Chapter Twelve

NYCTO

The echoes of laughter confuse me as I descend the stairs. I don’t see how there’s anything about this situation I’ve put us all in that warrants humor, so I storm over to the Cell, where Void sits at the breakfast table with Ivy, and he’s drawing some art for her.

He’s skilled in that department. Most of the guys here have had him sketch their tattoo designs, but I have no idea what he’s drawing that could be making Ivy laugh. I walk inside, and their heads pop up as he slides the paper over to Ivy like he’s trying to hide it from me.

Yeah, that shit’s not going to fly. This isn’t high school.

“What’s the drawing, VP?”

“Nothing, Pres. Just something to cheer Ivy up.”

“Ivy… show me the drawing, or I’ll lock you in the room and ban visitors.”

Void curls up his nose as Ivy slides the paper across the table. It’s a park bench. Ivy and Void are sitting on it, feeding ducks, with the sun shining down on them.

They’re free. Out in the world. Not trapped in here because of the mess I’ve created.

“Sorry, Pres, I know you hate the light. I was trying to make Ivy feel like there’s more than life down here.”

I slap his shoulder. “Not an issue… more disappointed in myself. I can’t find a way to get this moving quicker. Once the payments are made to the buyers, I’ll feel better. Then we gotta figure out the process of giving the girls new identities. There’s so much to think about before I let them both go. The problem is…” I turn to Ivy, “… the second I bring you together, one of you, probably both of you, are going to want to take off while we have our guard down. It only takes a second, then your lives and those of my club—”

“Are in danger. Yeah, yeah, I get all that. For the record, amigo, I’m not running anywhere. I like it here, chains and weird brick cell withstanding. But Eva… she took on too much when our parents died. If she thinks she’s lost me too…” Ivy huffs. “This place isn’t so bad. I’ve never felt more protected than I do down here in this… whatever the hell this room is,” she says, looking around.

The corner of Void’s lips turns up like he’s impressed.

There’s something in Ivy. She likes darkness and seclusion.

Ivy had a traumatized childhood. That shakes your foundations. She isn’t like her innocent and pure older sister upstairs. No, Ivy has an edge, an instinct that wants to be tapped into. It vibrates off her, begs for attention like a neon sign.

Ivy is made for the Defiance life.

But is Eva? I don’t know.

“Ivy, your parents were killed in a car accident, correct?”

She narrows her eyes on mine. “ Sí… why is that relevant to you?”

“This accident forced your sister’s need to take care of you.”

“I had to take care of her too. It wasn’t a one-way street. She thought I couldn’t hear her crying herself to sleep every night… but I did. So, I got up for school and did what I needed to do to help Eva out. I saw how hard she was working to keep me in school, so I studied harder than I ever had before. I needed to gain good grades so I could learn as much as I could to get into something that would end up paying well. It was my turn to support us. Eva gave up everything. It was my turn. So, I studied, hard .”

“That’s why you’re so smart?” Void offers, surprising me.

“Yes and thank you. I graduated from high school early, applied for the ELAM scholarship, and got the grant. I have two years before I graduate… had two years before I graduate. I guess being here puts a dampener on things.”

“ELAM?” I ask, making sure I got the name down right.

“The Latin American Medical School. I learn everything, but I like learning how things work, the forensics and mechanics of it all. I’m not really in it for the saving and mending of people. It’s useful to know, but I want to go into research, producing and creating new drugs, all the behind-the-scenes important stuff.”

While Eva has taken up all the space in my mind, I relate to Ivy in a way I haven’t related to anyone before. There are glimpses of me shining through in her. “You’d rather make a difference from the shadows than be in the spotlight,” I suggest.

Her eyes meet mine, and she slumps. “Yeah.”

Though there’s no attraction between Ivy and myself, I’m intrigued by her. I want to spend more time with her, come to understand how her brain works, and see if she really is on the same wavelength as me. I thought she’d help me understand Eva. Maybe she’ll help me understand myself.

“Void, you’ve earned a break. I’ll take over for a while. Go get some rest. Come back when you’re ready.”

Void widens his eyes like he’s shocked by my statement. He hesitates, his eyes shifting to Ivy, and she snickers. “Go, Void. I’ll be fine.”

He’s protective of her. Already.

Interesting.

Void stands, moving to walk out. “Do you need anything, Ivy?”

“Maybe another one of those sandwiches?”

“The PB and J? Sure thing. I’ll have Trixie whip you one up, and I’ll bring it down.”

“No need to rush,” Ivy replies. “Take your time. Feel the sun on your face. Enjoy your freedom… while you can.”

I grimace, hearing the undertone in her words. She doesn’t like being locked up.

Void nods and heads for the stairs.

I turn back, planting my hands on the table. “So, it’s just the two of us.”

Her eyes shift past me to the brick walls in the Chamber. “Mm-hmm. Totally alone. Gotcha.” She winks sarcastically at me.

The little bitch winks at me. She’s clever.

There’s more to the Chamber than a brick cell and a vast wall. Bricks don’t usually moan for no good reason. Ivy must be clued in on the unfortunate souls in the walls surrounding her.

“I wanted to talk to you about Eva.”

She sits taller, focusing on me completely. “How is she? Is she okay?”

I rub the tension in the back of my neck. “She’s frustrated.”

“She wants to leave?” Ivy tilts her head.

“Partly. She also wants me to find you—”

“She still doesn’t know I’m here?”

I shake my head.

“She’s going to slice off your cojones,” she mutters.

Tensing my thighs, I inhale sharply. “Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that. She’s angry at me. She shared your story about your parents, then I shut down when she asked me to open up to her.”

Ivy’s brow furrows. “You like her? You like Eva? More than you want to…”

I slump back into my seat with a groan. “I don’t know what the fuck I’m doing.”

“You’re like me,” she says. “We hide our emotions from everyone so we don’t have to admit who we truly are. We hide the monster. Me, I know who I am. I hide it out of fear of rejection from my sister. But you… why do you hide?”

“Fucked if I know. Want to hazard a guess?”

“I think… being club president means a lot rides on your shoulders. Your family… no, the club is your family. You hide who you really are so your brothers won’t know the parts of you that could fail them. That could fail the brotherhood…” She smiles. “The only people who truly accept you. Then again, have they really accepted you if they haven’t seen your worst?”

“You see all that from meeting me a couple of times?”

“I’m pretty fucking smart. I can read people. Getting wasted the night we got taken was the first night I let my defenses down. I never do that. Not ever. And look where it got us. In some clubhouse in America, separated from each other, and poor Eva is having games played with her emotions. So yeah. I can read you, Nycto, like an open fucking book. This game you’re playing with Eva isn’t going to work or end well. And if you fuck with her, I’ll fuck with you.”

“I’m not playing a game. I’m trying to do this the best way I know how—”

“By lying to her ? By keeping us apart ?”

I stand, the chair legs scraping along the concrete floor. “If the two of you get back together, you will hatch a plan to escape or con someone into using their phone. I can’t risk it. I can’t risk the buyers knowing you’re both here.”

“Then let us go. We’ll go into hiding. If we’re together, we can figure out our own shit.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Ivy. They would have been tracing your movements for months before they took you, waiting for the opportunity to strike. The minute there’s even a hint you’re alive, they will have their men after you faster than you can wipe your own ass.”

“Ew… crudo .” Crude.

“The fact that was the only thing that stood out in that sentence proves my point. You can’t handle it out there, Ivy. They will find you. They will capture you, and they will sell you off. I wouldn’t even know where to begin to search to rescue you both if I were even still around after they found out I lied about your deaths because, don’t forget, I’m covering for you . You leaving at any point puts not only my ass on the chopping block but also my VP’s, the ass you couldn’t take your eyes off.”

Her eyes snap open wide, and she gasps. “What? No, I wasn’t—”

“Void is complicated at the best of times. If you like him, even as a friend, then you need to remember he’s my VP. His head is on the line as much as mine is.”

She gulps and slumps into her seat. “You’ve put your club and its members all in danger for Eva and me?”

I throw my hands in the air. “Finally, one of you gets it.”

“Why?”

My body stills, and a tingle runs down the back of my spine as an image of Eva sweeps through my mind. She’s stunning, the most natural beauty I’ve ever seen. But it’s not just her looks that have me losing my shit over her. It’s also her sass, bite, and insolence, all of which drive me to crave her. Underneath it all, there’s a heart of pure gold. She has the fight of a warrior and the calm of a goddess. What was it about Eva that made me take her? It was everything.

“Eva. I saw her and…” I pause, unable to put my thoughts into words without coming across as a pussy.

“I get it,” Ivy says.

My eyes flash to hers. “You do?”

She smiles weakly. “If anyone looked at me the way you did when you said Eva’s name, I would explode. And if I felt that way about somebody, there isn’t much I wouldn’t do for them.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

“You’re infatuated. It’s why you want to keep us apart. You said if she saw me, she would try to escape with me, but that’s not the whole truth. It’s because you want her for yourself, whether you know it or not.”

“She’s going to kill me when she finds out I’ve kept you from her.”

Ivy grimaces. “Yeah. I’d rip that Band-Aid off delicately if I were you.”

Groaning, I run my fingers through my hair. “I can’t. Not yet. She doesn’t trust me.”

Ivy leans forward on the table. “Have you given her reason to?”

“I kept her from being trafficked… shouldn’t that be enough?”

“You understand nothing about women, do you?” Ivy chuckles. “Okay, so she’s told you about our parents. That would have been hard for her to open up about, like picking the scab off a wound. She shared something deep and honest about herself, and in return, you…”

“Left the room. Told her I’d sleep somewhere else.”

She flops back in her chair dramatically with a long, drawn-out groan. “ Imbécil . Poor Eva. She bares her soul, and you screw her over. That was your chance right there. You needed to open yourself up to her and give her an opportunity to believe you. Men are so fucking dense. No wonder she doesn’t trust you when you do something so ridículo . Fucking hell.”

My eyes widen as I stand. “I… ahh… shit. I didn’t think leaving was that big of a deal. Don’t girls want to be alone when they’re upset? I was giving her space to deal with her grief.”

“She was opening up to you, estúpido . Wanting to find common ground. Instead, she opened herself up, and you got out of there as fast as you could. You showed you can’t handle her pain. What woman wants a man who won’t be there for her?”

I lean against the table. “Fuck. Fuck!”

“Nycto, you need to go back to her and apologize. Open up. If you want her to trust you, entrust her with something of yours. Hell, you don’t have to tell her your credit card number, but something to make her feel like she isn’t alone. If you can’t, then please let me go see her. I need to make sure she’s okay. With how clueless you are, I’m pretty sure she’s not.”

Tilting my head, I assess Ivy’s wrist. There’s no sign of aggravation on her skin from her handcuffs. She hasn’t made any attempt to get out. I don’t get this woman at all.

“You haven’t tried to get out of your restraints. Why?”

She glances down at the cuff attached to the chain long enough to reach the corners of the room, then linked to the pole in the center. She shrugs. “I have nowhere to go. I’m in a foreign country. Eva’s here, even if I haven’t seen her. Not only that, but everyone has been welcoming. I might be held like a prisoner, but in no way do I feel like one. I just wish I could meet a few more people. People not moaning and groaning. Some other women, maybe?”

“You like it here?”

She takes in her cell, then shrugs. “I mean, it’s comfortable enough. I just hope Eva’s not too stressed out. I’m sure she’s going out of her damn mind, and Nycto, that doesn’t sit well with me.”

“I’ll send down someone to occupy your time. Someone other than Void. You know, for girl-time.”

“Yay,” Ivy deadpans. “We’ll talk about periods and paint our nails.”

I laugh. “If Eva’s half as smart as you are, I’m in way over my head.”

“You’ve got that right. The moment you lied to her about me being here was your first mistake. Walking out on her after she opened up to you was another. Try to stop making them, Presidente.”

With a deep breath, I turn and head for the stairs. “Keep your attitude in check. Just because you think you’re a houseguest doesn’t mean I won’t brick this door closed if you annoy me.”

She chuckles. The bitch actually chuckles. “I believe you, but you’ll never do it. Eva will never forgive you. And you love Eva… ” she sings.

I take the stairs two at a time to get away from the brat. She might be getting on my nerves, but she has a way about her that’s growing on me. I like her. She’s the right kind of person for this club. A little bit of attitude, a hell of a lot of balls.

Her sister, on the other hand, I haven’t quite worked out how she’s going to fit into this whole mess. She’s highly strung, but maybe that’s my fault. I haven’t given her the opportunity to relax, to unwind. She’s been cooped up in a room with no windows since she got here. I want her to trust me. I can’t let her in just yet. I can’t break down my walls with her, but I can do something to make her feel more welcome.

I walk up into the main clubroom, where Pepper and my sergeant-at-arms, Whiskey, are talking at the bar. Our eldest member, Crow, sits next to Whiskey, sipping on a brew like he isn’t listening, but he is.

He’s always listening.

Spark, Atomic, and Nerve are at the pool table, being rowdy fucks, while Dash and West, the prospects, flirt like dickheads with Trixie and Stacey. The thing about prospects is they’re allowed to flirt all they want with the club girls, but until they earn their patch, they can’t go anywhere near that pussy.

Brass and Void are drinking at the other end of the bar. Void is deep in thought, but I can’t deal with him right now. I need to gain everyone’s attention. Bringing my fingers to my lips, I let out a loud whistle. Everyone stops what they’re doing and turns to face me.

“You’re all aware of the situation we have downstairs and in my room.” Everyone nods, so I continue, “While package two is settling in nicely, package one needs a little more attention. So, I’m letting her out.”

Void pipes up. “You sure that’s wise, Pres?”

“No one is to tell her or so much as insinuate about package two being here or knowing where she is. If package one brings it up, be sympathetic, but change the topic.”

“What if she tries to run? My legs aren’t up for a chase these days,” Crow says in his gruff voice, making us all snicker.

“She won’t be running anywhere. I’ll make sure of it. Just play your damn parts. Act normal. No mention of package two. Got it?”

“Understood, Pres,” Void answers.

“Want me to make her something to eat?” Trixie calls out.

“Yeah. Let’s do a small gathering. Make her feel welcome.”

“You got it.”

Void strides over. “Close the door to the Cell,” I tell him. “I don’t want Ivy hearing this. It might upset her that she’s missing out.”

“You underestimate her, Pres. It would make her happy her sister is finally going to be enjoying herself like she is.”

I narrow my eyes on Void. Enjoying herself? In the Cell… with Void, a man who doesn’t do emotion. A man who closes himself off from feeling anything. He may be more delusional than I am. I slap his shoulder, knowing he’ll be itching to head down to see Ivy.

“Don’t be down there too long. I’m going to get Eva now. Make sure you’re back up here before I come out.”

He gives me a two-fingered salute, then walks off.

Now, to go get Eva.

I just hope when I walk in, she doesn’t throw another book at me… or worse.