20

Krissi woke slowly. Her brain resisting the idea. She knew before opening her eyes that Ruger was gone. His warmth and the feeling of safety she got when she was with him were both absent. Slowly, the previous day came back to her. She took a deep breath, focused and exhaled.

Might as well face the day. She tried to sit up and found she couldn't, at least not easily. She took a deep breath and used her hands to push herself upright. Her ribs sent a bolts of sharp stabbing pain through her and she had to stop a moment and let the ache fade before she could continue. After a couple minutes, when she could move again, she swung her legs over the edge of the bed then had to stop and wait again. Sleep had helped but now her body had stiffened again. Warming it up and getting moving again was going to be a pain, several of them in fact.

It took her several minutes to make it into the bathroom. After she finished with the necessities she caught sight of her reflection and winced. Her hair was tangled and poofy on one side and limp on the other. But after a second she decided the hair was probably a good thing, as it distracted from the blue-black bruise on the side of her face. She leaned close to get a better look, then decided she really didn't want to see it that well. Just looking at it made her face ache. Curious, she pulled up her shirt enough to get a look at her ribs. She turned sideways and craned her neck to see the marks that wrapped around her back. Ruger was not going to be happy when he saw the boot prints on her skin. She wondered for a moment if she could get away with keeping them covered until they disappeared. Somehow she didn't think so.

Dropping the hem of the shirt, she pulled the sweatpants she'd worn the night before from the hook on the back of the door where she'd left them and pulled them on. Looking at the brush on the counter, she considered trying to brush out her hair but suspected it would hurt more than getting out of bed had, so rejected the idea. Stepping back into the bedroom, Krissi wondered how long she'd been asleep. She looked around for a clock and spotted her phone on the dresser where Ruger had put it the night before. Picking it up, she found it fully charged. The clock on it told her it was approaching 6:00 P.M. She'd been asleep for nearly ten hours, no wonder she was so stiff.

Her stomach rumbled, making her realize she was hungry. She had no idea where Ruger was or when he would be back, but Sadist had said he wanted her to stay here for a few days. She refused to be trapped in this room the whole time so why wait for Ruger before leaving?  She didn't bother with shoes, just opened the door and stepped out, still looking at her phone as she thumbed the icon to send a text. She was going to let Ruger know she was up, at least.

Before she had a chance to even start the message, she ran into someone. Full body check ran into them. Now she felt like a total moron. Looking up she saw it was a Hispanic man which kinda surprised her. Her dad's club was all Latino, he didn't allow whites or any other race in, and somehow, she thought the men of Albuquerque knew better than to try to join if they didn't have the right skin tone.

“Oh, um sorry. I wasn't watching where I was going.” Krissi looked up at him.

He stared at her a second then spoke. “You're Ruger's girl, aren't you?”

“You might say so.”

“I'm Gizmo. You headed down stairs?”

“Gizmo? I guess I have you to thank that my phone works again. Ruger said he borrowed a charger from you.” She lifted the hand with her phone in it, as if to show him.

“He did, you can keep it though, I've got more. Downstairs?” He asked again.

“What?” she blinked a couple times. “Oh, yeah. I just woke up and I'm still a little slow.”

“I'll go down with you, I'm headed down anyway.” He glanced behind her through the still open door. “Where's Ruger?”

“No clue. He was gone when I woke up.”

“You let him know you're awake yet?” Gizmo pointed toward the phone still in her hand.

“Not yet. That's what I was doing when I ran into you. I guess that's what happens when I don't pay attention to where I'm going.”

“We all do it once in a while,” he said with a shrug. “Come on, I'll take you down stairs.” Gizmo walked with her until they got to the stairs then let her go down them first. At the bottom, she stepped aside so she wasn't in his way then stopped and looked around.

There were about fifteen men in the room, all wearing kuttes, though not all of them had the club’s patch, a skull with glowing red eyes, holding the handle of a scythe in its teeth, blood dripped off the upturned blade. She checked each face but Ruger didn't seem to be among them, nor was Sadist. Tuck was sitting at a table near the middle of the room but she didn’t want to approach him. She didn't want to approach anyone else either. She had no clue how they'd react and the last thing she wanted was for anyone to assume she was one of the women wandering around. The ones that were obviously club pussy. She took a deep breath and blew it out, letting it puff out her cheeks, then went to the bar and climbed up on a stool with a cracked red vinyl seat. The similarity to the first time she'd walked into Drifter's wasn't lost on her.

“What can I get you?” the kid behind the bar asked. He looked even younger than she did, which would make nineteen or twenty, maybe, maybe twenty one, but she didn't think so.

“Do you cook or do I need to go do it myself?” Krissi tilted her head to one side and watched him. She hadn't seen the back of his kutte yet but she suspected he was a prospect.

“That depends on what you want. There’s someone in the kitchen for a little bit but they don't do anything complicated.” He wiped down the counter in front of her then stood still, watching her for a moment.

“Can he make me a burger? With cheese?” The kid grinned.

“Can I get you anything while you wait?”

“Do you have any milk?” She closed one eye and hoped. The kid behind the bar shook his head. “Pepsi?”

“Coke.” 

Krissi shook her head. “Any juice back there?” She half stood on the ring on her stool and tried to look over the bar.

“Orange, cranberry and pineapple.”

Krissi pulled a face. She didn't care for any of the options. “Water?” she asked, hopeful.

“You want ice?” He flashed her a playful grin.

“Please.” She folded her hands on the bar and waited. He fixed a short glass of ice water, set it in front of her then disappeared through the same door she'd used that morning to get to the kitchen. Picking up the water, she took a deep drink, draining the water and leaving only a pile of ice. She set the glass down with a faint clink.

“Did you get enough sleep” The voice in a previously empty seat startled her but she recognized the voice. She turned and stared at him a moment.

“Excuse me?”

“I asked if you'd slept all right.” It was Gizmo. Apparently, he'd followed her from the stairway. She blinked.

“I guess so.” She didn't know why he was there and she may have frowned while looking at him. “Can I help you?”

“No, I just thought I'd keep you company until Ruger gets back.”

“Why?”

He blinked several times. “Um, well,” he seemed at a loss. She gave him a tight smile.

“I'm not unfamiliar with how an MC works. While I appreciate that you're trying to give me a bit of protection, I can stand on my own. I'm not a piece of club pussy. I know that women belong to men in this culture, but a strong woman, if willing to work for it, can stand on her own.” Her own mother had failed at it, but her mother had been an addict. She'd been more concerned with her next fix than the well-being of her child. Krissi was not her mother, but she would learn from her mother's mistakes.

Krissi had done a lot of stupid things as a teenager, joy riding, breaking and entering, some under-age drinking, but she'd never done drugs. She'd decided long ago not to get hooked on the same poison as her mother.

The thump of a bottle against the bar brought her back to the present. The kid was back behind the bar, at the far end talking to one of the men seated there. Gizmo still sat beside her, it had been his beer she'd heard. She turned on her stool, ignoring him as she put the bar at her back and leaned against it, resting her elbows on the counter on either side of her body. She let her eyes slowly scan the room but nothing seemed out of place and the only face she recognized was the president. Still not approaching him.

Remembering her interrupted attempt to message Ruger, she pulled her phone from her pocket and found a message from him. It hadn't been there earlier.

“Hey, not sure when you'll wake but I'm getting the mustang and some stuff from your place for you. If you're hungry go down and ask Jake for food.” The message read. She sent him a quick text back letting him know she was up and requesting a few specific things from her apartment, put the phone on vibrate and so she'd know when he responded, then put it back in her pocket. Looking around she twisted until she could see the bartender, grimacing as it felt like someone was stabbing her in the ribs.

“What do you need?” Gizmo asked.

“That Jake?” She tipped her head toward the bartender.

“Yeah, why?” he looked confused.

“Just checking.” She gave her head a slight shake. Krissi watched the men in the club house while she waited. There were a few who were just drinking but more had food in front of them. Tuck sat a table, a bottle of beer in front of him and a coin flipping unceasing over his knuckles. There was a single girl who looked like she couldn't be more than 17 bustling between tables and the bar, serving food and refilling drinks. Krissi wondered if she was the daughter of one of the brothers or was just older than she looked. She couldn't imagine Ruger or from what she'd seen of them, Sadist and Tuck, allowing an underage girl to hang around a place like this to be mistreated. A daughter would be protected the way an unrelated kid wouldn't be.

“Your burger,” Jake said, making her jump as he set the plate on the counter behind her. Krissi spun back around to face the bar and found the plate waiting for her. A large burger covered nearly half the plate and a huge mound of fries filled the rest. “You want some ketchup with that?”

She looked up and found Jake watching her. She picked up a single fry and took a bite. “No, I'm good.”

“Can I get you anything else?”

She looked at her plate and glass beside it. He'd already refilled her water. “I can't think of anything right now, thanks Jake.” Krissi gave him a friendly smile then turned her attention back to her plate.

She was about half way through her burger when someone sat on the empty stool on her other side. When she turned to make a snarky comment about not being available she realized it was Ruger and a big smile split here face until a twinge reminded her of the bruise there.

He looked down at her plate then back at her. “You're making good progress, mind if I join you?”

“Not at all.” She picked up her burger and took a bite while he waved Jake over and gave him his order. “Did you get the things I asked for?” she said between bites.

“I think so, but you're going to have to check to be sure.”

“And the car?”

“Parked outside.”

She breathed a sigh of relief. She'd been worried about it left in the school parking lot all night. “Any damage?”

Ruger shook his head. “Doesn't look like anyone even touched it. Your books were even in still sitting in the passenger's seat.”

She'd forgotten that during the break between classes she'd gone to the car and taken what she hadn't needed for the rest of the day out of her bag. It had dramatically cut the weight she'd had to haul around campus. She was glad to hear they hadn't been stolen.

“Are they still there?” she asked.

“Yeah, why?” He tipped back his beer, still watching her.

“I was thinking about getting my homework done.”

He frowned and set his mug down. “You can take one day off. You've been through a trauma. You're injured, you don't have to push quite so hard.”

“I wasn't meaning tonight, but if I'm gonna be stuck here for a few days I will eventually get bored. There is only so much time I can sit up in your room, or even down here, with nothing to do.”

He watched her a moment then nodded. “All right. I'd like to say I'll keep you busy but I want to give you a chance to heal before we do that.” He shot her a half-lidded look that left her with no doubt what he was thinking about.

She picked up a fry and pointed it at him. “Are you telling me that if I asked for some you'd tell me no?” Krissi bit a chunk off the tip of the fry while she watched his reaction. Surprise, confusion and lust flashed across his face before he settled on a frown.

“Are you trying to tempt me?” he lifted one brow.

“Perhaps.” She turned back to her plate and picked up another fry. Glancing in the mirror behind the bar she saw him watching her. A thought crossed her mind and she couldn't help the smile that started to creep across her face. She scanned the rest of the room in the mirror as she ate.

By the time all she had left was fries, Jake had brought Ruger his plate. She watched him for a moment, until he realized she was watching and turned to her.

“What?”

“Nothing.” She did her best to sound innocent, but she knew coy wasn't her thing. She'd tried before and failed miserably. He gave her a confused look and picked up his own burger but kept an eye on her. As if he sensed she was up to something. He wasn't wrong.

Slowly, she started to eat her fries. One at a time, she picked them up and moved them to her mouth. She would wrap her lips around the end and suck the rest in to her mouth or reach out with the tip of her tongue and pull in the bit of potato. It didn't take long before Ruger put down his burger and stared at her. She ignored him and after another couple minutes, he reached out and pulled her plate away, putting it on the far side of his plate where she couldn't reach it.

“Hey, I was eating that.”

“No.” Ruger’s voice had gone low and rough. “You were playing with it.”

She blinked and tried to look as though she had no idea what he was talking about. She suspected she was failing miserably. His hand dropped and her stool moved under her as he dragged it closer. A squeak escaped her as her seat moved and she grabbed the bar to keep from falling. The sudden movement made her ribs throb. Her breath caught and she closed her eyes.

“I didn't mean to hurt you.”

“I know. I didn't think about it either.” She grit her teeth and exhaled slowly. Ruger ran the back of one finger along the right side of her face.

“I'm sorry about this. It makes me regret not killing that bastard last night.” She leaned into his hand, enjoying the heat and feel of his touch.

“I'm glad you didn't.” She paused. “This morning was hard enough. Laying still and letting your guy poke and prod at me, I'm not sure I could have done it alone.”

He wrapped one arm around her waist and just kept her close. “You make it hard for me to remember my good intentions, doll.”

She leaned back and looked him, one brow lifted. “Doll? Do I look small and fragile to you?”

“No.” A sad smile curled his lips. “Tonight you remind me of this doll my sister used to haul around. It had wild red hair, stains from her hauling it everywhere and had been repaired more times than I can remember. But for a long time, it was her most prized possession.”

“That's sweet. You must be close to your sister.”

“I was once.” Ruger looked down at his plate and she could tell he was avoiding eye contact.

“But not anymore?” she finished the thought that hung in the air. “Did something happen?”

“You could say that.” He picked at the fries on his plate. “She was murdered.”

Krissi was immediately sorry she’d asked. Losing someone you love was a pain that faded but never quite disappeared and she hadn’t wanted to stir that up for him. “Oh, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have pushed.”

Ruger shrugged. “It was a long time ago.”

“Did they ever find who did it?” Her chest ached for his loss. He might be acting like it was no big deal but she knew he had to be feeling something. They fell quiet, each lost in their own miserable thoughts while they finished eating.

After Jake had cleared away both plates, they were quiet a while longer. Krissi, not sure what to say since she'd screwed up so badly the last time, finally broke the silence.

“So, other than pick up the Mustang and some stuff from my apartment, what did you do today?”

Some of the tension drained from Ruger's body. “I woke up about half past noon and couldn't get back to sleep. I had Crash drop me off at the school to get the car then I stopped by the diner on my way to your place.”

She cringed. “How bad of a pain in the ass was Walt?”

He shrugged one shoulder. “He wasn't. I explained that you had been hurt and wouldn't be able to come in for a few days.”

“And he didn't get pissed?”

“What was he going to say to me? That you couldn't have the time? I wasn't asking for it, I was telling him why you weren't there.”

She wanted to lean into him but wasn't sure he would like it here in front of everyone. Up in the room or at her apartment, without his brothers all around them she wouldn't have hesitated.

“Come on.” Ruger slid off his stool and waited while she did the same, then led her to a corner of the large room where there was a couple of sofas arranged in a conversation area. He sat at the end of one sofa near where another man sat on the other couch. Krissi recognized the man but she wasn't sure where from. She was about to sit next to Ruger when he pulled her down into his lap. “Krissi,” he said. “This is Lurch. Lurch, you remember Krissi.” 

Krissi must have looked confused because the other man spoke up.

“I was there last night, and when you spoke to Tuck this morning.” She remembered his face but as he spoke she knew she hadn't heard his voice before. She would have remembered his slow, Louisiana drawl.

“It's good to meet you.” Krissi reached across and shook his hand before settling back against Ruger's chest. Resting against him she could leach some of his energy and warmth. She wasn't entirely sure why, but she felt better, more at ease, when she was touching him in some way. It occurred to her that it was strange, but she didn't care enough to over-think it tonight. While she'd slept most of the day, and her body had rested and worked on healing, mentally and emotionally she was still battered and exhausted.

Ruger and Lurch were talking but didn’t pay any attention what they were saying. The low vibrations of Ruger's chest vibrating as he spoke was enough for her. She sat quietly for several minutes then started to notice the people around her more. Not Lurch, Ruger was paying attention to him so she had no doubt that nothing would come from that direction but after her last 24 hours she was a little nervous in a crowd of people she didn't know. She looked around at the men and women there, but no one stirred any interest or triggered any sense of discomfort. After a few minutes, she noticed that someone seemed to be missing. It's not easy to notice one person in roughly thirty missing unless that one person is the only face you're familiar with.

Once she noticed his absence she started to look for him, sitting up and twisting around in Ruger's lap to make sure she hadn't missed him.

“What's wrong?” Ruger asked as she craned her neck to make sure she hadn't missed part of the room.

“Where's Sadist? He's not here.”

Ruger frowned. “Would you prefer him to me?” A scowl creased his brow.

“No, he's just one of the few faces I know so I noticed him not here.”

“He's at work.” Ruger turned his attention back to Lurch.

She fell silent as she tried to remember. “That's right, you said he's a tattoo artist.” She fell silent and leaned back against him for a moment. “Do you have to work tonight?”

Ruger tensed beneath her and something about the way he moved slowly when he turned to glare at her made her heart beat faster. He spoke slowly. “Are you trying to get rid of me?”

Her body flashed hot then immediately cold. Somehow, something she'd said had pissed him off. She'd spent enough time around her father's club to know that you never disrespect a man, especially a patched member, in public or in front of his brothers. She'd not meant anything by her questions, but something had triggered this. From the heat of anger in his eyes it was something big.

“No, I was just wondering if you would be here or if I would be alone.”

“And if I have to go in?” His voice had a hard edge to it she wasn’t familiar with.

“Then I'll spend the evening in the room either sleeping or doing homework.”

Some of the tension drained from him but a good deal remained.

“Okay.” He watched her for a second or two longer then turned back to Lurch and continued the conversation. She sat where he had put her until all the tension from the incident had drifted away, but she couldn't get it out of her mind, what had set him off?