She leaned closer to me, and without thinking, I wrapped my arm around her shoulders. She froze, and whispered to me.
“Careful.”
“I’m not touching it,” I said, gesturing to the carefully dressed burn, but she giggled, jangling the bracelet on the wrist that had been trapped between us. Oh fuck. The panic thing.
“Did I do it again? Fuck no. She’ll break even more of me.”
She shook her head, and pointed to her phone, which was charging on the table in front of us.
“She’ll phone first. When we got back I found four missed calls from her.”
Fuck me. That was one interactive charity. Thank fuck they found her.
“Well, my stomach and face hate her, but no, she’s amazing. Jesus, did she have a partner like Sean before fucking Andre the Giant there?”
Glory giggled again, leaning into my side once more, so I tugged the blanket tighter around us.
“Marco isn’t quite as big as Andre the Giant, but I uh… I don’t actually know. I can’t imagine a man getting the better of her, well, unless that’s why she’s so deadly now. Oh my god.” She sat up straight again and I groaned, because I had her right up against me, trusting me, and she’d moved again already.
“Jesus, woman, I was nice and warm then.”
She laughed, swatting my chest with the arm that damn bracelet adorned.
“No. I could get to be like her! Dangerous. Fierce. I could break men if they tried to hurt me.”
“No.”
Glory turned a glare so fucking fierce on me that for a moment I felt like she was channelling Lenore. Jesus fuck, that was chilling.
“I just meant that you won’t need to. I’m going to keep you safe, see? And you have a whole biker club who’d do the same. Two chapters. That’s like… I don’t know… fifty guys? More? I heard the other chapter even has mercenaries!”
“I owe it to myself to learn, don’t I?” Fuck.
Glory
The more I thoughtabout it, the more it mattered to me. Knowing I could defend myself, even if I chickened out of baiting Sean so they could beat on him. I just wanted to know that if it came down to it, I’d be fierce and strong like Lenore.
Henley had grudgingly agreed to show me some moves, but said it’d have to wait a few days for us both to heal. That turned into a week, and then he was busy with club stuff, like something he called ‘some fucker being patched in’ when I knew that’s what he wanted for himself.
He had healed pretty fast, since Lenore had only bruised him, and my burn was healing nicely, with him patiently helping me change the dressings until it was allowed to be aired. It still looked pretty ugly, but it was definitely healing. It took me back, seeing the remains of the burn on my arm, reminding me of what it was like to be under Sean’s thumb, so the way Henley turned up in a panic that evening felt like digging a finger into a wound that already festered and ached.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck. How long?” He was on his phone as he burst into the house, slamming the door and finding me in the doorway of the kitchen, because I’d gone there to make a cuppa. He cast his eyes frantically over me and sighed.
“She’s okay, she’s here. What’s the plan?”
I switched the kettle back on and made him a drink while he paced the house, checking windows and doors. I’d figured it out by then. Sean was making his move. Henley had been so sure he wouldn’t find us, but of course he would. He was just that kind of person. Tenacious. Determined. Evil.
Something slammed in the hallway, sending a shock of terror through me, and the mug of hot coffee slipped from my fingers, smashing on the tiled floor, as hot coffee splashed the cupboards, and splatted dark spots on my jeans.
“GLORY!”
Henley came running into the room, and cursed.
“Fucking hell, you scared the shit out of me.”
My frazzled nerves must have kicked my fight or flight mode into high alert, because the trembling got worse, and I dropped down onto the floor, hugging my legs. I had to get down before I passed out or something worse. Had to make myself safe. It wasn’t safe. Nowhere would be safe.
“Jesus.”
