“So are you two friends with benefits now? Is that what’s going on here?” she asks, arching her brow.
“I have no idea what is going on here,” I admit in a dry tone. I kiss the top of Sapphire’s hair. “But I think I realized something today.”
“And what’s that?”
“I think I like him more than he likes me.” I wince. “I mean, I kissed him first. He had such good control, and I don’t like it.”
Clover’s eyes widen. “Bull—” She looks down at Fire. “He definitely wants you. You are under his skin just as much, or even more, than he is under yours. He just has a better poker face. He’s more experienced than you, Cara. You’ve only been with Rhett. From what Felix has told me Decker has”—she mouths slept and then continues—“with everyone in the whole city. If this is a game, he is a pro.”
I grit my teeth at her description. “This isn’t a game, though. And I don’t get the feeling that he’s treating it as such. I think we both just genuinely have no idea what we are doing. Or we do, and know that it’s not right.”
The ultimate battle of mind versus heart.
“Maybe he’s trying to follow your lead. You are the one who just got out of a serious relationship. Maybe he doesn’t want to be your rebound.” Clover shrugs and I realize that could be true. He has held back and I can see from his perspective why he’d wait for me to make the first move. Huh.
“I think you may be right.”
“Life is always a game,” Clover responds, picking up a cracker and handing it to Sapphire. “There are winners and there are losers. It just depends on what you want out of it, and what your end goal is.”
“I want him.”
“Nice to hear you admit that. Any news from Con?”
“We’ve been texting. I know you don’t like her, Clover, but you need to give her a chance,” I say.
Clover purses her lips. “It’s not that I don’t like her. I just want you to be careful. I don’t want her to take advantage of you. You give so much, Cara. And if Con is a taker, I know that you will give her anything she wants because she’s your sister. If today she messaged and asked for money, you’d ask how much, wouldn’t you?”
She’s right, I probably would, but wouldn’t anyone want to help someone in need?
I glance over to the parking lot, where I notice a man sitting in a black car watching us a little too closely. “Don’t look now, but there’s someone watching us.”
“Black car?”
I nod.
“I saw him pull in when you did.”
“You think he’s following us?”
“I don’t know,” she admits, looking down at Fire. “But we should get out of here, just in case. Do you want to ride with us?”
“No, I’ll be okay. I’ll follow you.”
I only just got this car, and I’m not going to leave it behind. This might be nothing, and it will only take me an extra few minutes anyway.
I wait until Fire is safe in the car, then I quickly go to my own. As soon as I open the car door, a van rushes into the parking lot and two men get out.
Fuck.
A second later, they are on me and I’m fighting for my life.
Chapter Nineteen
Decker
When Felix calls and tells me to come to his house, I head there straight away. He rarely demands things from me so I know something is wrong. The door opens just as I lift my hand to knock.
Felix opens the door wide, and I see Cara and Clover huddled together on the couch. “What happened?”
He closes the door and leads me over to them. Cara lifts her face up to me and her eyes are red, like she’s been crying. “Felix, I told you not to call him.”
“Why wouldn’t I? I need his help,” Felix chides, turning to me. “Okay, so today, Cara was walking back to her car and someone tried to kidnap her by pulling her into their van. She was lucky—fought the guys off and ran.”
“What? Are you okay?” I ask, giving her a quick once-over before sitting next to her.
“I’m fine, just a little shaken is all. I think, being away from the Wind Dragons, I kind of lowered my guard a little when I really shouldn’t have,” she replies, as I reach for her hand to comfort her. “I should know better, always stay alert.”
“You got away, that’s all that matters,” I say, then glance back up at Felix. “Whatever you need me to do, I’m here.”
“Decker, you don’t have to—”
“We thought you might say that,” Clover says, cutting her off and speaking to me. “We also think we know what’s going on, but we haven’t called the Wind Dragons yet to confirm.”
“What do you think the reason is?” I ask, giving Cara’s hand a squeeze.
“We were told Rhett was sent away because something went down in the MC. We don’t know what because they didn’t tell us, but it has to be connected. Cara must be targeted because of Rhett. No one other than our close friends and family know that they broke up. Both of their names are on their house and their mail, et cetera. I think whatever is going on with Rhett is now touching Cara. Someone wants revenge and they came here to get it.”
“But you have no idea what situation Rhett is in?” I ask, brow furrowing.
I don’t like this one bit. Why is Rhett’s shit touching Cara, and why isn’t the MC on top of this? Maybe they thought she’d be safe since she’s also out of town, but apparently not.
“Nope. I called my dad, but I’m waiting for him to call back,” Cara explains, shrugging. “I know he’s going to tell me to come home, which I don’t want to do, but I don’t want to put any of you in danger either.”
“Is going home safer, though?” Clover asks her, frowning. “They’d have you locked up in the clubhouse, and who knows how long this will take to blow over. We just need to know what Rhett has got himself into before we make a plan. We don’t even know who or what we are up against.”
Cara nods. “You’re right.”
Cara’s phone rings and she puts her father on speakerphone. “Hey, Dad. Where have you been? I’ve been calling you for the last hour.”
“Sorry, Cara, some shit was going down here. Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m okay, but something has happened. I was walking back to my car after leaving the park today and a van pulled up and some men tried to kidnap me. We think it has something to do with my connection to Rhett.”