Lux stared over at Nora with a grin. Her phone had been on speaker, allowing them both to overhear the conversation. “Yes, daddy dearest.” She opened the fridge and snagged two bottles, one for her and one for Nora. They both guzzled the cold liquid down in under a minute. Tymber didn’t comment, but then again, she was sure he was too busy with Ivy to be watching their every move.
Tymber’s fiancée’s laughter rang out on the other end, confirming her suspicions. “Hey, Ivy, you need to let him spank you. I think he needs to work some of that instinct out of him.”
“Oh, trust me, I let him do all kinds of things to me. Want me to share some of the details with you, daughter dear?” Ivy squealed as Tymber growled.
Lux covered her eyes and shook her head. “Please, for all that is holy, do not do that.”
“You can open the back door, Lux. The calvary has arrived,” Tymber said.
Her heart beat a slow roll as she tossed the empty bottle of water into the recycle bin. She trusted Tymber and Ember. If they said it was safe, it was safe. Still, she hated that feeling of being stalked even when it wasn’t her who had the crazy man after her. Well, technically it was, but Nora didn’t know it, nobody did. It was years ago following senior year.
Therapists, counselors, hospital stays, and breakdowns had done a lot to get her to where she was today. All she had to do was breathe and get through another day, get Nora out of the shop door safely, and the monster would be out of her life again. She’d rebuilt her life, rebuilt herself, and built an armor that kept not only her heart safe, but her body as well. When she got home, she’d go through the steps of EMDR therapy. Fuck, if she had to, she’d call Pricilla up and get an emergency session with her even if it was virtual. Lux hated feeling vulnerable. Yet with just the flash of headlights through the windows and the unknown, she was back to that night.
A solid plan set in her head, she inhaled deeply and opened the back door, knowing her friends were there. The fear of what could happen when she was all alone plagued her. Yes, she had taken a shitton of self-defense classes and knew how to use a gun like a pro. Yet she knew better than anyone that when it came to brute strength, she wasn’t a match to most men.
Chapter Two
T-Rex sipped his whiskey, watching his brothers play pool while he waited for his turn. Ever since he’d left Twisted Ink, his mind kept going back to the sexy little tattoo artist. Lux wasn’t like most of the women he’d been with. Hell, she was too damn good for him, and he knew it, but fuck it all if he couldn’t stop himself from wanting her. She had secrets hidden within those luminous eyes; secrets he’d recognized. The women his brothers had fallen for all had similar expressions, which made him want to pick her up and promise her all kinds of shit he couldn’t give.
“Yo, T-Rex, you ready to play or what?”
He looked over at Necro, narrowing his eyes. The little fucker was getting on his damn nerves, yelling all the motherfucking time. He got to his feet, towering over every damn man in the bar as he stepped up to the table. “I was waiting until you racked this shit right, asshole.”
The bastard lifted one hand and backed away. Yeah, he thought he was a tough shit until he was proven wrong. With a name like Necro, one would think he was into dead shit, and hell, he probably was. T-Rex didn’t give a flying fuck what he was or wasn’t into because he was a two-year prospect who had just been found out to be a damn narc. His name shoulda been Narc instead of Necro. How he’d made it for two damn years without anyone finding out was anyone’s guess, but now that they knew for sure, Narco-Nec’s days were numbered within their club.
He lined his shot up, the fine hairs on the back of his neck standing up at the same moment that he took his turn. A loud crack followed by several more as he sunk four balls in one shot had his opponent groaning. There were many things he’d learned before he was old enough to drink legally, and one was how to play pool like a pro. Most saw his large size and assumed he couldn’t do anything with finesse. They learned really quick he could and would beat that stupid right out of them.
There was a moment, a second really that he thought about letting the other man have a shot, then he shook himself and rid that nonsense right out of his mind. His mama didn’t raise a dumbass. A few minutes later, he stood back and looked at the eight ball. The only ball of his left on the table sat at the far end near a couple of Necro’s. The rules said they had to do a two-bank shot to win, which meant that he’d have to slide past a few other balls down the length of the table, but it was doable. “Corner pocket,” he called pointing his cue toward the one in question.
Once more, he lined his shot and let it go, smooth and easy. From the corner of his eye, he watched his query slam the bottle of beer he’d been drinking onto the table. “That’s bullshit,” Necro snarled. The man’s red hair, that was normally kept perfectly styled, looked as if he been running his hands through it, the way it was standing in clumps in all directions. He appeared more like an anime character than the suave man that he usually was.
Traeger, the Sergeant at Arms, put his hand on Necro’s chest. “You really don’t want to start something you ain’t gonna be finishing, boy.”
Like the idiot he was, the prospect shoved Traeger’s hand away. He was just about to move toward the duo when his phone buzzed, then buzzed again in short succession. Pulling it out, he saw the S.O.S. from his friend Ember. When he’d left the shop earlier, he’d invited the other man out for a drink, but Ember had a date or something. He brought the phone up to his ear and started to head to the hallway where it was quieter. After he pointed to the cell and got a nod from Hollywood, one of his brothers, indicating they had shit covered, he waited to speak until he was sure he’d be heard. “Hey, man, what’s up?” he asked.
“Are you still near the shop, man?” Ember asked.
“Yeah, right down the block. Why?” That tingle on his neck had him looking back toward the bar. The hallway was mostly empty, except for a couple making out and a drunk staggering back in the direction where the action was.
“Lux and her female client are still there. Some jackass is apparently fucking with them. Not sure on the who and what, but I’m a good fifteen minutes away. The other guys are at least fifteen minutes out. I was wondering if you could go and make sure they’re safe until one of us get there?”
The familiar sound of a bike roaring through the line let him know Ember was riding hard. He could read people when he was talking to them or listening. His family said it was a gift from his grand-mère, but he just said it was his bullshit meter. Whatever it was, he never ignored it. Like now, he could tell Ember was truly worried about Lux and the woman with her. “No worries, ami. I’ll head there now and take a couple brothers with me.”
It was strange the way he slipped into his Cajun roots, calling Ember ami, or friend and the other man knew exactly what he was saying.
“Thanks, friend. I’ll owe you.”
“Nah, that’s what friends are for.” T-Rex pocketed his phone, before taking another slow look around him. That itch was still there like he was being watched. He never ignored his instincts. Those little internal things had kept him alive in the Bayou when he’d been a kid, and they’d damn sure keep him alive now when he was old enough to know better.