Page 8 of Dominic

“Annie and I are old friends now,” I said, pretending we hadn’t just been talking about her. “Piston tells me you’re learning a few different languages.”

“Oh, yes!” Sweet God, the girl actually bounced on her toes in excitement. There was this strange combination of child and woman about her. Like everything was brand-new and fun, and she was eager to partake. “I’m learning Spanish from Elena, Russian from Venus, and Chief is teaching me Navajo. That one’s hard, but so much fun! Chief said I’m picking it up pretty well since I’ve only been learning a couple of weeks.”

“Look, Annie,” Piston continued. “I haven’t told Dom everything. But, given your situation, me and Venus would feel better if you went to stay at the Grim Road compound instead of at the motel. Marge has done a fantastic job since she bought it, but you’re still alone, even with all the extra security she had installed. Would you be willing to go back with Dom? He’s got an extra bedroom in his home inside the compound.”

She gave me a hesitant look before answering Piston. “Do you really think it’s necessary? I don’t want to be more of a bother.”

“Necessary? Probably not. I’d just rather be safe than sorry. Give Crush and Byte time to look into that camp and make sure they don’t decide to come after you.”

“I don’t think they will,” she whispered. She’d grown pale as Piston talked. I’d noticed it and was pretty sure Piston noticed it too. “Not after what I did.”

Piston raised a hand. “Honey, anything you did was deserved by whomever you did it to. What do you say? It will make me worry less.”

I raised an eyebrow at Piston, who might as well have said, “Take pity on an old man, will you?” Yeah. I couldn’t wait to tell Venus about this.

“You promise you have room, Dom? I don’t want to take up space you need or be in your way.”

“Just me in a two-bed, two-bath house. We can see as little or as much of each other as we like and have as much privacy as each of us needs. You’d be doing me a favor, actually. I’ve got a dog and a cat. They both like being inside, but I’m not leaving them in the house when I’m not there. If I get tied up and can’t get home, I don’t want ‘em stuck in there. If you stay there, you can let them in and out as they want.”

Annie’s eyes got wide and round, her mouth forming an “O” of surprise. “You have a cat?”

“And a dog.”

“Is it a big dog or a little dog?”

I had to fight a grin. This girl was living life and enjoying the moment. “Medium-size dog. Squirrel dog. She hates the cat.”

“And they’re both in the house at the same time?”

“Oh yeah. Cat’s too smart for the dog. She waits until Peaches is asleep, then curls up on top of him.”

That got a giggle out of Annie. “If you’re sure.”

“I’m sure, honey. We can get your things after your shift and I’ll take you home.”

Annie flashed a big smile, then readied her pen to take our order. I had the sinking feeling I’d just sealed my own fate. I’d never been attracted to young and innocent, but how could a man resist this woman? I certainly couldn’t. I mean, I wasgonnaresist. At least, on a physical level I was gonna resist. I foresaw a lot of sleepless nights and cold showers in my future. And I didn’t see me going far from my new charge. My only prayer was that Annie was as innocent as she appeared. It might be the only thing that kept me from throwing caution -- and my self-respect -- to the wind and making her mine. Age difference be damned.

Yeah. I was so fucking fucked.

Chapter Five

Annie

I felt like I was making one stupid decision after another… except maybe I wasn’t? Should I trust all these people I didn’t know right after leaving a hellish situation surrounded by people Ididknow and still hadn’t been able to trust? Probably not. And, honestly, the main reason I had trusted any of them in the first place was because of Venus. Piston came later, but my trust was with the scary woman who dressed in bright pink and rode a motorcycle to match. He'd told me she intended to ditch all the pink, but she'd had to put a club girl in the hospital when she'd come on to Piston thinking he was with someone other than Venus. Apparently, she looked vastly different without the pink.

Speaking of which, I now understood the difference between a bicycle and a bike. Sure, I’d seen Venus on hers, but I hadn’t ridden with her. Now, I sat behind Dominic as he rolled down the road with the wind in our hair. Well, his hair because someone had shoved a helmet on my head and I’d been a little top heavy. I also might have squealed and nearly toppled over the back. Only a slight exaggeration since Dom had tugged one of my arms around his waist and still had hold of my wrist when he took off. After that, I had a blast.

As we rolled through some very thick woodlands, I couldn’t help the surge of anxiety as reality hit me squarely in the face. Seriously. It was a bough from some kind of evergreen too close to the road and I hadn’t been paying attention. Thank God the visor had been partially down or I might have put an eye out.

The most pressing question I had for myself was really very simple. Had I just hitched a ride back into hell? Since Venus had brought me into the real world, I’d heard a phrase a couple of times that I was only now truly understanding.Too stupid to live. Yep. I got it now.

But then I thought about Dominic. He hadn’t really given me any reason not to trust him. In fact, hadn’t I been thinking of him as my hero? There was something in the way he spoke, a sort of gentleness hidden beneath that gruff exterior and the heavy responsibility he carried on his shoulders. He was a protector at heart, which made me feel safer, despite the whirlwind of doubts swirling inside me. It was stupid, but I kind of liked it when he called me girl. Mostly because when he did it now, he winked at me and it made me feel warm inside. Not icky and scared.

We pulled into the Grim Road compound, and it was nothing like what I’d expected. Instead of the ominous biker gang hideout I had pictured, it was more like a small, self-contained village. There were neat houses lined up with small gardens. A couple of children played in the area around a larger building, and people waved as Dominic drove past. It seemed normal, peaceful even. Kind of like the camp had looked from the outside. I pushed that thought hastily away. If I went down that rabbit hole, I’d never find my way out.

There were several bikes parked in front of the main building and raucous laughter and music coming from inside. A woman squealed and stumbled outside, followed by a big guy with a full beard. He wrapped his arms around her middle and picked her up. She let out another squeal before dissolving into laughter. He growled something, turning her in his arms and fusing his mouth to hers. She wrapped her limbs around him, kissing him back and the big guy stomped away from the building and into the shadows.

“Oh, wow,” I breathed in a sharp breath.