Page 5 of Rooster

"I told you I was—"

My words fade away at the sight of the man standing in the doorway. From his height and build, I know it's the same guy who helped me out of my house earlier, but I'm just now seeing his face for the first time.

He's stunningly handsome, his shirt tight across well-formed muscles at his chest and arms.

He swallows as if he's nervous.

"I thought you were Kaylee."

"Do you need her?" he asks, hitching his thumb over his shoulder. "I can go get her."

"No, thank you."

"I umm... just wanted to make sure you were okay," he says. "After what happened."

"I'll be okay," I assure him. I have no doubt the guy would concern himself with the fear I feel, even though I don't seem to be in any immediate danger.

"You're sure?"

I dip my head twice. "I'll be okay."

"I'm in that room," he says, stepping back and pointing to another room across the way. "If you need anything, don't hesitate to find me."

"I appreciate that..."

"Twisted," he says, making my brows squeeze together. "Paul Carnes. My club name is Twisted."

"Thank you, Paul," I say as I take a step back into the room. "Have a good night."

Even with Kaylee assuring me I was safe, I don't hesitate to flip the lock on the door, unconcerned if he heard the bolt shifting into place.

I don't think there will ever come a time when I'm no longer afraid.

Chapter 2

Rooster

I press my palms to my eyes and rub, wondering if I might need to pull out my contacts and grab my glasses.

I'm no stranger to pulling all-nighters while working, but my eyes have been glued to my computer screen for hours as I try to figure out who in the hell this guy was who tied Kaylee up and held her at knifepoint.

I pull in a deep breath when I see Twisted enter the room.

"Hey, man," I say, shoving my chair back from my computer and lifting my arms over my head to stretch.

He grunts, which is his only response, before sitting at the conference table.

Bandera is next to show up with Heathen coming in last and closing the conference room doors.

"What have you found?" Bandera asks from the head of the table, despite not having been named as president of this Cerberus chapter. I know the man is vying for it, and it has to chap his ass with every day that goes by where he isn't officially named.

I don't know that we even really need a leader. The guys are all working different jobs, but I guess someone needs to head shit up when they go out on a job together.

"She didn't meet this guy online," I tell them. "She went on a date with another guy and met this guy when she was leaving that date. We have literally nothing on him. There's nothing to follow."

"You could see about the videos from wherever that first date happened," Heathen offers as if I wouldn't have thought of that myself.

"I did," I assure him. "I don't know if he had access to their video feed, but it's been deleted. There's nothing."

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