Ties That Bind (Ruthless Sinners MC 1)

“What? I didn’t say anything.”

“Yeah, and it’s eating at ya something awful.”

“No, it’s not!”

“Yeah. Sure, it’s not.” He shook his head as he snickered. “Looks like you’re about to come out of your skin over there.”

I rolled my eyes as I positioned my hips even further to the left, making it even more difficult for him to see my face. “I’m just fine, thank you very much.”

“Um-hmm.”

My back was still to him when I heard him move behind me, but I refused to turn and look. Instead, I just sat there as still as possible, glaring at the blank wall in front of me. I remained that way even after I heard the door open and close. I thought he was just messing with me until I heard the click of the exterior lock—that was one sound I couldn’t ignore. I quickly turned around and was surprised to see that there was no sign of Hawk. Still not believing he was truly gone, I got up and walked over to the door, testing it to see if it was really locked. When I felt that it was, I decided to use the moment alone to check out my surroundings. I went over to the window, quickly testing it to see if I could get it open; when I couldn’t, I tried the window in the bathroom. After seeing that it wouldn’t budge either, I rushed over to the dresser and searched through the drawers, but they were all empty. I stood in the center of the small room, searching for anything that might help me out of my precarious situation and was disappointed when there was nothing to be found. Having no other choice, I walked back over to the bed and lay down.

I hadn’t realized how exhausted I was until I rested my head down on the pillow. There was no way I could actually sleep. I was too worried about Danny for that to happen. Those men had him somewhere in this building, and they were doing god knows what to him for god knows why. It was a thought that terrified me and made me even more curious about what he’d gotten himself into. The Danny I knew, the brother I’d grown up with and loved so dearly, was now a stranger to me, and it was all my fault. I was too wrapped up in my own life, too busy being focused on my career to think about Danny and what he was going through. I should’ve done better. I should’ve called more, gone to see him—been more involved in his life. Maybe then, he wouldn’t have found himself in such a terrible predicament. I was wallowing in a pit of self-loathing when the door opened and Hawk appeared with a tray of food and a handful of clothes. I sat up in the bed and watched silently as he walked over to the corner and placed them on the desk. “I thought you might be hungry.”

“Oh?” I was surprised by the gesture, especially after the way he’d just up and left, so I was a little hesitant as I got up and muttered, “Well, umm ... thank you.”

“No problem.” He motioned his hand towards the pile of clothes and announced, “I also got you a change of clothes.”

“Okay.” I got up and walked over to him, looking at all the things he’d brought. While I should’ve been grateful that he’d even thought to bring me anything, I wasn’t. “So, where did these come from?”

“They’re just some clothes. Why does it matter?”

“Well, it might not matter to you, but it does to me.” He didn’t respond. Instead, he just stood there looking at me like I was being a complete bitch. I couldn’t blame him. I was being a bitch, but I didn’t know what kind of women he ran around with. If I had to guess, they were nothing like me—average looking with a boring life and limited experience with men. A part of me was unsettled by that fact. To be honest, I was more than unsettled. For reasons I didn’t understand, I was actually feeling jealous. I just couldn’t get a grip on my green-eyed monster and found myself crossing my arms as I looked over to him with a scowl. “I don’t want to catch something from one of your little bimbos that won’t wash off.”

“Bimbos? Are you fucking kidding?” With a snarl on his face, he picked up one of the t-shirts and held it out to me. “These are brand new. Hell, they still have the fucking tags on them.”

“Oh ... I missed that.” A sudden feeling of guilt washed over me, and I wished I could take back what I’d said. It wasn’t like me to be so catty. I was normally a pretty nice person who was respectful and kind. Nothing like I’d been behaving. I lowered my head and whispered, “I’m ... I’m sorry. I didn’t realize.”