The door opens and Brax walks in. “Hey, sweetheart. Where are you going?” He moves next to me and puts his arm around my waist. I love the feel of his heat and I move closer to him.
“I’m hungry and wanted to move. Walk with me. Apparently, I'm not allowed to walk around on my own.” I roll my eyes and he smirks.
“Come on sweetheart, let's get you some food and you can meet the rest of the gang.”
We leave the room and walk down the corridor to the kitchen. It’s full in there, men sitting with cups of tea or coffee, I’d say coffee because they look too bad ass for tea. They all look up and nod their heads at us.
Braxton helps me to a seat at a table that has both some of the men and some women. I see Rosie and she smiles at me, and Prez nods his head too.
Brax grabs me a plate of food and puts it in front of me along with a cup of coffee. I look up and smile. He sits next to me with his coffee. I think I must be dreaming. Who thought badass bikers would sit and drink coffee? I laugh and it builds up inside until it overflows, and Braxton looks at me.
“You okay, sweetheart?”
I laugh. “Yes, I just never thought that I would see bikers sitting drinking coffee when there's a bar out there.” I point out of the room.
“I know, but we don’t drink beer all day long, darling,” someone shouts over from the other table.
“I just never expected it that’s all.”
Everyone is silent and then one of the younger guys comes over to me. I see he has the name prospect on his cut.
“You saw Mallory, right?” he asks.
“Ethan sit the fuck down,” Prez says,
“No, it’s okay. I don’t mind talking about her. I can answer your questions as best I can. Yes, I saw Mallory every day and night for the last six months. She saved my life. I wanted to kill myself, but she kept me sane. She’s an amazing woman and she talked about all of you.” I look up and see everyone hanging on every word.
“It was her idea for me to escape, she knew that I would be able to survive longer than her out here without being seen. I just hope they didn’t beat her if they find out she helped me escape.” I choke down my fear.
Braxton touches my leg, and it makes me jump. “Sorry,” he says as he takes it off me and holds it up in the air. “You don’t need to talk about this now, sweetheart.”
I smile. “I really don’t mind. I don’t want to be a victim who can’t think about those days. They’ve made me into a different person, and I need to embrace who I am now.” He smiles at me, and I take a moment to look at his face. He is so handsome and rugged; his blondish hair is floppy and over his eyes. I feel something toward him, and I know that logically I shouldn’t, but emotionally I do.
“You are an amazing woman, Piper,” Ethan says.
I blush. “Thanks, now what else do you want to know about Mallory? She told me lots of stories, some of them I don’t think I should repeat in front of her brother.” I look over at Razor and he smiles.
Everyone else laughs and it breaks the tension in the room. I spend the next half an hour talking about Mallory and my friendship without revealing everything we went through.
Razor looks at me, “We’re glad you found us, Piper. Real glad.”
I smile at him and then look at Braxton. He smiles at me and my heart does somersaults in my chest.
“Can I take a walk outside? I feel like I need some fresh air. I’ve been couped up inside for the last six months and I really want some air.”
Braxton stands, but so does Rosie and Meg. “We’ll go outside with you, give you a break from Braxton, he can be very overpowering and serious.” THey both laugh and I look at him. He sits back down and waves for me to go with them.
“If you feel faint or anything you come back in or get the girls to come get me. Okay?”
I nod and follow the girls outside.
“Oh my god, Piper, what is going on with you and Braxton, I’ve never seen him like this with a woman. He’s helped rescue all of us and never once did he look at us that way,” Rosie says, laughing.
We sit down at a bench table and I look around. It’s beautiful out here.
“Seriously,” Meg says, “He is giving off territorial vibes like I’ve seen from the other guys before they settled down with us.
“Don’t be stupid, he’s just looking after me because I fell through his door and he was the first person I saw.”