I can’t say his cockiness was unlike other bikers, but it was deeper. He wasn't’ covering up for some inadequacy or trying to be a show-off. He took possession of the room when he entered it, my room included. I had no chance once he’d stepped into my bedroom.
And that kiss. I needed to forget that kiss. It was dangerous to think about something that felt so intimate, so real. I need to focus on my plan. I needed to figure out a way to get a second job, one that Jayson didn’t control. Between my earnings at the club and my own job, I could pay him off even faster. So I probably wouldn’t sleep for the next few months, I could sleep after. In my own bed. In my own apartment, where men didn’t pound down my door after having too much beer and didn’t have enough cash in their pocket to stumble over to the whorehouse next door.
Jayson didn’t often grant the members permission to bother me. He preferred that I serviced him alone, but if they had enough cash, or were willing to serve up a favor in exchange, he’d allow it. Or if I’d pissed him off. The days I got smart with him, or looked at him the wrong way, I was sure to have some nasty drunk biker at my bedroom door.
Mason wanted to know why I didn’t just leave. Like that was really an option. Kerri had tried that, tried walking away. She got all the way to her old apartment. The newspaper boy found her body in the street the following morning. Two shots to her head, but that’s probably not what killed her. The severe beating she took first most likely did her in, the bullets were just insurance. Disciple men weren’t used to being walked out on, not by anyone least of all their women.
“Hi, can I help you?” An older woman with graying hair, smiled at me from behind the counter. My second goal of the day was to get information about enrolling in the nurses program at the junior college in town. After I had freed myself from the MC, I needed a career, not just a job to pay bills, but something that I could be proud of.
“Yeah, I’m interested in the nurses program.” I looked at my phone, an hour before I needed to be back at the club or Jayson would start asking questions.
I was given half a dozen pamphlets and sent down to the financial office to fill out applications for grants and stuff. Once all of that crap was done, I headed back to the clubhouse. I needed a car, my feet were killing me from all the walking. I didn’t want to waste money on the busses, every penny I had went to helping get me out of the MC sooner.
I heard the roar of the motorcycles headed toward me, as I turned down the last street to the clubhouse. Three of them in Inked Reapers cuts. I recognized Mason right away, he lead the small pack headed in my direction. I tried to ignore him, pretend I didn't see him. The tilt of his head, and the shit-eating grin on his face told me he’d seen me. I tried to roll my eyes, but he’d already passed me and I forced myself to keep walking and not look back. Lucas met me at the gate.
“You know that’s trouble, right?” He asked when I walked up to him.
“What are you talking about?” I grumbled, zipping my bag to keep anyone from seeing the pamphlets inside.
“Mayson Day lives and breathes Inked Reapers, if Jayson gets even a whiff that you two are anything more than nothing, he’ll have something to say about it.” Lucas nodded for Pepper, the newest recruit, to lock down the gate as we walked toward the clubhouse.
“He is nothing.” I tried to assure him, but he must have seen the blush on my cheeks. “Nothing, Lucas.” I walked faster, I needed to get away from him. I trusted Lucas, he’d protected my ass more times than I could count, but he was a Disciple. And in the end, that’s what mattered.
CHAPTER FIVE
MASON
Marcus spent most of the afternoon yammering about some new boat he wanted to buy. Deep sea fishing or some shit. I stopped listening after a while. A dark haired pixie kept walking into my thoughts and distracting me.
“Mason.” Marcus slapped me on the back. When had he moved around the table? “Your first run with the Disciples is tomorrow. I want you to go over there today and finalize all the details. I don't’ want anything going wrong.”
“You got it.” I nodded. Maybe I could relieve a little stress while I was there, too. “Hey, I’ve been meaning to ask. What do we know about the Disciples sex trade? I know they have that whorehouse out back, but those rumors of them trafficking women- any truth to it?”
Prez eyed me quietly then looked around the room. The other guys watched us. I suddenly felt like I was living my high school nightmare of walking into the lunchroom in my boxers. “Nah. Not that I know of. Just rumors far as I know.” Marcus waved it off. “Besides what they do with their women, that’s their problem.” He rounded the table again and retook his seat addressing the whole room. “We don't’ need to be sticking our noses where it doesn’t belong. Keep this deal neat and tidy.”