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My voice was wary, “Angel?”
The woman cooking snorted, catching my attention. She gave me a pointed look. “Angels are the club girls here. Their role is varied,” she looked at Lennon with a genuine smile, “but they’re mostly around for the pleasure of the brothers.”
I’m sure my eyes were so big it looked like they were going to pop right out of my head. It felt like a knife to the chest as I parroted, “The pleasure of the brothers.”
Lennon shrugged, “It’s a two-way street. No one forces an angel to be here, and they gain a lot in return like room and board being covered. I can’t tell you everyone’s reason for making that choice.”
I nodded slowly, trying not to judge because it wasn’t my place, and it wasn’t right. I was never one to judge someone’s life choices—they were only for that person to live with, not my consumption. I whispered, “Are you an angel?”
Lennon gave me a small smile, “Kind of.” She shrugged. “I’m not a typical angel. I have had sex with some of the brothers. I do enjoy the protection and the options being associated with the DSMC gives me. I’ve traveled to other chapters across the country. I like taking care of the guys, it gives me a purpose.”
I couldn’t keep the suspicion out of my voice, even though I tried, “Taking care of them how?”
Lennon giggled. “Not in the way you’re thinking. I do a lot of cooking and organizing depending on where I am and what they need. I’ve become like a sister to most of the guys and nothing more. There are some I’ve hooked up with here and there, but it’s not about sex for me. Being able to help them, especially in the chapters where there aren’t any old ladies or they’re super busy, it makes me feel good.”
I nodded slowly, trying to absorb her words. Lennon was never a good liar; it was something we always had in common. I could see the sincerity shining in her eyes as she spoke about her role with the club. I also saw it when she told me she wasn’t a spy in my life, even though it felt like it when I found out she had a connection to Penance.
Thinking of him had dread filling me and Lennon must have read my thoughts on my face because she reached out and gave my shoulders a squeeze. “It’s never happened,” she stated firmly.
I looked deep in her eyes and read the truth there, even as I tried to deflect, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
The woman cooking let out a little laugh. When I looked at her curiously, she grinned at me. “Your face is an open book and I’ll tell you right now that while Penance might, and let me stress that, might allow an angel here and there to rub up on him, I’ve never seen him touch them. I’ve never seen him take anyone to his room.” The look on her face turned thoughtful and she mused, “Though, I have to say, I haven’t been around very long.”
She went back to cooking, and I looked at Lennon, needing the truth. “I’ve been around longer and what McKenzie is saying is true. I’ve never seen him avail himself of the angels’ services.”
I choked on a laugh as relief filled me. I nodded and then decided to let it fucking go. What will be, will be and I believed my friend. At least about her role in coming back into my life. I wasn’t going to lose the friendship again.
Then, as McKenzie was finishing up, we introduced ourselves to each other officially and she told me all about how she met Bronco, her old man. I found myself smiling at the love shining in her eyes. It made me a little jealous, but I pushed it aside. Someone else being happy is a good thing. The world needs more love.
By the time Penance entered the room, the three of us were sitting around a table talking and laughing like we were all old friends while some of the other brothers were grabbing their own breakfast. I looked up at him when he leaned down and kissed the top of my head, surprised by his action. His mossy-gray eyes held something like adoration and relief.
I guess it was warranted, I didn’t react very well to seeing Lennon in the clubhouse or him appearing in my life suddenly. I mean, could anyone expect me to? It was a lot.
He rumbled, “Chains is going to shadow you today. He’ll keep an eye out on you while you’re with your patients.”
“He can’t come in the houses with me,” I insisted. He gave me a long, hard stare, his face set in a scowl. I could tell he wanted to fight me on it, but I wouldn’t budge. “It’s a privacy violation.”
His shoulders slumped and he grumbled, “Fine. Just don’t try to lose him. Go over your schedule with him and then let him know if anything needs to change.”
I wanted to argue with him. I wanted to tell him that he wasn’t the boss of me. I wanted to remind him that the whole situation was ridiculous because only the morning before I had no idea where he was, and we hadn’t seen each other in years.
The way his eyes were pleading with mine and the echo of pain I saw there, from losing someone and not knowing why, is what kept my mouth shut.
I reluctantly nodded and he gave me a small smile. It felt like a victory, and I was shouting about it from the rooftops. Then he kissed me, it was slow and languid to the point that my toes were curling. I was wide eyed and heated when we broke apart.
“Thank you, little feather,” he murmured before he insisted that I give him my phone where he promptly entered his number under ‘Feather’s Man’.
When I looked back at Lennon and McKenzie, who had a man wrapped around her like an octopus, a man I assumed to be Bronco, they were giving me matching smiles filled with humor. As indignantly as possible, which wasn’t easy when my voice came out all breathy and needy, I asked, “What?”
“Nothing,” they said in unison and started to giggle.
And that is how I came to spend the day being followed around by a man on a motorcycle. He isn’t as intimidating as some of the men I saw in the clubhouse last night, but he doesn’t exactly ooze cuddly vibes either. We didn’t talk as he walked me from my car to the front door of my patients’ houses. He only nodded when the door opened, and he stepped away. I guess it was his way of telling me he would be waiting for me.
I had a lot of questions to answer from my patients. Some were wary. Some were downright giddy. Those had me rolling my eyes and wondering if I was dealing with a hormonal teenager or an elderly lady.
Not like I could fully blame them, Chains is an attractive guy, and he has that whole bad boy biker thing going for him. Still, it is Bennett who has been taking up the majority of my headspace. Things are moving fast. Too fast? I don’t know.
I’m scared, but there’s also electricity flowing under my skin. It’s something I haven’t felt before and I know it’s all because of Bennett. The fact that he showed up suddenly and insisted he needed to keep me safe has me feeling cherished. But on the heels of a bloom of warmth in my chest, I remember there’s a reason I left Seattle and Bennett was a huge part of it.
