Page 33 of Empire of Savages
“Why do I find that hard to believe?”
“Because you’re as cynical as your mother used to be,” he snapped. He stared at me for a long moment before gripping the back of his neck. “You have to believe me.”
I folded my arms over my chest, the action serving as a shield. “What makes you think I’m in danger?”
His jaw tightened. “I have enemies, Alexis.”
My gaze shifted behind him, a shadow falling across the pavement outside the shop. I tensed. My already paranoid mind thought for a second that Maddox was here again.
“Relax,” Talon said. “It’s just the Wolf.”
Ben Shaw, aka ‘The Wolf’ was the Devil’s Chaos sergeant at arms, and his nickname was more than accurate. The Wolf cared about nothing more than following the rules and gleefully meting out justice in the most vicious way. He also happened to be the only man my father trusted to have his back.
With my pulse still racing, I put on my metaphoric suit of armor and took a deep breath. “Are you still pissing off Rixon, then?”
“It’s not the Hunt.”
I frowned. “Who, then?”
“Someone I don’t have enough dirt on. Someone I can’t control yet.” Straightening, he walked farther into the workshop, looking over the huge rolling tool chests along the far wall and picking up a four-and-a-half-inch wrench, studying it.
I stepped away from the Honda and perched on the low rolling stool I kept in the corner. “And I bet that lack of control is really fucking getting to you. Why do you need to control them? What have they got that you want?”
“It’s what I have that they want, and they’ll do whatever it takes to get it.” He turned. “They’ve made direct threats against you… if they can ever find you.”
My spine straightened. “Me? How?—”
“You may have escaped the club, orthoughtyou escaped it all those years ago, but people have a long memory. Especially those who want to hurt me.”
My father had never been this forthcoming with information about the club when I was still a part of it, so I probed a little further. “What do they want? Territory? Corridors?”
He shook his head, reaching the end of his sharing quota for the day. “I’m not dragging you into this, knowingly or not. Just know that they’re powerful and they will stop at nothing to make the Devils comply.”
“I’m not going to the clubhouse. I fucking refuse to go there again.”
A small smile flashed onto his face. He thought he had the victory. “You can stay at my place.”
“With your new old lady?” I balked. Talon had taken on a new woman not even six months after my mom had died. He’d claimed that my mom, Evelyn, had been the love of his life, but how could that be true when he shacked up with another woman before Mom’s grave dirt had had time to settle. “No thanks.”
“You’re making this fucking difficult, Alexis,” he growled, his frustration at me finally showing. “You can’t stay unprotected. You’renot safehere,” he reiterated.
“I’m fine.”
“How do you explain the busted office window then?”
With an irritated huff, I stood from the rolling stool and moved to the roller doors. “You’ve had your say. I heard you, but I’m not going anywhere. You can go now.”
He glared at me for a long while before shaking his head. Under his breath, he said, “It’s like talking to your damn mother again.” He moved toward the door. “I’ll have someone watching the garage twenty-four seven.”
“Do whatever you want, Talon. I don’t give a fuck.”
As soon as he ducked under the roller door, I slammed it down the rest of the way.
Chapter 12
Nick
A setof nails dragged down my torso, lingering on the long, bumpy scar on the left side of my abdomen. The fingers smoothed over the long-healed injury for a moment longer before sliding under the waistband of my shorts and stroking my semihard dick.