“You okay?”
“Yes, now that you’re here.”
“Cash and Razer are going to drive you to Treepoint. I’ll see you there.” Shade stepped back, shutting the door.
“Wait. Where are you going?”
Shade wasn’t getting on his bike parked next to the SUV. He had turned back to the hotel room.
“I have some business I need to take care of with Jackal.”
Penni easily recognized the cold, ominous gaze turned on her.
“Jackal didn’t do anything. He tried to save me. It was the Road Kingz who held me prisoner.”
“Penni, I know exactly what happened.” Shade didn’t try to explain how he knew, and Penni was sure she didn’t want to know. Her brother had an uncanny ability to find out information.
“Are they alive?” Penni was startled that she cared. She had begun to like Jackal, despite him being a butthole.
“I’ll handle it. Go. Lily’s worried.”
Penni reluctantly nodded. Shade was done talking.
She leaned back against the leather seats, knowing Shade would do the right thing. He always did.
Penni watched as Cash backed up and slowly drove to the exit, seeing the men standing by their motorcycles. Most of the men she recognized. Viper gave a small wave, and the grim faces of The Last Riders lightened when they saw the movement.
As the SUV passed each of The Last Riders, they hit the roof, letting her know they were glad she was safe.
“They missed you,” Cash spoke over his shoulder.
“I’ve missed them, too.”
The last one they passed was the one she had waited for anxiously. His black-blue hair gleamed under the street lamp. When he hit the top of the SUV, Penni held her breath, hoping he would gesture for Cash to stop. He didn’t. Train’s attention was locked on the hotel where Jackal was.
Why should it be any different this time? He was glad Shade’s sister was safe, and that was it. In the years she had known him, Train had never given Penni any indication that he felt anything for her.
She was twenty-four years old; how long was she going to wait before she realized it wasn’t going to happen? She was an idiot.
“How’s Rachel?” Cash’s wife was expecting their first baby.
“Getting used to being a mom.”
“She had the baby?” Penny was excited for them.
“A week ago.”
“Congratulations. What did you name him or her?”
“She wants to name the baby Mag. I told her over my dead body.”
“I don’t want him hurt.”
“Rachel?” Cash’s voice sounded angry. “I wouldn’t hurt Rachel because of what she wanted to name our baby—”
“Not Rachel. Jackal. I don’t want him hurt.”
Razer twisted in his seat to look back at her. “You heard Shade say he would handle it. Jackal should have called the minute you went missing. Jackal and the Predators deserve some questions, and Shade is going to want the answers to be good.”
“I’m not their responsibility. The only reason they tried to help me was because of Grace,” Penni argued.
Razer shook his head. “King told them to watch out for you. You were under their protection.”
“I don’t need anyone to watch out for me.”
“Obviously, you do.” Razer turned to face the front again.
Penni gritted her teeth. Arrogant males were the bane of her existence. Then again, why should she care? Jackal had been a pain in her ass for years. Hell, he had left her stranded at a rest area when he had kidnapped her; not to mention, he had kidnapped her in the first place.
Penni rubbed her hands down the front of her jeans. This time was different, though. She had seen behind the domineering attitude he showed everyone.
He was the exact opposite of Train. Train treated women respectfully. The only time she had seen him lose his temper was when she had been fifteen, and Shade and Train had taken her to a movie while they were on leave.
Penni winced as she remembered staring up at him adoringly, proud of how both the men had walked by her side. A young woman not much older than her had been crying, her hand to her cheek. Three women had been arguing as a man had sheepishly stood next to the woman who had struck the girl.
When his girlfriend had attempted to strike her again, Train had reached out, snatching her hand back. He had been so fast Penni hadn’t seen him move.
“Hey!” the woman had screeched, furious at being unable to hit her target.
“Keep your fucking hands to yourself.” His quiet voice had drawn the small crowd’s gaze from the fight they had been enjoying.
Shade, with his imposing tattoos, had stuck out like a sore thumb in the affluent suburbs where her parents had lived.