“You’re a stranger and you just walked in without knocking!” The girl shouts back.
“Both of you stop screeching.” Raven puts a hand on the girl’s forearm and guides her back, giving me a dirty look. “Didn’t I tell you to stop letting yourself in here? One of these days you’re gonna walk in on me getting railed.”
I fake retch. It’s bad enough seeing her in a towel. While I shut the door, Raven takes the girl into the bedroom. My sister’s tidy apartmentisn’t so perfect right now. She only has one bedroom, so the kid has been sleeping on the couch, and it’s obvious she isn’t as neat as Raven.
This shit has got to stop. Beast has to get his kid out of Raven’s apartment. My sister is being too nice because she feels bad for her, even though she keeps threatening to do it.
“Jesus.” Raven is wearing sweats and a long t-shirt that almost reaches her knees. “What are you doing here?” She drags her fingers through her wet hair.
“Making sure you do as you’re told.”
Her brow lifts, and she pauses in her detangling. I used to hate sharing a bathroom with her. Her long hair was always blocking the drain, and her girly shit covered the counter.
“I heard you loud and clear. How long am I supposed to keep the bar closed?”
“A couple of days. You need to stay away from the clubhouse.”
“Jesus River. What’s going on?”
“I can’t tell you.”
“Come on, it’s just us here. How serious is this? And don’t lie to me. Taylor got hurt and Ellie was stabbed. Do I need to be worried about my safety?”
It’s a logical leap for her. I’m determined to keep my sister safe. It’s rare I tell her anything about what is going on, but this isn’t like anything we’ve faced before. And as someone who grew up around the MC, she’s got a better understanding than most women.
“Another MC has come to town.”
“Without telling you?” she asks, her knowledge doesn’t surprise me.
“They’re not friendly and they’ve been spotted checking out the clubhouse.”
“That’s who Kinsley saw the other night, isn’t it?”
Fuck. Women and their inability to keep their mouths shut. “I need you to promise you’ll stay away. Hang out with Lucky and Phoenix.”
“You don’t need to tell me to stick around the guys at the tattoo shop. I can take care of myself.”
“Humor me.”
She stops and stares, that little perplexed line appearing between her eyebrows.
“Don’t ask me anything else.”
“Are you in danger?”
She isn’t surprised I don’t answer. My look says enough. Music plays down the hall, and we both glance that way.
“What’s going on with that?”
“You tell me.” She turns and drops into the chair she keeps close to the window so she can watch people outside.
“I’ll talk to Beast. It might be best she stays here a little longer.”
“Tink’s not a bad kid,” Raven says, from the loudness of the music it’s clear Tink can’t hear us. “She’s hurting, it’s only been a few months since she lost her mom. I get Beast is shocked finding out he has a teenage daughter and has no clue what to do with her, but he can’t hide from her forever. She’s only seventeen. He’s her dad. She needs him.”
Silence lingers between us. Our dad was in the Marine Corps and was away a lot when we were younger. He was killed while deployed in the Middle East when I was thirteen. It hit both of us hard, but Raven was a daddy’s girl, it took her longer to get over. She can relate to how this kid is feeling.
“Promise you’ll stay away from the bar. It’ll only be for a few days, a week max. We’re going to deal with this so things can get back to normal.”
