Grasping For Freedom (12 page)

She bore holes in him with a single look. Without taking his gaze off her, he spoke to Rain. "I've got my Harley outside. Can you take Brandy to my house in your truck?"

"Only have to ask once, brother." Rain came into view. "Everything okay?"

He kept looking at Brandy. "It will be."

Brandy snorted. "Rain, I'm not going to his house, and I seemed to have locked my cabin keys inside. Can I borrow an extra key?"

Torque moved around Brandy and put his hand on the doorknob. "I'll see you at the house in ten minutes."

"Give us twenty," Rain said.

He lifted his chin in acknowledgment and slipped out the door. Glad to put some distance between them to cool off, he headed straight for his motorcycle. He trusted Rain to make sure Brandy showed up on his doorstep. If she'd still been upset, he would never have left her, but since all she wanted to do is buck him every step of the way, Rain could probably get through to her better than he could.

Besides, Brandy wasn't his old lady, and he couldn't take her on the back of his bike. Club rules.

He pulled out of the parking lot, and headed home. Whatever made Brandy upset enough to throw a lamp—and he had good reason to believe that's what happened, he'd find out.

From what he'd assumed, she had no family around. He put more pressure on the throttle. Something about the way she'd fallen apart grabbed him and refused to let go. He never expected a woman as strong and independent to crumble, but he'd seen her face, he'd held her hands, he'd heard the fear in her breathing. He knew how it was to be scared. Nobody should go through that kind of hell alone.

B
randy sat in Rain's truck next to a doll strapped into the middle of the bench seat. She looked at her boss to the doll to her boss. She was living a nightmare.

Rain put the key in the truck and glanced at her. "It's Lilly's toy. She'll only get in her car seat if her doll rides in the front."

"Strapped in?" She blinked in wonder at the big tough biker who would go to such a length to make his daughter happy. "Wow."

"Yeah...do anything for my girl." Rain's jaw relaxed and he let his hand drop from the steering wheel, letting the vehicle idle. "How much do you know about Torque?"

She looked out the front window and shrugged. "Enough."

Rain rolled down his window and leaned his arm out the door. "He's a loner. I guess every Bantorus member is to a point, but Torque...it goes deeper with him. I'd trust him with my life. That's why I have no problem delivering you to him."

She shook her head. "I'm your employee. I've told you I didn't want to go, and you escorted me to your truck, not even considering my wishes. You should have an employee handbook for all new employees. Because, really, kidnapping an employee should be on page one. Forcing an employee to do something she doesn't want to do will result in two weeks of vacation pay and two Friday nights off a month."

"Sweetheart, I'm not doing this for you." Rain shifted into first, eased off on the clutch, and drove out of the parking lot. "Torque wants you, and I'd do anything to make sure he has you. I also wouldn't be handing you over to him if I thought he was going to cause you any harm, physically or mentally."

She slouched in the seat. "Well, that's encouraging. Except this doll strapped beside me has more of a say in what she does than I do."

Rain drove several miles through town and onto a back road without another word out of him. She was thankful for the silence. Since she'd received the phone call and Torque going ape shit on her, she hadn't had time to wrap her head around anything.

Her dad was in danger.

She had no idea where he was or how to help him.

If she said screw it on her job and left to go back home, she'd only have the option of walking right back into Los Li's clutches. Radiant would make her pay for failing. He'd either kill her, or give her to the gang members. She shuddered. She had to succeed for her dad and herself.

Rain pulled into the driveway of a one-story ranch house. She scanned the area illuminated by the streetlights. There were several modest and clean houses around, but the one Rain parked in front of was the only one needing a paint job, the grass mowed, and the screen door lying in the overgrown shrubbery thrown away. She moistened her lips. Honestly, she wasn't sure Torque or anyone lived in the house. There was nothing on the outside that screamed occupied.

She turned to Rain. "Seriously? You're going to drop me off here and drive away even though I don't want to walk in there."

"Don't judge a man by the outside, sweetheart," he said.

Her mouth opened. Why were people always misunderstanding her? Bantorus members thought she was a bitch because of the way she dressed. She was twenty-four years old. Did they expect her to put on a sweater and long skirt?

"I'm not judging Torque or his house." She tapped down her anger. "I'm amazed that you of all people would make me do something I don't want to do. I don't want to spend the night with Torque."

"He was good enough that you had sex with him," he said.

"Oh, you did not just go there," She grabbed for the door handle, but Rain clamped his hand around her free wrist and stopped her. "What?"

"Don't hurt him," he said, softening his voice. "Give him time to understand you."

"I have no idea what you're talking about. This has nothing to do with him or me. He's just blowing this up into something it isn't. I broke a lamp." She stopped and inhaled deeply. "The lamp in my cabin, so I owe you for breaking it."

"Don't care about the lamp." Rain motioned with his chin toward the house. "Go to Torque. He needs you."

She glanced out the truck window at the front door of the house. Torque, hands in his pockets, stood in the opened doorway. She had thought Rain was lying to her about Torque needing her, but for some reason, just looking at him alone inside a house with no life, she wanted to go to him.

"I hate when other people are right," she muttered.

Rain chuckled. "I wouldn't expect Torque to pick a girl who wasn't smart."

She glared, but her anger diminished. "Don't let the looks fool you. I'm a badass behind the clothes and makeup."

He winked. "I'm sure you are."

She slid out of the truck, closed the door, opened the back door on the crew cab, grabbed her suitcase, and walked up the driveway. Torque remained at his spot in the house, and she stopped in front of him.

"One, it's never a good idea to order me to do anything. I'll fight with you even if I want to be with you tonight." She tossed her suitcase toward him. "Two, when I'm pissed off, you're only going to have to work harder at making me happy again, and I'm stubborn enough to make you pay for making me mad."

He glanced down, but not before she witnessed his lips curving.

"And three,
babe
...don't ever hand me over to Rain. If you've got a problem with me, then deal with me yourself." She stepped up to him, kissed his mouth. "You also need to mow your lawn so the neighbors stop talking about the badass biker dude down the road."

"How do you know they talk?" he said, moving over and letting her in the house.

She walked inside and turned around to face him. "Because I know people. You live in a nice, respectable neighborhood. You're a biker. That doesn't mean you have to let them continue believing you're not a good person when some of us know you are."

He closed the door. The lines on his forehead more pronounced and his cheeks above his whiskered face twitched with tension. "Who says I'm a good person."

She rolled her eyes, because the man protested too much. "Rain, Bruce, me..."

He huffed, picked up her suitcase, and walked past her. "I didn't have you come here to discuss me."

She ignored his comment and followed him through the kitchen to the living room, because she didn't come here to talk about her either. She gazed around his living space. A leather couch sat in front of the window. On the opposite side of the room, a mega huge flat screen television filled the wall. It was a guy's room, down to the motorcycle magazines thrown haphazardly on the end table and a bandana hanging off a nail pounded directly into the wall next to the hallway.

Torque walked into the attached kitchen. She moved over to the brick fireplace hearth and ran her hand along the cool bare surface. A woman hadn't touched this room. There were no plants, no Cosmo magazines, and no pictures. Women always displayed pictures.

She blinked the moisture from her vision. Even after her dad financially lost the bar he'd owned, including their apartment above the establishment, she'd decorated their rundown duplex with pictures of their past. God, she missed being home.

Torque touched her arm. "Drink?"

She accepted the glass he handed her, took a sip, and blew out her breath. Warmth rolled through her. "Thanks."

With his own glass, he parked himself on the sofa and patted his thigh. She sat beside him, and not on his lap like he suggested. Getting cozy and having make-up sex was not why she came over to his house. Actually, she had no idea why she was here and not back in her cabin, trying to straighten her situation around, except Torque and Rain forced her here.

He hooked his hand under her calf, scooted farther away from her, and brought her foot onto his lap. She pulled her leg, but he tightened his grip.

"What are you doing?" she asked as he pulled off her sneaker.

His hand caressed the top of her foot and he added pressure to the sole with his thumb. Her back stiffened and she almost came up off the couch. Then pleasure curled around her middle and she sank back against the couch cushion.

He continued manipulating her foot, massaging the areas that always grew tired at the end of the day from being on her feet all night at the bar. "Number three of your demands. Making up with you."

Okay, that was nice.

Pleasure radiated from his hands, through her foot, and straight to her heart. She studied him, knowing she should tell him it was all fluff. She wasn't serious, and yet when she'd told him off, she was telling the honest to God truth. He seemed to see through her attitude and picked out the important things she desired.

Torque was a dangerous man when it came to manipulating her to his good side. She had to concentrate on why she was working at Cactus Cove.

"That feels really good." She lifted her other foot. "But just so you know, we're not having sex tonight."

His hands never stopped moving. "You're sleeping in my bed."

"No. I'm not."

He dug his thumb into her arch. "No sex, but you're sleeping in my bed."

"I'll take the couch, and tomorrow I go back to the cabin," she said, determined to make a point he'd listen to and accept.

"My bed. No sex. I'll drop you off at the cabin before I go to work early in the morning." He moved his hands to her other foot. "In exchange for making me go without, you're going to tell me what happened during the phone call that took your happy away."

"I'm happy," she said, unable to keep the sarcasm out of her voice. "It's personal."

"I'm making it my personal." He dragged her foot closer. "I've had my cock inside of you multiple times and had you screaming my name. We're personal."

She refused to answer. He was entirely too familiar with her to bargain with, and she was too weak when it came to having sex with him to believe if he touched her, she wouldn't climb on top of him.

She needed a distraction. "Do you have family around? I mean, who aren't members of Bantorus."

His hands stopped moving and he pinned her with a look. She scraped her teeth over her bottom lip. Oh-kay. That was obviously a sore subject.

Accusations shone in his eyes before he covered himself by shaking his head. "Phone call, sunshine. Start talking."

She tried to pull her legs away from him, but he only tightened his grip. Life was so different here. Back home, she had no friends. She had co-workers, and before they lost the bar, she had employees. Not one single person ever asked her if they could help, or even inquired if she was okay.

Not that she'd let them, but Torque was different.

Torque demanded everything, while asking for nothing. His mixed messages confused her. However, she sat on his couch, in his house, within touching distance of him, and wanted to share her burden with him. She'd do anything to have that one special person to know what it was like for her to love her dad and only want to keep her world intact.

"I can protect you," he said softly. "I want to do that for you."

Somehow, he'd walked into her life when she least expected, offering her the world. She lifted her feet, put them back on the floor, and he let her. Maybe his compliance and stepping back to give her space helped her make up her mind. Or maybe she was desperate and lonely enough to take him up on his offer. Whatever the reason, she was tired, so tired, of failing.

T
orque's request to come clean passed over Brandy's face, dulling her eyes and weakening her stubborn chin. Torque leaned forward, elbows to knees, and stayed quiet. He feared making matters worse, when all he was trying to do was help her.

The quieter she became, the more he wanted to kill the person who put the sadness in her eyes.

"Sunshine...I only want to help," he repeated.

"I'm sorry." She glanced at him and wrinkled her nose. "It's a long, confusing story and I'm ashamed of my failure to fix everything."

"I got time," he said, hoping she'd rely on him.

The last couple of weeks, she'd taken him to a place he never knew existed or that he wanted. He woke up every morning looking forward to pushing her away, and went home every night from the bar wishing he was going home with her. She'd sunk her claws into him and hung on when others knew to stay away.

She had him wanting to put some good inside of him, so she could find it.

He wanted to be that man she needed.

Hell, he didn't want anything bad to touch her, because he'd already made up his mind that she belonged to him.

"I will help, but you have to tell me what is going on," he said.