CHAPTER 4

Zara

I’d just finished wiping down the last table when Marie spoke up.

“That class down at the gym starts tonight. You gonna to be there?”

I stood up straight and stretched out my back. The day hadn’t been too bad, but I was still looking forward to a nice, hot shower when I got back to my motel room.

“I wasn’t planning on it.”

“I know why you’re scared, sugar. But you need those boys on your side.”

The blood rushed from my face and I threw out a hand to grab at the closest table. She knew? How’d she find out? Oh fuck, I needed to leave, right now.

As panic flooded me, I couldn’t fight it off. I crumpled into a heap on the floor.

“Damn it, I didn’t mean to set off your cataplexy, Zara.”

I heard her shuffling around, and from the noise I guessed she was pulling the blinds down over the front windows. Then her strong, warm hands were on me, moving me to a more comfortable position. My head ended up in her lap and she stroked my hair.

“You told me you can still hear everything when this happens, so I’m going to keep talking. I overheard a couple of cops chatting yesterday about the shooting. They mentioned how no one had seen the witness since she ran off. They mentioned your name, sugar. I know it’s you. I won’t tell anyone, you should know that about me by now. But you need to let the Charons know who you are. They’ll protect you against those pieces of shit Iron Hammers, but they can’t if they don’t know. Mac clearly has you in his sights and as an old lady, you can be guaranteed that club will move heaven and earth to keep your ass safe.” Her voice dropped to a whisper, “Because, sugar, you really don’t want to fall into the hands of those assholes. You’ve no idea what they’ll do to you.”

With a gasp, I jerked free of the attack and sat up. Part of me wanted to stay where I was. Marie stroking my hair gently felt so nice.

“No biker is safe, Marie. What if they barter me over to them to keep them out of Bridgewater?”

She shook her head. “They would never give that club anything, let alone a woman. Especially one that had caught the eye of one of their own.”

I was torn about asking. Did I really want to know? But in the end my curiosity won out.

“How do you know what they’d do? The Iron Hammers. You sound like you know more than just rumors.”

The older woman’s eyes glossed over with tears. “I grew up in Galveston. When I was eighteen, one of my friends got us an invite to a party at the Iron Hammers clubhouse. We were so excited. We’d be able to drink–have fun with no parents anywhere near us. The two of us went into that hellhole and we only just made it out. They held us down and injected drugs into us. Then they tossed us into a tiny room. There were other girls in there already. The men would come in and force more drugs into the ones coming around, other men came in to fuck whoever caught their eye. My friend and I pretended to be drugged-out, unconscious to avoid getting shot up again. Fuck. I’ve never been so scared in all my life, Zara. Early the next morning, when all the men had passed out from their fun and games, we managed to sneak out.

“Just like you, Zara, we both came here. I wasn’t as sneaky as you, though. Scout, the president of the Charons MC, found us soon after we arrived in town. He took us in, let us stay in his home until we recovered enough to function. The club helped me set up this place. The Charons are good men, sweetheart. They’re not going to hand you over.”

Tears ran down my face for Marie and her friend.

“Did you tell Scout about the other women? Get him to go help the others?”

“It’s not that simple. The Charons were a lot smaller than the Iron Hammers and they didn’t have the manpower to go in and take them down. Hell, they still don’t. And, well, we didn’t tell Scout everything. We were young, scared and embarrassed about what had happened. All Scout knew was that we’d had drugs and were scared shitless of the Iron Hammers. We didn’t confess about the other stuff. We’d thought if we had, and the Charons went charging in, they’d probably be slaughtered and the Iron Hammers would take us back.”

Pulling my knees up against my chest, I wiped my eyes against my knees.

“I don’t know what to think, or do. I’m so fucking scared, Marie.”

She shuffled over to sit beside me before she pulled me in for a hug. “You need to talk to Mac. Tell him who you are. And go to that damn class. Learning how to hand a man his ass when he steps out of line is a handy skill for any woman to have.”

I nodded against her shoulder. “I’ll think about it.”

“Well, don’t think for too long, sugar. From what the cops were saying, the Iron Hammers have quite the hard-on for you and everyone knows Bridgewater is the place you go to hide from them. They won’t take long to come to town.”

I didn’t respond, just stayed pressed against Marie, soaking in the comfort as I thought through my options. Which was a joke really. I didn’t have any fucking options. Either risk someone else figuring out who I was that would hand me over, or go to the Charons for protection. I had to wonder about what the price tag attached to that protection would be.

Mac

The first self-defense class was about to start and I was more than happy with the turnout. I grinned with excitement. The dozen or so women included all sorts. There were a couple of giggling high schoolers, who I suspected were only here to try to catch a Charon, rather than learn any skills. A few were clearly young mothers, who had that tired, but happy look about them. There were even a couple of ladies that had to be in their fifties. This was good. I hoped that in time word would spread, and we’d be able to do separate classes for each age group.

The door opened right at starting time and my heart began to race. She’d come. I’d given up hope she would. But Zara was here, standing in the doorway chewing her lip and looking beyond adorable... and scared.

“Your girl came after all.”

I nodded at Chip’s words. “Looks like.”

“Go grab her. She can fill out the paperwork afterward. We need to get started.”

With a nod, I strode over to Zara.

“Glad you made it. We’re about to start, so I’ll sit down with you after and go over the paperwork, okay?”

“Um, sure.”

As I led her over to where we’d set up, I just knew she was going to do a runner on me after class. The question was, did I try to stop her, or let her go? Not like I didn’t know where to find her tomorrow. I decided I’d keep an eye on her and see how it went. Maybe she’d settle down by the time we finished class and she’d stick around.

Joining Chip at the front of the room, I got everyone’s attention, introduced the pair of us, and started my first self-defense for women class. I’d planned this first lesson to be very basic. To start with, I ran through several different maneuvers with Chip as my crash-test dummy. The women all got into it, cheering and laughing every time I dropped Chip. I was going to owe him a bottle of Jack for all the times he let me put him on the mat.

For the last part of the class we did a couple of demonstrations. One was to show them exactly how to get free from having your arm pinned up behind your back, and the other was how to handle someone coming at you with a knife. Once we demonstrated, we put the ladies in pairs, gave each pair a toy knife to use, and had them practice both situations. Chip and I moved around the room, helping out each pair as we went. I was pleased with how everyone was doing. Even the giggling schoolgirls had settled down and got with the program.

Time flew and before I knew it, the hour was up. I called time and ended the class, telling them I’d see them all next week. My chest swelled a little at how every woman was smiling on her way out of the door. I hoped like hell these classes would save at least one of these ladies from being a victim at some point in the future.

Zara was the last to leave, surprising me by not trying to sneak out. She shocked me even more when she strolled straight up to me, chin raised.

“If you don’t mind, could I take that paperwork with me? I’ll give it to you next time you’re in the cafe.”

I cocked my head at her, certain she was up to something.

“It’s not exactly protocol. For insurance purposes we need you to fill out and sign a single page form. It won’t take long. I can help you now and it’ll be done in a couple of minutes.”

She winced and pulled her lower lip into her mouth to chew on it. The sight had my dick twitching, which wasn’t ideal when I was wearing loose gym shorts.

“That’s fine, darlin’. Here’s the form, one of us will be in to Marie’s in a few days to collect it, okay?”

She turned to smile at Chip as he handed her the form as he’d spoken to her.

“Thanks. That’ll be great.”

And with that, she scurried out the door and into the night. I stood glaring as Chip went over and locked the door behind her.

“What the fuck, Chip?”

“Settle down. That girl is as skittish as they get. You want to frighten her off? She’ll never step foot in here again if you’re not careful.”

We both headed to the locker room to change out of our gym clothes.

“How was I supposed to be any more careful than I was? It’s a legality that we actually need that form signed, asshole. And she’s trying to hide something that she’d have to put on it. I want to know what.”

Chip rolled his eyes at me. “I’m sure you want to know all sorts of things about that girl, and the fucking form ain’t gonna tell you shit about most of them. Go see her at Marie’s tomorrow. Go just before closing and see if she’ll sit with you for a while.”

“It won’t be that easy, and you know it. She’s sneaky when she wants to be. You watch, next week’s class will be here before I get anywhere near her, or her form.”

With a smirk, Chip headed out. I silently followed, flipping off the lights and locking the side door as I went. We both knew I was right. I hadn’t even kissed this chick and she was driving me nuts.

Jumping on my bike, I didn’t go straight back to the clubhouse. I needed to clear my head so made my way out of town for a ride. There was something about having the wind in my face and the feel of my Harley beneath me that helped soothe me. Always had.