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“Of course! I’ll grab some easy readers from the school library. We could start with Dick and Jane. Once you’ve mastered the basics, it’s pretty quick from there.” She smiles at me sweetly, letting the barb really sink in. “Then I just need you to carry out a teensy bit of justice.”
Cuteandmouthy. Deadly combo. I stare her down. “I’m not a cop, Cherry.”
“Good. The problemisa cop. And my name isn’t Cherry. It’s Elle. Elle fucking Rainer.”
I can’t lie. The bit about the cop has my curiosity poking its head over the fence. But as much as she wants to protest the other part, she’s still Cherry. Baby sister of the mother fucking enemy.
“We don’t say that name in here. Go talk to Mayhem if you need help with something.” I force my voice to sound dismissive but the pleading in her bottle green eyes squeezes the air out of my lungs, making it hard.
“You seriously think I didn’t try that?” Cherry snaps. “Like I’d walk into the Sinner’s bar if I wasn’t fucking desperate?” She pulls her hood back defiantly, letting her strawberry curls tumble over her shoulders. “I have triedeverything.Haven P.D. CPS. State police. Even Clint. He won’t raise a finger.No onewill.”
“We can’t help you Cherry. You need to go. Now.”
“And if I don’t?”
I lean closer. Close enough to smell her hair and count the freckles that dust her nose and cheeks. “If I have to put you over my shoulder and haul you outside, I’ll do it. I’m not looking to get shot, but maybe getting my hands on that sweet body of yours might be worth it.”
My intention was to spook her, but as I let my eyes trail down her body, lazy and lecherous, her pupils flare. Pouty, rose-colored lips part, and she sucks in a hard breath. I may not be an educated man, but I know lust when I see it.
Cherry blinks at me, frozen in place, until Rattler snorts, breaking the tenuous thread of her attention. “Hold the fuck on. I don’t need you signing my death warrant.”
“Oh, what?” Cherry rounds on him, burning like a bonfire. “He needs your help to toss me out? Sinners can’t handle a single woman on their own?”
He smirks at her, no doubt enjoying the irony of her assessment just as much as I am. “Oh, I’ve watched Beasthandleplenty of women on his own, but you know what really makes his dick hard?” Rattler drawls, leaning in to give Cherry his full attention. Her eyes flit between his face and mine, like she thinks we’d actually be stupid enough to hurt a single hair on her head.
“He gets off playing kitty in the middle.” Rattler raises his eyebrows suggestively. Cherry’s eyebrows pull together, a cute as fuck little crease of confusion forming in the middle. Then it clicks and her face goes beet red.
“There you go,” Rattler continues, grinning at me. “I think she’s got it now.” He takes a long drag from his beer. “And I really wouldn’t mind helping a brother out. So unless you’re looking to be in the middle of an Eiffel Tower, I’d be on your way, Red.”
“And I told you, I’m not leaving until someone agrees to handle this asshole. That, or you tell me where to get my hands on a gun. I’ll just do it myself.”
Rattler’s face falls into a scowl, and my mood dips to match. She wants a gun? To confront a goddamn cop? Fuck that. “We wouldn’t have the faintest idea, sweetness. This is just a bar.”
“Right.” Cherry huffs, staring at the wall behind the bar, refusing to meet our eyes. “Then I’lljusttake a beer. Whatever is cheap.”
I shake my head, about to tell her she’s drinking in here over my dead body. Her being here is just asking for spilled blood, but then I spot Reaper strolling up behind her and hold my tongue.
Cherry turns, lips parted like she’s ready to mouth off, given half a chance. But then she sees who it is and those pretty lips snap shut. If I thought Cherry’s spine was stiff before, it’s nothing compared to the way she goes rigid when she sees the Sinner’s Prez standing next to her.
“We got a problem?” He asks gruffly, crossing his arms over his chest.
Cherry glances at me, then Rattler, but neither of us says anything. I’m not in the habit of speaking for others and Rattler is just an asshole.
“I—I need help. One of my students keeps coming to school black and blue—”
“We don’t work with Chaos riders. Go talk to your brother if you need muscle.”
“Do I look like a goddamn Chaos rider?” Cherry raises her voice and gets to her feet, squaring off with Reaper. Rattler’s eyes go wide, a muscle ticking in his cheek. While the display of nerves is impressive and frankly sexy as fuck, everyone here knows that you don’t talk to the prez like that unless you have the itch to get decked.
Reaper’s eyebrows lift slowly, but his frown doesn’t ease up one bit. His lack of emotion doesn’t deter her, though. She charges right along, her voice rising with each word. “You don’t see me wearing a Chaos cut, do you? Does it say ‘property of the scumbag’ on my forehead or ‘Chaos Candy’ across my ass? No! I drive a baby blue Fiat, for christ’s sake. And for what it’s worth, my brotherwon’thelp. I tried that. Hicks is highway patrol and, according to Clint, he’s ‘necessary’,” she says, making exaggerated air quotes with her fingers.
Reaper’s eyes tighten at that, and I know exactly why. If Chaos has highway patrol on the take, that’s gonna make it even easier for them to pull off some truly heinous shit. It also makes our run next week risky. Well, riskier.
Cherry hasn’t noticed the shift in our attention. She’s still too busy chewing into Reaper. He’s towering over her, but it doesn’t seem to bother her. Then again, knowing who—and what—her old man was, she’s probably used to scary dudes. “I didn’t stroll in here for fun and giggles, you know! This is, quite literally, my last stop before I go handle it myself.”
“No,” I growl, slamming my fist down on the bar top. The idea of her pulling a gun on a dirty cop, putting herself in danger like that, makes me see red. Reaper gives me a threatening glare, but I don’t stop. “She has no business going after anyone—”
“She can stay.” Reaper interrupts me. He glances at Cherry. “Don’t start shit and I’ll think about it.” Cherry raises her hands, wordlessly promising not to make trouble. Reaper gives her a brief nod, then his black eyes settle back on me and Rattler. “I’ll meet you at your place after closing.”
