Shortly after we’d walked in he’d had his eye on a little blonde who I’d pegged as mid-thirties.
The opposite of his usual type.
Scott usually went for homely, submissive, shy women. It worked for him with his whole overpowering, alpha-male demeanor. It wasn’t something that meshed well with feisty women. And the blonde in question was certainly that. Just a few moments of interaction with her when she’d served us our drinks had made it abundantly clear that she was all hard edge and attitude.
His gaze snapped back to mine and I cocked an eyebrow.
“What?”
I smiled. “You know very well.”
He blew out a breath and slumped back against the booth. “Just can’t turn it off, can you?”
“What’s that?”
“Reading people, seeing them down real deep inside.”
“You know, just as well as I do, that it’s an occupational hazard. Our training becomes instinct quickly.” He was right on. I couldn’t shut it off any more than he could. Truth be told, he was actually better at it than me. He hadn’t earned the nickname, Spartan, for nothing.
He was a true warrior, like those of old. He had the focus, the discipline, and the determination. And he could strategize with the best of them. He was a hell of a revered leader too. And, like me, he had the skills to determine a great deal about someone from just a couple of key observations, able to analyze strangers and their intentions extremely quickly and accurately.
Back in the SF, knowing your surroundings and the people around you in an incredibly invasive amount of detail was key to survival. Although that was a long time past, the both of us still led lives that warranted it. And, maybe, it was also the scars of that life that had kept us that way as well.
He gave a nod. “Yeah, well.”
“What’s her name? She didn’t exactly introduce herself when she served us.”
“Daniella. A lot of people in this town come to escape something or someone. They’re on guard. They ain’t gonna blurt out details about themselves to strangers.” He grinned at me. “You know the type, yeah?”
“She trusts you then?” He didn’t just know her name, their brief interaction had made it damned clear they had a whole rapport going on.
“Ain’t given her no reason not to.”
“You’ve got your eye on her.”
A smirk ghosted his lips. He snatched up his beer bottle and took a swig to cover it up.
Heels clacked towards us and I looked up to see the woman in question approaching our booth.
“Third one already, huh?” she said, eyeing Scott’s beer.
He finished it off and handed the empty to her. “Thanks, Dani.”
She cocked her hip and told him, “Day drinking’s never a good sign.”
“Ain’t it? First I’m hearing of it.”
She tutted at his words. “You know, there are other, healthier ways to deal with whatever’s causing this sad display.”
He leaned forward, his gaze burning deep into hers. The sexual tension was off the goddamn charts. “Yeah? You got something in mind there, love?”
Her eyes flashed and for a moment I really thought she was going to rise to the bait. But, a couple of seconds later, the challenge that’d lit her eyes diminished. Her attitude and feistiness retreated and she brought out an obviously fake smile. “Yeah,” she finally answered, holding up the fingers of her free hand and counting off on them as she spoke, “A hearty meal. A run. A soul-bearing talk with a good friend. Any sort of fun, basically.” She came to a stop and then counted off on her thumb. “A ride on that Harley of yours. Isn’t that the ultimate therapy for you hardcore bikers?”
“Riding’s a hell of a lot more than that.”
An intense look passed between them. There was a definite eagerness in her eyes, a hope of something from him.
I saw him notice it.
And then he dropped his gaze. “Gotta get back to this,” he told her, gesturing at me. “Wraith’s our newest recruit.”
“I… uh… yeah. Of course. I remember you saying you’d brought in new blood,” she stumbled. She smiled at me. “Nice to meet you. You’ll like it here in Ridgefield. It’s a great place.”
I lifted my chin, then she broke from us and hurried away hastily.
“What was that?” I asked.
“For the best,” he grunted.
“What?”
He kept his eyes down, fiddling with the many rings decorating his fingers as he told me, “Women who get pulled into my orbit end up dead.”
“Andrea was… unprecedented. A tragic aberration. The likelihood that it would happen again, especially after we annihilate the current threat, is—”
“Stop!” he roared, slamming his fist down on the tabletop. Dani and the few bar flies who were present in the bar at midday swung their heads our way at the disturbance.
I held up my hand, signaling that everything was fine.
Scott mumbled an apology, then muttered, “You saw what we got going on here when I gave you that tour earlier. We got this town wired. The Sheriff leaves us alone, he’s practically in our pocket, cuz of all the good we do, protecting people, just our presence here keeping the crime rate way down, the charity we do and all the coin we bring in with the shit we’re running. We got the restaurant down by the river, the garage, the gym, Tonic and the whole chain of dive bars its spawned. The club’s doing real good. Hell, we got it made. And a load of people, other clubs, enemies from times past, are gonna be real fucking envious of that. Even when we manage to bury the Rogues, between all us club members we got enough enemies and dangers in our past that we’ve been running from, to last a fucking eternity.” He leaned forward and whispered, “There ain’t no such thing as safe.”
“So, you’re gonna keep living your life in fear just in case the worst you’ve lived through before somehow plays out again?”
“It ain’t fear,” he ground out. “It’s
