Duke (The Henchmen MC 5)

"Reign," I cut in. "Not you."

"Duke, if anyone is going to be able to get something out of her, it's gonna be Renny," Cash tried to reason. "With that fucking red hair and flirtatious vibe, she's not likely to see him as a threat. Reign, I mean," he said, gesturing toward his brother who, top to bottom, screamed: dangerous.

"Know you two have some history," Reign allowed, giving me a hard look, "but you need to get over that shit. This is a threat and we need to get to the bottom of it as soon as possible. You might not like Renny, but he ain't gonna hurt the girl."

"The ladies love me," Renny added with a smile that probably did work on the skirts.

Maybe that was part of it too. Renny had a way with people. He had an outwardly open, funny, laid back, flirtatious vibe, very young and non-threatening. And if redheads were a chick's thing, he was good looking and had a silver tongue to go with his good looks. That being said, that was only half of the Renny picture. Underneath all that was the darkness he kept buried. Along with that darkness came a positively obsessive compulsive need to get to the bottom of shit that is none of his business. He wasn't content until he had your card, until he knew how you ticked, until he knew exactly what made you how you are. He had two faces and the one he kept hidden was a little bit more villain than ally, a little more dangerous than his outwardly friendly appearance made you believe.

I found that I didn't want Penny to like him.

And I didn't want Renny to know how she ticked.

But, that being said, it wasn't really my choice.

Reign was right; the threat was real and imminent. I couldn't fight this and waste precious time. I would lose anyway.

So I bit into my cheek to keep my objections to myself.

"She's in a Vicodin induced sleep right now," Cash supplied. "But as soon as she wakes up," he said, looking at Renny, "you go in and see what you can get. Then maybe we will have somewhere to turn our focus instead of standing here with our fingers up our asses, watching the fence like we're about to be ambushed."

Again, they weren't wrong. The longer time passed, the more behind we were getting. It wasn't good to be working on the defensive. As a whole, we were men of action and generally were much more comfortable being on the offensive.

And with families to worry about, most of the members were itching to get it handled quickly and with as little blood spilled on our side as possible.

So it was settled.

Renny would talk to Penny.

And I had to deal with that.

That being said, when I caught Renny heading inside and toward the direction of my room a couple hours later, I put down my beer and followed, taking up guard duty in the hall, pressed back agains the wall, ready to head in if things didn't seem to be going in a direction I would like.

About thirty minutes after he went in, I got my cue.

"I said get the hell out!" Penny shrieked, voice surprisingly strong and demanding.FOURPennyWaking up had the weird distinction of feeling like I was trying to surface through a deep water. I could hear things, was aware that I wasn't alone and was mildly concerned for that fact given that I lived alone, but I couldn't seem to muster enough worry to snap me fully awake. I just lay there, body feeling almost like it was humming, mind half-asleep and half-awake for what felt like ages.

The voices slowly got louder, as if closer, making me let out a grumble and start trying to push through the heaviness holding me down, finding my mind and body oddly uncooperative.

It was almost as if I had been drugged.

And the second that thought broke through my sluggish brain, it snapped it awake. It snapped my entire body awake. My eyes flew open and my body jolted to try to sit up immediately, only to be brought down on a quiet shriek at a stabbing pain down my side by my ribs and a pulling feeling across my whole back. That was not even to mention the throbbing pain I felt in my face.

The word 'drugged' made my very much drugged mind remember what had happened. I had been given drugs. Granted, prescription ones, but still. I had been given pain medicine because I had woken up to someone stitching up my back, held tight in the arms of that uber hot blond bun-wearing, solid as a rock biker who had given me directions to Bella's the day before.

"Whoa, easy honey," a female voice said immediately, her hand landing on my arm to push me back down toward the bed. "It's okay. You're alright. Just lay back down for a minute and wake up."