They weren't at all put off or uncomfortable with Dillon's issues. In fact, they seemed to effortlessly anticipate and cater to her particular needs without any extra effort, which did make her feel like less of a burden.
Even the women, Athena, Ever, and Ripley, were super conscious of Dillon's need to constantly have her proverbial back to the wall, and in the few moments Dillon had been around the three women, it was with great relief because they acted as though Dillon was perfectly normal.
Not one time had they treated her with kid gloves. The only person who really tip-toed around her was Tobias—for understandable reasons. To her surprise, it seemed whenever Tobias was within sight of her, so was Nasa.
As in, if Tobias was in the room with her, Nasa came up from his basement and found an excuse to give the guy some brotherly shit or do something to the cameras in the room.
Given his dedication to his work, she doubted the cameras needed adjusting or repairing, but she recognized it was Nasa's way of silently letting her know she was in his sight at all times.
No, Dillon wasn't afraid Nasa would do anything to hurt her.
Dillon was afraid, because she could see herself fitting in at the compound, and with Nasa.
She'd come down the other day to make herself some lunch, and Ever and Ripley had already been there, schlepping in groceries and talking about how crazy expensive TP was getting.
Ever's solution? A bidet made out of a garden hose, and the story turned out to be hilarious.
"By the time it’s all said and done, it'll be cheaper to remodel the bathroom and put a drain in the floor to hose the boys down.
"It'll save me time cleaning the damn bathroom after Roar and Lyon get finished pissing all over the place.
“I mean, seriously, if Roar can put a bullet in the center of a bullseye, I don't get why he can't pee in the bowl. He's got a damn fire hose, so how hard is it to aim and shoot? Lyon has an excuse. He's short, and he's a child.
“After I ripped Roar a new asshole about the mess I was having to constantly clean up, his solution was to take Lyon outside to start pissing on the trees. ‘Problem solved,’ he said.
"Only now Lyon won't pee unless he's outside, and Squatch goes along to pee where the boys have peed to mark his territory.
"My entire backyard smells like a fucking urinal, and before long, I expect to see Roar holding Harper over a bush like a savage. Hey, Dillon.”
Ripley was wiping tears from under her eyes as she sucked air in and tried to keep her cackling down to a low howl. She waved, and somehow managed to gracefully cross the kitchen in towering heels that would make it impossible for the spa owner to run for her life if she had to.
Dillon hadn’t seen Ripley wear anything but feminine outfits in varying shades of pink along with incredibly sexy heels.
Her man, Saint, obviously loved it. Dillon saw how his eyes fell to Ripley's shoes and worked their way up in a sensual, warm, appreciative glide every time he caught sight of Ripley.
In Dillon's estimation, both Ever and Athena were much more practical in their footwear. Dillon was six feet tall without shoes on, but the idea crossed her mind that she could wear heels and still be shorter than Nasa.
Which was ridiculous, because she had no plans to wear anything but sturdy boots around him.
Still, Ever's story and related tales of the shenanigans her husband and son got up to were hilarious.
Dillon wound up helping them cook Sunday dinner for the club, and it turned out to be one of the most fun afternoons she’d had in a long time.
“Alright. These six cabinets have everything we've compiled on Ghost, the Leviathans, and their operation,” Nasa told her, waving his hand like Vanna White at the row of black filing cabinets and neatly stacked boxes that lined both sides of the shipping container, front to back.
“Our first encounter with him starts here.”
Nasa opened the top drawer of the cabinet closest to them on the left, a muscle ticking in his jaw. He stood with both hands curled over the top of the drawer, staring at the neat rows of papers tucked inside hanging files with anger and with sadness.
“How did Perdition get involved with the Leviathans?” she asked gently.
Nasa puffed out a short breath and began his tale, “It started when Ever and Roar got involved a few years back. They had a rocky start, and Roar isn't exactly the sharpest crayon in the box.
"Sometimes, I wonder if Ever would have taken Roar on if she hadn't gotten pregnant.
“Anyway, it took him a while to get his head out of his ass, but Roar put in the effort and Ever came around just in time for her past to come knocking.
"She'd been on the run, in hiding after her entire family was killed, took on a new name, a new identity, and made a life for herself out here.
"She let Roar in, and by proxy the rest of the club, and confessed her father had been president of an MC in Nevada, the Tornadoes.”
Nasa looked sideways at her, and Dillon nodded to say she was keeping up.
“The Tornadoes were struggling to keep their territory and were about to make a merger with a larger club to keep from being taken over by a huge pack of skinheads.
"Couple weeks later—on Ever's wedding day to a dude who turned out to be an undercover ATF agent—there was a massive shootout at the Tornadoes compound and the whole place was set on fire.
"The entire club, her father, grandfather— all dead. Her car popped a flat tire, or she would have been among the casualties.”
Dillon took that information in stride, feeling strangely relieved to know she had something in common with the red-headed badass.
They'd lost everything and rebuilt their
