Cole (The Ride Series) (13 page)

“Another thing to understand,” he said,
his tone taking a harder edge, “you leave, I find you. You don’t get to run
away Scarlet, not from me.”

We regarded each other in silence for
a few beats. “Thick skull?” I asked with a raised brow.

“Out of everything I just said that’s
what she picks up on,” he muttered to himself.

“I heard what you said,” I said
quietly, meeting his brilliant blue eyes.

“Then that would mean you’ll promise
me that you’re not going to pull this shit again. Not even when shit gets real
with that mother fucker,” he bit out. “You don’t protect me, I protect you and
I can’t do that properly if I’m chasing your ass across state lines,” he
muttered.

“Gets real?” I asked with a gulp.

“You’re on a need to know basis with
that,” he answered. “But you and I both know that this shit will not fucking
stand.”

I nodded, resisting the urge to plead
with him not to get hurt in the process. I knew he wouldn’t like that.

“Promise me,” he insisted.

I thought about it for a moment,
taking in everything he’d said. “I promise,” I replied firmly.

“Well thank Christ for that favor,” he
replied sarcastically, and I jabbed him in the ribs.

We were quiet for a few moments as I
lay my head against his chest. “Kat was right,” I muttered begrudgingly.

“About what?”

“Said you’d find me by dinner,” I
sighed in resignation.

He threw back his head and laughed out
loud. “I like her, I really do.”

Then he turned serious. “Baby, what
was the plan here anyway? You only have the clothes on your back.”

I lifted my head and met his gaze. “I
have more than I had the last time,” I answered quietly. “And I made out okay
then.”

His expression softened dramatically
at my admission. “You did what almost nobody could. You made a life from nothing.
But I’m in that life now and I’m not letting you slip through my fingers,” he
said quietly.

“I don’t want you to,” I admitted.

He reached out for me and pulled me
back down to his chest. “Sleep, babe.”

“Okay,” I murmured. “I didn’t want to
leave you know,” I whispered.

He gave me a squeeze. “I know.”

Chapter Ten

Cole had us checked out and on the
road before 9
am
the next day. I’d
never ridden in his truck before. I noticed somewhat absently that it was nice
and well cared for. He was anxious to get back to “see to some shit” as he put
it. I didn’t ask what that meant. His attitude toward me was the same as always
and I assumed this meant that I was forgiven. Kat and I had talked briefly. She
merely laughed when I’d told her somewhat meekly that I was on the way home.
Clearly she hadn’t doubted Cole’s tracking abilities for a moment, or his
ability to haul my ass back home.

“Can I ask you something?” he asked
after we’d been on the road about an hour, coffees in hand. I had just scoffed
down a giant muffin. I was starved from missing dinner the night before.

From his tone I felt immediately on
guard. “Okay,” I answered somewhat wearily.

“When we were headed to the hospital,
you seemed to know a lot about making up shit to tell the nurses. I was curious
why that was,” he asked, his tone carefully neutral.

I sighed and looked out the window.
The last thing Cole needed was more information to get him riled. Though I
supposed he couldn’t really be any
more
pissed off.

“Babe,” he commanded when I took too
long to answer.

“I’d rather just put that all behind
me, Cole,” I answered him softly.

He glanced at me briefly before he
reached over and flapped my visor down so I could see myself in its mirror.
“That look like the past to you sweetheart?” he asked, his tone laced with
restrained anger.

I sighed, resigned. “Victor and Jake
didn’t like my attitude very much after my dad died,” I began, looking out the
window as the dessert landscape shot past. “They needed me to get on board with
their plan to take leadership, it would be smoother if I was behind them. The
club wasn’t warming to the idea the way they’d hoped. But obviously I wasn’t on
board, and I sure as hell wasn’t going to be bullied into it either,” I
explained.

“So?” he prompted me to continue when I
paused.

“So, they knocked me around a couple
of times,” I said as I shrugged and sensed him stiffen in his seat. I ignored
it and forged ahead. “Tried to scare me. Knocked around a few of the other
girls, too but I took the brunt of it. I had a double target on my head since I
wouldn’t support them and I didn’t want to be with Jake anymore. A bruised ego
for a man like that is a dangerous thing.”

“Knocked you around how?” Cole asked
his voice deceptively soft.

I turned to look at him, his jaw was
set in a firm line but I couldn’t see his eyes since he was wearing sunglasses.
“Why do you want to know about this?” I asked quietly. “You can’t change it.
It’s done. And you’ve already got enough anger in you about this to last a
couple of decades,” I tried to reason.

“Knocked you around how, Scarlet,” he
repeated.

Nope, there would be no reasoning with
him.

“Mostly it was just a lot of
manhandling, pulling my hair, threatening me, shoving me around. But there were
a few times when Jake or Victor were drunk and I got a split lip, broken finger,
or bruised ribs out of those different instances. The last time, the worst time,
was right before I split,” I told him.

“What happened the worst time?” he
demanded.

“I don’t want to talk about this,
Cole,” I whispered firmly, my voice growing hoarse.

He surprised me by directing the truck
off the highway and turning the engine off. After a few minutes of silence he
tilted his body to look at me. I looked at him with wide eyes, tears
threatening to fall. It had taken me five years to finally tell Kat this story.
Now Cole was demanding it after only weeks. It was a difficult prospect to
consider.

He reached out his hand, cupping the
back of my neck and took his sunglasses off. “Nothing you tell me would change
the way I feel about you. You know that right?” he asked quietly.

Did I know that? I thought about that
for a moment. We’d known each other such a short time and already so many of my
past skeletons had risen up to haunt us. Cole had met each and every one with
such fierce determination and not a hint of judgment. There was still part of
me that believed that he was too good to be true. Perhaps it was time to
finally dispel that notion.

I nodded.

“I need you to let me in, baby. And I
know some of that will take more time. But I need to know what happened. You
can’t keep that shit bottled up.”

I took in a shaky breath. I felt so
raw and vulnerable with him staring so intently at me – waiting for me to
divulge what only Kat knew. But I trusted him with those emotions, trusted him
with everything.

I took in a shaky breath and forged
ahead. “When knocking me around wasn’t proving to be successful, they tried to
force me…” I choked out, hating to relieve the hideous ordeal. I saw Cole’s jaw
clench in response as he tried to keep himself under control.

Talking about it made me feel the
oppressiveness of the room at the club they’d dragged me into all over again.
It had smelled like stale beer and I would never forget that Black Sabbath’s
“paranoid” was playing on the stereo. I’d never be able to hear that band again
without reliving that horrible day.

Cole’s grip on my shoulder got nearly
painful before he forced his hand back to his lap for fear he’d hurt me by
accident.

I took a deep fortifying breath and
closed my eyes. For some reason that was the only way I could continue. “They
kept laughing…” I whispered hoarsely. “Like my screaming and fighting was
hilarious. But they were both high and drunk. That’s probably what made it
possible for me to escape with only some ripped clothes and bruises,” I
finished, opening my eyes but staring straight ahead. I wasn’t able to look at
him just yet.

“You must have put up a damn good
fight,” he replied quietly.

I nodded and looked down in my lap.

“Be back,” he said tersely and exited
the truck with alarming speed. I took in a shaky breath in the overwhelming
silence of the cab and allowed him his time to cool off. I could hear my breath
whipping in and out through my mouth before it began to slow, and I felt my
accelerated heart rate return to a more normal speed.

It didn’t take as long as I would have
guessed before he was opening my door, his handsome face staring down into
mine. He looked at me with such raw emotion that it nearly took my breath away
as his calloused fingers stroked my face. My cheek was black and blue with some
swelling, but I could tell in that moment he wasn’t seeing that. He was just
seeing me. Having told him my ugliest truth and having him look at me with what
could only be described as adoration, I’d never felt more free.

“Thank you for telling me,” his deep
voice finally said, and I knew what effort it cost him to hold it together.

“Do I have enough baggage for you
yet?” I asked shakily as I laughed, wanting desperately to lighten the heavy
atmosphere. Clearly Cole was in no mood for light.

He regarded me seriously and put his
forehead to mine. “You have battle scars. There’s a difference,” he said
quietly.

I wanted so badly to tell him that I
loved him, but I didn’t want the moment tainted by what I’d just told him. So I
held it in and kissed his beautiful mouth instead, then I reached my arms
around his neck, pulling him close.

“Thank you,” I whispered quietly in
his ear.

He simply squeezed me back as a reply.
We stayed that way for many long moments before he pulled away to restart our
journey home.

“Where are we going?” I asked in
confusion when he didn’t take my exit once we’d arrived back in town.

“My place,” he answered as though it
were obvious.

“But I need to go home,” I protested.
“I need to do laundry and I don’t have anything with me.”

“You’re not going home until this shit
is sorted,” he replied tersely.

“What?” I demanded.

“You’re at my place until further
notice,” he added.

“Cole,” I said, my tone bordering on
hysteria. “I get that our relationship is far from ordinary, intensity-wise
especially.”

He chuckled.

“But I don’t think it’s a good idea
for me to essentially move in after a few weeks of dating,” I argued.

“Is that what this is? Dating?” he
asked, the humor gone from his tone.

“What else would you call it?” I asked
defensively.

“You’re just
gonna
have to suck it up
darlin
’,” he said without
answering my question. “Your options are the clubhouse or my house. Which will
it be?” he asked.

I blew out a sigh. “Your place I
guess,” I muttered.

“I’ll try not to make it too painful
for you,” he said dryly, and I realized with a shock that I might have hurt his
feelings.

“It’s not that I don’t want to be with
you, honey,” I said quietly. “I’m just used to being alone – I’ve done
nothing but build walls up for eight years. It feels really foreign to have
them all coming down around me,” I explained.

That seemed to make him feel better.

“Get used to it,” he replied with a
wry smile.

Right. That was easier said than done.

“I’ll have one of the boys bring your
things later on,” he said as we pulled up to the curb.

“You’re going to let one of your boys
pick out my underwear?” I asked with a raised brow.

“Scratch that.
I’ll
bring your things later on,” he amended, throwing an arm
around me as we walked into the house.

I laughed out loud and squeezed his
waist.

“Okay, ground rules,” he said
seriously once he’d closed his front door and I’d put my purse down on the
island.

I raised my brows at this change of
topic.

“The house is on radar. One of the
boys will be keeping an eye out any time I’m not here,” he explained. “You
don’t go anywhere by yourself. You wait for someone to take you.”

“No,” he said and shook his head when
I opened my mouth to protest. “This shit is non-negotiable.” He waited for me
to clamp my mouth shut before continuing. “Next, work. I’d much prefer you
didn’t work, but I know what a pain in my ass you’ll be if I force that so
someone will take you and pick you up. Same goes for the gym.”

I rolled my eyes thoroughly annoyed at
the prospect of having babysitters.

“I need you to take this shit
seriously, baby,” he said sternly, holding my face in both hands and stooping
slightly to meet my eyes. “This is no fucking joke, and I will be damned if
there is any opportunity for those mother fuckers to ever lay a hand on you
again. Do you understand?”

“Yes,” I said softly, immediately
conceding. “Can Kat come keep me company when I’m on house arrest?” I quipped.

He smiled and nodded.

Well at least there was that.

“Do you feel okay? Maybe you should
lie down,” he said worriedly.

“I’m fine,” I assured him.

“I have to head out for a few hours
but I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

“Yes, dear.” I smiled sweetly.

“Pain in my ass,” he muttered,
smiling. He captured my mouth then in an unexpected passionate kiss. “Be good,”
he whispered against my mouth, making my knees weak.

“Okay,” I whispered back,
breathlessly. I would have agreed to just about anything at that moment.

Once he took off, I flopped down on
the couch and called Kat. “I feel like a child on a timeout,” I complained.

She laughed. “I’ll come entertain you
soon. I’m just down the street at Sal’s.”

“Oh?” I asked suggestively.

“It would seem these biker boys are a
bit overprotective,” she muttered.

I burst out laughing. She had no idea.

“You feeling okay?” I asked, my tone
serious.

“Yeah. I’m fine,” she assured me.
“Just some wicked road rash, same as you. I got off easier. I’m not sporting a
black eye,” she muttered.

“Thank God,” I sighed.

“Let me just wrap up a couple of
things here and I’ll be over,” she told me.

“Wrap up a couple of things?” I
replied cheekily, trying hard to suppress my laughter and failing miserably.

“Bite me,” she said as she giggled.
“See you in a few.”

After we hung up I wandered around
Cole’s place unsure what to do with myself. His house was comfortable but it certainly
didn’t feel like home. I grew tired of pacing and flopped on the couch to watch
some TV until Kat showed up.

I heard the roar of a bike not too
much later and I smiled to myself. I got up to let her in and waved to Sal who
gave me a chin lift as he sat idling at the curb.

“Remember what I told you,” he barked
to Kat over the engine noise.

“Yeah, yeah,” she hollered back,
waving her hand at him as we shut the door.