Duke (The Henchmen MC 5)

"I'll go fill in Reign," Lo said, giving them a head shake as she moved toward the door.

"Why do I need to talk to you anyway?" I blurted out, surprising myself. I think confusion and fear made me a bit bolder than I usually was.

"We just want to know what you remember about what happened to you," Renny said, shrugging and moving to lean on the edge of the dresser a few feet away. It was close enough that he still felt like he was in my space, but far enough that he couldn't touch me if he reached out. I got the distinct impression that everything he did since he stepped into the room, aside from the altercation with Duke, was very purposeful, measured. I don't know where the idea came from, but that was how it felt. I felt like he was being ungenuine.

"Okay. But, again, shouldn't I be telling that to the police?"

"Sure. You can do that. But we would like to hear it first."

Lie.

That was a bold-faced lie.

For some reason, they didn't want me talking to the police.

"Penny," Duke said, his voice moving over my name in a way that made my insides do a weird little shiver. I looked over and he uncrossed his arms. "We need to know who this is so we can find them."

There was a meaning there. I wasn't stupid or naive enough to miss it.

They didn't want to find them to hand them over to the police.

They wanted to find them to do something far more violent to them.

To be perfectly honest, I was almost okay with that.

That was messed up. I wasn't that kind of person. I was a firm believer in fixing our criminal justice system, to stop treating prisoners, especially non-violent ones, as animals. I sure as hell didn't believe in capital punishment. So why was I suddenly okay with street justice? Because it was personal? Because I was the victim?

What kind of hypocrite did that make me?

"You don't even know me," I found myself saying.

"I know, but the thing is..."

"Don't," Renny cut in, voice firm.

"I don't know where you got the idea that you are somehow in charge of me," Duke said, voice bland. "In case you forgot, you and me, we're on the same level."

"Jesus fuck," another voice said from behind Duke and I looked to find another biker walking in.

Leader.

That was the word that came to mind when I saw him. I don't know if it was simply the way he carried himself- tall and effortlessly confidant, or the fact that command and danger seemed to seep out of his pores and into the air around him or what, but yeah, the tall and dark and impossibly hot hazel-eyed biker was definitely not on the same level as Duke and Renny. If I wasn't entirely mistaken, no one was on the same level as him.

"I have kids already. I don't need to be fuckin' babysittin' your asses," he said, his tone implying that Duke and Renny's obvious rivalry had been a problem for a while. "What's the God damn problem? I thought the orders were pretty clear."

Renny moved toward the leader, turning his back to me and speaking low enough that I couldn't even make out the occasional word. The leader's face was mostly impassive, though his eyes moved to Duke twice and me once.

The leader moved away from the other two men and toward the bed, stopping a foot or so from the edge of it, giving me space. "I'm Reign," he supplied in that deep, gravely, incredibly sexy voice of his. "I run things around here. I sent in Renny to get some information on what happened to you. But apparently I have to do fuckin' everything myself," he said with a small lip twitch that my own responded to for reasons I didn't consciously understand. "Fact of the matter is, you were beat up and left outside our gates. We figured this might be personal. We want to know what is going on before any of our women or kids get hurt."

Nail. Head.

He knew exactly what to say to get what he wanted out of me.

"We were actually in the middle of one of the kids' birthday parties when Duke saw you," he went on for good measure.

"No one was..." I started, stomach rolling at the idea of any kids getting hurt.

"No," Reign said before I could finish. "But we want to make sure things stay that way. So whatever you can give us, whatever you remember, it will help."

I felt myself nod at that, looking over Reign's shoulder at Duke who had already been watching me. Following my line of vision, Reign looked at Duke as well before looking back at me. "Do you drink coffee?" he asked, unexpectedly.

"Only with my oxygen."