Then, I heard footsteps coming down the concrete steps behind me. I turned around, hoping to see Cole, but it wasn’t him. It was an older member of Hell’s Overlords in a worn leather vest, an old ragged t-shirt, and tired jeans that seemed to wear every single year he’d been riding. He wore sunglasses and had his salt and pepper—mostly salt—hair pulled back in a long ponytail reaching down his back. His vest had more patches on it than anyone else I’d seen so far. He’d been with them a while.
“What’s going on down here?” he taunted as he reached the bottom of the stairs and started walking towards me.
“Nothing, just needed to get away for a minute.” I backed away nervously. “I had to make a phone call,” I told him.
“Oh, a phone call. I see. You wouldn’t happen to be calling your boss to let him know you were in with Cole, would you?” He moved like a snake as he approached me, backing me into a corner. He wasn’t built the way the rest of the guys were. He was thin and ratty, covered in old, faded tattoos. His breath smelled of cigars and whiskey with a hint of pot hanging over him.
I wasn’t sure what the protocol was now. Normally in this type of situation, I wouldn’t have had any trouble handling him, but as a guest, I wasn’t sure Cole wanted to come downstairs and find one of his members face down in his own blood, especially someone who’d probably been with the MC longer than he had been.
“What’s your game, old timer?” I asked him with a tough edge in my voice, trying to let him know I wasn’t one to fuck with.
“No game, princess. I just don’t like spies and thieves hanging around my MC. That’s all. I know what you’re up to. You may have Cole fooled, but you won’t get by Gage, baby doll.” He ran a hand through my hair, and it was all I could take.
“You don’t touch me, old man,” I snapped, smacking his arm away from me. “I may be here as your boss’s guest, but that doesn’t change what I will do to you if you touch me again.”
“Hey, hey, hey! What’s going on down here?” Cole called out from behind Gage.
“Just checking out your new toy, son,” Gage said venomously as he walked past Cole and up the stairs. “I’d keep an eye on her if I were you.”
“Are you okay?” Cole asked, rushing to my side as Gage ascended the stairs out of the basement.
“Yeah, I’m fine, but you might want to keep an eye on your boy,” I told him.
“What do you mean?” He took me by the arm and guided me away from the wall.
I looked at him and took a deep breath, shaking my head. Then I realized my whole body was quaking from anger and adrenaline.
“Sasha, what’s going on?” Cole asked, the concern in his voice growing.
“He cornered me, Cole,” I told him. “He pushed me downstairs and cornered me. He ran his fingers through my hair and kept talking about how I was your new plaything. He told me he wanted a taste, too, and that you were going to pass me around the MC once you had your fill of me. What the hell?” I gave in to my shakes and stress, letting a few tears roll down my cheeks for emphasis.
I knew that wasn’t what had happened, but I wanted to test Cole and see what he would do if I had been threatened by one of his guys, no matter who it was.
“Are you serious right now?” Cole asked, all emotion gone from his voice.
I looked at him with sad, teary eyes and nodded. Inside, I was cracking up, but I maintained a straight face through it all.
“Come upstairs,” he said in a commanding tone, and for a moment, I thought I was in trouble. The whole way up the stairs, being led by my hand, I just knew he’d seen through my show and was going to let me have it in front of everyone before sending me off.
That wasn’t what happened at all. When we reached the top of the stairs, he waved Andre over. I remembered him from the times he watched me.
“Sasha, good to see you out of the chair,” he joked as he approached.
“Listen, keep an eye on her for a minute. I’ve got some business to handle,” Cole said as he walked away, leaving me in Andre’s care.
I cut my eyes to Andre and saw the nervous look on his face while he watched Cole. I could see that having me out of bondage made him anxious, and I smiled. He was a lot smarter than that jackass who’d just practically attacked me downstairs. I watched Cole walking towards him.
The bay doors were open to let the light and fresh air in. Guys were coming and going on their bikes. It wasn’t a constant traffic, but it seemed pretty steady. A few would leave, and a few more would show up after a small interval. I could see how Cole and Hell’s Overlords were so powerful. They were huge. They were big enough that this couldn’t have been the only chapter.