Clara

 

My mind was reeling from how quickly everything was moving all of a sudden. When we got back to HQ, Mason called a meeting. I quickly excused myself, not wanting to infringe on anything too private, though I knew I was missing important information that Skull would have wanted by dipping out of the meeting. I was on the verge of panic. I needed to get in touch with Skull to ground myself again.

 

I had charged my phone while I was at Mason’s apartment. Carrying my backpack into the bathroom with me, I had plugged it in under his counter. When I fished it back out at HQ, it had just enough battery life for me to try to call my boss. I couldn’t risk trying to listen to all the voicemails he’d left me and killing my phone in the process.

 

I hurried downstairs to the basement, sure I would be alone to talk freely away from everyone’s prying eyes and ears. It went to voicemail after a few rings. I checked over my shoulder to see if anyone was around before leaving a message in a hushed voice.

 

“Hey, it’s me. I don’t have long. My phone’s about to die. I wanted to let you know I’m okay. I haven’t listened to your messages, but I’m okay. I’ll get back in touch as soon as I can,” I said quickly.

 

I disconnected the call and put the phone away in the pocket of the jeans Mason had bought me on the way in from his apartment. All of the clothes I was wearing were new, all purchased with the sizes I told him, but bought with his tastes in mind. I thought I looked damn good with the flowing, low cut black top, the tight jeans that loved my ass, and the perfect bra and panties that told me exactly what he had in mind for later. Having these clothes on was like having his hands on me. It was a delicious feeling.

 

Then, I heard footsteps coming down the concrete steps behind me. I turned around, hoping to see Mason, but it wasn’t him. It was an older member of Storm’s Angels in a worn leather vest, an old ragged t-shirt, and tired jeans that seemed to wear every single year he’d been riding. He wore sunglasses and had his salt and pepper—mostly salt—hair pulled back in a long ponytail reaching down his back. His vest had more patches on it than anyone else I’d seen so far. He’d been with them a while.

 

“What’s going on down here?” he taunted as he reached the bottom of the stairs and started walking towards me.

 

“Nothing, just needed to get away for a minute.” I backed away nervously. “I had to make a phone call,” I told him.

 

“Oh, a phone call. I see. You wouldn’t happen to be calling your boss to let him know you were in with Mason, would you?” He moved like a snake as he approached me, backing me into a corner. He wasn’t built the way the rest of the guys were. He was thin and ratty, covered in old, faded tattoos. His breath smelled of cigars and whiskey with a hint of pot hanging over him.

 

I wasn’t sure what the protocol was now. Normally in this type of situation, I wouldn’t have had any trouble handling him, but as a guest, I wasn’t sure Mason wanted to come downstairs and find one of his members face down in his own blood, especially someone who’d probably been with the MC longer than he had been.

 

“What’s your game, old timer?” I asked him with a tough edge in my voice, trying to let him know I wasn’t one to fuck with.

 

“No game, princess. I just don’t like spies and thieves hanging around my MC. That’s all. I know what you’re up to. You may have Mason fooled, but you won’t get by Liam, baby doll.” He ran a hand through my hair, and it was all I could take.

 

“You don’t touch me, old man,” I snapped, smacking his arm away from me. “I may be here as your boss’s guest, but that doesn’t change what I will do to you if you touch me again.”

 

“Hey, hey, hey! What’s going on down here?” Mason called out from behind Liam.

 

“Just checking out your new toy, son,” Liam said venomously as he walked past Mason and up the stairs. “I’d keep an eye on her if I were you.”

 

“Are you okay?” Mason asked, rushing to my side as Liam ascended the stairs out of the basement.

 

“Yeah, I’m fine, but you might want to keep an eye on your boy,” I told him.

 

“What do you mean?” He took me by the arm and guided me away from the wall.

 

I looked at him and took a deep breath, shaking my head. Then I realized my whole body was quaking from anger and adrenaline.

 

“Clara, what’s going on?” Mason asked, the concern in his voice growing.

 

“He cornered me, Mason,” I told him. “He pushed me downstairs and cornered me. He ran his fingers through my hair and kept talking about how I was your new plaything. He told me he wanted a taste, too, and that you were going to pass me around the MC once you had your fill of me. What the hell?” I gave in to my shakes and stress, letting a few tears roll down my cheeks for emphasis.

 

I knew that wasn’t what had happened, but I wanted to test Mason and see what he would do if I had been threatened by one of his guys, no matter who it was.

 

“Are you serious right now?” Mason asked, all emotion gone from his voice.

 

I looked at him with sad, teary eyes and nodded. Inside, I was cracking up, but I maintained a straight face through it all.

 

“Come upstairs,” he said in a commanding tone, and for a moment, I thought I was in trouble. The whole way up the stairs, being led by my hand, I just knew he’d seen through my show and was going to let me have it in front of everyone before sending me off.

 

That wasn’t what happened at all. When we reached the top of the stairs, he waved Alec over. I remembered him from the times he watched me.

 

“Clara, good to see you out of the chair,” he joked as he approached.

 

“Listen, keep an eye on her for a minute. I’ve got some business to handle,” Mason said as he walked away, leaving me in Alec’s care.

 

I cut my eyes to Alec and saw the nervous look on his face while he watched Mason. I could see that having me out of bondage made him anxious, and I smiled. He was a lot smarter than that jackass who’d just practically attacked me downstairs. I watched Mason walking towards him.

 

The bay doors were open to let the light and fresh air in. Guys were coming and going on their bikes. It wasn’t a constant traffic, but it seemed pretty steady. A few would leave, and a few more would show up after a small interval. I could see how Mason and Storm’s Angels were so powerful. They were huge. They were big enough that this couldn’t have been the only chapter.

 

“Hey, Liam,” I heard Mason shout as he reached the old timer. “Kill the bike!”

 

Liam killed the bike and climbed off of it to stand up straight in front of Mason. He may not have been built as thick as his younger counterpart, but he definitely seemed bigger when he wanted to. He was probably former military, probably served overseas with lots of war stories to share.

 

They looked like they were having words, but I couldn’t hear what they were saying. I started walking towards them, as did just about everyone else in the room. Pretty soon, we all encircled Mason and Liam in a semi-circle that left only the bay door open as a way out. I looked around all the stern faces looking at their leader and a member who had have some kind of status among them.

 

“What’s everyone’s opinion of Liam?” I asked Alec, sort of as an aside. I didn’t want him to think I was trying to drive a wedge between the men.

 

“He’s a grouchy old-timer. I don’t think anyone really likes him,” Alec said.

 

“Who’s that?” I asked, pointing at the large bald man with a full, glorious beard and a tribal tattoo wrapping around his shaved head.

 

“That’s Mick. He’s Mason’s right-hand man.”

 

“He looks like he got kicked out of ZZ Top,” I told him with a light laugh.

 

“Yeah, he does. Or like he kicked them out,” Alec offered. “I wouldn’t want to tangle with him.”

 

“I wouldn’t either, but it looks like Liam is about to tangle with both of them,” I told him.

 

I still couldn’t hear what they were saying, but I saw Liam lift an old battle-worn hand and point at me. That was when Mason lunged forward, planting a fist in the old man’s face and shoving him back with a couple of shots to his chest when he didn’t immediately go down.

 

Mick followed closely behind him. It looked like Liam was trying to crawl away on his back, but Mason stood over him. I clearly saw a hand held up to block any further blows. Mason looked like he said something to Mick over his shoulder, and the muscleman came back inside for Liam’s motorcycle. He lifted it off the ground and chucked it outside, returning to Mason’s side to watch the old man get up and walk to his bike.

 

He shouted something back at the men standing in the bay door, watching him. He stood up his bike, climbed on, and fired up the engine.

 

Mason and Mick walked back in to a round of applause from the rest of the MC, myself and Alec included, but Mason shook his head with a serious look on his face. Mick joined the group as everyone went back to what they were doing.

 

“Thanks, Alec. I’ll take her from here.” Mason wrapped an arm around my waist and started walking me away from the scene.

 

“So, what just happened?” I asked him timidly.

 

“I just kicked Liam’s ass,” he said plainly. “He’s been fucking up a lot lately, and it needed to be handled. At the very least, you’re my guest. He needs to respect that. If he can’t, then he doesn’t have to be here.”

 

“At the least, huh?” I teased him. “What am I at the most?”

 

“I haven’t decided yet,” he told me, looking me dead in the eye.

 

“So what happens now?” I asked.

 

“He’ll probably go to another chapter for a while until he gets his head straight. He may or may not be back. It’s sad to lose him. He’s been with Storm’s Angels since the beginning, or close to it,” Mason explained, growing introspective.

 

“Hey, I didn’t mean to cause that kind of trouble,” I said, putting my fingers under his chin and turning his face to mine. “I can leave if you need me to.”

 

“Don’t be silly,” he said. “You can stay. I want you to stay. But you have to be comfortable with the fact that I’m not going to let any of my guys fuck with you. Anyone who starts anything is going to get the same treatment Liam did.”

 

“Damn, okay.” I was taken aback by his sudden devotion to me. I was getting too deep too fast. My professional side told me to bail, but my heart told me I couldn’t, that it wasn’t business anymore, and I deserved something real like this after hiding myself away from the world for my work for so long.

 

Just then, I saw Mick walking over to us with a serious look on his face. I knew that look. It was business. Something was going down.