Tilly

M atilda Newton wasn’t sure how she had ended up at a biker bar, surrounded by big, bearded, tattooed men who didn’t want to seem to take no for an answer. She was determined to try to put her bad day behind her and find a way out of the mess she had gotten herself into. She just never imagined that the little dive bar she picked to hide away and think, would be a biker bar.

She sat in the corner hoping that everyone would leave her alone, but being one of the only single women in the place garnered her some unwanted attention that she couldn’t seem to shake. When she had to spell it out for the hot biker that she wasn’t interested in him buying her a beer, he seemed a bit hurt. That wasn’t ’s intention, but she had already politely turned him down once. She just wanted to be left alone until she could figure out what to do with the hard drive that she had swiped off her boss’s desk. Apparently, it was important enough to Nate that he called her about twenty-five times since she had left the office, threatening to come after her if she didn’t give it back to him. His threats grew darker and more menacing and the messages longer as time passed, and she worried that he’d make good on every one of them if she didn’t give the drive back to him.

She knew that Nate was doing something illegal, and now, she was sure of it. was also sure that the information that she’d need to bring him down was on the hard drive that he kept under lock and key in his desk. He was foolish enough to leave the key on the desk when he ran to lunch and snooped, against her better judgment. Now, she had her boss and who knew who else chasing after her and the one thing she was sure of was she couldn’t go home. She was sure that if she did, she’d find Nate waiting for her there and he’d be ready to make good on his threats.

Her only hope at getting out of there was going to be to pay her tab, tell the biker sitting next to her to fuck off, and regroup in the bathroom. Then, she’d be able to figure out where to go next and who she could trust. Honestly, she had no one to turn to, and that made her feel desperate and alone. She almost wanted to take the biker up on his offer of a drink and then, ask him to take her someplace safe, but that would give him the wrong idea. She needed a safe place to land that didn’t involve his bed for the night because she was sure that would be what he wanted in return for helping her out.

She spent about five minutes in the mirror, trying to talk herself into going home with the sexy biker when a shadow in the corner caught her eye. It was a man—at least she thought it was. He had a slight build, and she was sure that he had gotten in through the window somehow.

“I don’t want to hurt you,” he breathed as he stepped out of the shadows. “I just want the drive,” he said.

“Nate,” she breathed. “How did you get in here? How did you know that I was here?”

“I knew that sooner or later, you’d get up to no good and do some snooping, so I put a tracker on your car. I saw you sitting at the bar drinking and assumed that at some point, you’d need to use the ladies’ room, so I climbed in through the window.”

“You’ve been tracking me?” she spat. She knew that he was a weasel, but she had no idea that he’d stoop to such lows.

“Yes, and now, all I want is the hard drive,” he said, stepping toward her with his hand out.

“I don’t have it. I ditched it someplace for safekeeping on my way here,” she lied.

His smile was mean, “You do know that I can trace your path here, right? You didn’t make any stops, which means it’s on you or in that purse you’re clutching for dear life.” He nodded to her purse, and she hugged it to her chest.

“You can’t take this,” she said. “It has sentimental value,” she lied. She had just purchased it on a whim about two weeks ago.

“Again, with the lies,” he tisked. “You really are the worst liar, . Just give me the fucking drive and this can all be over.”

“If you come one step closer, I’ll scream. There are a lot of big, badass bikers out there and I’m sure that they’ll come in here to my rescue. One even asked to buy me a drink, so I’m sure that you won’t be able to just leave here unscathed.” She wasn’t sure of anything, but she was hoping that was what would end up happening. Hell, for all she knew, the sexy-as-sin biker had given up on her and left while she was in the bathroom.

“Go ahead and scream, ,” he said. “I’ll have what I want from you and be out of here before they can even find your body.” He took another step in her direction, pulling a gun from his jacket pocket. couldn’t help the screech that escaped her lips. She let it out with all her might and when he realized what had happened, Nate hit her in the temple with the butt of the gun, knocking her to the ground. The last thing remembered as her world went dark was Nate taking her purse out of her hands as he laughed at her.

“Should have just given me the fucking hard drive, ,” he breathed on his way out of the bathroom window. Nate disappeared into the night as she closed her eyes, giving into the darkness.

woke up to two men arguing about who was going to get to keep her and she knew that had to be wrong. Why would anyone be arguing about who was going to get to keep her? She opened her eyes and groaned as they adjusted to the light. Her head was throbbing, and she was sure that had everything to do with her boss hitting her with the handle of his gun. It could have been worse—he could have used the gun correctly and shot her. She was thankful that wasn’t the case.

“Where am I?” she asked blinking up at the two men who were standing over her.

“Take it easy—you’re in the hospital.” She looked up at the man standing over her and recognized him from the bar.

“You were the guy I turned down at the bar,” she whispered. Her voice sounded hoarse, and she tried to sit up. “Can I get some water?” The guy standing on the other side of her laughed and helped her take a sip of the water cup that was sitting on the table next to him.

“I’m not the guy you turned down,” he said. “You turned down my little brother there though, so I’d say that your memory is working just fine.” She hadn’t turned the big, grizzly looking guy down, but she would have. He was bigger than his brother and covered in tattoos. He wasn’t bad looking at all, but just not her type. She liked the guys she went out with a little cleaner cut. In fact, the one she turned down was her type, not that she’d admit that to either of them.

“Can you please tell me where I am?” she asked again.

“You’re in the hospital, and I’m Owen Blaine. That’s my brother, Maverick. You were knocked out in the ladies’ room at the bar we were at. I think someone stole your purse too.” Yeah, she remembered exactly who took her purse, but that wasn’t something she was going to share with either of them. She’d save that for the police, as soon as she was up to going to the station to file a report.

“Well, I appreciate you getting me to the hospital, but I think that I can take it from here,” she said, sitting up. She immediately had to lie back down. She felt nauseous and dizzy. “The room is spinning.”

“You have a concussion and can’t get up,” Owen warned. “You’ll need to stay here overnight,” he added.

“I can’t do that,” she said. “He’ll find me here and finish what he started.” The thought of Nate finding her in the hospital and actually using the gun he had, to kill her, scared the hell out of her.

“Who will?” Maverick asked.

“My boss,” she almost whispered, “he did this to me. He had a gun.”

“Why would your boss want to hurt you?” Owen asked.

“That is a long story, and my head is killing me,” she whispered. The less they knew, the better. She was going to have to figure out how to handle Nate on her own because dragging strangers into her mess wouldn’t be fair to either of them.

“I’ll stay with you tonight,” Owen offered. “That way, you can get some rest and not have to worry about your boss getting in here.”

“You don’t have to do that,” she insisted.

“Well, I wasn’t asking, I was letting you know that I’ll be right here for the night. Then, when you get discharged, you’re coming home with me,” he said.

“Oh, I can’t do that,” she breathed. “I don’t even know you.”

“Sure you do—I’m the guy from the bar who you turned down. You can’t go back to your place. I’m betting your boss knows where you live,” he said.

“Good point,” she said.

“He’s right, you can’t go back to your place. So, you need to decide—are you going home with Owen or me?” Maverick asked, puffing out his chest, and making her giggle. groaned and grabbed her head. “Sorry, didn’t mean to make it worse,” he said.

“You didn’t,” she said, “they say laughter is the best medicine. Listen, you guys can’t just take me in. I don’t want to be anyone’s problem and if you get involved in this, you’ll be in over your heads, just like I am.”

“How about you let us decide what we will and won’t be involved in? We want to help you out,” Owen said.

“Well, I will need a place to lay low for a bit, until I can figure out what to do about Nate,” she said.

“Nate?” Maverick asked.

“Yeah, he’s my boss—the one who knocked me out,” she said. The thought of going back to her place scared the hell out of her and Nate didn’t know either of the big bikers standing by her bedside. If she went home with one of them, she’d be able to take her time to figure out her next move.

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