His eyes search mine.
“Is there anything we can do for you before we head out,” Rascal asks Diesel, changing the subject.
Diesel turns his attention to Rascal. “Nah, I’m gonna fuckin’ smoke and sleep until it’s time to go home.”
“And call Tink,” I remind him.
“Yeah,” he agrees. “And call Tink.”
“Take care, bro. We’ll see you in a couple days,” Rascal says.
“Have a safe trip home,” Diesel calls out as we leave his room. Downstairs we find Clutch and Saint.
“The SUV is packed up and ready to go,” Saint announces.
“You all are leaving already,” Catriona asks.
“Yeah, we need to get Marley back home,” Rascal tells her.
“Damn, I’m heading out to meet with Saoirse to have some fun with Paula,” she says.
“Make sure that bitch suffers,” I insist.
“Slow and painful.” Catriona grins. “We’ll let you know if we get any information out of her.”
“Appreciate it, Cat,” Rascal responds.
“Anytime! Take care of your new lady. She’s a tough one.” Catriona winks at me, walking out the front door.
“I like her.” I giggle.
“The whole Murphy clan are pretty awesome,” Rascal tells me. “They’re good people.”
We’re on the road by two o’clock. Rascal and I are in the backseat of the SUV while Clutch drives and Saint rides shotgun. Once we’re on the highway, I lay across the backseat, resting my head on Rascal’s lap. He runs his fingers through my hair, coaxing me to sleep.
This is it. This is where I’m meant to be. Everything I’ve been through was to get me to here, with Rascal. After the last couple weeks we’ve had, I’m realizing more and more there’s no one else I’d rather be with. I drift into a peaceful sleep.
A few hours later, I wake up as we’re pulling into a Texas Roadhouse parking lot. I sit up, stretching my arms.
“Have a nice nap?” Rascal’s grinning at me.
“I did, thanks.” I poke my tongue out at him.
“Watch that tongue, Princess,” he warns.
“Or what?” I challenge.
“Y’all can get a room while Clutch and I get food,” Saint says.
At the mention of food, my stomach growls.
“Sounds like we’ll be getting food, too.” Rascal laughs.
I shrug, smirking. “A girl’s gotta eat. Where are we anyway?”
“Lubbock, Texas,” Clutch answers. “We’re about six hours from home.”
Clutch parks the SUV and we all climb out, heading inside.
“Welcome to Texas Roadhouse!” The hostess greets us. We get seated right away.
“Can we get some extra butter, please,” Saint asks the girl.
“Of course.” She smiles and walks off.
A couple minutes later, a waitress comes up to our table. She drops off Saint’s butter and takes our drink and food order before walking away.
“Are you gonna talk to Niko when we get back,” Rascal asks.
“I haven’t thought about it much,” I admit. “Maybe eventually, but I need time to process everything.”
“That’s understandable. If you wanna talk about it or anything, I’m here.” His hand comes to my thigh and squeezes.
“It’s not the same, but I was adopted,” Saint tells me. “I grew up wondering about my biological parents a lot. So, I get that aspect of it.”
I turn my attention to Saint. “Have you ever thought about finding your bio parents?”
“Not until recently,” he says. “I’ve thought about it more and more, but I haven’t made any decisions, yet.”
“That’s definitely a difficult decision to make,” I state.
“You got the resources to find them,” Clutch adds. “If that’s what you choose to do.”
“Don’t get me wrong, I love the parents who raised me,” Saint says. There’s a hint of pain in his voice.
“There’s nothing wrong with wanting to know who your bio parents are,” I assure him. “I get it. I loved my mom. She was the best, but there was still those lingering thoughts wondering who my father was and why he was never around.”
“We’re all here for you, no matter what you choose to do,” Rascal tells him.
“The brotherhood of this club is the very reason I wanted to join the Savage Menaces to begin with,” Saint says. “Thank you.”
We get our food and our topic of conversation switches to something more upbeat. For the most part, I listen and observe the guys. Their ability to act as if the past couple days didn’t happen is pretty impressive.
I know I got lucky this time around. For whatever reason, I wasn’t tortured or punished for my escape two years ago. Maybe it was all part of Rodrigo’s plan.
“Hey, everything okay?” Rascal whispers in my ear, breaking me out of my thoughts.
I smile and inhale his sexy aroma. “Yeah, just listening to you guys talk.”
He kisses the side of my head and pulls me into his side.
Once we’ve finished eating we pay our bill and get back on the road. This time, with Saint driving. I lay back down, resting my head on Rascal’s leg. Six hours later we’re finally pulling up to the clubhouse. Oddly enough, I missed this place.
I walk into the clubhouse behind Rascal. It’s after two in the morning, so most everyone is asleep.
“Ras, baby! You’re back!” Fucking Trix. The one thing I didn’t miss. Her eyes land on me. “Oh, you brought her back.”
“Listen here, bitch.” I charge toward her but strong arms wrap around my waist, stopping me.
“Calm down. Now isn’t the time for this,” Rascal says in my ear. His lips brush against the shell of my ear, taking my attention off Trix. I turn around in his arms. Snaking my arms around his neck, I kiss him.
“Trix, you’d do best keepin’ your distance from them. Marley’s markin’ her territory and she’ll fuck you up.” Saint laughs.
Ignoring them both, Rascal drags me down the hall to my room. I change my clothes while he strips down to his boxer briefs and we climb into bed. He pulls me to his side, tangling our legs together. Within minutes, I fall asleep. Safe in his arms.
40
Marley
Rascal and I spend all day Friday locked away in my room, enjoying each other’s company. I needed a day to decompress from everything before rejoining the hustle and bustle of the clubhouse. Minx stopped by to check on me. Luckily, she texted before coming to my room. Rascal and I were sans clothes the majority of the day.
Today, I’m hanging out with Minx and some of the other women. I told Minx about our run in with Trix when we got back from New Mexico, so she banned the cut bunnies from being at the clubhouse for the day.
“It’s nice to have the clubhouse free of cut bunnies. Even if it’s only for the day,” Cali says. She has her baby, Caden, with her. She only has him here because they were on lockdown after Eduardo kidnapped me in Tennessee.
“If I see Trix, I’ll end up knocking her ass out,” I deadpan.