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Chapter Nine
We leavethe clubhouse in shifts. Liv and Beth go first with Jamie and Danny. Then Paige, Cami, Piper and Sammy. Me, Sofia and Mum leave in the late afternoon. The others follow after, I assume.
I have no idea where we’re going, but Lucas drives us in a large four by four, probably borrowed from one of the Club’s garages. He’s cautious as he manoeuvres the car, his gaze constantly sliding to the rear-view and side mirrors. It makes my own anxiety shoot through the roof. Is he expecting trouble?
“Why’d we get saddled with Lucas?”Sofia signs at me.
I shrug. I would have felt better with Rabbit or Charlie—even though Rabbit’s probation period was extended for failing the Club. Lucas is careless and I think he sees taking care of us as beneath him.
“Any idea where we’re going?”I sign back, my stomach twisting at the thought of what is to come.
I know my brothers wouldn’t allow us and our mother to be sent anywhere they didn’t think was safe, but the lack of knowing—and how fast we were packed up and shipped off—has my worry mounting.
“Fuck knows.”Sofia’s hands move a little sharp. She’s annoyed by this whole process. We all are. “When do those men ever tell us anything? We’re just expected to dance to whatever tune they play. It’s getting old.”
She’s not wrong, but maybe her anger is a little misplaced.
“They’re just doing what they think is right to keep us safe.”
Her eyes roll in her head.
“Like we’re annoyances that are just in their way.”
I don’t agree, but there’s no talking to my sister when she’s like this, so I let it go, my gaze going back to the side window. Mum hasn’t said much, which concerns me. Mary Harlow isn’t a woman who likes to keep her thoughts to herself. The fact she is has my anxiety ratcheting up at least another two notches.
Our journey takes us down a long stretch of motorway, before we pull off into the bustling city of Manchester. I’m surprised because I thought they’d take us off the beaten track, but this doesn’t seem to be the case.
Lucas pulls the car down a smaller side road and stops at a gate at the side of a detached three-storey building. It looks so nondescript it would be impossible to guess what the place was used for, if it wasn’t for the sign over the door, declaring the DEVIL’S DOGS MC are here. If the sign didn’t give a clue, the rows of bikes parked on a scrap of land to the side of the building would.
The main gate is pulled back and Lucas guides the car up beside the bikes and other vehicles, two of which I recognise from this morning. Then he cuts the engine before he turns in his seat and mutters, “Home sweet home.”
Here? This is where we’re staying? The Devils’ clubhouse?
This both thrills and terrifies me. Dane will be here, which is good, but Dane will be here, which is also dangerous.
Things have already gone further than they should have between us.
I glance at Sofia as Mum thanks Lucas and then we all climb out of the car. I’ve never been on Devils’ soil before. I see them plenty when they visit us, but I’ve never been to their inner sanctum. Nerves, for some reason, tingle through me as I stare up at the building. It’s smaller than the Saxons’ clubhouse, that much is obvious from the outside, but it does appear more fortified. There’s barbed wire across the top of the chain-link fence and huge security lights are screwed onto the wall. The gate looks like something that would be on Fort Knox. There are also brothers lingering around the outside, as if expecting trouble.
Rabbit and Charlie appear at what looks like the back door of the building, and I feel my heart rate slow a little at the familiar faces. The Devils are allies, but this still feels dangerous. We’ve never stayed with another club before. This is new territory. The only thing that keeps me grounded is the fact that I know these men, that I’ve got to know them plenty over the years and I do, to an extent, trust them. I also trust that my brothers wouldn’t send us and their old ladies here if they weren’t sure it would be safe.
Both Charlie and Rabbit do what Lucas does not and move to the boot to help us get our stuff.
I sign my thanks to Charlie, although I’m not sure if the newest patched member knows any BSL. He does give me a nod, though, which I think means he understood.
As we step towards the back door, my legs feel a little shaky. Maybe it’s the adrenaline and fear of not knowing what is about to happen, of stepping into the unknown, but I find myself wanting to cling to my sister or mother. I refrain from doing either, barely.
My fear dissipates as Dane steps out of the clubhouse with Axel—another member of the Devil’s Dogs. Dane’s eyes are locked on mine, his expression hungry and my heart starts to thrum as he drags his gaze away. He can’t look at me like that—not in front of the others. I can’t hide my own need when he does.
“The others are inside,” Charlie says as we approach the two men.
Dane says nothing as I pass him, but I feel his eyes on me as I step into a small corridor. Charlie moves around us and leads us into a room off there—what I assume is their common room.
As soon as we step inside, I see Beth, Liv, Paige, Piper, Cami, Jamie, Danny, Jesse, Chloe and Sammy. My gut stops roiling and my panic dissipates at seeing my family.
Beth comes to me immediately and wraps an arm around me, then Sofia before going to Mum, who takes Beth’s face in her hands. I hug the other girls in turn.
“Are you all right, darling?” Mum asks her.
