Smoke Bomb by Abbi Glines

Twelve

Trinity

It took me most of the day to clean up the mess from the party. When that was done, I worked on the rest of the house, then started dinner. This was going to be a full-time job. How long was it going to last? I wasn’t getting paid for this. Just room and board. I guessed my life was safe too.

Gage came inside the back door about the time I finished making dinner. He inhaled deeply and grinned. “That smells fucking amazing. Now, let’s pack it all up and head to the shop.”

I’d heard them talk about the shop, but I wasn’t sure what it was. “What is that?” I asked.

“Huck’s bike repair shop. We got some shit to finish up, and we’ll be there late. Huck sent me to get you and the food. Well, just the food, but you’ve been here all damn day, and I getting out will feel good.”

He was taking me without Huck telling him to. I wasn’t sure that was a good idea.

He raised his eyebrows when I didn’t move. “What?”

“I, uh … is that smart if Huck didn’t say I could?”

Gage grinned and put both his hands on the island between us, then leaned toward me. “He might be big and fucking bossy, but make no mistake—Huck isn’t in charge of me. I’m a crazier son of a bitch than he is. He knows it too. Now, pack the shit up, and let’s get you out of the damn house for a while.”

He was right. It would be nice to get out of this house. I nodded and started packing up the lasagna, Caesar salad, and garlic bread. There was an apple pie on the counter and vanilla ice cream in the freezer.

“Need a cooler for the ice cream?” Gage asked.

I nodded.

He left the kitchen, then came back in with a navy cooler that I added ice to before putting the vanilla ice cream in.

“Should I pack an ice cream scoop, plates, forks?”

He shook his head. “Nope. There is a mini kitchen at the shop. It has all we need.”

I was still a tiny bit nervous about going without Huck’s permission, but Gage did seem sure of his decision. He was the one who had put a gun to my head—twice. Obeying him would be a solid decision.

Gage took most of the food with him out to the truck he was driving. I followed with the pie and garlic bread. He took over arranging everything in the backseat, so I let him handle it and went to get into the passenger seat. It felt good to be getting out. Last night had been difficult. Huck seemed to be a problem for me, and as much as I wished I could hate him, I couldn’t.

“What exactly does Huck do at the bike repair shop?” I asked when Gage was pulling out of the garage.

“Mostly works on Harleys. That’s his Harley in the last parking spot in the garage. It’s his specialty. But he works on all kinds of bikes.”

“Motorcycles then. Not actual bikes.” I realized I had misunderstood.

Gage laughed. “Yeah, motorcycles.”

I could see Huck on a motorcycle. He looked like the type. I remembered the Harley I’d noticed outside the church when we left to go to the gravesite for Hayes’s funeral. I’d wondered then who it belonged to, but with all the other going on at the moment, I’d forgotten about it.

“Do you and Levi work there too?” I assumed he had to have help other than Ray-Ray, who apparently liked to give blow jobs.

He smirked. “I can’t fix shit. Levi knows a little. Huck has a few guys who work for him.”

I watched out the window as we drove away from the house.

“How did you like last night’s get-together?”

I turned to look at him to see if he was being serious. He was grinning. Figured. For a man who would hold a gun to your head with no issue whatsoever, he sure liked to make jokes.

“Memorable,” I replied.

He threw his head back and laughed. Gage wasn’t as tall, wide, attractive as Huck, but he wasn’t hard on the eyes. Neither was Levi. They all had their own appeal. If you overlooked the fact that they were criminals.

“Can I ask you something?”

He glanced over at me. “Shoot.”

“Are y’all in a gang?” I asked.

He let out another laugh and flashed me a grin. “No, Trinity. We are not a gang.”

I continued to look at him, waiting on some kind of explanation.

He shrugged. “There is some shit that I can’t share. You’re new. You checked out, but that doesn’t mean we just trust you. Think of it as a family. We might not be related, but we are thicker than blood.”

That answered nothing. I wanted to point out his attempt at killing me, but I let it go. They didn’t want me to know. I was stuck with them until it was safe for me to be on my own again. I could live with that. How long could that take?

Gage pulled into a parking lot. The sign out front said Huck’s, nothing more. However, the motorcycles lined up outside and the ones that could be seen through the windows made it clear what this was.

“Good luck,” Gage said, opening the door and getting out.

“With what?” I asked.

He opened the back door and started taking out the food. “With Huck.”

I froze. “But you said—”

Gage started laughing again, cutting me off. “Kidding, Trinity. Get your cute ass out of the truck and come on.”

All I could do now was hope that Huck was in a good mood. I had apple pie and ice cream. He couldn’t be mad at me if I had that, right?

Gage led the way as we went to the side door of the shop, and he opened it, then held the door for me to go inside.

“Turn right, head to the back,” he told me.

I turned right but waited for him. I was not about to walk into a room with Huck without Gage being in there first. He walked past me and smirked. I sighed and followed behind him. Right now, he was my only champion, and I didn’t need to make him mad. No need to say anything sarcastic.

Gage opened a door, then stepped inside, keeping his foot on the door so I could enter.

“Before she has a fucking panic attack, I made her come. She’s been in the damn house for days. And she made us apple pie. I had to break her out,” Gage announced as I walked slowly into the room following him.

There was a long table, where I noticed Levi sitting to the far side, a guy I didn’t know across from him, and at the far end was Huck. I met his gaze. A redhead with a tube top on stood behind him. I forced a smile as she looked me over.

“Thanks for consulting me about it,” Huck replied.

Gage shrugged. “I made the call. I don’t answer to you.”

Huck’s jaw clenched, and I set down the garlic bread and pie. I would remain quiet and stay out of the way. He would have no reason to be angry about my being here.

“This looks incredible,” Levi said as Gage set the food down in front of them.

“Fuck, I’m moving in with y’all,” the other guy chimed in.

“Ray-Ray, go fetch the plates and flatware,” Gage said while taking the lids off the lasagna and salad.

The redhead ran her hand over Huck’s shoulder, and I wished I hadn’t watched that. She walked as if she knew everyone was watching her every move. The tiny skirt she had on covered her butt but little else. Her flat, tanned stomach was completely bare. I tore my gaze off her and tried to focus on something else.

“Follow Ray-Ray and take the ice cream to the freezer,” Gage told me.

I silently pleaded with him not to make me go with her, but he cocked an eyebrow, as if to challenge me. Damn him. Why was this so amusing to him? I turned and took the ice cream from the cooler and hurried to catch up with Ray-Ray. What kind of name was that anyway?

She was turning left up ahead, and I walked faster so I wouldn’t lose her. Thankfully, when I turned the corner, I saw her walk into a brightly lit room with a refrigerator in clear view. I slowed down, hoping to give her time to get what she needed so we weren’t in there together long before I made it to the door.

I turned the knob and stepped inside as she put flatware on top of the plates. Her bright green eyes locked on me. There was no way those eyes were real. They were too bright. Almost alien-like. Or I was being critical because she was sexy and worked for Huck.

“Can I help you?” she asked.

I held up the ice cream. “Gage told me to put this in the freezer,” I replied.

She said nothing as I walked over to open the freezer and place the ice cream inside. When I turned around, she was standing there, looking at me. I forced another smile.

“You must be the chubby former fiancée of Huck’s little brother,” she drawled with a smile on her face.

That hurt. She had no idea the old wounds that brought up. I wasn’t fat. I knew that. But I wasn’t her kind of skinny either. I doubted my body would ever be that slim. I tried to exercise. Body image and being called fat were parts of my past that still haunted me. It was clear that the big boobs on her had been bought. But acting like I didn’t want a body like hers would be a lie. She was tall, thin, and had a great boob job.

I managed a nod and headed for the door.

“You might be in his house, but it’s just because of his brother. Huck isn’t into”—she paused and waved her long red nails at me—“all the extra baggage. I keep his dick sucked and taken care of.”

My cheeks heated. There was a part of me that wanted to tell her to fuck off. I didn’t care what she did with Huck. But I also wasn’t so sure making Huck’s female angry was smart. I needed to stay alive. Not piss off the one keeping me alive. Although last night, he’d tried to make the people at his house think I was his. If they knew he liked the Ray-Rays of this world, would that even work?

Smiling at her, I held the door for her since she was carrying all the plates and flatware.

Ray-Ray walked past me with the same sway to her hips, as if I were interested in her body. Perhaps that was how she always walked. I’d worked at a strip club, and there were girls there much like her. However, they hadn’t been so territorial. Neither had they taken shots at my body.

I followed her back to the room the men were in, and the moment I stepped inside, Huck’s eyes locked on me. I dropped my gaze to the floor and walked over to the corner and waited until someone needed me. It was clear Ray-Ray was in charge of feeding the men here. Stepping in her way wasn’t something I wanted to do.

The heat of Huck’s focus on me made me nervous and uncomfortable. I turned my head so that I was looking out the one small window in this room. I should have stayed at the house.

“Trinity, come eat. You worked your ass off on the house today,” Gage called out from the table.

As if I could eat with Ray-Ray watching me. I almost laughed at the idea. I started to tell him I wasn’t hungry.

“I don’t think she’s missing any meals,” Ray-Ray said with a syrupy-sweet accent.

My face flushed, and the heat went from my temples to down my neck. I could deal with the mean girl. Wasn’t the first time.

“I’m good, thanks,” I told Gage, unable to hold a real smile very long and turning back to the window. Why, oh why had I let Gage talk me into coming here?

“What’s that supposed to mean, Ray-Ray?” Gage challenged her, and I closed my eyes, praying this would end.

She let out a soft, throaty laugh, and if I could turn any redder than I already was, then it was happening.

“Leave.” Huck’s command was harsh.

I swung my eyes back to him, only to see he was glaring at Ray-Ray.

“What? I thought you needed me … later,” she said, leaning into him so that her cleavage was on display.

“I don’t,” he snapped.

She frowned and glanced around at the other men, as if they were going to defend her but no one spoke up. Unable not to watch this play out, I noticed as she stiffened, tossed her shoulders back, and ran her hand along Huck’s neck with her nails.

“Call me if you change your mind.”

He didn’t look at her or respond.

When she turned to walk away, I was pinned with her hateful glare, as if this were my fault. I dropped my eyes to the floor and waited until the door closed behind her. Letting out a breath of relief, I closed my eyes and relaxed.

“The jealous bitch is gone. Come eat,” Gage said.

I lifted my gaze to meet his, and he waved a hand toward the table. I shifted my focus to Huck, not wanting to be anywhere I wasn’t wanted, and he took another bite of the lasagna on his plate, but his eyes didn’t meet mine.

“It’s fucking delicious. Come on and eat with us,” Levi called out.

“Ray-Ray has no ass, Trinity. That was straight-up jealousy talking,” Gage said.

Their attempt at trying to make me feel better was the only reason I walked over to the table and pulled out a chair. Huck wasn’t talking, but with two against one, I figured sitting down was safe. Besides, I really liked my lasagna.

Gage slid a plate over to me. “Get you some.”

I glanced at Huck as he picked up a glass and took a drink. His eyes locked on me. I wanted to apologize for being here.

Why did I want his approval so much? He had done nothing but turn me on, then humiliate me since he’d saved me from death.

“Eat.” Huck’s one-worded command surprised me. I glanced at the lasagna, then back at him. “Get some fucking food.”

Gage slid the lasagna toward me, and I put some on my plate. Next time though, I wasn’t coming to the shop. I would stay locked up in that house before I did this again.

Gage placed a slice of garlic bread on top of my lasagna. “That’ll keep your ass juicy.”

“Gage.” The warning in Huck’s tone wasn’t lost on me.

I picked it up and took a bite. Gage nodded his approval, and for a moment, I relaxed enough to eat.