Dark Knights Ch. 03

"What are we going to do?" I asked.

He took a deep breath as he shook his head. "The only thing we can do. We've got to get the Knights to help us."

"Swell," I muttered.

"There's nothing else we can do."

"I know. I just wish I knew why!"

"Me too."

"Do you suppose this was because we passed the audit?"

He shrugged. "Maybe."

"But how'd they know?" A chill passed over me. "Do you suppose Eric, or someone else, told them?"

"A mole?" he asked, his tone clearly telegraphing his skepticism. I nodded. "That hardly seems likely, do you think? What would anyone have to gain by doing that?"

I shrugged. "Then how'd he know?"

"Maybe he didn't. Maybe this has been planned for a while and they decided today was the day. Or maybe, when the audit was over so quickly, and we went riding, the Rollers assumed nothing was going to come from it." He paused, and then nodded slowly. "Think about it. If we were staring prison in the face, would you want to go for a joy ride? I wouldn't."

"No," I admitted.

He nodded again. "I think we can assume this is still more of the same shit, but now Hayden's getting pissed because we keep slipping away, and that's making him careless, or desperate, or both."

"This is all my fault."

"Shhh... No it's not. This nobody's fault but Hay—"

"But it is! All of this started after I let him pick me up! I'm so sorry for getting you mixed up in this," I murmured, my guilt weighing so heavily I almost couldn't breathe. "Maybe you'd better off without me. Maybe I should—"

"You cut that shit out right now," he snapped, talking over me, his voice kind but firm. "If you want to leave, leave, but don't you dare say you are doing it for me. Not ever."

"But you've lost so much! Your house. Your car. Your bike. I—"

"But look at what I've gained," he interrupted again as he took my hand.

I ground my teeth, trying to hold my tears, his word touching me beyond measure, and I hoped they meant he had feelings for me too. I snuggled into his chest, drawing on his seemingly limitless well of strength as his arms surrounded me. I didn't weep, but he did gently kiss away a couple of tears as they slowly crawled down my cheeks.

As I slowly pulled back from his embrace, he brushed my lips with his. "It's going to be okay. I have insurance. The important thing is keeping you safe."

"And you," I murmured.

He smiled as he touched my cheek. "Don't worry about me. They're going to keep fucking with me until they piss me off. They won't like me when I'm pissed off."

His comment was so... Bryn... I couldn't help but smile. "Hayden has no idea who he's fucking with."

"That's right," he agreed. He brushed my lips again and then pulled out his phone.

"I can't believe you remembered to get your gun and phone. I was so scared I couldn't think straight."

He shrugged. "I don't go anywhere without it. My pistol either. I wish I'd thought to grab my car key, though." He smiled slyly. "It helped my phone was still in my pants pocket."

"Your pistol was in your room?" He nodded. "You didn't have it on the ride?"

"No. I don't carry it when I ride."

"I'm surprised. Why?"

"Nowhere to put it, and I don't want to shoot myself in the ass if I lay the bike down."

"Makes sense, I guess. I couldn't figure out when you put your pistol in the bedroom, considering that we..." I shrugged.

"I left it there when I changed. That's why I had to go get it."

"I'm glad you did, but why?"

"Call it a hunch."

I sighed as I shook my head in disbelief. He was a damned machine. He'd proven once again that so long as I was with him, nothing could ever hurt me. I smiled to myself as he poked at his phone. I'd told him I'd fight like hell for him before I let him go? I'd fight the fucking devil himself, in hell, for this man.

"Uber is on the way," he said as he pocketed his phone.

"Where are we going to go?"

He shrugged. "Some motel somewhere." He pulled me close and brought his lips to my ear. "The Rollers interrupted us, so we have some unfinished business to take care of."

I shiver of pleasure passed over me. "Is that all you think about?" I murmured, but I couldn't hide my smile. After losing almost everything because of my actions, he still wanted me.

His eyes crinkled as he smiled. "Not the only thing." I knew he was setting me up for something. "Sometimes I want nothing more than to hold you."

I swallowed hard, my eyes brimming with tears. "Will you hold me now?" I asked as I melted into him again.

"Always."

"We need help," Bryn said as we slid into the booth with the rest of the Dark Knights. While we waited on our Uber, Bryn had called Eric and asked for an immediate meeting with the whole club, explaining what'd happened and what he wanted. After we got settled into our motel, we'd called for another Uber. We were going to have to do something about obtaining some wheels, and soon.

"We're fucked, aren't we?" Kevin asked, his voice nasty. "Customs is going fuck us up, aren't they? I knew I couldn't trust you to do this shit right."

I stared at Kevin in disbelief, then glanced to Eric. Hadn't Eric told them what was going on?

"Go ahead, Bryn. What have you got for us?" Eric said.

"I need help protecting Reagan," Bryn began. "The Rollers attacked my place a few hours ago, trying to flush us. They hadn't bothered us in the last few weeks, and I was hoping that was the end of it, but this is a serious escalation. Something's going on, something I don't understand. It's like this has gotten personal with Rogan."

"So?" Kevin sneered. "I thought you were the big man who was going to protect her all by yourself."

"Shut the fuck up, Kevin," I snarled, far too loud in the quiet of the restaurant. "Try not being an asshole for a change," I added more quietly.

Kevin face turned red. "Listen to me, Reagan—"

"Kevin, if you talked less and listened more, you might actually learn something," Eric interrupted, his voice quiet but firm.

"What? That my sister is a whore? That she brought this on herself when she spread her legs for that fucking Hayden Rogan? What am I going to learn, Eric?"

I glanced at Bryn. His face and eyes were hard, as if he were considering going over the table after Kevin. "Remember what I said if you talked about Reagan like that again?" he growled.

"You think I'm afraid of you?" Kevin blustered, his bravery augmented by having a table between him and Bryn, but I could see the fear in his eyes.

"You want to take this outside?" Bryn challenged.

"Can it, both of you," Eric snapped.

"Why are we letting her drag us into the pile of shit she made?" Kevin demanded. "We need to be worried about this fucking audit!"

"Because she's a member of this club, and we stand by each other. Now, shut up and let him finish."

Kevin made a dismissive noise, then opened his mouth as if he were going to say something, but Eric stared him down. "Go ahead Bryn," Eric said when Kevin looked away.

"First off," Bryn began," the audit is over. No problems." That won him murmurs of approval from Tony and Mike, and even Kevin looked relieved. "More importantly, Rogan has lost his damned mind. Not only did he set fire to my apartment building, but his goons chased us into a grocery store where they pulled a fucking knife and gun on us. They didn't give a shit about people watching, nothing, and they were wearing their colors, so they weren't trying to hide who they were."

"Jesus," Mike muttered. "I knew that fucker was crazy. What's he hope to accomplish by doing shit like that?"

"See what you've done, Reagan? If you—" Kevin began.

"Kevin, shut up!" Eric barked as he glared at him. "What do you need?" Eric asked after muzzling Kevin.

"I need help to protect Reagan. I can't do it alone."

We waited but nobody said anything as Eric glanced from one man to the next, his lips thinning in clear annoyance. "Un-fucking-believable," he muttered.

"You chickenshit bastards," I muttered at the same time. At least they had the good graces to look embarrassed.

"The club will put you two up in a room," Eric volunteered. "I'd offer to put you up in my house, but I'm an old man, and I'm afraid I'd be more in the way than helpful if the shit hits the fan. What else do you need?"

"I need to know what's going on. This isn't about Reagan anymore. It's become personal for Hayden, but I don't know why. I also need to get Reagan out of town and away from here until I can—"

"No fucking way," I said, cutting him off. "I'm not going anywhere without you. Forget it."

"Reagan," Bryn said, his exasperation clear, "I can't deal with this and watch you too. I want you somewhere safe. Somewhere—"

"No," I said, cutting him off again. "I'm staying."

"Bryn's right. Why don't you go stay with—?" Kevin began.

"What part of 'no' didn't you understand? I'm not going anywhere without Bryn. Why don't you do something? You must know someone that works in security that can help us. You work in a bank for God's sake!"

"Hey! I'm not the one who—" Kevin flared.

"Yeah, you never do anything except run your mouth," I snarled, cutting him off.

"I'm trying to help! Maybe if you disappear for a little while, Hayden will—"

"That's your solution? Hide and hope the boogeyman goes away?" I pushed on Bryn, trying to get him to move. "Let's go. These pussies are useless. We're done here."

"Reagan, wait a minute," Eric said. I paused. "It's time for the club to step up," he continued glaring at the other men.

"Eric, I didn't sign up for this," Tony said. "Grey marketing bikes is one thing, but this is something else." Mike nodded in agreement.

"We have our families to think of," Mike added. "We might pretend were a bunch of badass bikers, but we're not. We're just regular guys trying to earn a little on the side."

"And what if Hayden was coming after your families?" Eric growled.

The three men looked down as Eric glared at the men in turn, clearly annoyed.

"Move! I'm done with these assholes!" I snarled, pushing on Bryn again. I was so done with this shit and this club. Bryn was right. We should have walked away when he first wanted to.

"Reagan! Bryn! Wait a second!" Eric called after us. Except for me showing him my middle finger, we ignored him as we stomped away from the table, out the door, and down the block to discourage them from following us.

I took an Uber to work the next morning. I looked and felt like hell. I was wearing the same riding leathers I had on yesterday, afraid to go home for more clothes because the Rollers could be waiting. We should have stopped somewhere and picked up a few clothes yesterday after we left Reggie's, but I was so pissed off all I could think about was getting away from there, and I was already sick of waiting around for an Uber to arrive.

The rest of the staff looked at me strangely, but I was in no mood to explain why I was wearing riding gear, and kept my jacket fully zipped and snapped at the neck.

When we got back to the motel room, the first thing Bryn did was remove his jacket, and then using his fingernails, carefully removed the small, black, knight's helmet that was glued to the left breast. When I saw what he was doing, I removed my own jacket and tossed it on the bed for him to remove my patch as well.

Worse than how I looked was how I felt. After removing our patches, Bryn had tried to seduce me. I wanted to, but I couldn't let go of the seething anger and disappointment. It didn't help that Eric must have texted or tried to call us thirty times over the next two hours. Neither of us bothered to read the messages or answer his calls, and we'd finally blocked his number for some quiet.

I'd felt guilty when Bryn had finally given up and just held me, but I was so upset I couldn't enjoy his soft kisses and gentle touches. Long after his breathing has become deep and regular, I was still awake, unable to switch off my mind. Despite Mike, Tony, and Kevin's occasionally demeaning attitudes, I'd enjoyed the challenge of finding and obtaining the bikes, and I certainly liked the extra money, but no amount of money or enjoyment was worth this shit. Sometime in the early morning dark I'd fallen asleep, but the night was short and I'd been tormented in my dreams.

It was just before lunch, and I was checking in my parts delivery, when John appeared. "Reagan! Why didn't you tell me what was going on?"

"What?" I asked, looking up from one of the boxes in confusion

"Your brother, Kevin, he said he was your brother anyway, he called and told me what you're going through and told me that I need to give you some time off. Reagan, you should have come to me with this."

I began to burn, and I tugged on my hair to tighten my ponytail. Kevin simply could not mind his own fucking business. He was always trying to tell everyone what to do and how to do it, and he'd been trying to order me around his entire life. It had been bad when we were kids, when Mom and Dad told him he had to watch out for his little sister, but I was a thirty-two-year-old woman and I didn't need his fucking protection. Worse, he couldn't protect shit. All he could do was run his mouth. I couldn't cut him out of my life like I could the rest of the Knights, but once this was over, he and I were going to have a serious come to Jesus meeting.

"It's okay, John. Kevin had no right to call and tell you that. If I'd wanted some time off, I'd have come and asked for it. I did for yesterday, didn't I?"

"Is it true? What he said?"

"What did he tell you?"

He said that you have some guy stalking you and he tried to kill you yesterday? Is it the same guy that was in here a few weeks back? Roger? Something like that?"

"Hayden. Hayden Rogan. Yeah. Him or one of his goons. Don't sweat it. It's okay. With the guys in the back I'm safe here. He isn't going to try anything here in broad daylight," I said, forcing my voice to normalcy, though I was still fuming inside at Kevin's meddling.

John watched me a moment. "Okay, if you're sure, but I'm going to spread the word. If he shows up here again we'll... escort him... from the premises."

I smiled. John was a really good guy and I suspected if Hayden were escorted from the premises, he'd probably fall several times before he was off the property. "Thanks."

The moment John was out of sight I snatched the handset off my office phone and stabbed at the numbers. With every punch, my anger grew, until I was nearly incandescent.

"Thank you for calling Savannah Bank and Trust. This is Kevin. How may I help you?"

"You son-of-a-bitch," I snarled into the phone. "Don't you ever do something like that again!"

"What are you being so pissy about? You asked for my help."

"I don't need that type of help," I snarled, my voice as hard as diamonds. "If you wanted to help, why didn't you offer to help Bryn last night? It's because you're too big a chickenshit to actually stand up to someone. You just weasel—"

I heard a door slam through the phone. "Now wait a fucking minute!"

"No! You wait a fucking minute! Bryn is right. You're nothing but a backstabbing asshole. I don't know why I ever agreed to join this fucking club! Everybody in the Knights except Bryn is a fucking pussy! I've got more balls than the rest of you put together!"

"Considering you brought—"

I slammed the phone down so hard I hoped I made his ear bleed.

I was tidying up my area, getting ready to go, when Bryn strolled into the parts department. He'd changed out of his riding leather into street clothes. I'd been fuming all day over Kevin's actions, but seeing Bryn, my day suddenly improved, and I smiled.

"Welcome to Bonaventure Harley-Davidson. Is there something I can do for you?" I purred.

He grinned as he sauntered up. "I can think of a thing or two," he rumbled as he propped his elbows on my counter.

My smile spread. "I bet you can. What are you doing here?"

"I've rented a car."

"So you're here to pick me up and give me a ride?"

"That's right."

I took a long and obvious look around. "We'd better wait until everyone else leaves."

"What if I don't want to?" he asked in his oh so sexy bedroom voice.

"Then come back to the stock room... if you're man enough."

I had no doubt he was man enough, so when he straightened, for the briefest of moments I thought he was going to take me up on my offer, but he chuckled as he glanced at the clock on the wall. I couldn't decide if I was disappointed or relieved.

"Are you about ready?"

Technically I still had three minutes. I hated closing even a minute early, in case someone came charging in, desperate for a part, at the last second, but today I was going to make an exception.

"Let me get my purse." When I returned with my purse, nobody was waiting, and with only a minute or two to go, I closed my terminal and followed him out. "Sweet ride!" I teased.

He led me to a white Toyota Camry and opened the door for me. "It's a shit box," he growled before closing the door behind me.

"Beats an Uber," I pointed out as he fell into the driver's seat.

"You sure about that?" he asked as he twisted the ignition key.

I snickered as he pulled the car into gear and we backed out of the parking space.

"Where are we going?" I asked when I realized we weren't headed back to the motel.

"Your place to get you some clothes. Do you have a way in?"

"Yeah. I've got a keypad on the garage door."

"Good. Do you also have an extra key for your car and bike?"

"Yes. I think I know where they are, but aren't you afraid the Rollers will be waiting on us?"

"If they are, we'll drive on by. They won't recognize the car."

"What about you? What are you doing for clothes?"

"In case you didn't notice, I bought a couple of pair of pants and a few shirts today."

"I did notice, but no underwear? I like the way you roll," I teased.

He grinned at me. "Is that all you think about?" he asked, giving me back my words from yesterday.

"With you... yes," I cooed as I caressed his thigh.

"Then you'll be disappointed to discover that I also bought underwear."

"Well... shit," I muttered, forcing my smile into a pout, but I couldn't keep it away and it reappeared a moment later. No matter how bad my day, nothing improved my mood quicker, or made my troubles disappear faster, than being around Bryn.

I grinned and snickered as he drove us to my home, muttering the entire time as he flogged the car. The Camry, even compared to my Honda, felt underpowered and slow, so it must have seemed like a complete turd compared to his zippy little Subaru. I directed him a different way home, so that we came up on the side street, hopefully allowing us to pass by my house without being recognized. We saw nothing, but we continued on and looped around the block.

"What do you think?" I asked. "Think we should risk it?"

"I don't know. I'm kind of surprised nobody's here."

"This was your idea, remember?"

"I know, but I'm still kind of surprised. I'd have put somebody watching the house full time, just in case we tried to do what we're doing."

We looped past my house again, then turned the block the other way, searching for anything that looked out of place.

"See anything?" I asked.

"No. Did you?"

"No. What do you suppose they're up to?"

"I don't know. Let's risk it. I'll stay in the car. You run in and grab what you need as fast as you can, then get back out here. If I blow the horn, you drop everything and haul ass out your back door and go to ground. I'll lead them away, and when I do, you get somewhere safe, somewhere with people. If I can lose them in this piece of shit, I'll call you and you can tell me where you are."

"Why don't I meet—"