CHAPTER FOUR

If anyone had told Sofia last week that she would be standing in front of the Brothers of Mayhem’s clubhouse, she’d have told them she didn’t have a death wish. But there she stood beside Wolf, wrist raised, waiting for him to release the handcuff. Surely, he didn’t plan for her to walk in like that? She needed to be able to defend herself or run.

While they were still at the house, he’d explained what to expect and how the club’s hierarchy worked along with a few terms and dos and don’ts. Strange how much his club was similar to Hector’s gang, but she was still scared spit-less.

“No one will touch you.” Wolf’s gaze searched hers.

She would be damned before she let anyone but Wolf know how walking in there terrified her. With the big cement blocks facing the street—obviously to prevent anyone crashing through the front door—and the large sign proclaiming in large black letters Sand County being the club’s home charter, anyone would be second-guessing their common sense.

At that moment, a strong breeze lifted her hair and caused a shiver to run down her arms. She hugged the plain leather jacket Wolf had given her earlier. The sun hid behind the gray clouds causing the temperature to drop. During their ride, she’d leaned against Wolf’s back and soaked in his warmth. He claimed his thick hoodie and cut was plenty. Besides, he’d attached a big acrylic shield on the front of the bike to stream some of the cold wind around them.

“Come on. It’s warmer inside.” He twirled her clockwise, making her arm stretch over her waist as his hand clasped her hip. Dizzy from his little maneuver, she walked in pressed to his side as if they couldn’t stand being separated for a minute. She was so glad she’d taken time to clean up, even if she looked plain without a little makeup. Besides a sliver of soap, a questionable towel Wolf had provided, and his brush, she’d made do.

Two bikers stood outside, most likely guards. Their cuts appeared strange with just a couple of patches.

“Prospects,” Wolf greeted with a dip of his chin. They nodded back. One biker, no older than eighteen, turned and opened the door, even the back of his cut said Prospect.

Heat generated by a room full of bodies enveloped her as soon as they entered. From the look of things, most of the club had arrived for church. Wolf had explained earlier that was what they called their business meeting. How ironic.

The bottom floor of the warehouse had been converted to the primary gathering area with open metal stairs on one side. Wolf had told her the upper floor held bedrooms for the president and a few of the officers.

The vast room echoed with what felt like twenty people trying to talk and laugh over everyone else. Most were men and all dressed in their club colors, but two or three women hung onto big, beefy tattooed arms, joking and flirting in the hope of sticking around afterwards.

Knowing she wasn’t the only female helped to relax her somewhat. Even though Wolf had promised to protect her, she would be alone while he was in church. Anything could happen then. Her stomach grew tight with nerves.

They weeded their way through the crowd. A couple of brothers slapped Wolf on the back and a few more nodded his way, but none paid her any attention. Were they used to him being handcuffed to a woman? They finally stopped at a bar that stood in one corner.

“What do you want to drink?” he asked.

“I’m not drinking a beer this early in the morning.”

“No alcohol is served an hour before church. So soda or water?”

By the grin on his face, she felt silly for what she’d said. “Water would be nice.”

“Water for the lady, prospect.”

The man tossed a bottle his way. Wolf easily caught it one-handed. His grin widened. His arms circled her as he twisted the cap and then handed the bottle to her.

“Thank you.” She took a large swallow.

“That’s one of the things I liked about you. Always so polite.” He brushed a strand of hair behind her ear.

Sofia wanted to melt into his touch, and his sweet talking always caused her to blush. The way he looked at her with such tenderness had her heart pounding. She wanted to hug him, hold him tight to her. The man was dangerous to her self-respect. He had been the one to dump her. Then again, any chance of them being a couple—what with the Mayhem versus Thirty-Second situation—was doomed.

“Who do you have there?”

The man with the deep voice had a crooked nose and deep scar across one high cheekbone, warning anyone who saw him that he knew all about pain. He leaned over the bar and grabbed a soda, his long braid swinging over a shoulder. With his black hair, tanned skin, and dark brown, almost black, eyes, he looked to be a Native American.

“Sofia, this is Cutter. Our VP.”

Without thinking, she reached out to shake his hand and came up short. The handcuffs stopped her. Heat seeped into her cheeks.

“What the fuck, man? Do you have to shackle your women now?” Cutter’s eyebrows lifted as he laughed.

Even if she could think of something to say, she doubted he or any Mayhem Brother would consider helping her if she asked.

“Long story. I’ll tell you after church.” Wolf nodded to where an older blond man walked down the stairs, stopping every couple of feet to make a comment or point and laugh. “The asshole does love being president,” Wolf muttered.

The crowd started moving toward a door at the other side of the huge room.

Finally, he would have to un-cuff her. She lifted her arm.

“Yeah.” Cutter glanced her way before shaking his head at Wolf. “I’ll see you inside. The boss will be happy to see you made it.” He slapped Wolf on the back and walked away.

“In a sec.” Wolf turned to her. The apologetic look alerted her that whatever he planned next, she wouldn’t like. “Come over here.”

Why had he thought it necessary to tell her that? It wasn’t like she had a choice.

He led her to the end of the bar where a thin metal pipe came out of the wall about eye level to Wolf and disappeared into the floor.

“No! Don’t you leave me chained up like a dog. You let me go,” she ordered.

With a simple click of a key, he attached his end of the handcuff around the pipe. “I can’t risk you leaving. You’ll be safer here.”

“Are you crazy?” She leaned forward. “It’s like leaving out a bag of blow on a coffee table and not expecting a junkie to touch it,” she whispered.

His smile returned. That beautiful flash of white that always made her heart skip a beat. Damn him for being so sexy. With her emotions going from terror to anger to desire, no wonder she felt dizzy every time he touched her.

“You’re no old bag, and I’ll break anyone’s hand if they touch you.” He caressed her cheek with the back of one knuckle. The sweet look he gave her brought warmth to her face.

She was in hell, and she had the hots for the devil himself.

––––––––

Wolf leaned back against the opposite wall from where Easy Ryder sat. The man was an arrogant asshole. Not only had he beat and kicked out his own son from the club, he’d stripped Wolf of his VP position. That last part he didn’t mind. His interest had been elsewhere, and she was presently handcuffed to a pipe near the bar.

He’d only been VP because the Skull, the club’s national president, had ordered him to look after Storm, then president, and had arranged for him to be voted in. Obviously, Wolf had done a crappy job. He’d never been anyone’s keeper. Hell, he wasn’t much of a friend, but he was determined to keep Sofia safe. Some people would say he was stupid to bring her in the middle of the club that wanted to kill her cousin. But that was it, they were after Toro, not her.

Shit! He only hoped what he planned would work.

“The raid on the Thirty-Second’s house was unsuccessful, and I have one of you assholes to blame for that.” The bleary-eyed stare he gave Wolf served as a heads up to what was about to come next. “Where were you last night, Wolf?”

“I didn’t get the message.” It was a boldface lie, but he didn’t give a fuck. Sofia had needed him. Remembering what Cutter had said, he added, “I was in the middle of putting my bike back together, and a guy at work had borrowed my truck. I was stuck at home.”

“Fuck that! I’m fining you five hundred dollars for not responding to an emergency call from your club.” He slammed the gavel on the table. The man actually had bought a fucking gavel.

“I don’t have that kind of green.” When he lost the VP position, he’d been fined then too. He’d just paid that off.

“Find it. And you better be there when your Brothers need you next time.” The prez’s tone made it clear that there would be a next time, and he would be punished worse if he didn’t show up.

The rest of the meeting dealt with finding out where Toro was hiding and the planned run in two weeks. Things were wrapping up when Wolf raised his hand.

“Boss,” he said.

“I’m not changing the amount,” Easy said in no uncertain terms.

Several of the Brothers shouted teasing insults. He tuned them out.

“No. That’s not what I want to bring up. I want to announce that Sofia is now my old lady.”

“What the fuck?” Easy stood, pushing away from the table. Waving his hand in dismissal, his jaw clenched in irritation. “Fine.” With a glare, he studied Wolf for a second. “Sofia who?”

This was the part that was tricky. He wanted to lie—he’d already lied once that day—but they were his family, his Brothers despite the asshole leading them.

“Sofia Cruz.”

“Cruz. . . Cruz. . . hmm.” Easy crossed his arms, forehead wrinkled. Cutter stood behind him, frowning.

Wolf was unsure if his friend was worried or pissed that he’d hidden the truth. He could only hope Easy wouldn’t put two and two together.

“Yeah. We’ve been dating for a while. She might have some family problems. I want to make sure she’s protected.”

Easy’s maniacal laughter filled the room.

“She’s the reason you fucked up your position as VP. You gave up the power of the Brothers of Mayhem for some pussy. You and Storm get cunt crazy and forget about what’s important.”

Easy’s son, Storm, now lived with his old lady in the Smoky Mountains. As far away as he could get from his sorry bastard of a father.

Chuckling, Easy shook his head. “With the name like Cruz, who knows, she may be related to that scumbag Toro.” As he continued to stare at Wolf, his expression began to change.

The moment Easy’s eyes widened and then quickly narrowed, Wolf knew he realized who Sofia was, and Wolf started talking.

“You can’t take it back now, Boss. She’s my old lady. She’s got the club behind her now.” He wasn’t making any brownie points with the prez, but he hadn’t from day one.

“What are we, in third grade? Take it back. Fuck,” Easy muttered and then snorted as his cold stare remained on Wolf for a few seconds.

He hated it. The man had the creepiest stares. As if he debated on whether to kill you or serve you up as cannibal stew. But that was the reason he announced it during church. Any other place or time, Easy could claim he didn’t know.

“That was the bitch you were hanging on to like she’d disappear. I want to see this prime piece of ass up close.” Easy turned, heading out the door into the main room.

Wolf followed, clasping and unclasping his hands. He didn’t want to fight Easy. He would be out bad, ejected from the club, for sure. But he wouldn’t let him touch her. She belonged to him.

Shit! He really needed to pull it together. Losing his temper solved nothing.

As soon as Wolf walked into the large room, the quietness warned something was wrong. He looked over toward the wall near the bar. The handcuffs hung from the pipe with no Sofia.

“Cherry, where’s Sofia?" He worked at keeping his temper under control. Easy’s laughter didn’t help.

The woman pretended all innocence, eyes wide, fluttering her lashes at him. “The one that you fastened to the pipe?”

“Yes,” he bit out.

“She had to go to the restroom. So I unlocked the cuffs and told her to come right back.” Her casual attitude frustrated him. Cherry was quite adept at picking locks.

They had been lovers in the past, and he was well aware that she expected him to come back to her. That wasn’t happening as he never slept with a woman more than a couple of weeks. He’d learned if he did so for longer than that, they expected a relationship to follow. Sofia was the exception. Maybe that was why he was obsessed by her. Having never slept with her, he didn’t feel a need to break it off.

He turned and hurried to the short hallway with the restroom. He slammed into the small room. No one was there. The two stalls were empty, but the single window was wide open.

Sticking his head out of the space, he looked around. No sign of her. She was long gone.

Damn it to hell!