Page 43 of Taming Raptor

“You never answered me,” he sullenly said as he stared at the wall.

No way was I going to be able to simply walk into the house and ask if I could teach a kid about the shit that would happen the first time he shifted. I’d have to fly in without his mom and step-dad finding out—and Sam would have to help me. Unless we could figure out a way to get them here. It had to be somewhere private, without prying eyes.

“Yes, I’ll help.”

The relief in his gaze was damn near palpable.

Sam and I talked for a good two hours after that as we made plans. He was a surprisingly mature and intelligent boy despite who his parents were. Though I always thought Evan was a good person, until he had shacked up with my wife. It made me sad—no it fucking devastated me that Sam wasn’t mine.

When it was time, I flew with him to ensure he made it home to the elite neighborhood in Dallas.

Three days later another event rocked my world.

“Anarchy”—Lilith Czar

Security was at an all-time high at the club. Word seemed to have gotten around to the underbelly of the city that girls were quitting or disappearing. Because of that, Blade took me everywhere I needed to go. The brothers were stretched thin ensuring the remaining employees were safe.

George obviously didn’t like competition and dealt with it in the worst, most underhanded way. It seemed he wouldn’t be happy until we were out of business. If we couldn’t find any decent dancers, he might just succeed. The girls that were holdouts couldn’t keep up the pace we were currently going. Everyone was getting tired and snippy.

We’d had to close early several nights because we didn’t have enough dancers. Customers were getting disgruntled.

All of that, added to the stress of me dancing to cover shortages and interviewing the few dancers that applied— who didn’t cut the mustard—had me wanting to pull my hair out. Telling myself I couldn’t do anything about it by worrying, I blew out a heavy breath.

After logging off the computer, I double checked that I hadn’t forgotten to do something. My brain was fried, and it was making me forgetful. Shutting off the lights, I sighed. I headed to the back door where Solomon waited.

“Ready?” I asked him. The girls had all been walked out to their vehicles by the rest of the security detail for the night. Solomon and I were the last ones to leave as I had to count up the night’s earnings and reconcile the books before I locked everything up in the safe.

“Whenever you are,” he replied with a smile that crinkled the edges of his deep brown eyes. The man was almost too sweet to have been some kind of former special forces guy. He also looked like he should’ve been a GQ model, not some kind of badass military dude.

The prospect that waited outside by the back door, stepped up behind us.

“Your daughter will be here for summer vacation soon, won’t she?” I asked as we crossed the asphalt to my car and his truck which were the last ones left in the lot. He scanned the surrounding area with a keen eye as we walked.

“She sure will. Three more weeks. I still can’t believe she’s gonna be eighteen soon. I’m not sure where the time’s gone.” He always spoke highly of his daughter and his eyes lit up. You could tell that even though the relationship between him and her mom didn’t work out, he was a great dad.

“You enjoy your time. If you need more time off, remember, Venom said you could use some advanced vacation time,” I reminded him.

He nodded. “Yes, I remember. We’ll see how things go.”

“Well, have a good night. Drive safe,” I called out with a small wave and a tight smile that he returned.

Using my key fob, I unlocked my door, and he did the same. Once I was safely ensconced in my vehicle, I pulled up my favorite play list for the journey home. The prospect got on his bike, patiently waiting for me. Solomon waited until I was safely in my car and it was started before he climbed in his. We both backed out and went our separate ways when we hit the street, the prospect on my tail.

It usually took me about thirty to forty minutes to get back to the clubhouse. I had a small apartment that I’d had for years, but I rarely stayed there anymore. In the past, I liked the easy access to fuck at the clubhouse. Ever since Raptor, it was more because I hated to be alone—I was more at ease there surrounded by people I considered my friends. That thirty minutes was my time to unbox and get lost in my memories of Raptor.

About fifteen miles down the road, I had the windows down as I listened to the music trying to clear my mind. My hand made waving motions through the cool night air.

That’s when I realized the headlight behind me wasn’t the single one of the prospect’s bike. It was two that seemed to speed up and was closing in on to me. Glancing down, I checked to make sure I hadn’t let my speed drop as I spaced off, but I was good there.

I tried to see if the prospect was behind the car, but they had their bright lights on, and I had to adjust my rear view mirror to prevent being blinded. “Dick,” I muttered. “If you don’t like my speed, go around me!”

Not like they could hear me, but they were pissing me off. Until I felt my car lurch as they hit my bumper. “Hey!”

They didn’t back off, though. They pushed me from the back causing my car to fishtail a bit before they let up. “What the fuck?” I shouted, starting to panic.

At first, I thought maybe they’d fucked up. Maybe they had their cruise on and dozed off—it was after three in the morning. At least until they hit me again, but harder this time. My heart hammered and I became nervous when I realized their actions were intentional.

Trying to outrun them, I hit the gas as I blindly pressed the button on my console to call Blade. The phone rang several times before it went to voicemail. Trying not to lose my fucking mind, I called again.

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