Rook jerks up at the sound of my voice and almost knocks over the bike. He grabs it just in time and rights it.
“What?”
He always acts like I’ve caught him doing something he shouldn’t. The guilt practically comes off him in waves.
“Camile is back. Sounds like some shit has gone down with her family back home. It’s our job to protect her now.”
His expression lights up. “It is?”
“Yeah, so you need to do a better job of it than last time. She’s sleeping now, but I expect Jack will want you around later to watch over her,at the house,” I add firmly.
“Message understood. I swear I won’t take her off anywhere.”
“I think Ace will be pleased to know she’s back, too,” I throw in. “He was practically heartbroken when he thought she was gone.”
Rook’s lips thin. “Is Ace around?”
“I haven’t seen him yet. He was still pining over herthe last I saw. He’s probably off making himself feel better by snuggling a raccoon or some shit like that.”
Rook puts down the wrench he’d been holding and wipes his greasy hands on the front of his vest. “Maybe I should go and let Jack know that I’m here if he needs any help with Camile.”
“Sure, you do that.”
“You think he’ll give me a second chance?” he asks, getting suspicious.
I shrug. “I think you’re a pretty fucking shit bodyguard, but Camile could use a friend or two right now.”
Is that why I’m doing this? Not to shit stir, but because I’m thinking about her and what she might need? Is Rook what she needs? Or someone like Ace? One person I’m sure she doesn’t need is an asshole like me. I know I probably made her hate me the last time we met, but I was just doing my job. How can I keep order around here when people aren’t listening and doing stupid shit?
My instincts were correct, too. She is in danger. No one likes to be told what to do, but sometimes it’s necessary.
I’m not sure how I feel about the idea of her being back here. It exposes us and the compound, and I don’t think Jack’s really thought about that. If there’s another attack on her, it’ll put the rest of us in danger, including himself. He might not admit it to himself, but he’s as hung up on her as Rook and Ace. I’ve never known Jack to put anyone other than his family above the MC, and even though the girl is a friend of the family, she isn’t blood.
Rook lights up again. “Yeah, a friend. I can do that.”
“Nothing more, though,” I warn him.
He rakes a hand through his fair hair. “Fuck, man, I wasn’t planning anything else.”
I scoff. “Sure you weren’t.”
I do have a soft spot for the prospect. Maybe I see a bit of myself in him when I was younger. He hasn’t had an easy life, and I know how grateful he is that we’ve brought him into the club.
The hazing he went through was enough to make weaker men quit, so I believe he’s got real potential. I think back to it and worry, not for the first time, how much Ace seemed to enjoy what he did to the prospect. Ace is fucked up in ways his pretty face and happy-go-lucky nature hide, but I see the darkness lurking inside him.
I recognize it.
Rook scuffs his foot in the dirt. “I can’t help noticing she’s pretty, right? Don’t pretend you haven’t, too. I know you’re some hard as steel, cold son of a bitch, but you’re still a man.”
Rook is pushing his luck, and I scowl at him. “Difference is I know when something isn’t a good idea, and I have perfect self-control.”
I don’t tell him how I struggle to be around women. What I went through when I was in active service, well, it left me with its scars, both physical and emotional. I deal with pain, damaged nerve endings from war wounds, and some days even the material of my shirt touching my skin is enough to drive me insane. My rigid self-control is all that’s between me being able to do my job and running off screaming into the mountains. That’s before we get to the night terrors that have me breaking shit in my room in my sleep. I don’t dare let women near me; not only because I fear their touch will hurt, but alsobecause I can’t risk letting down my defenses for even a second.
There’s something about Camile that makes me worry she’d somehow manage to break through them, and that could be dangerous for us both. Those big brown eyes, the silky hair, the way she’s so petite, it all makes me want to protect her with every inch of my body. None of those things are good for a man like me. It would have been better if Jack hadn’t brought her back here, but if he hadn’t, would she potentially end up dead?
Not wanting to dwell on the idea of her dead and pale, all lifeless and cold, I shake the image off. I’ve seen terrible things in my lifetime, and that’s one image I can live without.
My phone buzzes, and I glance at it. It’s a message from Jack, asking me to go stay at his house while he meets with Saul to update him on everything. Me? Why the fuck not Ace or Rook? They’re her little hangers-on.
