Page 33 of Inferno

She looked at me. Her mouth opened, then closed. Her eyes went to the purse beside her, then back to me. “He might have,” she said quietly. “I don’t know. The counter’s narrow there. He could have bumped it when he shifted his weight.”

“We know Brett bought two trackers. There’s every possibility he can find you. Searching your bag and your car is easy enough, but until we know for sure, I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to leave the compound alone.” I held her hands in mine as I spoke, trying to be as calm and easy as I could. If I tried to back her into a corner and force her to do what I wanted, she’d bolt.

She nodded, looking angry, but slightly dazed. “OK.”

I pulled her against me and held her there, her face pressed to my chest. She curled her hands into the fabric of my shirt and clung tightly. I could feel her heartbeat against chest and the way she trembled in my arms.

My phone sat on the desk beside the documents. On the screen, the name of my contact from my firefighting days stared at me as a random notification lit up the screen. Frank Danner stared up at me, reminding me I needed help with this outside the club. People I trusted who were good at their job. Tomorrow, I would call him. Tonight, I held Juniper in my arms and listened to her breathe and tried not to think about how close we’d already come to losing each other.

Chapter Twelve

Juniper

Sunday wasn’t a real day off. Not for people who owned bakeries, and definitely not for people being stalked by absolute dickheads. I pulled into my parking spot at the curb and just sat there for a second, staring at the front window. The sign said “Closed,” but it still felt like the shop stared back at me, waiting for me to get my shit together and open up. I felt like the shop was judging me, and by extension, my grandmother judged me as well.

I heaved out a defeated sigh before getting out of the car and moving to the bakery entrance. Inside, the air was weird. Cold and echoey, every step too loud without the usual drone of ovens and the low hum of Georgia’s playlist in the background. Funny how I’d never noticed the quiet so much before today.

Inferno leaned with his shoulder braced on the door frame, arms folded. He watched both me and the parking lot outside as I flicked on the lights and started my rounds. I wanted to make sure the place could be closed for more than a few days and needed to dispose of anything that wouldn’t make it that long. Also, I admit, I might have been looking for listening devices or anything that looked amiss.

“You know, Knight’s crew will go over this place with a fine-tooth comb later.”

“They better not mess up my shit,” I muttered, not really meaning it, but I felt so out of control and helpless it was hard not to lash out.

“You know Knight will make sure everything is kept neat and clean.”

I sighed. “Yeah. I know. I just don’t like being so out of control and, honestly, this is partially of my own making. I welcomed Brett into my life to avoid having to face everything on my own.”

“That’s not your fault either, honey.” Inferno leveled a look at me. “You were just a kid compared to that bastard. You’d lost your grandmother and inherited a business. Naturally you had to be overwhelmed as shit. He likely knew that.”

Last stop before leaving was the prep table. I stared at the shelf above it for a second, then reached up and grabbed the recipe box my grandmother had kept there. It was old, heavy tin or something like it, corners battered and the paint chipped from years of use. Nothing special about it except the inside, which was jammed with index cards in a dozen different handwritings. I shoved it in my bag. I didn’t want to leave it in the shop, not while things were weird. That recipe box was my grandmother’s prized possession. Now it was mine too.

When I turned to leave, Inferno straightened, watching me but with a crease between his brows. Like he was thinking really hard about something.

“Ready to go home?” he asked, voice even. No pressure in it.

“Don’t want to go home. Don’t want to stay here, either.” I shouldered my bag, deciding I was tired of feeling like I was being watched and stalked. “Take me somewhere else,” I demanded with a raised chin.

He nodded once, a slow smile lifting the corner of his lips. Then he turned, reached for the helmet he’d hung on the coat hook by the door, and handed it to me.

“Let’s go, baby.”

“What about my car?”

He already had his phone in his hand, texting with quick flicks of his thumbs. “Got Tiny on the way. He’ll make sure your car gets home.”

As I spoke, a motorcycle rounded the corner and pulled in front of the shop. Zero shut off his bike and gave Juniper a respectful nod. “Ma’am.” Then he addressed Inferno. “Tiny said to wait here for him and to hang on to your woman’s car keys if you guys wanted to head on out.” He looked back at me. “I swear I won’t joyride or anything, ma’am.” At first, I thought he was joking, but his eyes were wide and sincere, like he desperately wanted me to believe him.

I shrugged. “I never thought you would.” I wrapped my hand lightly around Inferno’s upper arm. By being here and feeling so protective of my grandmother’s memory, something bubbled up out of me without meaning to. “Inferno has more integrity than any man I’ve ever met. From what I’ve learned from the other women in the club since I met him, the whole of Kiss of Death has some kind of criminal record. Yet, every man from the club I’ve met has treated me with the utmost respect and concern.”

“Yeah,” Zero said, scrubbing the back of his neck. “It’s just that, one of the things I used to do was hot-wire cars and take them on joyrides. Parking garages were the easiest,” he muttered before clearing his throat. “Anyway, Knuckles said I should be up front with people.”

“You know, sometimes, guilt by association can run the opposite direction. By being with the club, the way the women talk about all of you guys, I would automatically assume you’re not a bad guy. My grandmother always said the key was to live up to the reputation rather than bring the whole group down with you.”

Zero straightened and somehow actually looked proud. Maybe even a little relieved. “Yeah. I can do that, ma’am.”

“I’m Juniper, Zero.” I smiled at him, fully aware Inferno stiffened beside me. “You’re not that much younger than me.” I tossed him my keys. “She’s a Taurus, but she’s no match for the police cruisers, so if you do decide to joyride keep that in mind.”

He grinned at me before glancing at Inferno. I thought he might look intimidated or something, but the little shit just kept grinning. “She likes me, bro.”