Total pages in book: 39
Estimated words: 36564 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 183(@200wpm)___ 146(@250wpm)___ 122(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 36564 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 183(@200wpm)___ 146(@250wpm)___ 122(@300wpm)
Yep. I was definitely in trouble.
Chapter Four
Dominic
I left the little pixie alone to eat, gently closing the door behind me as I shut her in Elena’s office. Elena came to me the second I poked my head out from the back into the main diner.
“You be good to that girl, Dom. She’s got a lot going on.”
I raised my hands, taking a step backward. “Whoa there, Elena. I’ll be nice to her, but if you’re thinking there’s more going on, there ain’t.”
“Well, there should be.” Elena stepped closer to me and wagged a finger in my face. “She could certainly do better than you, but you could never do better than her. That girl needs a strong man to protect her and show her she’s worthy. When Venus brought her to me, I was thinking more about someone from Black Reign -- those boys are all good to their families -- but Grim Road might be a better fit with her… situation.”
“And what’s her situation?”
“That’s not my story to tell. Just be gentle with her.” Elena’s expression softened, and she looked over my shoulder toward the back where Annie was, hopefully, finishing up her meal. Girl was so thin she could definitely use the calories. “She’s extremely intelligent but a little… simple. She’s lived her whole life in a completely different world, and she’s only just broken free. At least physically.” Elena gave me a sad smile. “She needs your protection.”
I frowned. “And who’s protecting her now?”
“That’d be me and Venus.”
I turned at the sound of the declaration to find Piston sitting in a booth in the corner, away from the window and in full view of the room and every entrance and exit.
Piston had been a member of Grim Road a long fucking time. I thought he might have been a member longer than anyone alive. At least, in our region. Like the Iron Tzars, Grim Road MC had more than one club in more than one area of the country. Since most of the members had been some form of Black Ops at one time or another, they tended to want their privacy. We kept our club relatively small compared to other clubs, but with the addition of our women and children, we were growing out of our hidden compound. Piston and his woman, Venus, were newly appointed in a role resembling ambassadors for the club. They acted as liaisons for Grim Road, Black Reign, and Salvation’s Bane MCs. The overall favorability of our clubs within the community and with each other had improved nicely.
“She in trouble?” I lingered by the entrance to the back, keeping myself between Annie and anyone in the diner. I’m not really sure why I felt the need, but there was no denying it. Fuck. This wasn’t good.
“Eh, maybe. She left… an encampment. Call it a commune.” He shrugged before continuing. “Venus thinks they’ll leave her alone. She’s eighteen and has been there since she was four. Her mother’s fully involved with the commune. It’s likely she’d come for Annie if their leader tells her, but not on her own.”
“What about her father? He in the picture at all?”
“Nope. Me and Venus are tryin’ to see if we can locate him, but Annie’s mother won’t talk to us.”
“Like that’ll stop your woman.” I couldn’t help but grin. Venus could be insistent. Until she got fed up being insistent. Then she did what she deemed the path of least resistance, no matter who she had to run through. Considering she’d been trained as an assassin, she could generally run through anyone if she needed to.
Piston chuckled. “Not at fuckin’ all.”
As he spoke, the swinging door to the back opened and Annie emerged, tying an apron around her tiny waist. She gave me a small smile before moving to a customer who’d just sat down.
I loved the way she moved around. There was a quiet grace that seemed to wrap her in a cloak. She’d struck me as clumsy at the bikini contest, but that must have been due to an unfamiliar environment because Annie was efficient and deft in her movements. Kind of like a dancer.
“Yep. I can see you’re the right one.” There was amusement in Piston’s voice that was gonna get him a beat down.
“What’s that mean?” I barked out the question sharper than I intended, but instead of being intimidated or, God forbid, even more amused, Piston met my gaze steadily with only a raised eyebrow.
“It means, if you tell me you’re not interested in that girl, I’ll go fuck myself.”
“Fuck you, Piston,” I hissed. “Even I’m not that much of a dick. She ain’t ready for a man like me. Probably never will be and I ain’t the settlin’ down type. Lost that desire a long fuckin’ time ago,” I muttered.