Chapter Four

Bear

That kiss was a mistake. Probably the biggest mistake I'd made in my life. That kiss sealed my fate for good or ill. Olivia was lying her ass off. She was bringing something bad to the club and refused to say what. Which meant she'd have to be dealt with. Which meant… shit just got real.

I took several deep breaths as I sat on the bed. I needed to get a fucking grip. Now. Pulling out my phone, I shot off a text to Rocket. He was my oldest friend, the reason I was here in the first Goddamned place instead of in an unmarked grave or some shit in a little country on the other side of the world.

Me: Gonna need this whole thing expedited .

Rocket: Figured. Calling you now .

Seconds later my phone rang.

"Byte says one of the guys following her was your handler in Libya." There was a pause while Rocket let that sink in. All I could do was gasp in a breath. "Yeah. Thought you might want to know that. What do you want to do?"

"You're asking me?" I was incredulous that he'd even ask me that question. "You know what we have to do," I snapped. "That's a fuck of a lot bigger than simply leadin' the feds to our door. We've killed people for less."

"So, that's what you want to do?"

"Why are you making it sound like this is my decision, Rocket? You're the fuckin' president. Hell, your woman'll make it if you can't."

There was a silence while I took a moment to process that I'd just called out the one man I trusted with my life, same as accusing him of not being able to make hard decisions.

"Yeah," Rocket drawled, but his tone of voice said he was barely restraining himself. If I was standing in front of him right then, I was sure he'd punch me. "I'm gonna forget you said that. I can absolutely make the hard decisions. The only reason I'm not now is because you claimed her, you bastard. And I absolutely will not pass a snap judgment on one of our old ladies. I'm extending the same courtesy to Olivia because of you."

"Why? What do you expect to gain? She's guilty. Not like we didn't expect it."

"And you took responsibility, Bear. Means the kill's yours."

"Name the time and place, Rocket." The words burned in my throat. This should be an easy task. After all, I'd known this woman a couple of hours at best. I claimed her because I'd never had such a strong reaction to a woman. Not after knowing her for weeks or months. Certainly not on first sight. Even though I tried to act like I could kill Olivia if Rocket said it had to be done, I wasn't so sure I could.

"Uh-huh." Yeah. Rocket was calling bullshit. "Here's what's gonna happen. Strip search her. Venus and Piston should be there shortly. Tell Venus. Olivia takes nothing with her but the clothes we give her. Bring her to the compound and we'll lock her down until the boys work this out."

I grunted, but didn't acknowledge Rocket in any other way, disconnecting the call. I'd set myself up for this. All the way around. Any discomfort I felt was my own fault for getting carried away. Hell, if Leon Black was her handler, he'd likely handpicked Olivia for me. The man knew me almost as well as Rocket did. Rather, he used to know me that well. I'd changed. Being set up to be killed on the other side of the world would do that to a person.

I sat there, thinking, trying to process what I was feeling. I never had such a strong reaction to a woman -- or any person for any reason -- in my life. I'd known her a couple hours. I knew nothing about her, except she was likely a mole. Even worse, Leon Black, the fucking bastard, was fucking with my head. Again. Only this time, he'd dangled something in front of me I had no hope of resisting. I didn't know if he'd done it intentionally or not, but I was sure as hell going to find out. First things first, though. Once Piston got here with Venus, we'd pack out the trash and hit the trail. Back to Grim Road.

When my anger faded to become a little more manageable, I stood and went through the house to the living room to wait for Piston. No need to be angry at Olivia. I'd known she was involved in something she didn't want us to know about. Even told her I knew she was lying. I put myself in this situation. Which meant I had to tell that asshole, Ringo, he was right.

Stupid.

Stupid, stupid, stupid !

I wanted to get on my bike and just… ride ! Mainly because the craziest thing about this whole situation was that I still wanted to protect Olivia. I still wanted her to be mine, and I meant to get to the bottom of this. Before the end -- whatever the end might be -- I would know exactly what was going on with Leon Black and what part Olivia was playing. And why.

I expected that monstrosity of a pink Harley Venus rode, but she and Piston pulled up in a black Bronco.

They entered the house, and Piston shook my hand in a firm grip. "Heard you needed a babysitter."

"Somethin' like that." I glanced at Venus. "You talked to Rocket or Lemon?"

" Da . Lemon filled me in. We brought fresh clothing even though she had some in bag Lemon brought. I'm to search her. Make sure she has only clothes I give her."

"Crush came with us." Piston hiked a thumb over his shoulder in the general direction of the Bronco. "Brought some fancy-schmancy electronic shit. Said he'll be scannin' her person as well as anything she's had contact with before we leave."

I glanced down the hall to find Olivia standing in the hallway in the cotton pants and tee Lemon had brought. When she backed up a step, like she was going back into her room, Venus stopped her.

"Stop," she barked. "From this moment on, you do not leave my sight." She walked down the hall, not intimidating in the least in her pink leather. If you didn't take into account she was over five-nine and solidly built. A delicate flower Venus was not. Oh. And she had razor-sharp pink nails. And pink hair.

And pink eyes.

Olivia's gaze darted to me. Whatever she saw there must have clued her in to the fact I wasn't pleased. She didn't say anything, though, and she followed Venus's instructions. Ducking her head, she entered the bedroom with Venus right behind her.

I wanted to protest, to go to Olivia and do this myself but I knew that one, I didn't trust myself not to take out my anger on her and be rougher with her than I should. And two, Olivia would never look at me the same way again if I forced her to strip in front of me. Not in this situation.

Piston's amused snort brought my attention away from Olivia. "What's so fuckin' funny?"

"You. How long you known that girl?"

"I don't."

"Yeah? Why'd you claim her?"

I shrugged. "Seemed like a good idea at the time."

Piston crossed his arms over his chest. The man might be in his late fifties, but he was still solidly built and way more intuitive than I liked. "Yeah? How's it feel now?"

"Like fuckin' shit." I scrubbed a hand over my face. "Fuck."

"Yeah. I know the feelin'."

I barked out a short laugh. "You do, huh? How do you figure?"

Piston nodded to the door Venus and Olivia had disappeared behind. "You think I got it made with that one? She's mine, but she's fightin'. And let me tell you, those nails of hers are sharper than they look."

"Really? Because they look fuckin' sharp to me."

"Exactly." Piston grinned. "Always did like to live dangerously."

"You're nuts, old man."

"Yeah? I'm not the one who claimed a woman the first time I laid eyes on her."

"Exactly how long had you known Venus when you claimed her?"

"That's different. I might not have known her, but I knew what she was. What she stood for." Again, he nodded to the hallway and the bedroom. "You don't know nothin' about that one."

"I know she's working for my CIA handler. The man who sent me on a suicide mission because I refused to follow bullshit orders."

Piston whistled low. "Not a great start, brother."

"Yeah. Tell me something I don't know."

"All right. How about this." The older man leaned one hip against the door facing. "Apple says she's sure someone is hurting Olivia. Maybe not physically, but mentally. Emotionally. Terrorizing that young woman."

I shook my head. "Ain't goin' there, Piston. Whatever reason she has, she had a chance to come clean and she didn't take it."

He shrugged. "All I'm sayin' is find all the facts. Look as deep as you can. Lemon and Apple are… special. Everyone knows it. Lemon's found her way and is on the path that suits her. Apple hasn't yet, but she needs to help people. Ever since the thing with Scarlet, Apple's changed. Whatever happened at Iron Tzars with that man of hers made it worse. What she saw in Olivia was bad enough she gave her the club safe word. She was also demanding to come here to be with Olivia."

"What?" I snapped the question, narrowing my eyes. "She's not, right? Because that would be the one person Olivia could hide behind and keep us away from her. If she puts Apple between herself and us, she's got us by the balls."

"Idiot," Piston muttered. "You really need to learn to watch a woman for a while before you go all caveman Neanderthal and put your claim on her. You don't know a Goddamned thing about this woman. Do you?"

"What the fuck is it with everyone telling me what woman I can or can't claim?"

"Never said you couldn't claim her. Just that you're a dumbass for taking a look at a pretty face and deciding to spend your life with the woman."

"Christ, Piston. I feel something for her or I wouldn't have done it. There's a… I don't know. A pull to her."

"I see." He sighed. "Well, good luck, boy. You're in for a bumpy ride."

* * *

Olivia

"I'd apologize in advance, but I think you knew this or something like it was coming." The woman who'd escorted me into the bedroom and shut the door was all business. Judging by her expression, there would be absolutely no give to her.

"Strip down to underwear." She had a moderately thick Russian accent in a pleasing contralto. Judging by all the pink, I was pretty sure this was Venus. Apple had told me about her a couple of times, always with an admiring grin. Like, if she thought she could pull it off, she'd emulate the woman's look but thought it might be a bit much. Venus stood back at a reasonable distance, not getting up in my space or making me feel threatened. Which told me I had absolutely no chance of getting away from her even if I tried.

"Any clothes I have on were given to me by your club. Why do I have to strip now?"

She tossed another complete change of clothing onto the bed and set a pair of canvas shoes on the floor. Everything looked to be brand-new, socks and underwear still in the packs. "Because, we don't take chances with our home." She leveled a look on me. " Any chances."

With a sigh, I did as she instructed. Venus was respectful but firm, averting her eyes for the most part and only watching me when it was strictly necessary. Each article of clothing I discarded, Venus checked. And I mean, she checked . Pockets, of course, were turned inside out. The woman went around the hemmed seam, feeling for anything between the fabric folds.

Once that was done, she nodded at me. "Now underwear. Unfasten your bra and I'll hand you new one so you're not exposed more than necessary."

I cringed. "Do you really have to be that thorough?" I thought I might be in trouble here, but it wasn't any more than I expected. The only thing I had was the phone. I was supposed to keep a small journal for observations, but I didn't have anything for it yet. And I wasn't really sure I could now. How was I supposed to rat on these people when they were being so kind? I mean, the strip search was a little much, but if they were really serious about keeping their location secret, then I guess I understood it. Besides, I'd known this was coming.

Again, each time I gave her an article of clothing, Venus searched it thoroughly. She didn't give me privacy to change, but she didn't make it weird either. Once I had the new underwear on, she handed me a pair of cotton Capri pants and a black tank top which I put on quickly.

The next thing she did was pick up the duffel I'd been given with the other change of clothes. And my phone.

She unzipped the duffel and dumped the contents out onto the bed. It was like the phone was just waiting to be found because it bounced off the bed and onto the floor with a soft thud . Venus didn't look at me or in any way indicate she was displeased, but she stuffed the phone into her back pocket before going over the rest of the clothing in the duffel.

"You know, your people gave me those clothes. They've only been here a couple of hours and not out of the house since they've been in my possession."

" Da . But they don't take chances with their home. Especially when woman they bring back was running from CIA agent." She gave me what looked like a genuine smile, but I couldn't be sure. Like this wasn't even an inconvenience. Just an everyday occurrence.

"How long have you been with Grim Road?"

She shrugged. "I'm not really with them. Piston has idea I'm his woman, but I haven't made up my mind."

"You don't like him?"

"I like him plenty. It's whole relationship thing. Though since my sister, Millie, let herself get caught up with man, I see it isn't always a situation where woman doesn't have control. Millie and Shadow have very balanced relationship." Her smile broadened as she spoke about the couple. "He is good man. Lets Millie be herself without trying to stifle her."

"Is Piston that way with you?"

She shrugged. "Mostly. Sometimes he forgets I've killed more people than he has and tries to shelter me." Venus shook her head, amusement dancing in those creepy pink eyes of hers. I also thought the casual statement she'd just dropped had been anything but casual. She'd intended it as a warning. "Those times are strangely amusing to me." She folded each article of clothing as she talked, placing them neatly back inside the bag. "Shall we go?"

I took a breath and nodded.

Venus extended her arm for me to go ahead of her.