Page 38 of Masked Darling

He knew it would be the hardest for her to hear.

“You weren’t here the night that we worked the party. These guys are animals. They don’t take kindly to being told ‘no’. The more a girl struggled, the more they hurt them. Do you know why they call themselves Green Light?” Sadie shook her head. “Becausegreen means go.”

“That’s so fucked up,” Sadie murmured and ran a hand down her face. “But you have a plan?”

“We have the Rebels coming to surround the place but they can’t get into formation until after 11:00 pm because we have to make sure they’re all here first–I can’t miss even one of them or they’ll come back for revenge or some shit.”

Sadie shivered and Jagger pulled her in close to his side to wrap an arm around her before continuing, “They like to share these girls, make sure they’re properly broken in before they sell them off to new homes so they won’t fight. To prove he’s serious about being part of their crew, he might have to do some things. Touch you.” Jagger’s voice cracked as he spoke, his mind replaying the words they’d said to Kade—words that made his stomach turn inside out.

Sadie’s lips parted, but she didn’t say anything. She just sat there, still, letting the weight of what Jagger had said sink in as she rested her head against his shoulder.

After a few seconds of silence, she spoke, her voice barely above a whisper. “And you think I’m the best to do this? You dorealize that means I might have to do things with him, too, right? You know what they’ll expect.”

Jagger’s heart ached at her words, but there was no denying the truth in them. She was right. He was asking her to put herself in that kind of situation, to do things that neither of them would ever want to do. But the stakes were too high. He had to trust Kade, and he had to trust her.

“I know,” Jagger growled, tightening his hold on her. “I know exactly what they’ll expect. But Sadie, you know how to work around a bad situation. You can buy some time and keep them from hurting the girls until we can corner them when my Dad gets here. If things have to escalate with my brother to keep them from figuring it out, we can deal with it.”

Sadie’s eyes softened, but the hardness was still there—the stubbornness that had aided her and her position at this bar the last few years. “You know I’d never say no,” she said softly, a faint smile tugging at the corner of her lips. “I can do it. I’ll do it for you, and Kade and Madison.”

Jagger’s heart clenched. “I wish there was some other way. I didn’t expect this to get so out of hand.”

“I know you didn’t,” she said, her hand coming up to brush some hair off his forehead as she looked up at him. “But I also know I can handle it.”

He winced at her words, but she was right. She wasn’t the type to cower or run from danger.

Jagger leaned back, rubbing his hand over his face as he exhaled sharply. “I know you can, Sweets. I just–”

“I know, baby. I understand. But you have to promise me something, Jagger.”

He looked at her, his voice tight. “Anything.”

“You keep yourself in check, okay?” she said, her voice low but firm. “You keep your hands and eyes off me that night. Let me do what I need to do. Don’t do anything stupid.”

Jagger’s eyes darkened at her demand, but he nodded. “I’ll keep my distance. But if it gets to a point where someone is going to hurt you or another cock comes nearmycunt, I will not hesitate to start killing them. Backup present or not.”

Sadie exhaled slowly, “Okay. That’s fair.”

“I’ll make sure you’re safe,” Jagger said, kissing her fiercely on top of her head. “No matter what happens, you and Kade will both get out of there alive. And Madison. I’ll make sure of it.”

Sadie nodded, standing up from the pool table. She took off her Serpent Pit crop top and dropped it onto the ground before speaking again.

“When is this happening?”

Jagger glanced down at the shirt on the floor before locking eyes with her as she undid the black bra behind her back, letting it drop as well. “Tomorrow night.”

Sadie gave him a small smile, one that didn’t quite reach her eyes, before turning around and starting to drag her shorts down her legs. She made sure to take her underwear down with them, lifting her feet carefully through the holes so she could stand before him in just her motorcycle boots.

Jagger watched every movement with dark eyes, growing harder with every passing second. “Don’t even think about taking them off.”

When she turned back to face Jagger–looking like his own personal goddess of ruin–he was on his knees before her in seconds, kissing the recent tattoo of a snake on her upper thigh that matched the one on his torso.

Sadie ran her hand through his hair before gripping it tightly and forcing him to look up at her.

“Let’s make the most of this one, then.”

CHAPTER TWELVE

“Come on,” Kade muttered under his breath as he stood by his bike in the parking lot of The Serpent Pit, watching the door and waiting for Sadie. He was dressed in a black dress shirt and slacks, his usual black motorcycle boots carrying the same weight as his thoughts. He wasn’t nervous—he was too used to dealing with this shit all his life—but he was frustrated. Frustrated that this was the only way to keep Madison safe, frustrated that she was caught up in something like this in the first place, and frustrated that, for the first time in a long while, he had to rely on someone else—his brother’s fiancé of all people.

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