In the closet, I find a satin tank and short set that looks comfy and slip it on before venturing out into the living room in search of Gavin. As I step into the living room, I stop and smile. Gavin is splayed out on the couch, one hand thrown over his head and the other pressing against his chest as he snores quietly. Based on how hard he has been pushing himself these past four days, I’m surprised he didn’t pass out sooner. I know how badly he needs the sleep so I grab a blanket off the back of the couch and lay it over him before returning to the bedroom.
The sun is down now and the stars are starting to peek out over the water, shimmering off the surface as lazy waves roll toward the shore. It’s a peaceful night and a part of me wishes I could just go sit down there and let the water lap over my toes. With my luck, though, I’d probably get lost and not be able to get back home.
Sighing, I sit on the bed. I wish there were more personal touches in the apartment, something to help me piece together my life but it’s like all of it is hidden away. My teeth sink into my bottom lip as I look around the room. It’s got to be hiding around here, somewhere, right? I glance around the room again before landing on the closet. That’s the first logical place to look for clues, isn’t it? With a nod, I stand up and walk over to the closet as I listen for sounds of Gavin stirring in the living room. Once inside, I stand in the middle of the large room and look around at the various racks of clothes before turning to what is clearly my side. Half of the wall is divided into shelving for shoes, bags, and accessories and the other half has two bars for hangers. I drop my head back and smile when I see boxes up on a shelf above the clothes.
Bingo.
There is a step stool tucked into the corner and I grab it before positioning it under the shelves and climbing up. A fine layer of dust covers the top of the old shoe box and I blow it off as I climb off the stool and sit down on a bench in the middle of the room. Sucking in a breath, I pull the lid off and smile at the photo of Mercedes and me from the day we met sitting on top of a stack of other photos. I pull out a chunk of them and start going through them. They are all from my college days and most of them contain Mercedes and me doing something crazy. The longer I stare at our smiling faces, the more my heart aches. God, I miss her which doesn’t make any sense to me. As far as I can remember, I saw her just a few days ago even if I know that’s not true but it doesn’t matter because all I want is to hang out with my girl and tell her about the craziness that is my life right now. A tear streaks down my cheek and I flick it away before shoving the photos back into the box and slamming the lid down on top. Looking at old photos and reminiscing about all the good times we had isn’t going to help me move on with my life now. No matter how hard it is, I have to try to move forward.
Chapter Five
Sawyer
The truck rumbles through the parking lot of the apartment complex and my gaze sweeps over each car, checking for a threat hidden from view despite the fact that there is no reason to be on the lookout for danger today. We are just here to help Sammy move into her new place but after seven and a half years with the Bayou Devils, I’ve trained myself to always be hyper-vigilant. I can’t help looking for trouble behind every tree or in every parked car. The guys like to give me hell for it but I can’t stop either. I’m always alert, always watching even after the threat is eliminated because the one thing I hate more than surprises is failing one of these girls, something that hasn’t happened often but each time it does, it’s like a punch to the gut. To be honest, it’s kind of exhausting to always be “on” but it’s also necessary to keep everyone safe and nothing is more important to me than that.
Fuzz pulls up in front of one of the buildings and whips the truck around so he can back into the space in front of Sammy’s door, allowing us to move boxes into her new apartment easily. I scan the second floor of the building adjacent to hers before turning to inspect the parking lot again. There is a fit older woman in pink spandex walking her yappy little dog along one of the walking trails between two other buildings and a man at the end of the building in front of us carrying his groceries up the stairs, his face contorted into a grimace as he struggles to cart a mountain of bags up in one trip. Scoffing, I watch him, mentally betting myself that he drops a gallon of milk before he makes it to his door.
“Twenty bucks says that milk ends up all over the stairs,” Fuzz says, his gaze locked on the man stumbling up the stairs with a smirk on his face. I scoff.
“Pretty sure that’s a bet you’re going to win.”
The man stumbles a few times before finally managing to make it to his apartment door without losing any of his food. I sigh and scan the parking lot again. Despite the fact that it seems like a large complex, it’s fairly quiet which will be good for a girl like Sammy after the hell she’s been through.
“Moose, give it a rest,” Fuzz says, sighing as he runs a hand through his dark hair and checks his phone. “Sammy is safe now.”
I nod, his words not quite sating my suspicion but I ignore it. “Nice place.”
“Yeah, Streak hooked her up and made sure it was safe. Plus, it’s close to the clubhouse so she can make it into the shop easily for work.”
After we got Sammy out of a shitty situation with her ex-boyfriend, she had nowhere to go and it had been years since she had been allowed to have a job so her prospects weren’t great. Thankfully, the club owns a couple of businesses and we so happened to be looking for a new receptionist at the auto shop where I work as a mechanic.
“Has she even agreed to work at the shop yet?”
Fuzz shakes his head. “Not yet but Blaze seems to think she’ll be on board.”
I nod as I stare out at the parking lot again. One of the first things that drew me into joining the Devils was the sense of brotherhood everyone always talked about but after being a prospect for only three months, I could see that wasn’t what I had gotten myself into. I was just about ready to call it quits when everything changed. We were all selling guns and drugs back then and in a twisted turn of events, Henn got himself arrested and sent to jail which led to Blaze getting shot. Before that, we were a real outlaw club but I guess his near death experience made him rethink things. A few days after he was released from the hospital, the first girl this club ever helped literally fell into his arms and Blaze took it as a sign from above. He became passionate about helping people who couldn’t protect themselves from all the bad in the world and when he brought it to the club, the ones who shared his vision stayed while the ones who liked the way things were, left. And we’ve been doing it ever since which is how we met Sammy.
Our first attempt to save Sammy was a while back. Her sister contacted us because Sammy was in big trouble and her crazy boyfriend rarely let her leave his sight. He kept her from her family and friends and didn’t even let her have a phone. We came up with a plan but just before we put it into motion, Sammy disappeared. We searched for months but couldn’t find her anywhere so we were surprised as hell when she contacted us a month ago to ask for our help again. This time, we didn’t waste any time and rushed to free her and we were successful. Now, we’re here to help her reclaim her life, starting with an apartment and a job.