Under Locke(117)

Liam looked at me coolly, like he wasn't on the wrong side of town. "What do you think I'm doing here?" he asked, straightening up off the wall.



God, he was a big guy.



But that wasn't the point or the time to notice how broad he was. "Trying to get us both killed," I hissed at him, taking a step away.



"Nah," he mumbled, eyeing me with way too much interest.



I looked down both sides of the street to see if anyone I recognized was coming along. The only good thing about the Widows was that I'd hopefully be able to hear the loud roar of a bike before I saw it.



I hoped.



To God.



And maybe even a few other deities.



"Look, I'm sorry for going to bother you before but it won't happen again."



Liam ran a hand over the closely cropped hair on his head. "I'm thinking it's okay if you come bother me again, doll."



Oh, whatever. I had to fight back the urge to roll my eyes and cry bullshit. Something in the pit of my stomach said that this man didn't have the same kind of control—or it might have been fondness—that allowed me to talk crap to Dex and get away with it. For the most part at least.



"Umm, yeah, I don't think that's a great idea." My smile was more creepy-awkward than convincing.



Apparently, Liam either didn't pick up on it or didn't care because he kept going. "I'm also thinking that you and me can work something out with your daddy's debt."



Infinite amounts of the word shit flew through my brain in a long rant.



I'd been stupid for going to the strip club on my own, but standing here, talking to the president of the Reapers MC when I had a temperamental Widow less than thirty feet away, was even dumber. Way dumber.



Extraordinarily stupid.



My silence as I thought about how much of an idiot I was being, was taken as a token of a possibility when the rough man in front of me kept going with his proposition.



"You wanted a solution, I got you one, Miss Taylor," he purred easily, taking a step so close to me that he managed to reach out and almost touch my face.



He didn't because I dodged his hand, but when he laughed, I figured it wasn't really a deterrent.



"How bad do you wanna make sure we don't have to go after your bro when your daddy doesn't pay up this week?" Liam asked.



This week? "What do you mean this week?" I asked him carefully.



Liam licked his lips in a move that most women would probably find sexy, but I found overkill. "Your daddy's got till the end of the week to pay up." He grinned. "I'm offering you a chance to help him out. Help your brother out, too."



If I'd screamed “Shit!” out of my mouth at the same volume I screamed it in my head, it would have been heard across two city blocks. Instinctively, I wanted to panic but I didn't. I took a deep breath and made myself calm down. This guy could be bluffing. That wasn't out of the question. He could also be taking advantage of the bout of stupidity that had ganged up on me when I’d gone to visit him last time.



The point was, I realized how dumb I'd been in going to Busty's, the strip club, now. Sonny would probably kick my ass if he found out that I was bargaining with the bald devil in front of me.



The sudden image of Dex's face was my second warning. He'd kill me.



And if he happened to walk out and see me talking to Liam, he'd probably kill us both. Or, at least beat the crap out of the other man, which was something he had no business doing because of his record and his career.



Did I really want to risk him getting in trouble just because I'd been an idiot?



No. I didn't.



I also didn't want to offend Liam more than necessary but I had a feeling that he was the type of person who didn't deal with rejection well. Which meant I was totally screwed. But better to save myself from the devil I knew than the one I didn't.



"How much does he owe you?"



"The same thing he did last time," Liam snickered. "But I'll take you for six months in exchange for some more time."



What. The. Ef.



Any sense I had in handling the biker gently went right out the friggin' window. Six months with me in exchange for an extension? My virginity. My pride. My honor. My friggin' common sense.



No.



Absolutely no.



If I didn’t let my ex pop my cherry after we'd dated for four months, then I sure as hell wasn't going to let this manipulative jackass do it.



"No." I told him calmly. There was no, "No, thank you." No, "I appreciate the offer, but no." None of that. Nothing to ease my way out of the situation.



Sonny would never forgive me for doing something so stupid for him, and especially not for the sperm donor. Most importantly, I wouldn't be able to forgive myself. I wasn't a prostitute and I wasn't a pawn in whatever game this psychopath wanted to play.