“No.”
“Since we couldn’t leave money in his account and close it, the extra got donated to Gemma’s favorite charity. I’m sure he’ll be pleased. Better yet, if he tries to reverse that, it will open a real can of worms he won’t want opened.”
“Speaking of extra,” Gemma said, “your credit cards are working again. I can pay them off if you want.”
“You just put things back the way they were,” Simone said sternly. “Bad enough I’m letting you work with Rafe and Max on this.” Her hands were still on her hips as she gave them serious looks. “I think you two are bad influences.”
Rafe shut the computer and put his hand on hers as Max took another drink of beer. “These are survival skills, Simone. The world is sucking us up, and the street your little sister has to walk down alone on dark nights is digital. She’s building a skill set and some serious muscle in areas that will do her a lot of good. You can’t avoid dealing with these things just by staying off social media and not doing online banking. There’s a lot of life that’s online only, and knowing how it works is just a reasonable response.”
Simone looked unhappy. “I suppose. But the legality of it…”
Gemma shut her laptop. “We discussed this at school, regarding bullying, and the problem is that no matter what area you look at, the tech changes so fast that the law is about five years behind the realities at every given point. Waiting for legal resolution to a problem would be exactly like calling the cops when someone attacks you and then refusing to defend yourself while you wait for them to arrive. Since you keep after me to take self-defense classes, clearly you believe a person should look out for herself.”
“That’s quite a speech, Gemma,” Simone said.
“But it’s true.”
Max looked at Gemma. “And the corollary is that you should take self-defense classes, too. You need to understand how to take care of yourself in both worlds.”
Gemma grinned. “I’ll think about it. I really will.”
Chapter 10
The worst partof Brad’s attacks was that they continued, and she had no way of knowing what he’d try next. It was wearing her down.
“He’s really over the top,” Rafe had told her. “I’ve got him throttled down online, and it’s driving him crazy. So watch yourself.”
Watch yourself.
As if the guys and their biker brothers weren’t still keeping an eagle eye on her. They hadn’t said anything, but she saw them. When she parked behind the bar a fierce-looking guy was sitting on a motorcycle in the alley. It wasn’t exactly the kind of place a person just took a break, and now that she knew to look, she could see he wore the colors of The Road Kings. He sat still, smoking a cigarette and pretending to ignore her as she locked her car and walked to the back door. Only when she’d gone inside and shut the door behind her did she hear the raucous sound of his bike roaring to life. Peeking through the window, she saw him turn and ride off.
She laughed, happy to know that he, or someone else, would be outside when she went home in the wee hours of the morning. It didn’t make her feel safe, but it took the edge off her fears. It felt good to have friends.
They were an amazing group, these bikers. It seemed she’d barely met them, and she’d gotten to know just a few of them, but they were a comfortable presence. She trusted them, probably because Rafe and Max did, and she’d seen how their code worked.
Some of them had their own agenda, of course, and it would take time to get to know them. But it was happening. Slash, Choirboy, and Vanessa came in to the bar a few times, as had Clutch, Romeo, and Tessa. “We promised Sam some more business,” Max had told her, and that was probably part of it. Yet the women had been obvious about trying to let her know that they understood her concerns about bikers and triads and wanted her to know that some of them, like the men from any group, had real character. Not all, they said, but some, and Rafe and Max were two of those. They made a good case. Neither of them was a typical old lady, at least nothing like the stereotype that came to mind. Especially Tessa.
“I had to work to get past the biker stuff,” she admitted. “Not only was it the idea of these guys deliberately dressing in a way that provoked people, but all the crap that went with it.”
“What changed your mind?”
She smiled. “It’s this silly brotherhood thing—it really works for them. I’ve seen them put their lives on the line for each other. They put their lives on the line for me and my class for no reason beyond Ronan and Jett asking them to. It comes down to them having good hearts.” Then she gave Simone a wicked smile. “It doesn’t hurt that they’re hot, either. And I learned that blowing down a highway with your arms wrapped around one of these bad boys, knowing how he feels about you, knowing other people are staring, is just a real turn-on. I’d be lying if I didn’t say that was part of it.”
Simone understood. “There is something about that to make a girl tingle all over.”
That night,Brad showed up. She hadn’t seen him come in, and when she did see him, he was behind the bar, which was odd. He was near the office door, and Sam didn’t let anyone but staff in there. But there he was, moving around to the main area. He came in and sat at his usual table, opened his laptop computer, and waved a hand for service. It was as if nothing had ever happened.
Simone glanced over at Sam, who scowled. Rafe and Max had filled the owner in on the struggle that had been going on away from the bar, and while Sam was mercenary, he didn’t care for bullies.
“I’ll take his order,” he said. “You and Trudy stay away from him. Give him space.”
At the table, he glared at Brad. “You ain’t been here for some time.”
“I’ve been busy,” he said sullenly.
“Busy. Busy making trouble for people, I hear.”
“Just busy. Don’t believe all the lies people tell you, Sam.”