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I can tell my questioning is making her feel uncomfortable and yet it doesn’t stop me.
“What about your boyfriend?”
“I don’t have one of those either.” She shakes her head and laughs.
“You got a roommate or—”
“I live alone, okay?” she snaps defensively, making the atmosphere immediately turn cold.
We make the rest of the journey in silence, and when I pull onto Leamington Street and she directs me to her apartment block, I get outta the truck and move around it to open her door for her. There’s a guy slumped at the entrance, off his fuckin’ head, that she’s gonna have to climb over to get inside. I lock up my truck and decide I’m gonna have to see her all the way to her door before I can leave her.
“Here’s fine, honestly,” she tells me, stepping over his limp body and putting her key into the lock.
“I’d rather see you to your door,” I insist when I hear all the yelling that’s coming from inside.
“You really don’t have to do that.” She smiles.
“I really want to.” I stomp on the guy's arm when his hand wraps around her ankle and starts creeping up her leg.
“What the fuck, dude?” he yells up at me, so I stomp on his face and send him back into whatever coma he came out of.
“Lead the way.” I gesture for her to move on, and she looks down at the man on the floor in shock, while I hold the door open for her.
We pass through the corridor and then she leads me up the stairs, where a girl around the same age as her lies with a needle hanging out of her arm. There’s a baby screaming on the second floor and when she starts to unlock her door on the third and I hear a gun go off above us, I quickly rush her inside and slam it closed.
“That was probably just a warning shot.” She bites her lip nervously.
Glancing down I see ‘The Guide to Pregnancy’ book that's resting on her couch, and she quickly takes off her coat and throws it over the top of it.
“So, that's me in and safe, you got your savior points, you can leave now.”
“Safe?” I stare at her, wondering if she’s lost her mind. “Darlin’, you’d be safer sleepin’ in the middle of a war zone. Pack a bag, you ain’t stayin’ here.” It’s just as cold in this room as it is outside and when I look up at the mold growing on the ceiling, I question how her landlord can be charging her for this health hazard.
“I know it isn’t exactly a palace, but I don’t have much choice,” she bites back at me sarcastically.
“Yeah, well I’m givin’ ya one. Go pack your things.” I stand firm, and when the commotion that comes from the apartment above us becomes deafening, she huffs in defeat and heads over to her wardrobe.
She doesn’t take long to pack her stuff, and I’m surprised that it all fits with ease into a small rucksack. I wait for her to stand in front of me with it before I take it from her and slide it over my shoulders. Lifting her coat, I wait for her to shrug inside it before I pick up the book she tried to cover up and watch her blush as I hand it to her.
“Come on.” I take her hand and when her fingers wrap around mine, I move my gaze down to them and stare at the way it looks. The last woman whose hand I held was Carly’s. It was cold and didn’t clench me back.
“You don’t have to do this. You don’t even know me,” she points out, making me shake the memory outta my head and focus on what I need to do.
“I want to.” I pull together a smile as I rush her out the door and down the stairs, getting her the hell outta there and back to my truck.
“So, how far along are ya?” I ask, breaking through the silence as I drive toward Manitou Springs. There's no way I can take the girl back to the club, there would be far too many questions from my brothers. They might get the wrong idea as to why she was there, and there's no way this girl is ready for Squealer. Way I see it, I’ve only got one option.
“I’m not sure, I figure I should see a doctor, but I’ll need to get another job before I can do that. The one I got barely pays my rent.”
I want to ask her more, like where she came from and who got her in trouble. But I have a feeling that pushing the girl will only make her clam up more.
“You need to see a doctor.” I clear my throat, trying to think about what my wife would do in a situation like this. She sure as hell wouldn’t have left this poor, defenseless girl alone in that apartment, and when I pull up outside the house I bought a few months ago—that nobody else knows about—I get the sense this is what she’d want.
This place was gonna be a surprise for Carly, we’d been trying to get pregnant for some time, and I figured that when we did, she wouldn’t want to raise our kid at the club. I wanted to give her the white picket fence, big backyard dream, and this place was gonna be the start of it.
“Is this your place?” the girl asks, as I lean across her and take the key from the glove compartment. Thankfully, it's far too dark for her to see what else is inside there.
“No, it belongs to a friend. I’m just takin’ care of it for him,” I lie as I lead her to the front door and open it for her.
