Cage chuckled. “Good luck. Between you and me, that woman scares me.”
Ranger frowned at his club brother. “You just calledDemoa chickenshit for not standing up to her, like you would in his place.”
Cage frantically shook his head. “Just wait until you meet her. The Chickenshit Club is growing fast.”
Ranger and Ghost exchanged a look before Ghost cracked his knuckles. “Let’s go.”
CHAPTER 4
124 Days Sober
“No, no, no…” What the fuck was happening? Toni Anderson’s eyes frantically flicked between her dashboard and the mountain road in front of her, illuminated by only her headlights. She’d been driving along just fine, maybe speeding a bit more than she should have because shehatedbeing late, and then there was a grinding noise, followed by a high-pitched whine, and now the buttons in her car were dancing like they were at a nightclub. What the hell did ATL mean?
Her Lexus ES suddenly jolted forward, making her seatbelt pull tight between her breasts. Crap. On the steep terrain leading from her house, she wasnotokay, but there wasn’t a pull-off area for another half mile. Could she make it? Was it better to ride the brakes down or stop now? What was safer? If a car came speeding around the bend while she was stationary in her car, they could ram right into her without ever seeing her.
Crap. Fuck.
This was what she got for trying to have a social life. Then again, at thirty-one, and the only people she hung out with were professional colleagues, she couldn’t really call it a “social life”. Susie was the exception. A few years older than her, Susie was a small-business attorney who had taken Toni under her wing when she first moved back to town after law school. They both sent clients each other’s way, and tried to help out where they could. Since Toni’s specialty was criminal defense, they didn’t consider the other competition, and had created a nice friendship over the years.
Susie was more outgoing than Toni, constantly trying to drag her out. At least, clubs and bars weren’t her scene, or she’d never be able to convince Toni to go. Instead, Susie had dragged her kicking and screaming to book clubs, knitting circles, a cooking class, basket weaving, local carnivals, and in one case, an improv performance. Even Toni could admit that the experiences were good for her, but she really was just more comfortable as a homebody. She could turn off her introverted personality long enough to stand in front of a courtroom, but then afterwards, needed her Me Time to decompress. Going out and being social just added to the noise in her head.
And being a small-town attorney meant her days were spent in a courtroom, dealing with arraignments, bail hearings, plea hearings, motion hearings, preliminary hearings, and trials. It was an act, nothing more. Just like drama club or choir in high school. Half the time she forgot she even had an office, she was so rarely there. Some of the best days for her were when she got called in as counsel or an advisor, and never had to say the words “Your Honor!”.
Even as introverted as she was, there was no replacing the need for human contact. She’d tried dating, but damn, why were men such assholes? She would love to find a man like Susie’s husband, quiet, dependable, predictable. Unfortunately, Toniwas fairly certain Susie had found the last one of those on the planet. She’d given up dating completely about seven months ago after a coworker asked her out, they slept together, and then he ghosted her.
It wasn’t like Toni was that needy of a person. She had a good job, was financially stable, owned her own house and car—which was currently chugging along at a snail’s pace towards the mountain pull-off. What was so wrong with Toni that guys never wanted that second date? Per Susie, it wasn’t that there was anything wrongwith Toni. Men were just intimidated by her success and independence. Well, that was all fine and dandy, but it didn’t solve her loneliness problem.
So against her better judgement, Toni had gotten home tonight after a long-ass day in court defending a man who was no doubt guilty, and instead of ditching her bra and throwing on a pair of sweatpants, she was dressed to the nines and on her way to Girls’ Night. Toni didn’t know exactly what that meant, because she’d never been to a girls’ night in her life, but she assumed it meant wine. And after today, that was all the incentive she needed to get into her little black dress and heels.
At the shoulder pull-off, Toni let out a long sigh of relief. At least here, someone would have to aim for her car if they were to hit it. Toni loved the seclusion of her mountain home, but this road was notorious for accidents. Until the bridge splitting the two sides of town had been modified two summers ago, that had been the most dangerous place in town to drive in bad weather. Now, it was the road that led to her house.
But she loved her home. It was quaint, and she had a giant fireplace that was perfect for curling up with a good book. She even remodeled the outdoor garage into two-story apartment for her parents to move into. And best of all, there wasn’t a neighbor in sight.
Getting her phone out of her purse, Toni let out a sigh of relief when she saw she had service. It rang twice before Susie picked up.
“Something’s wrong with my car,” Toni said in lieu of a greeting. “It made a weird noise and then jolted forward. I barely made it to the side of the road.”
Susie paused. “Did a new book just release?”
Toni frowned. “Huh?”
“Did you just download a new book and that’s why you’re faking your car not working so you can get out of Girls’ Night?”
“I wish,” Toni grumbled. “Here.” She grabbed a quick picture of herself all dolled up and sent it to Susie. “See?”
“Oooh. I approve of the cleavage.”
Toni snorted. “Look, I’m going to have to call someone. I just wanted to let you know I was going to be late.”
“Stay in your car and keep your doors locked,” Susie said sternly. “And I want updates every ten minutes that some serial killer hasn’t stumbled across you and dragged you off into the woods.”
“I have my mace and my gun,” Toni reminded her, but appreciating the concern. “Let me see what’s going on, and then I’ll get you an update.”
After hanging up with Susie, she pulled up a quick search. She knew that theVia Daemoniahad an auto garage with a tow truck, but it was on the other side of town. Easily thirty to forty minutes from her. She hoped she’d be able to find something closer. Maybe it was a quick fix that required a penis to inherently possess the know-how.
But several minutes later resulted in nothing. The club’s garage really was her only option.
Toni wasn’t as familiar with the club as Susie was. They’d only called on her services twice, once when their VP Lucky had been falsely arrested by the town’s new sheriff, and again whentheir former president Steel had been accused of murdering his adopted son’s biological mother. Neither had gone to trial, but it wasn’t like they kept her on retainer. In her heart of hearts, she did not think the club were bad men. There were, however, rumors, and in her line of work, rumors rarely were pure fiction.
