the DHMC has gone against.”

“I’m in.” Aftershock chuckles and straightens from his leaning position against the cabinet behind Zero. “We don’t put up with that shit around here.”

“Shock, show her to the rental on Pittman. Then head home.”

“I can’t.” He doesn’t explain but directs me out of the clubhouse, where Vortex is already scanning my car. He clicks away on his laptop before he turns to Aftershock.

“She’s all set.”

“Follow me.” Aftershock climbs into a standard cab truck with a company logo on the door.

I follow him a couple of miles. He turns away from the Parks Highway and into a neighborhood. When I get out of the car, he’s already at the door, using a key to open it.

“There’s everything you need. I’ll be back later to get more information from you. Get some rest.”

I nod, hating that I’m lying to him.

He hands me the keys and leaves. I lock up behind him, then walk through the small one-bedroom home, checking to make sure everything is secure. I drop my bag on the floor, then collapse onto the bed and fall immediately asleep.

SIX

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