Repo (The Henchmen MC Book 4) (5 page)

With that, he left, moving out the back doors and across the field to where three different cars were in various stages of disrepair.

"Fucking bullshit," Moose growled, jumping out of his chair.

"That you're still here after talking back like that? I agree. Bullshit," I said, pushing away from the bar and moving off toward the basement.

--

I went to bed early. For one, because I needed to be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed to do my patrol. But also because it saved me from having to deal with Moose and Fox without Renny as a buffer. Duke didn't seem overly fond of the two either, but he didn't seem overly inclined to help me deal with them. Not that I blamed him. It was an 'every man for himself' kind of situation and, well, you couldn't exactly expect bikers to be the warm and mushy type.

My alarm beeped once before I shot up and shut it off, looking around wildly, praying it hadn't woken anyone up. Across from me, Moose and Fox were both still passed out. I wiped the sleep out of my eyes and climbed down from the top bunk. My feet had just settled on the ground when I felt a big hand close around my right calf. I opened my mouth to scream, but clamped it shut at the last possible second, spinning with raised fists to find Duke sitting off the edge of his bed, watching me with a tilted head.

"Jesus," I hissed quietly, feeling my heartbeat slam so hard that I felt like I was choking on it. "What's wrong with you?" I whisper-yelled at him, throwing up my hands.

He gave me a small smile and I realized how attractive he actually was. His hair was out of its bun, flowing long and blond and soft-looking around his shoulders. It was dark and I couldn't make out the pleasant deep blue of his eyes, but they were crinkled up slightly with his smile as he reached for something sitting on the surface of his mattress. "Here," he said, holding out a pocket knife, flicking it open to reveal an illegally long, sharp, serrated blade. At my drawn-in brows, he shrugged. "They don't give probates guns. You need to have something to defend yourself. Not being sexist here... we all need something in case..."

Okay, well. Maybe I was wrong about him after all.

With a small smile of my own, I planted my bare foot on his bed beside his thigh, leaning down and rolling up the pant leg of my jeans to reveal the band I had strapped around my left calf with a knife attached. Granted, it wasn't as big and mean-looking as his was, but K assured me it would slice through human flesh like filet mignon. Those were his words, not mine. "Have another in each boot," I added because it was the damn truth. I wasn't walking into a compound full of armed gun runners without something to ensure I stood a chance of fighting out if it came to that.

"Good for you," Duke said, nodding, and I felt a swell of pride inside. I got the impression that Duke wasn't an easy guy to impress, which made his approval all the more rewarding.

"Any tips?" I asked, wanting to engage him.

"Don't fall asleep and don't be a hero. You think you hear or see something, investigate, but don't engage if you don't have to. Get help. You won't impress Repo by getting yourself killed."

At that, I tilted my head a little as I leaned down to slide into my boots and tie them up. "Repo? Shouldn't I be worried about impressing Reign, not Repo?"

Duke shrugged. "Reign has the ultimate say. But he's not here all the time. Repo is and Repo is, for all intents and purposes, in charge of us. So the only way you can impress Reign is to impress Repo."

"Good to know," I said, nodding at him. I didn't need to say thanks for him to know that was what I meant. Along with some self-defense training and the most intense study session of my life about The Henchmen MC and their members, K had drilled it into me that I needed to stop thinking like a chick. He said that if I wanted to get into a boys club, I needed to learn to communicate without having to say much. It wasn't exactly something I excelled in, but I was learning.

"Now get a move on. There should be fresh coffee and you'll want to relieve Renny. He gets cranky when his relief is late."

"Renny? Cranky? I can't imagine that," I said with a small smile as I reached up to settle my sheets back into place.

"Not everyone is who they appear to be, Ace."

I stopped my walk toward the stairs and turned. "Is that a warning?"

"Let's call it a word of advice," he said, jerking his chin at me then falling back into his bed.

With that little nugget to mull over, I made my way into the kitchen that did, indeed, smell like fresh coffee. I found the pot with a sleeve of disposable insulated cups and tops, poured myself a cup, added a sugar, then slipped on the top as I looked over at the clock. I still had twenty minutes. But it was always better to be early than late. Especially if it meant I got to stay on Renny's good side.

"Won't get you far to kiss their asses," a voice said behind me, making me jump on a gasp as I whipped around to find Repo sitting at the table in the corner, hand around a steaming mug of coffee. He was slouched back in the chair, eyelids a little swollen, the skin under his eyes looking purple from lack of sleep. A part of me wondered if he had stayed up to keep an eye on me which I found incredibly insulting. But a bigger part was seriously worried about how I hadn't noticed he was there when I walked in. K would box my ears if he ever found that out. Luckily, I had no plans of telling him.

"I'm not kissing anyone's ass. I'm just an early riser," I said with a chin lift even though it was only mostly true. Yes, I rose early. But early for me was around four-thirty in the morning, not three-thirty. But whatever. He didn't know that.

"Sure, honey," he said, nodding in a way I found condescending.

"Two out of six isn't that bad," I mumbled to myself as I walked toward the doorway.

"Two out of six what?" he asked, apparently having some kind of super hearing.

I turned my head over my shoulder, chin lifted, and told him flat-out. "Two out of six of you aren't close-minded sexists," I said with a brow lift. "In case you were wondering, you're of the six, not the two." With that, I made my way out into the great room then out the back door, my stomach swirling around ominously. I knew I wasn't supposed to talk back to them, but I also had the feeling that I wasn't going to get myself anywhere by being a withering flower either. Especially if they were discounting me on the sole ground of my sex.

Besides, I'd rather be kicked out because I wasn't afraid to speak my mind than be kicked out because I proved myself simply unimpressive.

"Thank God, Violet," Renny's friendly voice groaned as I made my way toward the front gate where he was leaning against a tree.

"Tired?" I asked, taking in the heaviness of his bright blue eyes.

"Hate this fucking shift. Guess that's why they gave it to me," he said with a knowing smirk.

"Well I may or may not have just let on that I am, by nature, an early riser. So I imagine I'll be getting stuck with your shift in no time," I mused.

"Aw, Violet, don't be getting all down on them yet. You just got here," he said, pushing off the tree. "Here," he said, holding out a huge, heavy, black Maglite. "You still have a good hour of darkness," he explained as I reached for it.

He moved to walk past me and I blurted out the question I had wanted to ask someone since I learned about us being the ones to patrol the grounds. "Hey, um, do I just watch the gates or am I supposed to walk this whole thing?"

Renny turned back and gave me a knowing smile, like maybe he knew what it was like to be the new guy. I guess, at one time, he had been as well. "You can stay at the main gates for ten minute intervals only. Then you need to do laps, alternating your route each time in case someone is watching. They had a breach years back because some probies fucked up their watch. Don't want that happening on your shift."

"Right. Thanks, Renny. Get some rest. Dream sweet." I cringed the second it was out of my mouth, knowing it wasn't something a biker would say. Damn it.

"Don't lose the soft," Renny said, as if sensing my thoughts. "It's easy to fold into the mold they all seem to fit into. But don't do it at the expense of who you are." With that, he turned and made his way back toward the compound, leaving me to exhale so loudly that it could maybe be called a sigh.

Because, as a whole, I agreed with him. I didn't believe in squeezing yourself into someone else's mold. But, that being said, this was not a case where I had a choice. By whatever means necessary, I needed to integrate. I needed to become one of them.

If I didn't, well, like K said earlier... I would die.

On a deep breath, I gripped the Maglite tight and started my first round of the night, taking the enormous fence at a clockwise path.

Eight and a half incredibly long, incredibly boring hours later, completely out of new ideas of how to switch up my rounds, Moose and Fox finally came ambling out of the clubhouse, laughing at something until their eyes landed on me.

"You look like shit, Maze," Moose informed me.

I would have taken offense, but I was pretty sure his assessment was nothing but accurate. As soon as the sun rose in the sky, it started pelting down on me in a way that made the sweat start to bead up on what seemed like every freaking inch of skin. I had tied my hair up with a band I kept around my wrist, putting into a messy knot at the top of my head. My tee was sticking to me with sweat and my face felt sunburned.

So yeah, I looked like shit.

So I didn't even bristle at the comment.

"Don't worry," Fox said attempting (and failing) to give me a charming smile, "I'd still do 'ya."

"Lucky me," I deadpanned, moving away from them, snagging my discarded coffee cup off the ground as I went.

"Hey babe," Reign's distinctive voice called to me as I stepped into the great room, almost crying the air conditioning felt so good.

"Yeah?" I asked, attempting to push the misery out of my voice as I turned to find him standing at the bar with a sweating beer in front of him.

I totally didn't wet my lips at the thought of a nice, cold beer. Nope. Not me.

"Bring this out to Repo, will you?" he asked with a smirk that I knew meant he knew it wasn't something I could turn down doing. It was normal for probates to have to run drinks to members. But, that being said, Duke was sitting on the couch and from the looks of it, had been there a while. And Renny had just walked out of the kitchen with a cup of coffee. So... me getting the job? Yeah, it was because I was the girl.

Assholes.

"Sure thing," I said, giving him a saccharine smile as I reached for it. "Do you need me to make everyone a sandwich too? Maybe vacuum the carpets in high heels and full makeup?" I asked, but in such a sweet tone that there was no way he could call it insubordinate. I swear to Christ, I made it sound like I was just tickled at the prospect of being subjugated.

From behind me, I heard Renny chuckle and Duke snort. In front of me, Reign's lips were totally twitching. He might not have wanted me there, but he respected my spirit. I couldn't really ask for more than that.

I took the beer and made my way back outside to where I heard the music blaring in the back field.

Repo had made his way out to his cars sometime around eight in the morning. I could occasionally feel his eyes on me, but I did everything in my power to not return the favor.

The metal music was blaring from a dock propped up on an overturned garbage can and clanging was coming from under the hood of the faded red old school muscle car. That was about as specific as I could get. Cars mattered to me about as much as high school trig, meaning not at all. I skirted around the car to find Repo leaned into the hood, his shirt discarded, sweat beaded on his skin, all the muscles from his hand to his shoulder tensing as he used it to screw or unscrew something inside the engine. I swallowed hard against the unexpected stab of desire at the sight.

It wasn't that Repo wasn't attractive; he was. He was actually one of the best looking men I had seen in a long time. And it wasn't helping that he was half naked and that I got to see all the ink he kept covered with his shirt. There was something across his chest I couldn't quite make out given his position, but his back had a huge piece in the American traditional style. There was a giant red and black snake with a jeweled knife stabbed through its head, blood dripping down from it. There were words above and below it spelling out: "snakes and snitches get it where they slither".

"Honey..." Repo's voice called, sounding amused and I jumped, eyes shooting up to his face to find his lips twitching. He'd totally seen me staring at him. Great. That was just wonderful.

"Snakes and snitches get it where they slither?" I asked, trying to keep my eyes on his face though I did notice that he had "Henchmen" written across his chest in a huge, bold font.

His head cocked to the side slightly as he turned and leaned against the car, a wrench still in his palm. "Words to live by," he said, his tone a little guarded. There was history there, meaning. "That for me?" he asked, jerking his chin toward my hand where I was still holding the beer.

"As per orders," I said, giving him a humorless smile as I held it out.

"Thanks," he said, reaching for it, tipping it back, and taking a long swig. I felt my own throat go dry as I watched him swallow.