Chapter Twenty-Five
Stacey arrived home late, pulled her sedan into the carport, and stepped out. The lights were on inside, and a delicious smell greeted her when she walked in. She’d barely had time to eat all day because she’d been focused on identifying every piece of missing stock. Naturally, Bill had no idea what had happened to it all.
She was contemplating firing Bill, or calling in the cops, or both. One thing she wasn’t going to do was talk about it with Troy. She didn’t want to get used to relying on him. Not for muscle, and not even for advice. Until she heard different, he could be gone in a heartbeat at any moment.
The trouble was, her body and her mind didn’t care. They were still excited to see him.
He was binding her to him with sex. How could you make such amazing love with a person and not fall for them completely? He might be able to, but she couldn’t. She wanted to run into the kitchen and throw herself into his arms, tell him all her problems and listen to his advice.
But that would be foolish.
His Harley was parked across her front door again, and she’d had to edge her way around the large, black, alpha machine to get inside. To her, it seemed like overkill, but she’d worked out that bikers relied on bluster, bullying, and violence to get their way.
Still, if she had to have a bike blocking her entryway to symbolically keep the club brothers out of her life, that suited her just fine. She didn’t want any part of them.
She walked into the kitchen to see Troy cooking something on the stove that smelled of smoky wood and sizzling meat. She inhaled deeply. “Mmm. I didn’t know you could cook.”
“You’d be surprised what I can do.” He glanced at her appraisingly, checking her dress, her shoes, her hair.
“I’ve had more than my share of your surprises, thanks.”
“So young. So cynical.” He gave her that smile of his that said she was in for a night of sex. “Mom dropped this by. I think she was looking for an excuse to visit with you.”
“Sorry I missed her. Too bad I had to work late. What did she have to say?”
“She’s still in shock over the engagement.”
“You mean she’s shocked you’ve found someone who’ll put up with you?”
“Why do people keep saying that to me?”
She laughed at his grumpy expression. “No idea.”
“Come here.” He grabbed her by the waist and kissed her, pressing her hips against his groin. He was hard. Always hard.
He’d just taken a shower, and his hair was slicked back off his face. He wore rough blue denim jeans and a simple white T-shirt that clung to his body. She could smell his woodsy scent, and it affected her in a way no other man ever had. His warm lips pressing against hers made her shiver with pleasure.
“What do I do if she wants to discuss the wedding? Like, the actual plans?”
He frowned. “Good point. Especially since Snake and Lizzie got away from her. She and Lizzie were planning some big biker wedding together. Mom got married in a registry office, so she didn’t get a proper wedding. She wanted something special for Lizzie.”
“Troy,” Stacey said, feeling massively guilty and worried. “It’s really going to hurt your mother when we break up.”
“How do you know we’re going to break up?” He hadn’t let her go, and she swore she could feel his cock throbbing through his jeans. He was gazing at her intently, like he was about to bend her over the table.
“Um, because you keep saying you’re leaving. That you haven’t decided whether you’ll re-up or not. And once you’re gone, it’s over.” She couldn’t think of them as a long-term couple. She couldn’t.
Uncomfortable with his scrutiny, she moved out of his arms and looked at what was in the pot and took another deep inhale. Pork and beans bubbled away with a slick layer of grease on the top.
Her head swirled, and she gripped the counter.
“You okay, babe?”
“I need to sit.”
He helped her into a kitchen chair and got her a glass of water. “What’s the matter?”
“I’ve been flat out all day. The air-conditioning broke down at the warehouse, and it was sweltering. There’s so much to get on top of at work. I really miss Dad. I wish Brian would come home. I’d be able to deal with all the work issues so much faster if he was here. He knows the business.” She gulped her water down, her equilibrium returning.
“Can I help?”
“No. I’ll manage.”
“Stacey, I’ve worked in a bike shop for years. Car spare parts and bike spare parts. I can help. The business isn’t rocket science.”
She massaged her temples. Her head ached from staring at the computer screen all day. “I know. But I need to do it myself.”
“Stay here. You need to eat.” He served up two meals, setting one in front of her, along with a knife and fork for the pork and beans.
“Thanks.”
He was doing it again. Being sweet and caring. She thought about the day at the cabin when he’d made sure she had asthma medicine, and the way he’d bathed her after her escape attempt, delicately washing all the mud off her.
She started to eat, savoring the pork, which was rich with spices and added vegetables. “Yum. Your mother’s a good cook.”
“She’s self-taught. She had a ring on her finger and a baby in her arms when she was just sixteen.”
“So young. Imagine her living in that cabin surrounded by alligators. It must have been hell.”
“Not much of a choice when she got pregnant. First go, too.”
Stacey paused mid-bite. “How do you know that? I can’t imagine Pa telling you such personal details.”
Troy took a bite, chewing it with relish. “That’s the way Mom tells it. When she started to show, her father threw her out, completely disowned her. He wouldn’t let Mom see her mother, either, though they kept in touch when he wasn’t around,” Troy added. “Her father couldn’t believe his daughter had taken up with uneducated, low-life, poor white trash, as he called him.”
“I could see where he was coming from.”
“Stacey,” Troy growled.
“They were very young to have a baby.” Stacey kept her eyes on her plate, scooping up some pork and beans. It wasn’t that she wanted to dis Pa’s background, but she didn’t get what a striking woman like Georgia saw in him.
“So, they were on their own. Pa joined the forces and served for three years, so was able to put some money together.”
“He left your mother alone in the swamp? With a baby? Holy hell.”
“She wasn’t alone. She chose to stay in New Orleans where she had support rather than moving to Pa’s base, especially as he wasn’t there much. Some of the brothers have been friends with Pa from high school. Hawg kept an eye on Mom for him. Made sure she had everything she needed.”
“Hawg! That psychopath? What was Pa thinking?” She gulped her water, horrified at the thought.
“Pa and Hawg always had each other’s backs. Hawg took his duty seriously, and he looked after Mom well.”
“Ugh! How did she stand it?”
“It’s a brotherhood. Mom knew she was safe. Just like you are now.”
Stacey clunked down her glass. “Because I’m owned by you. You don’t have a problem with that mentality?” She pushed her plate away, suddenly no longer hungry.
“It’s better than the alternative.” He cleaned up his plate and sat back, satisfied, his hand on his flat stomach.
She shouldn’t ask, but she just had to know. “Which is what?”
“If you’re not an old lady, anyone can have you.”
“Please tell me I heard that wrong.”
“Anyone can have sex with a woman who parties with the brothers. They pass her around until someone claims her. After that, she’s off-limits.”
Stacey blinked. Too shocked. Too horrified. “What if she says no?”
“She can’t.”
“So, you’ve had sex with women who didn’t want you?”
“Believe me, if I had sex with a woman, she wanted it.” He reached over and jabbed his fork in her remaining dinner, shifted it over to his plate, and started eating.
“Thank God I have no intention of ever partying with your so-called brothers. I can’t believe any woman in her right mind would subject herself to that. There must be something wrong with them.”
She looked down at the remaining gravy on her plate, glistening with fat, and her stomach turned.
“Plenty of women like the sex and the free alcohol.”
“How can you associate with such a culture of chauvinist pigs?”
“You’d better learn to keep a lid on your hoity-toity opinions because you’ll be associating with them tomorrow night. The brothers are putting on a meet to celebrate our engagement.”
She stood so fast the chair clattered on the floor. She didn’t even bother to pick it up. “No! Hell, no. I’m not mixing with those hideous men. I met your father. I did what I had to do. That is where I draw the line.”
Troy stood, stormed over to her, and grabbed her by the shoulders. “Yeah, you are. And you’re going to play nice. This is about keeping you safe. The brothers need to meet you and see you by my side. Don’t make me throw you over my shoulder and carry you there.”
“Engagement parties are usually planned together. I’m sick of you just ordering me around and trying to control me. It’s unacceptable.”
His face hardened into planes. “Don’t test me, baby. I’ll tie you up and gag you again to get you there if I have to.”
“Yeah, and they’ll totally believe I’m willingly marrying you.”
“Yep. They’d just sit back and watch the spectacle. Women know their place in the club.”
Blind, white rage overcame her, too wild and crazy to control. “Go to hell, you misogynist bastard. Once and for all, I am not going.”
His fingers pressed hard into her shoulders, keeping her from storming off. “You are if I say you are.” He took a calming breath and lowered his voice. “This is for a good reason. Your safety comes first.”
She opened her mouth to retort, but he cut her off.
“New Orleans is not New York City. It’s wild here, and you need to have the club on your side, especially if you plan to run that spare parts business. When I’m away, I have to know someone I trust is here to keep an eye on you. So, yes, you’re damn well coming. And you’re going to make friends with everyone.”
“I won’t,” she muttered mulishly.
“You’re also going to look at me like a woman in love and convince Pa we’re the real deal. He may be an asshole, but he’ll give his life to save you if he believes you’re mine.”
She clawed at Troy’s hands, trying to wrench them off her. “I will not be owned, and I’m not hanging out with men who rape women and women who take drugs. This whole idea was a huge mistake. This isn’t a real relationship.”
“Then what the fuck would you call it? I’m with you every day. I’m making sure you have a hot meal after work. You think I do that stuff normally?” He grabbed her hands and squeezed them so the bones pressed together.
She winced. “Yeah, if you want sex bad enough. That’s what I’d call it. All about the sex.”
“That’s not how I see it,” he said hotly.
“And of course yours is the only opinion that matters. You don’t get to order me around, Troy. I am not your plaything.”
“You need to learn—”
“No! I don’t need to learn a damn thing from you. Go re-up and die.” She tried to pull her hands away, tried to release his grip, but his fingers tightened even more.
“Aren’t you a charmer when you’re mad?” he said, his tone suddenly quiet and deadly. “This is my town. I know what goes on here and how damn dangerous it can be. You’re doing things my way, Stacey, or you’re going back to New York.”
“Fuck you! Let me go. I hate you.”
“No. We’re sorting this out now.”
Blind with fury, she kicked out at him and tried to knee him. But he dodged her kicks, and wrestled her up against the wall, binding her with his arms so his whole body imprisoned hers.
God help her, he had an erection.
He was strong, and so hard, so damned sexy, that she stilled, breathing heavily, and smelled his musky male scent.
Her traitorous body reacted instantly. Craving him.
Damn it! How could he have this insane pull on her?
Right now she loathed him…but she wanted him, too. It hurt so much that he was willing to humiliate her if she didn’t obey him. She believed him when he said he’d bind and gag her, and it did her head in.
“Why are you so damn stubborn?” he asked, his voice gritty like sandpaper. “Can’t you see this is for your own good? I don’t want anything bad to happen to you.”
He bent and kissed her, his hot, possessive lips on hers.
She bit him, hard, drawing blood. “I don’t want druggies and criminals looking out for me.”
His arms coiled around her, squeezing her like an anaconda, his face dark with fury until she was left gasping. “Don’t do that again.”
“Or what? You’ll tie me up and pin me to the floor with your boot? Practice for tomorrow?”
“Don’t tempt me,” he said. He licked his bleeding lip.
“I can’t stand the way you treat me sometimes. I want an equal relationship, but clearly, you don’t know the definition.” She could feel her eyes heating up as tears threatened to spill, but she was determined not to cry in front of him.
“These are my people, Stacey. My family. The ones who have my back.”
“Your people. Not mine.”
“And you say you’re not a princess. You are so fucking judgmental,” he said, stung. “You haven’t even met these people, and your mind is already made up. I’ve served with some of these men. They have more loyalty and more heart than you’ll ever have.”
“That’s rich, coming from you. I want you gone. Now! It’s over. I’m done. Get out of my life.”
He released her, grabbed his cut from the chair where he’d hung it, and pulled it on over his T-shirt. His expression was hard as he glowered at her with brittle-dark eyes. This man had been born into the biker culture, a culture she’d never understand, and never wanted to.
When he wordlessly strode out of the house, she sank to her knees, and the tears fell.