“Got a problem, honey.”
****
His phone rang. Trig rolled out from under the car and dug into his pocket. Reading Allie’s name on the screen, he sat up, answered it quickly, and brought it to his ear.
“Got a problem, honey.” Her voice shaky.
Gut turning, a sour taste in his mouth, he snapped, “Where are you?”
“I-I just got out of work.”
Fuck. What time was it? He met her at the daycare every Friday. Call it being overprotective, but since he’d caught her dickhead ex there, he tried his hardest to meet her outside. The ex had been taken care of, and there hadn’t been any blowback but still.
He glanced at the clock hung on the back wall of the garage. Fifteen past four.
“Talk to me.”
“My t-tires are flat.”
A cold chill blasted through him. He shot off his butt so quickly the creeper, a wooden board with wheels he’d been laying on under the car, rolled several feet away. “All of them?”
“Yeah, Jace, all of them,” she whispered.
Fuck. Not good. First, the rock cracking her window and now this; it wasn’t a coincidence. After that night, he’d been on hyper alert. Calling the cops every day for two weeks, but they convinced him it was a prank, and after nearly a month with nothing, he believed it.
Trig opened the door leading into the compound and dashed down the hall. “Go inside the daycare. Now. Stay with Tiffany. I’ll be there in a few.”
“Um…”
He stopped in the living room, rushing to pick his keys and wallet off the couch where he dropped them. “Allie. Don’t fuckin’ fight me. Do what I say. Get in the daycare. Now.”
“Okay, honey,” she whispered in the same small voice.
The line went dead.
Guilt clogged his throat. He’d been harsh, too harsh. She wasn’t stupid. She knew who this was and what it meant. If her voice was anything to go by, she was fucking terrified, and he’d been a dick.
Army sat on the couch, several feet away, his phone in hand. “What happened?”
“Tires flat.”
Army shot off the couch, his eyes hardening. “Why didn’t she call me?”
A good question. He needed to think fast. “It’s Friday. I watch her Fridays.” He turned to Blaze. “Need you to finish the oil change and see about getting tires for Allie’s Camaro, four of them.” To Army, he said, “You comin’?”
Army nodded.
As they headed into the garage, he shouted orders to Trick, telling him to bring the flat truck to haul Allie’s car. He then jumped into his SUV, Army hopping into the passenger side. Trig drove to the daycare in record time, illegally parked in front. Leaving the keys in the car, he rushed inside and spotted her immediately in the corner talking to Tiffany. Her beautiful, color-changing eyes big and gleaming, fighting tears. It fucking did him in. The guilt strengthened and compounded with anger. His chest would rip in two.
He headed toward her. Her gaze met his. She released a loaded breath. For a split second, he thought she’d put him out of his misery, run to him, and wrap her arms around him. Instead, her gaze darted behind him. She walked up to Army, who now stood at his side.
“Hi, Ty.”
“You okay?”
She nodded.
“Should’ve called me,” Army said.
He’d known Army a long time, and knew when Army asked the same question twice, he wasn’t convinced. It meant Army knew something was up, and that meant Army would keep Allie close, not just because her tires were flat, probably slashed. The little Trig had of Allie he’d lose, unless they told Army they were together. Fucking sucked. He didn’t think she was ready to tell her brother. She hadn’t mentioned it and didn’t even seem bothered by the fact they barely spent time together.
“I knew Jace was on his way to my house though. He watches me Fridays,” she said smoothly.
Army spared a glance at him, then nodded. He wrapped his arm around Allie’s shoulders. “Let’s get to the compound where we can talk about this in private.”
He didn’t know if Army referred to them or the slashed tires, but he didn’t let his worry show. He followed behind.
They arrived at the compound minutes later and headed into the garage’s office to talk.
Army, wasting no time, cut to the chase. “Tell me what happened.”
She sighed heavily, pulling her dark hair behind her ear. “I guess I should start from the beginning… The first night you were gone, while Jace was with me, someone threw a rock at my bedroom window. It was loud enough it woke me, and then another rock was thrown hard enough, and it cracked the glass—”
Army’s gaze sliced to his. “Why didn’t you fuckin’ tell me?”
“Considering two days before we’d beat the shit outta him, I didn’t think he could’ve pulled it off. I went outside, checked it out. I found no one, so I called the cops. They filed a report. I called them every day for the next two weeks. They told me shit like this happens, kids playing stupid pranks. Nothing happened after that, so there was no need to tell anyone.”
Army’s gaze went to Allie. “Go on.”
Her eyes watered. She pressed her shaking hands against her stomach. “Two weeks ago, I found a note on my car—”
“Fuck.” He ground his teeth. His whole body tensed. He didn’t give a flying fuck she didn’t tell Army because Army always flew off the handle, but why hadn’t she told him? He would’ve handled Army. He would’ve done it with pleasure because she was his. Instead she said nothing and waited for something bigger to happen, something she had to know would eventually happen, something that could’ve been much worse.
“What the fuck?” Army roared, taking a step in Allie’s direction.
Without thought, he jumped between the two, facing Army. The heat of her hand at his lower back calmed him. In public, around people who didn’t know about them, she found ways to touch him. He loved it. Right then, he loved it more because he needed her touch. “We’re not gonna do this shit again. Take a breath. She’s fuckin’ shaking and scared. Do
not
fuckin’ make her lose it.” He had to say it, knew it was bound to piss Army off more, but he couldn’t handle watching Allie break down now. He’d want to hold her, and then and there, he couldn’t.
Army took a deep breath. Only then did he move away. “Why didn’t you tell me any of this, Allie?”
She blinked, and two thick tears streamed down her face. “I’m sorry…”
His heart clenching, his whole body ached, wanting so desperately to pull her against him and comfort her like she deserved.
She wiped the tears quickly. “Ty, it was meaningless. I mean the note was on a scrap piece of paper and said, ‘I’m watching.’ I didn’t…” She shook her head. “No, I knew. I guess I didn’t want to believe it.”
Army grasped her around the back of her neck and tugged her against him, rubbing his hand against her back. “Should’ve told me. Should’ve fuckin’ told me this shit when it happened.” After a brief moment of silence, he said, “Need to move you into the compound.”
Fuck. Army was right. It was the right thing to do. Nothing was more important than her safety, but it’d suck, big.
She drew away from Army. “No, I’m not going to let him rule my life, Ty. I can’t—”
“Sleep on it, Allie,” Army said, firmly. “You’ll see it’s the right thing to do.”
“I have a lease and—”
“I’ll get you out of the lease. I’ll move your shit, too, like I did the first time.”
“But—”
“Alyssa, don’t fuckin’ fight me. Not on this. I’m pissed as fuckin’ hell with you. You didn’t tell me any of this. Means now we’re on defense. Don’t like being on defense, especially not when it comes to you. You’re moving in if I got to carry you kicking and screaming.” Army shook his head. “Sleep on it, and tomorrow you’ll realize I’m right.”
Turning to him, Army instructed, “Take her home.”
He did.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Jaw clenched, Trig tightened his hands around the steering wheel until his knuckles ached. He hadn’t looked at her since she sat beside him, but the image of her tear-streaked face was burned in his mind. He didn’t want to see it again. Still, he fought the urge to look. He wanted to make it better, wanted to make her better.
He sighed heavily, and then, despite his resolve, he spared a glance in her direction. She sat still like a fucking stone with her oversized purse on her lap. Her face pale, paler than it’d been when she’d been crying.
“Fuck.”
Pulling off on the side of the road, he unfastened her seatbelt and hauled her against him until she was on his lap. Immediately, she wrapped her arms around his neck. He buried his face in her hair and feathered a kiss on her forehead.
He was pissed she hadn’t listened to him, livid she hadn’t told him, offended she hadn’t confided in him. And still, because he was a fucking wuss when it came to her, he held her against him, ignoring how pissed he was because he needed to make her better.
After long moment, she pulled away, those color-changing eyes met his and she whispered, “Thank you, Jace.”
What the fuck she thanked him for he had no fucking clue, but whatever. He waited until she moved to her seat and refastened her seat belt before he drove.
Minutes later, they walked into her house. He sat on her couch and motioned for her to sit on his lap.
She walked to him and sat on his thighs.
Snaking an arm around her waist, he tugged her until her hip pressed against his stomach. “I’m fuckin’ pissed, Allie, real fuckin’ pissed.” He kept his tone low and calm.
“I know,” she whispered.
“You know why?”
“Because I didn’t tell you about the note.”
“Why?”
“I told you. I didn’t want to believe it.”
He shook his head. “Why do you think that pisses me off?”
“Because you want to handle stuff for me?”
“I don’t want to handle shit for you, Allie. I need to handle shit for you ’cause you’re fuckin’ mine. Remember, we had this conversation?”
“If you don’t want to handle it for me, then don’t.”
His arm around her waist tightened, bringing her an inch from his face. “You tryin’ to fuckin’ rile me? You want me to fuckin’ flip?” His voice rose with each word.
“No.”
“Then don’t get fuckin’ smart.”
Her eyes narrowed. “I’m not getting smart. I’m giving you advice. If you don’t want to do something, then you shouldn’t do it.”
Fuck, she could frustrate a saint. “It’s not about what I want, Allie. It’s about what I
need
. I didn’t want to want you. I wanted to respect your brother and the club by not fuckin’ wanting you, but I didn’t get a choice. So it doesn’t make a difference what I want ’cause with you it isn’t about wanting. It’s about needing. I fuckin’
need
you.”
“Well, I’m sorry about that, Jace. I’m really sorry you got stuck needing me.” She pushed at his chest, hard.
He shifted her until she laid flat on her back with him pinning her. His chest against hers, resting most of his weight on his elbows. “Tell me how what I said offended to you, Allie. Fuckin’ explain to me what the fuck goes on in your head, ’cause I think what I said was a compliment, but you aren’t taking it that way, so please explain to me ’cause I’m tired of guessing.”
Her eyes glimmering, she shot back, “Tell me how what you said isn’t offensive, Trigger. In what world do you live in that saying you don’t want me is a compliment? Oh, wait, I shouldn’t be upset because I’m just some woman you’re fucking, some woman no one knows about, who knows nothing about you because you won’t tell me.”
He flinched. He felt like she slapped him, like they were back to that night at the bar. He hated she believed that after all this time. “Never said I didn’t want you, Allie. Never in my fuckin’ life have I said I didn’t want you, never even thought it ’cause I’ve wanted you since the moment I saw you—”
“You just said—”
“I fuckin’ said I didn’t want to want you ’cause you’re Army’s sister, means you’re off limits, Allie. I didn’t want to betray my fuckin’ brother and the club. I served with your brother. We were prospects together. The club’s family. I gotta a fuckin’ home for the first time in my life partly ’cause of that family. I gotta a job that fuckin’ pays well, so I can take care of Della and Tina ’cause of that family. Never fuckin’ said I didn’t want you. Said with you it’s more than what I want ’cause it’s out of my control. I can’t fuckin’ help how much I want you. I want you so much I
need
you.”
Her eyes widened. Her face changed, looking like something dawned on her.
“You’re not some woman I’m fuckin’. I’m not keeping you in secret for me. I’m doing it for you ’cause I’m not sure I’m what you really want. We been together for a little more than a month. Not three months ago, you were engaged to a dick who beat you, so I’m not sure if I’m just a rebound fuck, a way to rebel, or some other fucked shit like that. It were up to me, I’d sink myself inside you right now, then march over to the compound and announce I’m patching you.”
Then and there, staring into her glimmering eyes, he made the decision, one he could come to regret, but he made it nonetheless. He would tell her everything. He wanted her to know him, all of him, not just pieces. If she ever loved him, then he’d know it was for the good and the bad, not the pieces he’d let her see.
It could backfire and blow up in his face. She’d cringe, shove him away, and ask him to leave. Then he’d never again feel the warmth of her body against his. A risk, but a risk he was willing to take. He would take the risk knowing he would separate himself from the dick ex by simply being honest.
It was all he had because he didn’t deserve her. She deserved a man of her caliber. He knew and felt it in his bones. If his risk backfired, he’d console himself with the knowledge her leaving him was inevitable. Knowing that, wouldn’t change the pain of losing her, but still.
“My dad was a drug addict, did whatever he could get his hands on. My mom was a drunk. I grew up in a trailer. Tina and me. I looked out for her ’cause she’s my little sister and ’cause my dad could get abusive.
“When he left, I didn’t have to worry about that shit, but it meant my mom hit the bottle every day and night, spent all her money on that shit. There were a lot of empty bottles of vodka but no food, so first chance I got, I got a job ’cause Tina needed to eat. After high school, I couldn’t get into college with my grades, didn’t have the money for it anyway, so I joined the Army ’cause more than anything, I needed money. I needed to get Tina out of that trailer, away from our drunk mother. I enlisted for four years, sent Tina money, went home when I could, wrote, and called.