I know the two of them just want to talk about me, but still, I do as I’m told, heading back upstairs and into my bedroom to get dressed. I leave the gun on the bedside table, making a mental note to learn how to use it properly.
I need it to survive.
FOURTEEN
Vinnie
I WATCH her disappear up the stairs before I walk into the living room, Arrow close behind me. When he sees our clothes scattered everywhere, including Shay’s bra and panties, he sits down and sighs heavily.
“What the actual fuck are you doing here, Vinnie?” he asks, tapping his hand on his knee. “Talon is going to be pissed, and you’re getting yourself in a whole lot of shit, all for a piece of ass? It’s just a few more days, brother. Plenty of pussy for you back at the clubhouse waiting for your return.”
The thing was, it wasn’t like that with Shay. I wanted her, not just any woman, but fuck if I was going to explain that to Arrow. I can’t really explain why she’s so different for me. She’s just everything I could want in a woman. I like everything that I know about her. I find her little quirks amusing and find myself wanting to be around her as much as possible.
“What are you doing here? Is everything okay?” I ask, dropping into the chair and shoving our clothes into a pile with my foot. “Not that I’m not grateful. What the fuck did you do with the bodies?”
Everything Arrow just told Shay was utter bullshit.
Talon told him our location had been leaked and men were on the way, so Arrow rode up to warn us and to offer some help. He caught two of them waiting for us outside the gate. He took care of them both.
“They’re kind of sitting in your backyard, hidden behind the shed. We gotta take care of it. Besides that, everything is fine. I spoke to Talon,” he says, leaning back in the chair. “And I came to check on you, and apparently save you from doing something stupid like fucking a girl who is related to the Wild Men president and has the fuckin’ Mafia at her doorstep.
“Although I will say, the men I just killed aren’t fuckin’ Mafia,” he continues, tilting his head to the side and studying me. “They’re members of the Kings MC. I knew they looked familiar, and then I checked their tattoos. They’re Kings, Vinnie. I don’t know what the fuck you think you’ve gotten yourself into here, but I have a feeling it’s something else.”
“Kings?” I ask, eyebrows lifting. “Those motherfuckers!”
An MC war is brewing—I know it, everyone knows it. And it’s only time until we take the Kings of Hell down.
“I have it under control.” I straight-out lie. I have no idea what I’m going to do with Shay, or just how involved I’m going to get. I have a feeling though, when push comes to shove, I’m going to get real fuckin’ involved. If Arrow hadn’t caught those guys, would they have jumped us when Shay and I were headed out on one of our adventures? My focus has been off this whole time, distracted by Shay, when I should’ve been on my game more than ever, because it’s her life at stake.
“Hmmm,” Arrow rumbles, not looking convinced. “Pack your shit. Time to move the fuck on out because it’s only time until more come running.” He then mutters something about hating all this hiding and running shit. He wasn’t the only one. In fact, I’m pretty sure I could protect Shay all on my own, without instruction from Talon, who, in my opinion, had a lot going on right now and wasn’t making Shay a priority.
A week, my ass. There’s no way I can walk away after a week, leaving that shit on my conscience if anything happens to her. What kind of man would I be if I did that? It’s in my power to help her, and I can’t turn my back on her now. I don’t know what there is between us, or what there could be, but I do know that she’s under my skin, and that I don’t want any harm to come to her. She’s definitely caused my protective instincts to flare up, and I can’t explain it, but I just need her to be safe. The world wouldn’t be the same without Shay. At least my world.
“I need to call Sin,” I announce, standing up and looking around for my phone.
“What are you going to do?” Arrow asks, forehead furrowing in concern. “This isn’t your problem to deal with, Vinnie. The marker you owe finishes soon, and you get to walk away and let Talon handle his shit. Wipe it out of your mind, because this isn’t your responsibility.”
“I can’t,” I say for the first time out loud. I look down at Arrow. “I can’t just forget it. I’m in it now. You just killed two men—how are we all not in this now?”
“You can’t forget it, because you fuckin’ like her,” he surmises, scowling. “Fuck, Vinnie. You never do things the easy way, do you?”
“I’ve never really had that luxury,” I say, bitterness lacing my tone. I’ve never had an easy life. Foster kid, moving from house to house. I never had a home until the men gave me one with the Wind Dragons. Something that not many people know is that the old WDMC president, Jim, was actually my uncle. He didn’t know about me until I was eighteen and came to find me the second he did. I became a prospect for the club the very next day and haven’t looked back since. The WDMC gave me the family I always wanted.
“I’m gonna have to either go off the grid with her, or follow Talon’s lead until this shit is over.”
And I really, really didn’t want to do the latter.
“It won’t be over until she gives them whatever it is they want, or they’re all dead,” Arrow says, standing and putting his hand on my shoulder. “You gonna claim her?”