Chapter 1
Torch wracked his brain over how to start a one-sided conversation with Izzy. She wouldn’t respond, not with her words, but he already knew that. It didn’t bother him the way that it used to, and the longer he spoke with her, the easier it became to read her facial expressions.
She was looking better and better these days. It’d been rough the first couple of weeks she was at the clubhouse. She barely moved from her place in front of her bedroom window. She was sleeping in Green’s old room, and she seemed comfortable with her own space. But, still, Billie had worked over time to try and pry her out of her shell. Nothing really seemed to work, and Izzy only seemed to tolerate Billie.
Still, she let her closer to her than anyone else on the lot, including him, much to his chagrin. He wanted to learn everything that rested being those sad, empty eyes, but she would never let another man in, let alone a biker. She hadn’t been made for the biker life, he could tell; she had the scent of a rich bitch all over her.
Izzy’s bright red hair glinted in the sunlight and he watched the wavy strands catch and lift as the breeze floated over her ivory shoulders. He had no idea why she was even still here; she had to have family out there looking for her. A woman like that didn’t just go ‘missing,’ and not have a million and one people out there searching for her.
Torch couldn’t figure out why she wasn’t running and screaming in the opposite direction, either. Obviously she didn’t belong here; not that he didn’t want her to stay. He was more than interested in the woman who wouldn’t speak. He wanted to know what secrets she was hiding behind those dark eyes of hers.
“Hey, brother. We got another lead today. Limit and I are gonna ride out in a couple of days and catch up with Blade.”
Torch glanced over at Slayer and nodded. He’d asked to be kept in the loop so that he could be first in line to lead the train that would run the Madmen right off their tracks. He didn’t want to lose the opportunity that he had to make sure they were all dead and buried in shallow graves.
“Got it. I’ll pack my saddle bags, just let me know when we ride out.”
Slayer slid a cigarette between his lips and looked him up and down before he lit it, his blonde brows hitting his hairline.
“You want that girl. Why?”
Torch didn’t like the idea of explaining himself in any way, especially when it came to Izzy. He didn’t want to share any of the emotions he had for her, not with his brothers; not when he didn’t know what they meant for himself. He wanted to keep them quiet, keep them at bay just a little bit longer.
“I want to make sure she never has to worry about those bastards coming back for her. She deserves to feel safe, and I would feel that way for any woman.” That wasn’t bending the truth at all; if it were any of the other women on the lot, he would want the same revenge for them.
Slayer nodded, looking like he didn’t exactly believe him, but Torch didn’t care.
He didn’t have to explain himself to anyone.
“I’ll let you know when it’s time to ride out. I know you’ll be ready,” Slayer said easily as he stomped out his cigarette. He glanced over at Izzy and grinned back at Torch before he walked towards the garage, his stupid blonde head bobbing as Billie launched herself into his arms. Torch rolled his eyes, wondering why the hell all the couples around him had to be so fucking gross but, whatever. He didn’t need to focus on that shit, it wasn’t his business.
Instead, he looked up at the gorgeous creature across the way, a real-life Ariel, and wondered for the millionth time how he could break the ice between them again. He constantly had to re-break the ice between them just to get close enough to her to get any leeway, but it didn’t bother him. It kept him on his toes.
As he headed for her, she sat back against the wooden bench she was occupying, her favorite place seemingly the picnic table overlooking the mountain view. She spent a lot of time there, watching, waiting, staring. He didn’t have to wonder what she was doing.
She was healing.
Any bastard with two eyes and a working brain could see that, and he’d have to be dumb, deaf, and blind not to get that. She didn’t do it loudly like Rayna, she didn’t do it crazy like Esme, no. She did it quietly, internally, and he had a feeling that was the most volatile way to do it at all.
“Here,” He said softly as he held out a sweatshirt he’d snagged from his bedroom on his way outside. She looked up at him and did nothing more than hold her hands out.
“It’s gonna get cold at night now, with those mountains blocking the heat. You make sure you stay warm, I don’t want you getting sick,” He said. This time her eyes narrowed slightly, and he sighed.
“I ain’t tellin’ ya how to live your life, woman. I’m trying to help you.”
Izzy didn’t seem to care whether or not his intentions were good, no, she chose to stare at him head on like he was committing a mortal sin. It took him a moment to realize that she was trying to read him, to learn him, and that resonated deeply with him.
He loved the fact that she was so uncertain about his intentions that she pushed fear aside so that she could figure him out.
“I gotta go away for a few days, and I just want to make sure you take care of yourself while I’m gone. Okay?”
She didn’t respond, but her shoulders stiffened momentarily before she scooted over on the bench, leaving room for him. He was surprised, but he didn’t let it show. He didn’t want her to second guess the gesture and take it back.
So, Torch slid onto the bench and sighed, his fingers digging in his chest pocket to pull out his pack of cigarettes. She surprised the fuck out of him again when she reached for one, palm up. He had no idea what to do, so he just held the pack out towards her. It must be a habit she’d picked up while being with the Seven Deadlies for two months, because she lit that sucker up and pressed it to the seam of her lips with a hiss or relief sliding between her teeth.
He didn’t imagine it was something she’d done before, before she was taken. They still had no idea where she’d come from, but no one wanted to force her to speak. If no one had found her yet, it was probably safe to say that they wouldn’t find her tucked up in the mountains of North Carolina. Plenty of people, like him, fled there to escape.
He didn’t know what they would do if someone did find her, or if they got wind that someone specific was looking for her; he imagined that she came from a lot of money, though, he could tell. She was born for the finer things in life, not some oily lot with a biker club that was built on blood, sweat, and more blood.
He couldn’t get any info out of her about her family, though, and the more he thought about it, the less he wanted to. He didn’t want her to suddenly miss them and want to leave before he got to know her, and he knew that was selfish. He knew it was fucked up, but there was one thing he wouldn’t do, and that’s lie.
“Izzy, are you hungry? It’s dinner time soon, and I want to make sure you eat something before I head out for the night,” He said. She blinked, her honeyed eyes void of any emotion. Her hair fell into her face and he lifted his fingers to swipe it behind her ear. She flinched, caught his tattooed wrist in her hand; he didn’t move, and neither did she. Once she realized that he wasn’t going to hurt her, she gently patted his hand before she released him.
He took that as a good sign, a mark of progress. Torch lifted his dark brows and looked her over again; she was slowly gaining weight, which he was happy about. He could see her thin frame finally filling out, and he was curious what she would look like when she was fully healed. Blade, the idiot, had taken his knife to her delicate skin in more than one place and the thick ropes of scar tissue were everywhere.
He hoped like hell she didn’t let it bother her, but he bet it did. He bet that was why she was so skittish about wearing t-shirts, or tank tops, or shorts even. Her thin legs were covered in a smattering of scars that he didn’t mind one bit, but women were different. They were soft and insecure about so many things. Except for Rayna, that mouthy broad wasn’t insecure about nothin’.
Rayna stepped out onto the lot in that moment, Flora on her hip. She caught his eye and walked towards them, her long blonde hair swaying around her shoulders. She was smiling as she approached and he had to make the parallel in her mind about how nurturing she’d become over the years. It was a sight to behold, especially since she was closer to being like Izzy than the rest of the women there.
“Hey, Izzy! You look pretty today,” Rayna said with a smile.
Izzy instantly reached out for Flora’s hand, something that seemed to warm Rayna’s frighteningly chilly heart. Torch was afraid at one point that she wouldn’t like anyone, but she seemed to warm up to Rayna and Billie just fine. Kind of. She still wouldn’t talk, but hey, progress was progress.
Flora wrapped her chubby fingers around Izzy’s hand and giggled under her breath, her pink lips spreading wide in a grin. Izzy smiled back at her, something that surprised him and Rayna.
“You want to hold her?,” Rayna tested.
Torch could tell that she was testing the waters with Izzy, seeing how far the woman was willing to go when it came to physical contact. If the baby was what made her come out of her shell, then so be it. Torch was willing to try anything at least once.
Izzy hesitated. She didn’t lift her hands to reach for Flora, and Rayna obviously wasn’t going to force it. She didn’t want to scare her any more than Torch did.
“Okay, maybe another time,” Rayna said softly with a smile.
Izzy’s teeth were about to chew a hole in her bottom lip, and when Rayna started to pull away, Izzy gripped the hem of her shirt to stop her. With a small breath, she held out her own hands for Flora.
It was then that Torch realized that they weren’t the only one testing her; she was testing herself. To see if she could handle it, and what better way to reconnect with the world on some level than by holding a baby? When Rayna put Flora into Izzy’s arms, Izzy patted the bench beside her for Rayna to sit too, and if that didn’t make Rayna buzz with joy, nothing would.
Torch scooted over a little so that the women and baby had more room, but he was enamored with the sight of Izzy holding Flora. He couldn’t look away. She looked radiant as she looked at the baby, and for the first time since she got there months ago, her whole face transformed into a breathtaking smile as she bounced Flora up and down.
Flora loved it, and that also made Torch and Rayna smile. Flora wrapped long strands of Izzy’s hair around her fingers and yanked, but it didn’t bother the redhead. No, she seemed to like it too, because she was still smiling at her, still bouncing her. Torch didn’t want it to end, because it was the only time she’d looked remotely human instead of feral since she got there.
Every time he closed his eyes, left her alone, he saw her as that scared, shaking creature covered in blood that he’d helped rescue. He didn’t want that to be how he knew her, but without her help, that would forever be all he knew about her.
In that moment, he made the decision to do whatever it took to make her open up to him. Well, he would start as soon as he killed Blade. He had to do that first; Izzy deserved it.