“Seriously?”
“Yeah, I was just as surprised as you are. It looks like going into business with her was the right move.”
He hadn’t finished his sentence when Menace came up behind us. He seemed more than pleased. “Locke is right. I just checked in with Candy and the others, and they haven’t had any problem moving it. In fact, they’ve had several clients come back for more.”
“I’m sure she’ll be glad to hear that.”
“Viper, too.”
The next couple of days seemed to drag by. I tried to keep myself busy with the brothers and taking on extra shifts at the club, but it did little to keep me from thinking about Kiersten. I was tempted to just go and see her, but she was studying for her midterms, and I didn’t want to distract her. Besides, I’d be seeing her soon. We’d made plans to get together for the weekend. She’d come down and hang out at the club with me, and then we’d head back to the Manor together. Only that wasn’t the way it played out.
After a long shift at Stilettos, I was completely wiped and ready to call it a night. I decided to skip going home and headed over to the clubhouse to crash for the night. I’d barely made it through the front door when Menace came rushing down the hall to meet me. “Have you checked your phone?”
“No. Why?” I pulled it out and looked down at the screen. When I didn’t have any messages, I asked, “What’s going on?”
“I got an alert on my phone. Looks like there’s a fire at the Manor.” Per Viper’s request, Menace had been given access to all the security at Kiersten’s place, so we would also be notified if there were any security breaches. Menace seemed worried when he said, “Riggs called, and they got the same alert but haven’t been able to get a hold of Braylon or Kiersten. I haven’t either. I tried calling Widow and Jackal and can’t seem to get them either.”
“Where?” Without waiting for him to answer, I called Kiersten’s phone but didn’t get an answer. I called a second and third time, but still no answer. Frantic, I looked back at Menace and asked, “Where’s the fucking fire, brother?”
“That’s just it. We’re not sure. On my end, it looks like the whole damn place is up in flames, but when I checked the cameras, I’m not seeing a damn thing. No smoke. No flames. So, maybe it’s just a glitch or something.”
“Maybe, but I’m not taking any chances.” I turned and headed back outside. “I’m heading over there.”
“Hold up ... I’m going, too. Need to let Viper know and get Hawk or whoever else is here to tag along. Better to be safe than sorry.”
I nodded, then waited as Menace contacted Viper. Once he’d gotten the go-ahead, we rounded up Lynch and Hawk, then gathered whatever artillery we had at the clubhouse and jumped into the SUV. Moments later, we were through the clubhouse gates and speeding towards the Manor. I’d never been what I would consider to be a fearful man. No matter what was going on with the club, I’d always faced whatever came my way without giving it a second thought, but the mere idea of Kiersten being in danger terrified me.
I prayed that there was nothing to be worried about.
But if that wasn’t the case, if Kiersten truly were in danger, then nothing would stand in my way of protecting her.
Absolutely nothing.
Fourteen
Kiersten
After spending days cramming for my microbiology and phycology midterms, my brain felt like complete mush. I couldn’t even blink without thinking about bacteria, fungi, and single-celled organisms. I wanted to believe that all my studying had paid off, but I wasn’t so sure. Usually, it all came pretty naturally to me. I never really had to study all that much, just enough to review the basics, but I’d been so distracted with work and everything in between that I wasn’t as focused as usual. So much so, I might’ve tanked one of the tests, which was something I’d never done before—not even once.
But at least there was one positive. I hadn’t seen Drake since the night I ran into him at the gas station. He’d never missed class before, so I was surprised he hadn’t shown up to take his exam. I took it as a blessing and left campus without that eerie feeling of someone watching me. A storm was rolling in, so my ride home took a bit longer than I’d hoped. Once I made it back, I checked in with Braylon and Widow. It had been a while since we’d had a bad storm, and I wanted to make sure we were prepared. They were both sitting in the office eating dinner when I walked in looking like a drowned rat. “It’s getting pretty nasty out there.”