Duke (The Henchmen MC 5)

I was no hero, but I damn sure wouldn't go down without a fight if I could help it.

The words never again flashed through my head vividly.

I didn't want to just take it.

I had enough cowardice for my life.

So as much as I was pretty sure I didn't have the stomach to plunge a knife into another human being, you never knew what you were capable of when push came to shove.

So when the door opened, making my stomach feel like it shot down to my feet, I was equal parts amazed and proud when my hand raised and sliced down the arm of the person coming in.

Of course when the light flashed on and I saw Duke and saw the blood trickling down his arm from where I stabbed him, I was pretty sure I stopped breathing. But he hadn't even commented on the fact that I freaking stabbed him. He never even treated the cut.

And then I had done something that, if I lived a thousand years, I never thought I would be capable of doing. I agreed to lie to the police. Why? Yeah, that was a good question. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that I had made out with Duke. Or, maybe it was the haunted look in his eyes when he told me about them losing some of their men. I was sure, it seemed anyway, that violence was a way of life for them. So losing men was likely not as Earth-shaking as it would be for the average Joe. But, judging by the way his body tensed and his eyes went empty and his shoulders sagged, Duke was feeling the loss of one of his friends.

It also maybe played a small part that I was worried about my story. The factual one was just as unbelievable as the fictional one Duke fed me. Actually, possibly even more so. On top of all of that, they were clearly outlaw bikers. And while they had been good to me so far, there was no way for me to tell if they would continue being nice if I didn't agree to lie, if I decided to tell the cops the whole bloody truth.

So I was going with the fake story if the cops came.

Two hours passed.

Four.

Six.

The police didn't come.

Neither did Duke.

Around ten in the morning, I had pretty much conjured a million different ideas for what happened, each more gruesome than the next. When I padded to the door and cracked it open, I had maybe been expecting to see bodies of bikers strewn all about.

What I found was an empty hall.

I crept along it, the knife from the bathroom sink in my hand, my heart slamming out a rapid bass beat.

Why was I heading out, you might ask?

Because I didn't take too fondly to the idea of being trapped in a room in a compound if all the bikers who were my makeshift protectors left... or were dead.

I rounded the bend to the main room, just barely peeking my head around the corner.

"Blondie," Renny's voice called, proving what a bad spy I would make. "You okay?"

I moved into the doorway, suddenly completely conscious of the fact that I had no pants or bra on in a clubhouse full of outlaw bikers. Not my best move, I'll admit.

"I was worried," I confided as he moved toward me with a long-legged gait. "It's been so quiet for so long."

"Most of the men have jobs they are on today. The rest are securing up the grounds better," he told me, reaching out to touch my arm. "Want some coffee? I'll make a fresh pot."

If there was one thing that could make me parade around half-naked, it was the promise of coffee.

I moved to follow Renny and we were just outside the opening to the kitchen when the front door burst open.

"I'm fully capable of taking care of myself, Cash," the woman from my bedroom the day before said.

"Lo, honey," Cash said, laying it on a little thick as he closed the front door. "I'm not saying you can't take care of yourself; I'm saying you belong to me and that means you have a target on your back and you shouldn't just be parading into the compound whenever you want."

"You want me hiding out at Hailstorm while someone is shooting up your building and your men with a machine gun? That's what you're telling me."

Cash ran a hand up the shaved side of his head, his lips turned up like he was somewhat amused, but he exhaled so hard it was almost a sigh. "I just want you safe."

"That feeling would be mutual. Which is why I am here. I will go back up to Hailstorm later if that makes you happy. Reign is having all the kids and women shipped up there anyway. They will need a hand. But you guys need all the help you can get to get ahead of this before it gets any worse. Oh," she said, stopping short at seeing me. "Good. I actually brought Ashley with me to check out your back again," she told me, then gave me a smile. "I also brought you pants. Figured you wouldn't be too keen on parading around here half-naked all the time. Unless Duke is having you sent up to Hailstorm too," she said, looking over at Cash for an answer.