Mina
Her room was all the way at the end of the hall near the other set of stairs. When Park had bought the old place and converted it into a clubhouse, he had decided that it would be best to have several exits in case of emergencies. While most people probably would have thought about fires, Park was more likely to have been thinking about rival clubs. So far, Satan’s Legion hadn’t needed to use both sets of stairs for such an occasion, and they had only used the old fire escapes when they wanted to step outside and smoke on a cool spring evening.
Just as she opened the door to her room and stepped inside, she felt the tiny hairs on the back of her neck prickle. She turned to see Animal filling the doorway. He wore a black T-shirt which had faded to a dark gray that matched the oil stains on his jeans. As he looked down at her, his dark eyes glittered. Without asking, he stepped inside the door and closed it behind him.
“I’m really not in the mood for any games today,” Mina warned. Her heart thumped as she turned away from him and pretended to busy herself with folding a basket of dark purple towels and setting them in her slim linen closet. As one of the few women that lived in the clubhouse and, of course, as the president’s daughter, she had her own private bathroom attached to her room.
“No? But you seem to be the one who’s playing games.” Animal let go of the door handle and took another step toward her. “I have a little proposal for you.”
Mina shook her head. “Not in the mood for that, either. I’ve got things to do, and I’m sure you probably do as well. Or at least, you can probably find something better to do than to bug me.” Animal had often flirted with her once he was inducted into the club, but she had always been able to ignore it. Lately, though, his advances had become more and more pressing and simultaneously frightening. Mina didn’t make a habit of being afraid of any of the club members, but Animal was slowly proving that he was different than the others, and not in a good way.
Animal was standing by the edge of her bed now, just a few feet away from her and blocking the exit. She could climb out the window if she felt the need, but she was certain he could grab her before she got a chance to get the sash open. “I think you ought to at least hear me out. You might like what I have to say.”
With a roll of her eyes and a fist on her hip, Mina turned around. “Make it quick. I’m supposed to go downstairs and see my father in a few minutes.” Of course, that was a complete lie. She hadn’t seen Park at all that day, and if she was lucky she wouldn’t. She certainly wasn’t going to see him in the clothes she was wearing.
“Good,” Animal replied with a nod. “Then you can give him the good news.”
“What good news?”
“About our baby.” He reached for her and laid a massive hand on her stomach, touching her just a little too far below the belt for comfort.
She backed away instantly, repulsed by such an advance and such an idea. “This isn’t your baby! I do have some taste, you know!”
His blond eyebrows drew down at this, but it wasn’t enough to make him go away. “Mina, listen. You claim the baby is mine, and I’ll back it up.”
She balled up a towel and threw it on the closet shelf. “Why would I do a thing like that?”
“Because it will get you out of hot water with your dad,” Animal growled, pulling her close once again and making her spill a handful of washcloths on the floor. “I know he’s still desperate to find out who the father is. It’s not me, but I’m just as likely a candidate as anyone else.” He put his face close to hers so that his dark eyes were only a few inches away. They flickered with malice and something else.
Mina wrenched her arm away from him, and it was only because he finally decided to let go that it worked. “He would kill you, Animal. There’s no way that would work.” It would serve her purposes fine if Animal ended up dead, so that part wasn’t so bad for her.
“Haven’t you seen me?” He stood up tall, letting his shoulders expand to their full width and puffing out his massive chest. “I’m way bigger than Park ever thought about being, and I could take him any day. In fact, I considered taking him down even before talk of this baby. I could take over the club and do whatever I want with it.”
She sighed and put a hand over her forehead. She had so little patience for this sort of thing anymore. It was no wonder Skid tried to stay away from her when she came on too strong. “Let’s just pretend for a moment that I agree to this. I won’t, but we’ll pretend. What do you get out of it? At the very least, my father is going to be furious with you for breaking your promise to him not to touch me. There’s also the distinct possibility that he might cream you, no matter how strong you are. It’s not exactly a good position to put yourself in. What do you get out of it?”
“Mina, you’re only thinking about the bad stuff, and most of that I’m not worried about. I can handle myself. You’ve got to think about the good parts.”
She was growing more and more impatient, tired of listening to him. If she’d just left the stairwell a moment sooner, she might have been safely ensconced in her room before Animal had ever gotten there. Too late now. “Which are?”
His grin stretched a little wider. “First, like I said, it will get your dad off your case. Park isn’t going to rest until he discovers who the father of that child is. Second, it will get me in good with your dad. I’m no idiot, and I know the best way to climb up the ranks of this club is to be buddy-buddy with the president. Then there’s the third part.”
She rolled her hand in the air, trying to get him to finish up already. Animal was enjoying stringing her along like this, even though Mina already knew she would never take the bait. She would rather hold out for Skid for another ten years instead of settling for someone like Animal.
He grabbed her by the hips and pulled her forward, holding her against his body. When Skid did the same thing, it lit her on fire. She could feel every square inch of her skin and the way it moved against his, and she felt as though she couldn’t get close enough. It wasn’t like that at all with Animal. Her entire body rejected the idea, her skin jumping and twitching as it fought to avoid contact with him. Mina pulled back. She managed to free her upper body, but Animal kept their hips tightly pressed together.
“I get to be with you, and you’ll be my woman. I’ve seen how you look at me. You never thought I noticed, but I did. I think you know I’ve always had a thing for you, Mina, and it’s time we just get it all out in the open. This pregnancy gives us a great way to do that without anybody questioning it. I’ll be your man. You’ll ride on the back of my bike everywhere we go. We’ll get newer quarters, bigger ones, where we can sleep next to each other every night.” His fingers reached around behind her hips and dragged across her buttocks as he let out a hiss of breath through his teeth. “I can just imagine your warm little body curled up next to mine …”
“Ew, no!” In one swift movement, Mina wrenched herself backwards. Animal’s grip was strong, but he hadn’t been ready for such a thorough rejection. She was out of his arms and over the bed in an instant, wishing she had some decent weapons in her room. A large sword hung on the wall behind Animal, but it was too long for the small space and not very sharp. Even her pocket knife wasn’t within reach, and she had never bothered to slip a gun into her nightstand drawer like most of the members did.
“How dare you think I could be with you?” she spat. “I’ve seen a lot of men in my life. Some of them have been drunks, thieves, or just plain crazy. I’ve learned to separate the good ones from the bad ones and to know what I want in a man. I can promise I would never choose you as someone to be with, Animal.”
He was angry now. His face flushed and his fists curled. “You’re not being very grateful, considering what I was willing to do for you.”
“Oh, because it was so fucking generous, right? You were doing me such a goddamn favor by claiming my child. Do you really think I’m dumb enough to fall for that? You only wanted to have a claim over me to satisfy your sick needs.”
“Is it so sick to want a beautiful woman?” he roared. “You don’t have any right to judge me, Mina. You’re the one who fucked someone and won’t say who. You want your dad to treat you like you’re mature, but look what you’ve done! You’re knocked up, and you aren’t even responsible enough to admit the truth. Then you go parading around the clubhouse in little skimpy outfits, trying to entice all of us. When someone takes the bait, you throw him back in the water. You’re nothing but a little bitch.”
His words were painfully true. Mina would never admit it to his face, but Animal had pegged her. She was always fighting to feel independent, but she never acted like it. How could her father possibly treat her as anything but a little girl if she was just going to throw a fit when she didn’t get her way? And she hadn’t helped matters at all with her recent flirtatious attitude. It had only made her look like a fool. “I’m glad you think so, because I’m sure that means you would never want to be with me. That should make it pretty easy for you to find the door.” She pointed her finger behind him, commanding him to go.
Animal stood solidly in his place. “I’ll go, don’t worry. But I’m not going to make any promises to stay away. And I want you to tell me just one thing.”
She lifted her chin at him but said nothing.
“Who’s the father?”
Mina gave a snort of a laugh. “Like I would tell you! I never liked you very much anyway, and then you come in here with your schemes and your accusations, and you think I’m going to trust you with a secret I haven’t told anybody. You’ve seriously overestimated yourself. You know where the door is, and I suggest you use it.” She pointed behind him once again.
The big blond man stormed out and slammed the door behind him, leaving the room in a shocking silence. Slowly, Mina sank down onto the bed and closed her eyes. It was exhausting dealing with that sort of thing. She never would have thought one of the members—especially Animal—would attempt to come forward and claim a baby that didn’t belong to him. It was as good as suicide, but Animal had clearly been thinking about it from a different viewpoint.
A jolt of worry shot through her as she wondered if he would go to her father on his own. He could tell Park the baby was his. Mina’s denials would be ignored since she had already been so secretive about her pregnancy. There would be no way to prove Animal was a liar until the baby was born and a DNA test could be done. She tensed her legs, prepared to rise back up off the mattress and go tell her father what had happened. He wouldn’t be happy when he discovered one of his members had cornered her in her room and been so aggressive with her.
But she instantly realized what a bad idea that was. On any other occasion, her father would jump to her defense. Mina was his little girl, after all, and nobody was allowed to mess with her. But she’d messed up a lot with this pregnancy, and her father might not even care anymore. No, she was alone on this one. She couldn’t even tell Skid, because what could he do? As soon as he came to Mina’s defense, everyone would know the truth.
With a wistful sigh, Mina reached inside her nightstand drawer and fingered the tiny items she had stashed there. As soon as she had discovered she was pregnant, she had slipped off to a store and celebrated her news with a soft white blanket trimmed in lace, a tiny onesie, and a little soft teddy bear. She didn’t dare buy any more than that, for fear of being able to smuggle it into the clubhouse without anyone seeing her. It had been her private secret, her private joy, her private worry.
Now it was on everyone’s mind, and yet she still didn’t feel as though she could enjoy it. Mina would need her father’s permission to go buy more baby clothes, since he didn’t want her going anywhere without him or someone he trusted. And arriving home with an armful of tiny socks and booties would just bring everyone around to watch her, which she didn’t want.
Mina gently closed the drawer and closed her eyes, trying to imagine what she did want. She wouldn’t live in this clubhouse, with so many people around and getting in her business. She and Skid would have a little place of their own, with a nice yard and a good school nearby. They would spend their weekends together admiring their child as it grew and making love at night. It was a nice fantasy, but she doubted it would ever come true.