Page 30 of Butcher

“First, you have a whole family willing to go to bat for you,” hereplied as he pulled a single key out of his own pocket. “Trust me. We won’t let anything happen to you. Second, with you helping us, Randal is fucked.”

His matter of fact compliment made my insides all warm and fuzzy. Not a feeling I was used to. I shoved those emotions down. I wasn’t scared. I was fairly certain I could handle most men Randal sent my way, as long as I could get to my hideaway. It was the one place I knew I could defend against any number of people. But Butcher was telling me to stay. To trust them to help me.Thatscared me. That and the fact that I was considering it. My brows drew together as I thought that over. “You don’t owe me anything. And who says I’m helping you?”

“You did just save our asses back there.” It answered both my statements.

I scoffed at that. “I’m pretty sure you were all about to rally and take those men down yourselves.” I wasn’t being kind; I’d just seen them work as I’d followed them over the last few weeks. These men had an uncanny ability to get themselves out of scrapes. You couldn’t help but respect their skills.

“Look.” He gritted his teeth, making the muscle in his jaw flex. “I’d rather have you come with me willingly, but if you choose not to, I’ll make you.”

Well then.

I searched his face, then sighed when I saw the determination there. “I’ll go with you…for now.” When satisfaction sparked in those hazel depths, I narrowed my eyes. “It doesn’t mean I’ll be staying.”

“It’s okay, I know you’ll come crawling back.”

The bastard. Now he was just trying to get under my skin. And it was working.

He went over to his motorcycle. I watched his jeans strain against his muscular thighs as he got on and started it up. He looked over at me and jerked a thumb behind him.

Shaking my head while internally calling myself a fool, I got on behind him and wrapped my arms around his waist. My breastspressed against his back and I had to fight back the urge to rub against him like a contented cat.

“Arizona doesn’t have a helmet law,” he told me over the sound of the engine, “but I’ll get you one.”

“I don’t need one,” I told him. I wasn’t going to be hanging around long enough to use it. It wouldn’t be fair of me. They had families living at their clubhouse. Kids. All of whom needed to be protected. Randal and his employers were going to be coming after me with everything they had. The target on Butcher’s back would be forgotten until they killed me. And the entire assassin community would be on board. It was one thing to be hired to kill someone. But to switch sides and kill those trying to get their target? I was enemy number one now.

It didn’t matter to me. Their opinions were less than shit to me, but sticking around meant I was putting Butcher and his entire family in even more danger than before. I’d explain it to him. I had to make him understand, because though I barely knew him, I didn’t want anything to happen to him. And it made bile rise in my throat to think about the women and children I’d met being harmed because of me.

He pulled out onto the road and I closed my eyes as the wind whipped past. No wonder these men loved their bikes. It was like nothing could touch me here. The wind created a bubble around us that couldn’t be penetrated. My eyes closed as a smile spread over my face.

The ride was too short. I was tempted to ask him to go around the block again, but most of his brothers were there with us, and I was sure they were eager to get home and check on their families. I stepped off the bike and shoved my hands in my jean pockets as we walked into the clubhouse.

Anxious faces met us at the door. The women looked relieved to see their men in one piece, then they focused on me.

“You left,” Seek accused.

“Sorry,” I muttered, shame taking over.

“We were worried about you,” Sloane added. Her voice was soft, but damn I felt like a kid being scolded.

“Are you okay?” Eva asked, worry heavy in her tone.

“I’m fine.” They all stared at me, waiting, expectant. I didn’t know what they wanted. I didn’t have any friends. Didn’t have sisters. No cousins. My mom had dropped me off at my grandmother’s when she realized she couldn’t handle me, and disappeared. Grandma died two weeks later. Not by my hand. I was only seven when it happened. I’d been found and put into the foster system.

What a nightmare that had been. Never wanted. Always scorned. I wasn’t lucky enough to find a kind family who wanted to take care of me. Nope. I’d been given to people scamming the system. They wanted the paycheck that came along with me. So I kept to myself. Learned to never rely on anyone but myself. And now here were these women. They were genuine. How was I supposed to handle them?

“I-” Swallowing back sharp words that would only hurt their feelings—it was my defense mechanism, but I found I didn’t want to use it on them—I gave Butcher a helpless look.

Understanding flashed in his eyes. “She’s fine. She actually ended up helping us out,” he told the group. “Lock wants to talk with us,” he added.

The women nodded, smiling now.

“When you’re done drop her by my place,” Kit offered. “We’ll have dinner together. A proper dinner where she’s not handcuffed,” she added with a firm look aimed at Butcher.

“Alright.”

They moved away, going over to their men and disappearing with them upstairs one couple at a time.

“You’ll get used to it.”

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