I had my arm around Carolyn’s waist as I hurried her down the steps. I didn’t think Rock would be stupid enough to try something again tonight, but I didn’t see any reason to flaunt the fact.

I’d nearly shit when she told me what happened. She hadn’t even had to ask to come back to my house. As soon as I heard part of the story, I put Bláithín in the driver’s seat in my Volvo, Bailey in the back, and we hauled ass to Carolyn’s apartment. Bláithín had barely stopped before I stepped out of the car, and she sped away.

I’d given her specific instructions on what to do when she reached our neighborhood. She was to circle the block, and if she saw anything that looked out of place, she was to call me and keep driving until Carolyn and I got home. If nothing looked out of place, she was to put the Volvo in the garage, but stay in the car until the big roll-up door was fully down. Carolyn packed a few things and told me the rest of the story while I waited, pacing with nervous energy, until my phone rang and Bláithín let me know they were home and safe.

I hustled her into her Mustang, tossed her bag into the trunk, and threw myself behind the wheel. “You okay?”

“I am now,” she said. She looked at me and put her hand on my leg. “I should have listened to you.”

“Why wasn’t he in jail?”

“The police said he made bail.”

“That’s fucked up,” I said as I started her car and put it into gear.

“I knew he wouldn’t be in long.”

I shook my head, my lips pursed in annoyance. “Well, he fucked up this time.”

She shook her head and looked out her window. “I wouldn’t be so sure.”

“What do you mean?”

“He has an alibi. It was all arranged. I’m sure it will be just like the last time. I tell the cops he attacked me, they’ll go talk to him, he’ll have a dozen or more people claim he was with them. He’ll laugh it off as me trying to stir up trouble, and the cops won’t be able to do shit.”

“You saw him! That Eric guy saw him too, plus you’ve already filed a complaint against him for battery. He’s going to need more than an alibi.”

“Yeah,” she said softly, but I could tell she didn’t believe it. “I get the impression that Eric didn’t see much.”

I put my hand on hers. “It’s going to be okay.” She nodded but didn’t say anything.

During the drive home, a Harley fell in behind us. It didn’t threaten us, but I kept my eye on it, steeling myself to run the bike down if necessary. After only a few miles, it peeled off. The rest of the drive was uneventful. Like Bláithín, I circled the block, but I saw no motorcycle of any type and pulled into my drive.

I retrieved her suitcase from the trunk before I walked her to the front door. I let out a sigh of relief as I shot home the deadbolt. Bláithín appeared seconds later.

“Bailey’s in bed, but he wants to see you.”

“Okay,” I replied. “No problems?”

“No.”

I nodded and jerked my head in the direction of my bedroom, and Carolyn followed. I tossed her bag on the bed. “If you want to unpack, I’ll go check on Bailey.”

She nodded but said nothing. It was almost eleven, well past Bailey’s school night bedtime of nine. I felt bad for him being up so late, but it couldn’t be helped. I slowly opened the door to his room.

“You wanted to see me?”

“Is Ms. Carolyn okay?”

“She’s fine. Don’t worry,” I said as I sat down on the edge of his bed.

“Why would someone want to hurt her? She’s nice.”

“I don’t know, Bailey. Sometimes people do bad things. There are a lot of bad people in this world.”

“Is she going to stay with us?”

“For a few days. Why? Does that bother you?”

He was quiet a moment. “No.”

“Do I hear a but?”

“Not really. It’s just…”

“What?” I asked softly, putting my hand on his arm when he stalled.

“It’s just weird having her here.”

“Why? Bláithín is here.”

“Yeah, but Bláithín isn’t sleeping with you.”

“Does that bother you?”

There was another pause, longer this time. “I don’t guess.”

“Maybe a little?”

“No, not really. I know mommies and daddies sleep together, but she’s not my mom, or even my stepmom.”

“No, she’s not, but I do like her. Sometimes men and women who like each other sleep in the same bed.”

I saw him nod in the gloom. “I know. It’s how you make babies.”

I chuckled. “Yeah, that’s true, but no babies anytime soon. Is that what you wanted to see me about?”

“Are we safe? Nobody’s going to try to hurt you or Bláithín, are they?”

“No. We’re safe here.”

“What if you go out of town?”

“I’m not going anywhere until this is over. Don’t worry.”

He yawned. “It was scary when the man tried to open the door. Bláithín said it was the same man that wanted to hurt Ms. Carolyn.”

I squeezed his arm. “It was, but now the police are going to put him in jail. I’m going to be right here, all the time. Nobody’s going to hurt you, Bláithín or Carolyn.”

He sighed. “I’m glad Ms. Carolyn is here. I like her and don’t want a bad guy to hurt her.”

“Me too, buddy.”

“G’night, Dad.”

I bent over and gave him a hug and a kiss on the forehead. “G’night.”

I quietly closed his door. Carolyn wasn’t in the bedroom, but I found her and Bláithín in the kitchen. They were sipping tea, and Carolyn’s hands were shaking slightly. She smiled at me when I stepped into the room, but there was no joy in it.

“Bláithín said it would help calm my nerves. I could use some of that.”

“I bet.”

“Is Bailey okay?”

I nodded. “He’s very concerned for your safety. He said he was glad you’re here.”

She whimpered. “He’s a good kid.”

“The best,” I confirmed. She needed something to perk her up. I waited until the right moment. “He also wondered if he was going to have a little brother or sister.”

Bláithín spluttered and laughed as Carolyn bubbled into her cup of tea, coughed, and banged her cup down onto the table. “He did not!”

“He did, sort of. Somewhere he’s learned about the birds and the bees.” I looked at Bláithín.

She held up her hands in protest as she shook her head. “I’m just the au pair. I didn’t say anything, but he’s a smart kid.”

“Too smart,” Carolyn muttered.

I snickered. Bailey didn’t know it, but he’d just lightened the mood of the entire room. “You ready for bed? You have to get up in the morning unless you want to play hooky. You have a pretty good excuse.”

Carolyn shook her head. “No, I can’t.”

“I’ll take care of this, if you want to go,” Bláithín said, nodding at Carolyn’s cup.

Carolyn smiled at the younger woman and rose. “Thank you.” She followed me into my bedroom. “Did Bailey really ask about a little brother or sister?”

“Not ask, exactly. I think he’s a little fuzzy on the details, but he understands that when boys and girls sleep in the same bed, babies sometimes result.”

“Not this time.”

“That’s what I told him.” I started to undress but stopped. “Something just occurred to me. Are you okay with this?”

“What?” she asked, watching me.

“Sharing my bed. I don’t want to make you uncomfortable after what happened. I can kick Bailey out of his bed and let him sleep on the floor in the living room. He’s done it before and thinks it’s a grand adventure.”

She swallowed hard. “No. I want you to hold me.”

I started undressing again. “Good, because I want the same thing.”

I always slept commando, but I left my boxers on while I brushed my teeth and got myself ready for bed. Carolyn had shrugged into a ratty looking grey sleep shirt that said Damn right I’m good in bed. I can sleep for days emblazoned on the front.

I was crawling into bed when she stepped into the bedroom, flipping off the bathroom light as she did. I was unsure what to do, how Carolyn would react if I took my underwear off, so I kept my boxers on. She pulled her shirt over her head.

“You’re not sleeping in those, are you?”

“No,” I replied, turning away so she wouldn’t see me smile as I slipped my boxers off. I groaned softly as I fell back onto the bed and relaxed. She crawled into my arms and sighed quietly as she settled in. After a moment, she rose and stretched for a kiss. I obliged her before she returned to the snuggle. “Are you okay?” I whispered.

“I am now.” She was quiet for a moment. “I was so scared. More scared than I’ve ever been in my life. He was going to rape me. If Eric hadn’t shown up…” She sniffed and gasped.

I stroked her hair. “But he did, and the cops are going to put Rock in jail.”

“But he’ll get out.”

“We’ll deal with that when it happens.”

Her breathing began to get heavy. “What if he tries again? What if nobody hears me screaming for help? What—”

“Hey!” I said firmly but softly. “You can’t worry about stuff like that. If you have to, you can move into a new place, someplace he doesn’t know about.”

“But he knows where I work! He could—”

“Then you can find another job. I’ll help you, okay? I’m not going to let anything happen to you. I promise.”

“You don’t know what you’re up against. They—”

“Listen to me,” I said firmly. “If Rock and his band of thugs want to go up against me, let them try. I’ll fucking bury them. I’ll make their life a living hell. I’ll buy the entire block their club house is on, bulldoze it to the ground, and put a playground on it. I’ll be a hero, and they’ll be on the street. I’ll have every cop in the city on their ass. They won’t be able to ride a hundred yards without a cop pulling them over for some violation. Do you understand what I’m saying? I have resources I can draw upon they can’t even imagine.”

She nodded slowly. “I understand, but they won’t stop, Thom, and they won’t play by the rules.”

“You seem to know a lot about them.” She was quiet for a long time. “Carolyn?”

“I was one of them,” she said so softly I almost couldn’t hear her.

A chill of impending doom washed over me. “What do you mean?”

“I was more than Rock’s girlfriend. I was his old lady.”

My feeling of dread grew. “His wife? You were married?”

“No, not wife. I was a club girl for the Ravens for a long time. Do you know what that is?”

“No.” I felt a tear drip onto my chest, and she sniffed.

“In exchange for being allowed to hang out at their clubhouse, to attend their parties, for having their protection and prestige I thought that gave me, I let them fuck me. All of them. I was little more than a whore.” She sniffed again. “Then Rock made me his old lady. I was kind of like his wife, but we weren’t married. That lasted for a couple of years, but then he set me up.”

“Set you up?”

She nodded. “Another of the club girls attacked and beat the shit out of me. I found out Rock arranged it. Part of being in a motorcycle club is you’re supposed to have each other’s back, but Rock played another girl against me. He got his fucking jollies by seeing me and that bitch fighting over him. Maybe if I knew it was coming, but he set it up so that she came busting in while we were fucking. I held my own long enough for the rest of the club to break us up, but he ordered everyone to back off and let us go at it. I was hurt from the first attack and… Anyway, that’s when I walked away.”

I was quiet as I absorbed her story. Nothing she said contradicted anything she’d said before, but I finally had the whole story.

“So, you see, I’m nothing but a fucking whore. I wanted to walk away, to have a fresh start, but Rock said I was his and now it’s all—”

“You don’t belong to anybody,” I said firmly, cutting her off.

“But I’m—”

“No buts! Remember when I told you your life choices make you who you are?”

“Yeah. A whore.”

“No. Those experiences are what made you who you are. I’m sorry you had to go through that, but I’m glad to know the person that resulted.”

She was quiet for a long moment. “Do you hate me?”

“What? No, I don’t hate you. What kind of question is that?”

“I lied to you.”

“When?”

“When I didn’t tell you I was Rock’s old lady, when I didn’t tell you I was a Ravens club girl.”

“Those weren’t lies. Not really, and you’re not those things now.”

She rolled away from me and sat up. “Why are you being so fucking reasonable? What do you want from me?”

I took her hand and tugged at her, but she refused to return to the snuggle. “I don’t want anything other than what you’re willing to give.”

“What’s wrong with you? Don’t you ever get upset?”

“Should I be upset with you? What have you done that should upset me?”

“Rock,” she snapped.

“Are you making him do what he’s doing?”

She sighed. “No. But I’m the reason he’s—”

“Why do you want me to blame you for what happened?”

She sat for a moment. “I don’t understand you. How can you be so calm about this?”

“Because I have more than two brain cells to rub together and I don’t let my emotions control me. I don’t have to find someone to blame if something doesn’t go my way, and if it is someone’s fault, I blame the person at fault, not someone that’s convenient.” I paused to let her chew on that for a moment. “If you want some guy that goes around yelling and screaming all the time, a guy that leaps before he looks, a guy that doesn’t care what happens to anyone else as long as he gets what he wants, I’m not that guy,” I continued.

I couldn’t see her face in the gloom of the room, but I could tell she was watching me. “No,” she said softly. “I’ve had enough of that.”

I tugged on her hand again, and she allowed me to pull her into my arms. “Nothing you’ve told me changes my opinion of you. No, I take that back, it does. You’re a much stronger woman than I realized.”

She was quiet for a long moment. “You’re a good man, Thomas Gregg. I’m not sure I deserve you, but you make me want to try to be the woman you think I am.”

I smiled into the darkness and kissed her head. “I think you already are.”