I hesitated, but Ash’s heavy hand on my hip walked me forward.
Rafe wasted no time once we stood within hearing distance. “If you’re going to get the full picture, you’ll have to come to our fundraiser.”
A younger man popped up by Rafe’s side.
They looked similar enough that I recognized the family resemblance, though the younger Rafe had none of the coldness. “It’s an ugly sweater party.”
Rafe held out a hand, and the young man quieted. “It’s a required festivity, and since you’re now considered part of the group, you’ll go as our old lady.”
I’d researched enough about motorcycle gangs to understand the power he’d handed me.
An old lady was a coveted title, one that women fought–and sometimes killed–to obtain.
I couldn’t have said a word if my life depended on it.
I managed a nod, my body seizing in panic when I recognized the evil glint in Rafe’s eyes.
He twitched his chin toward the stairs. “Come with me.”
I had no choice.
I followed him to the edge of the stairs, past Bishop, and into a private bathroom with navy blue walls and a black sink.
Rafe pointed at a dry cleaner’s bag hanging on the wall. “You’ll wear that.”
I unzipped the bag, barely managing to keep my hands from shaking.
A red Mrs. Claus costume glittered with rows of sequins.
The skirt would barely cover my ass, and the low V in the neckline promised a delicate dance of maneuvering to keep my breasts from spilling out.
“That’s not going to fit me.”
“Yes, it will.” Rafe ran his hands down my shoulders, all the way to my wrists. “If you don’t wear it, you can’t attend the fundraiser.”
So that was his angle.
He hoped to run me off without expressly saying I couldn’t stay.
Two could play that game.
No way I’d let him ruin my very first undercover assignment. I grabbed the sweater dress and hauled it to my chest. “Fine.”
His eyes narrowed.
I wiggled my fingers in a shooing motion. “Leave so I can change.”
He took a step back, then another. “I’ll be waiting in the hall to escort you to the party. It’s not far, but if you’re going to masquerade as our old lady, you have to arrive with us.”
“So all that about my being a shared gift was just hyperbole?”Please say yes.
A dark laugh rippled through the air. “You belong to us now, Noelle. You are what I say you are.”
Why thehelldid that make my skin flush with a heat so all-consuming, I was forced to press my thighs together?
Rafe slipped from the room on silent feet, closing the door behind him.
I yanked my red dress off, tore the wire away and balled it up in the material, then shoved it into my purse.
