Chapter Sixteen
Harlow
It’s been a week since we got back from the beach. During this time, I spent it mainly around the clubhouse, not wanting to leave. Since the rescue, I haven’t had any desire to go anywhere let alone be away from Ranger.
After the incident in them where I broke down and let it all out, I would have thought myself weak in everyone’s eyes for allowing myself cry let alone have a full-blown melt down. But truth be told, it doesn’t as I admit to myself that not in any of the time, I’ve been at the clubhouse have I ever once seen an ounce of pity in any of the guys’ faces. Everyone has been nice to me without making me feel out of place.
Well, I should say everyone but the clubwhores. They seem to be more than a little put out to have me around.
I know this because Jezebel, who is the main one, spews words at every chance she gets. She even had the nerve to threaten me about Ranger. How he was hers and that I needed to get gone and out of their lives.
If only she knew what I could do to her. The woman had to be dumb as fuckin’ rocks to think she could go against me. I would kill her without hesitation, but I don’t want to have to do anything. I know I need to bring it to Ranger’s attention; however, he nor any of his brothers need the headache of Jezebel.
This morning I’d decided I didn’t want to go to the gym like I normally do. Instead I go into the kitchen wanting to do something I rarely did.
Cook.
Victoria normally is in here doing what she’s superb at. Or one of the other ol’ ladies is in here, only it’s deserted of anyone.
Good.
Moving around the room, I made sure we had everything we needed and get what I’m making going.
Grabbing a large thing of hamburger, I brown it making sure to add some garlic to this as I do. I also find a large enough pot to make the quantity I need. Once the hamburger is done, I drain the grease and put this in the pot with crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, and sauce. I then add the chicken stock turning the stove on low. Pulling out a cutting board, I dice up a couple green peppers and an onion adding those into the mix. I snag a jalapeño, mincing this too as well. Once all the veggies are in, I grab the beans to complete the chili. Well almost, I needed to add my secret ingredient to give it my signature. Pulling it out of the cabinet, I add it in and stir it all together.
Once the chili is going, I pull out everything I need to make homemade biscuits. Okay, I guess you could say Victoria wasn’t the only one who loved to cook.
I’m in the middle of scooping out the dough when I sense someone come in the room.
“What the fuck smells so good?” Neo asks as Ranger stares at me inquisitively. I’m sure he’s wondering why I’m in here. I haven’t done any of the cooking since arriving here.
“Um, chili,” I mumble and turn my attention back to putting the dough on a baking sheet for it to go in the oven.
“Smells fuckin’ good, babe,” Neo grins earning a glare from Ranger. “What?” he asks.
“Oh fuck me, what is that smell?” Venom asks, opening the door to the kitchen followed by Blaze and Tracker.
“It’s my woman’s chili,” Ranger grumbles. Lifting my head, I find him frowning.
“What’s wrong with you?” Blaze asks, slapping Ranger on the back.
“Nothing,” Ranger grumbles and moves to wrap his arms around me from behind. I shiver at the press of his lips against my neck. “Wasn’t expecting to find you in here,” he murmurs into my ear. “Smells good, baby, wish I didn’t have to share it with everyone else.”
Oh my.
He doesn’t want to share.
“I felt like doing something different today and I love cooking,” I whisper, turning my head to the side to look back at him.
“Next time you can do it in our place,” he informs me.
Huh?
Our place?
I mean yeah, I have a house but we’d been staying here.
“Got a house, baby. You’ve been there, remember?” he grins.
Oh yeah.
He does have a nice place. It’s gorgeous and isolated. I like the idea of living in the middle of nowhere with no one around.
You can do so much without anyone around to complain.
“What about my place?” I ask.
“Do whatever you want with it, baby?” he shrugs. “It doesn’t matter to me. We’re staying at mine.”
“Hey, if you want, I’ll buy it from you,” Neo states having been listening to our conversation. “I would even rent it from you. It’s a kick-ass house and not too far away from the clubhouse.”
Blinking, I think about this for a moment while I let it sink in. I’m moving into Ranger’s, he didn’t ask but it’s a given. I’m not about to be too far from him. I don’t want to.
“Okay, if you want it, you can have it,” I say. “I mean it’s not like I’ve lived there in a while. I wasn’t even there before I’d been kidnapped by Ezra.” At the mention of Ezra, the room seemed to grow completely silent and I felt Ranger stiffen.
“Where were you living?” Ranger asks.
“A rundown apartment complex,” I say without hesitation. I don’t need to hide from him anymore.
“Anything you need to get from there?” This time it’s Stoney’s turn to ask me a question.
“Nope, everything of value is in a safe deposit box at the bank under Raven’s and Victoria’s names.”
“What?” Blaze demands, brows furrowed. “Do they know about this?”
“Ugh, no, they didn’t know about it. I put it in their names since what it holds would go to them anyway,” I shrug, placing the last of the dough on the cookie sheet. Stepping out of Ranger’s embrace, I lift the sheet, and move to the oven near where Neo was standing. Without thought, Neo even opens it for me. Sliding the biscuits into the oven, I check the time and set the timer before facing the room once again.
“What’s in the box?” Stoney gets to the question first.
“Several things really. Money mainly, there’s the deed to my house, my car, the cabin, as well as the house in Sandbridge,” I state, going over everything in my head that I had.
“Wait, you have a cabin and another house?” Nerd asks, shocked at this knowledge. “How come I’m not pulling anything up on those. I’ve run searches and didn’t find any of that. I even searched under Raven’s and Victoria’s names. I knew there was a safe deposit box. Figured it was theirs and didn’t bother asking about it. Wasn’t my business, since I thought their men would have known about it.”
“The cabin was transferred to Matthew’s name once he was born and the house is in Jamie’s name. No one’s going to look for infants owning property. I needed places to go and needed to be a ghost. The properties are still theirs regardless if I’m out of the game or not.”
“Hold on a minute,” Blaze mutters, stiffening. “You put a house in my son’s name?”
“Yes, because I knew if something happened to me, Raven would find out and this would give her and Victoria a chance to find a safe haven if need be. Especially for both of their kids. I’m not a complete emotionless bitch. I never was. I made sure to protect everyone by staying away as much as I could.” My eyes begin to burn with the need to cry.