Page 3 of Bear

Neither man spoke to me, but the one I’d thrown myself at helped me off the bike before taking my helmet. Then he took my hand and led me inside the house.

The second we entered the living room, Lemon moved in my direction. I’d never met her but there was no denying who she was. She was the harder version of her sister, Apple. Lemon narrowed her gaze at me. “I know you. You’re Apple’s friend. Liv? The one she told me she was worried about.” She looked me up and down, taking in my appearance. “What happened?” I wasn’t sure if she was talking to me or not, but was saved from asking with the big one, the one I’d rode here with, answered her question.

“She was being followed by two guys in suits. I first thought feds. They had that cheap, tired-looking suit thing goin’ on, but coulda been the standard creepers.” He shrugged. “Ringo showed his colors, and she ran straight to us.”

“I got Crush lookin’ at the camera feeds,” the other one, Ringo, added. “He’ll nail ‘em down.”

“Good.” The man with Lemon nodded. “Now.” He turned his gaze to me. “Do you know who we are?”

I nodded my head slightly. “A motorcycle club. Apple said it’s called Grim Road. But other than Lemon, I don’t know who anyone else is. Or anything.” I spoke softly even as I trembled. I was so fucked. Even though this situation wasn’t of my own making, I knew when it all came to a head, these people would probably kill me. OK, no probably about it. Hadn’t Mr. Black told me these people were killers? They’d even killed innocent women and children! He’d said that one of them had even gone so far as to kill entire villages in third world countries where they’d been deployed. Just for amusement. Yeah. I was as good as dead. It was just a matter of time. I tried to think about those massacres when I steeled myself to do this, but I wasn’t sure it helped. It probably made me as guilty as they were. So yeah. When they killed me, it would be no less than I deserved.

Lemon tilted her head. “Apple didn’t tell you anything?”

“Only that if I ever got in a really tight spot, and I saw someone in a Grim Road vest, I could tell them I needed Angela and they’d know I was in danger.”

“Good. OK. So, this is Rocket.” She hiked a thumb toward the man beside her. “He’s mine, so no touching.” She waved to the man next to Rocket. “This is Dom. He’s our sergeant at arms. The other two? The big one’s Bear, the little one’s Ringo. Ringo is our enforcer, Bear’s… Bear.”

“Little one, Lemon?” Ringo gave her a side eye and an exasperated huff. “Really?”

She shrugged. “Comparatively speaking. Now, shut up. I’m talking.” Had my situation been less dire, I’d have been amused. Not now, though. Because when the shit hit the fan, this woman would likely be the one taking me apart. “What happened?”

I shivered, wrapping my arms around myself. “They followed me out of the bar.”

Lemon tilted her head. “You with anyone?”

“No. I work there. I was on my way home and was afraid they’d follow me and know where I live.”

“If they let you get home,” Bear muttered, but he gave me a measured look. Like he wasn’t really buying my story. “They speak to you? Threaten you?”

“Just trying to get me to stop so they could talk to me.” I kept my gaze down, my arms wrapped around myself, trying to stop the trembling. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to cause trouble. Or, you know, use a phrase I shouldn’t have. Obviously, ‘Angela’ was intended to set in motion things for an extreme situation, and I wasn’t in that much danger.” Right. If only.

“Sounds like you were in plenty of danger,” Lemon said. “You did exactly the right thing. The guys assessed the situation and got you out of there. End of story.”

A phone beeped and Rocket pulled out his phone and glanced at the screen. “Crush says the guys following you are CIA. Not even trying to conceal their identity.” He frowned, then looked up at me. “You got any idea why they wanted you?”

It surprised me they were so cavalier about being recognized. I really thought they’d try to hide themselves given how they said this group would go to any lengths to avoid the authorities. “Maybe my dad?” It was as close to the truth as I could get without blowing things. Besides I was a shit liar.

“What about your dad? Why would the CIA be looking into your dad?” Rocket was all business. Lemon too. Both of them were entirely focused on me and it fucking terrified me. If Lemon was anywhere near as observant and intuitive as her sister, this was over before it began. “He into something to be on their radar?”

“I don’t know. He’s been in some trouble with taxes or something,” I said softly, shrugging.

“Honey, CIA don’t do tax shit,” Bear rumbled. He was so close beside me I swore I could feel the heat coming off his body.

I started, stepping sideways to get away from him. I didn’t really want the distance, but knew I had to keep it. I wasn’t good at this kind of thing and my wits being muddled because of my attraction to him would get me killed.

Bear didn’t allow the retreat. Instead, he took one slow, deliberate step closer, erasing the distance I’d put between us. I looked up into his face. His eyes seemed to bore a hole inside me with the intensity of his stare. This was someone I needed to be careful around. With my inability to lie worth a Goddamn and the way it felt like he could see into my soul, I’d be fucked before this even started.

“Back off, Bear.” Rocket eased closer to the big man and put a hand on his shoulder. “She’s frightened enough.”

“She knows I ain’t gonna hurt her.” He didn’t take his eyes from me. “You need to tell us everything. Finding out now is one thing. We’re ready for it. But we find out you’re bringin’ a threat to us and not givin’ us time to prepare? Well. That’s totally different.”

There was something in his eyes. Something that told me he was deadly serious. I could also see he was willing me to tell him the truth. Like it meant something to him if I told the truth or not beyond just keeping his club safe. No. This man wanted me to trust him. Which was something I could never do. Wasn’t it?

For a moment, it was just the two of us. He looked into my face, placing a gentle hand on my shoulder to squeeze in encouragement. I wanted to believe him. To trust that he’d understand and not condemn me, and that he’d help me out of a really bad situation. I opened my mouth to tell him everything…

“I told you. I-I was scared of those g-guys following me h-home.” I stumbled over my words. There was a doubt. One little doubt overriding my trust. What if…

I’d been told these guys wouldn’t hesitate to kill me if they thought I was betraying them. While I had no doubt Apple believed they’d help me, I was scared to take that leap of faith. Not when there was more than my own life to think about.