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“Okay,” I relented.
I was anxious about going down that road and even being in my house. Having someone who proved capable of taking care of business there with me when I first went back felt like a smarter idea than doing it alone.
With that, I got into the SUV, and we rode back up the highway.
I could feel myself tensing as Finn blinked for the turn, but as soon as he had the wheel turned, his hand was landing on my knee, giving it a tight, reassuring squeeze.
My gaze slid to the field near the woods I’d emerged from, where Finn had cradled me as we waited for the police and paramedics.
“What happened to them?” I asked.
“Who?”
“The men who attacked us? What happened to them?”
“Think whoever was in charge told everyone to retreat. That’s the best I can come up with,” he said. “The club is working on it, though.”
“Working on it?” I asked, relaxing a bit as we drove past the spot where we’d gotten blocked in.
“Looking into it, trying to figure out who did it. And then why.”
“Isn’t that a job for the cops?”
To that, he let out a humorless chuckle.
“What?”
“Babe, the second they heard that it involved someone from the club, they wrote this shit off.”
“Why?”
“Because we don’t exactly operate on the right side of the law,” he said. “And because they’re paid to look the other way when it comes to us.”
“But… but I’m not a part of the club.”
“They’d see you as collateral damage. Though I don’t think this is actually club-related.”
“Should I be worried that you know where my house is?” I asked as he parked on the street out in front of it.
“You told me it was a duplex. This is the only one on the street,” he reasoned. “You gonna let me just take a quick look around, make sure everything is on the up-and-up?” he asked.
I hated that I wanted him to do just that.
“Fine,” I said, not letting him know how vulnerable I was feeling.
We were maybe halfway up the path when my neighbor who’d been chilling out front of his side of the steps, smoking… something, suddenly dropped his cig and was stalking over toward us.
“Did this motherfucker put his hands on—“ he roared.
And when I say this man could roar loud enough to make a lion cower, I wasn’t exaggerating. That, mixed with his massive frame, and the fact that he proudly looked like bad news, made him a really freaking intimidating guy.
“Whoa,” I said, throwing my hands up, and pressing them into his chest, trying to slow his momentum. “Perish, no,” I insisted. “Damnit, Perish,” I said as he kept moving forward, forcing me to walk backward until my back slammed into Finn’s chest. “We were carjacked,” I said.
Just as quickly as his anger fired up, it banked back down, making him take a step back, looking at me, then Finn, brows pinching.
“Carjacked? Where?”
“On the road leading down here,” I explained.
“Wait… Perish. I know that name,” Finn said, looking at the giant.
I still hadn’t moved away from Finn.
And I was going to go ahead and not think about how nice he felt pressed up against me like he was.
“You a Henchmen?” he asked.
“Yeah.”
“I know Voss,” he said. “He told me to prospect once my parole is up,” he said. “Got a few weeks to go.”
“Yeah?” Finn asked, sounding intrigued. “Think my brother would be interested,” he said.
“Your brother?”
“The president,” Finn said.
That was new information.
I wouldn’t claim to understand what that meant, but you could bet that I suddenly had the urge to look into outlaw biker clubs and their practices.
“Oh, right. Right. Well, don’t worry about your girl, here,” Perish said, jerking his chin toward me. “She’s got me around when you ain’t.”
“I appreciate that,” Finn said.
Why hadn’t he corrected him?
Why hadn’t I?
“Just gonna get her inside and settled. She’s feeling like shit,” Finn said.
“Right. Right. I can check in on her, if you want.”
“Lexy isn’t much of a people person,” Finn said, surprising me with his accurate assessment. “But if you hear anything off…”
“Got it,” Perish said, nodding, then letting us pass to move up the steps and to my door.
“He’s anal about the lawn.”
“What?” Finn asked as I stuck my key in the lock.
“He’s anal about the lawn. Has a water catchment system installed on the gutters, so he can water it and keep it green. Screams ‘dad energy,’ not ‘ex-con.’”
“People can surprise you,” he said.
Why did I think, as I pushed the door open, and invited him into my space, into my life, that maybe he would surprise me more than anyone else?
CHAPTER FIVE
Finn
“So… you’re a hoarder,” I said, lips curving up as we moved into her living room.
Her place was still decently wide, even being cut up into a duplex.
There was a staircase right inside the front door, then a hallway that led back, with a living room to the right.
