Repo (The Henchmen MC Book 4) (2 page)

I drove through the 'burbs and into the industrial part of town full of more than a few abandoned buildings along with some that were still operating: namely tattoo shops, bars, mechanics, bail bonds, convenience stores, and the occasional still-afloat despite the shitty economy, mom and pop stores.

I sucked in a greedy breath as I pulled up to the gates in front of The Henchmen compound, shutting off the engine and forcing myself to pull off my helmet and get off my bike, despite my better sense telling me to run screaming.

There were two probates at the gates wearing leathers with no patches. They were brothers by the looks of them.

"You lost, baby?" one asked, giving me a slow once-over that made me feel practically naked despite the obnoxious, hot, disgusting leathers I was wearing.

"No," I said, lifting my chin a little. "I need to talk to Reign."

"Don't know what you heard of the prez, babe, but he's got himself a woman. He don't need another," the other said, shaking his head at me like I was annoying him.

"That's wonderful for him, but I still need to speak to him."

"About what?"

"About it's none of your fucking business," I countered, making his brother laugh and shove him in the shoulder.

"Listen bitch..."

"No, you listen, bitch," I snapped, my voice low and vicious and nothing like it normally sounded, "I'm here to talk to the president, not some probate on a power trip so get your head out of your ass and..." I trailed off when I saw someone else out of the corner of my eye.

Turning, I saw someone in his mid-to-late twenties, tall, muscular but in a not-too-bulky way, with dark hair and handsome in an almost classic way with a strong jaw, severe brow ridge, and well-proportioned features. His dark blue eyes looked like they were dancing and, judging by the smirk he had on his face, he was amused. Literally the only thing marring his perfection was a scar that ran fully down his cheek, cutting off at the strong jut of his jaw.

He was gorgeous.

Like advertising companies should have used him to sell cologne. Or shaving cream. Hell, the man could make khakis look sexy if that was what they needed.

"Go on," he invited when I looked at him. "He can get his head out of his ass and..." he prompted, smirk getting a little more sinister.

"Get Reign," I decided, pretty sure that was not what I was going to say, but struck just the tiniest bit dumb by how good looking he was.

"That's not a bad idea," he said with a shrug. "Moose, Fox, go find the prez and see if he has a minute."

"You can't..." Moose, the one with his head in his ass, started.

"The fuck I can't," the new guy snapped, his face losing its smirk and looking a little dark, a little scary. "Do what you're told, probie," he said, his tone brooking absolutely no argument. Moose, smartly, shut his mouth, but the tightness in his jaw said he wanted to go a round about it but knew he was the lowest man on the totem pole and that it would get him nowhere but on his ass.

Moose and Fox shared a look and moved to go back into the compound. The compound itself was at one time a mechanic shop, low and windowless. It even had the one garage door left. But out toward the back, there was a new (also windowless) addition that I knew from my research was the sleeping quarters for the patched-in members. If all went to plan, I'd be getting one of those rooms myself.

"Probate on a power trip, huh?" the guy asked, moving over to the gates and pulling them open, but standing in the opening so it was clear I wasn't welcome. At least not yet.

There was something interesting about him. I couldn't quite put my finger on it and that would drive K up a wall when I checked in on Tuesday. He had hammered it into my brain how important it was to be able to size someone up, to get their number within minutes or even seconds of meeting them. For Moose and Fox, that was easy. Moose was a bully and mistakingly thought he was leader-material. Fox was a bit of a follower and a creep.

But this new guy... I wasn't sure.

There was an aura of authority to him when he spoke to the probates. But there was also a sort-of laid-back quality to him as well. He was attractive and carried himself in a way that suggested he was aware of that fact, but not ruled by it.

But that was all I got.

I couldn't tell you if he was an important member of the bike gang. I couldn't tell you if he was attracted to me or if he found my presence amusing just because I pushed the probate's buttons or because he genuinely liked a woman with a little spunk.

"He's an asshole," I said on a shrug.

"True," he said, shrugging. "But this isn't exactly a gentlemen's club, honey."

"Don't honey me," I said, rolling my eyes.

"Why do you want to see Reign?"

"That's my business."

"If it involves him, it involves the club. And club business is all our business."

"What's going on, Repo?" a deep, masculine, sexy voice asked and I looked behind the guy, Repo, to see another man walking up, older, darker and more dangerous-looking. It took all of, say, point-zero-one seconds to realize that he was Reign, the president of The Henchmen MC. Also, a gun runner and a lethal son of a bitch if what K said was true.

Repo waved a hand out to me and Reign's light green eyes fell on me, taking me in quickly in an almost clinical way.

"Hi," I said, feeling dumb, but needing to say something.

"What can I do for you, babe?" he asked, crossing his arms over his broad chest.

I exhaled the breath that felt trapped in my chest.

Here went nothing.

"My name is Maze and I'm your newest prospect."

The silence after my declaration was deafening. Well, save for the pulse that was whooshing as loud as a hurricane through my ears.

Reign's head actually jerked back slightly, taken by surprise no doubt.

I wasn't stupid. I knew women weren't allowed in biker gangs, almost as a rule. It just wasn't done. MCs were about brotherhood. Meaning, no sisters. Meaning, we were, as a sex, relegated to the status of clubwhore or old lady and that was it. We spread for you and fetched you beer and never, ever, interrupted you when you spoke or showed you any disrespect whatsoever.

"You're fucking with me," was Reign's response a couple long seconds later.

"No, I'm not fucking with you. If dipshits like Moose can get a chance, I don't see why I can't."

"Dipshits like Moose, huh?" Reign asked, a sexy grin toying with his lips as he brought a hand up to stroke his cheek.

"Yeah, I..."

The sound of another bike cut off my response as I turned to see the bike park next to mine, two people on top. Driving was a man. He was tall and a lean kind of strong with colorful tattoos and blond hair that he left long on one side of his head and shaved to a buzz cut up the other. He had dark green eyes and unmistakable bone structure that looked just like his brother's. Cash, Reign's younger brother and also the vice president.

He got up, giving me a charming as all hell smile as he slung an arm around the hips of the woman who had ridden up with him. She was tall and leggy with a killer rack, long blond hair, and brown eyes. There was something about her. I wasn't sure if it was the way she carried herself or the depth of her eyes or what, but it was as if everything about her screamed: I can handle myself.

"Who is this?"

"This is Maze," Reign said, waving a hand at me. "And she thinks she is going to be our next probate."

Thinks.

That didn't slip by me.

And, judging by the way the blond woman's eyes narrowed slightly, it didn't slip by her either.

"Thinks?" she asked, angling her head toward Reign, raising a brow at him.

"Oh, shit," Repo said, a boyish smile toying at his lips, making his eyes do that dancing thing again.

"Yeah, Lo," Reign said, seemingly unaware or just unconcerned by the way she had straightened and pulled away from Cash.

"Are Janie and Summer in there?" she asked, moving toward the gate, not so much as pausing so that Reign and Repo both had to scramble out of her way before she plowed into them.

I looked over at Cash, maybe a little charmed by the huge smile he had on his face as he watched his woman storm away. "Is it a good or bad thing if Janie and Summer are in there?" I asked him, dropping my voice a little low, not particularly wanting Reign or the Repo guy to hear.

"Depends on where you stand, sweetheart," he said as he tucked his hands into his front pockets. "For Reign... I'd say he's in for a world of shit if the girls club put their heads together about this."

"And for me?" I asked, wondering what the girls club was and how such a thing existed in the testosterone-centric world of outlaw biker gangs.

"For you, sweetheart, I think it means that you will be getting a shot to prove yourself whether Reign likes it or not."

I turned back toward the man in question just as the door to the compound opened and Lo reappeared flanked with two women. One was a gently curved redhead with freckles and gray eyes. The other was an incredibly short and thin woman with long black hair, blue eyes, and arms covered in tattoos. All of them were looking at Reign and each of them looked ready for a fight.

"Oh, shit," Repo said again, lips twitching for a minute as he took a step away from Reign as the women started to approach.

Reign closed the distance, obviously wanting to keep me out of whatever was about to transpire. But, I guess he didn't factor in that this 'girls club' was pissed and therefore not overly concerned about keeping their voices down. And then, I got to stand back and watch as the girls club leashed into not only Reign but the innocent Repo and Cash, each of them their own kind of angry, all of them yelling over one another. Reign stood there stoically while they raged, arms crossed over his chest, everything about him suggesting that he had no plans on bending.

But then the redhead moved away from the other women who were still yelling, got in close to Reign, put her hand on his upper arm and leaned up toward his ear. I swear the second she touched him, his body language softened slightly. His arms fell from his chest, one moving casually to rest on the woman's hip as the side of his face rested on the side of her head as he listened to whatever it was she was whispering to him.

At the display of what was, painfully obviously, some intimate kind of conversation between two people who seemed to love one another deeply, I felt a strange hollow, swirling feeling in my stomach that no amount of denying it could change what it was: longing.

To have that, to have a man as big and scary and stubborn as Reign obviously was lean into you and really
listen
to something that was important to you... what that must be like.

Then she turned her head slightly, kissing his scruffy cheek and moving away from him to rejoin the two other women who were still ranting. Reign watched his woman for a long moment before he looked at the others, shaking his head.

"Jesus fuck, alright already," he said, sounding both angry and defeated at once. "You want her to have a shot, fine. She has a shot. But she's not getting any special treatment. We're treating her just like we treat all other prospects," he said, slanting a look over at me that made me feel a little cold despite the fact that I was literally sweating down my legs underneath my leather pants. It was gross. "Repo, I need to talk to you for a minute," Reign said, not bothering to speak to me as he and Repo moved away back toward the clubhouse.

"Well, Maze," the black-haired tiny slip of a woman said, looking over at me, all traces of her anger gone in a blink, "welcome to The Henchmen MC. And the girls club. You don't need to prove yourself to us though. With hair like that, I'm pretty sure we'll all fucking like you."

I cast an uncertain look over at Cash who gave me another of his charming smiles. "Told you."

Before I could even figure out which of the new two women was Janie and which was Summer, the door opened again and Repo walked back out.

"Maze," he said, waving a hand, "you're with me. Let's go."

I took a breath and moved through the girls club to fall into step with him as he led me around the back of the compound in complete and utter silence.

So, yeah, K would be happy.

I got my spot in The Henchmen MC, notorious one-percenters, arms dealers, killers.

And, though they had no idea, my protectors.

Of course, I was only breathing easy because I had no idea at the time what being 'with' Repo would mean for me.

Two

Repo

She was hot as shit.

Really, it came down to that initially. Call me a pig, call me a chauvinist, call me whatever, but fuck off if you think people don't notice your looks before they notice anything else about you. So when I walked up to the gates to see Moose and Fox having some kind of conversation with a woman who pulled up on a bike a minute or two before, I noticed first that she was on the tall side and fit, but with a fucking phenomenal ass. Her long, straight hair was dyed the darkest shade of purple possible which, aside from being a huge 'f-you' to societal norms, was hot as hell. Her face, well, it was pretty. She had a somewhat square chin, nice green eyes, and lips that just begged you to get a taste of her.