Should I run? Should I leave and start anew somewhere else? I didn’t know what to do, even though leaving was the smart, safe choice. I swallowed roughly, wondering if getting help was what I needed to do. Help from men who were far more dangerous than Henry. Men who did far worse things than that bastard.
Because I couldn’t run forever. I couldn’t hide forever.
So maybe I should seek that out, ask a certain hardened MC member for the help I desperately needed. Because I couldn’t afford to keep running, to have a job for a week and jump to the next town. I hadn’t saved enough, didn’t have much of anything but the rent I put down on that shitty little apartment, the under-the-table, cheap-as-dirt amount that let me survive and have a roof over my head. I was already running low on the money I’d stolen from Henry, and until I got paid a few times from the bar, I was up shit creek without a paddle.
Maybe I was crossing the line, getting myself in way more trouble than I already was. Maybe asking Butcher for help was digging my own grave. But he’d saved me in that alley, would have probably killed that man if I hadn’t stopped it. That had to mean something, right?
Right?
* * *
Butcher
I’d stayed all night, watching her apartment, staring at her bedroom window as I waited for the light to finally turn off. And when it finally had, when she’d gone to bed, I found myself getting out of my SUV and heading to the apartment complex. I stood right below her bedroom window, wishing I could look inside, wanting to see her sleep, watch the rise and fall of her chest as she wasn’t worrying about anything.
Then I’d gone to the entrance. I didn’t even need to jimmy the fucking lock, not when the front door was barely hanging on as it was. I’d already known what apartment was hers, had gone to her door, just stood there, closing my eyes and picturing going in there and pulling the blanket off of her, seeing the material sliding from her sweet, tight little body.
But reality had slammed into me as I looked around, saw how shitty her surroundings were, where and how she lived. I’d watch her better than anyone else could. I’d keep a closer eye on her.
These fucking locks wouldn’t keep her safe, but I sure as hell would.
Fuck, I had it bad for her.
And then I’d gone back to my SUV and stayed there the rest of the night.
I knew she’d figure out she wasn’t alone eventually, but depending on how fast she realized that would tell me exactly what kind of secret I was dealing with where she was concerned.
It would tell me a lot until Shyne, the patch I’d dispatched to find out information on her, got back to me.
And she noticed me pretty fucking fast.
She was on the run. She was nervous she’d be found. That’s why she clocked me as fast as she did. That’s why she was brave enough to approach my SUV.
She didn’t know the lengths I’d go to find out who she was, where she was from. Because I’d already deemed her mine. I already made the decision that I wouldn’t let her go. No matter what she was running from, no matter what she was hiding, Poppy was already mine.
So I drove off, left her standing in the middle of the street on her way to work wondering who I was, what I was doing watching her. And when the time came, which would be sooner rather than later, I’d let Poppy know my intentions.
I’d show them to her.
Chapter Seven
Butcher
I pulled the SUV to a stop in front of the gates of the MC compound. Two prospects came to the gate, knowing it was me, and opened it immediately. I drove the vehicle up to the building, parked in the lot beside the MC, and cut the engine.
For a minute, I just sat there, hearing the sound of bass coming from the garage off to the side, hearing the shouts of the men talking to each other. I needed to get with Shyne and see what he found. He hadn’t contacted me yet, so I assumed he had nothing, but I was too impatient.
I needed to know what I was dealing with where she was concerned. I needed to know how to make things good for her so she didn’t feel like she had to run. That she didn’t have to hide.
I needed her to know that with me she’d be safe. That I would protect her with my life.
I climbed out of the vehicle and made my way toward the front of the club. The bay doors of the garage were open, but the structure was a good distance from the compound. I could make out a few of the guys, trucks being worked on, a couple of motorcycles parked outside. Heavy rock poured from the speakers, loud enough that I could hear the words.