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She stared at her clothes on the bed, the ones she hadn’t bothered putting away. Technically, they were all she had now or at least until she went back to town. But she honestly didn’t know when that would be, especially with her asshole ex possibly looking for her.
Dirty had been the one to take her bags and set them in here when she’d first arrived, telling her this was her room and that she was home now. But all she had been able to do then was nod.
She felt numb inside, scared, and she hated that she was putting the club in this situation. But Claire had no other option. She was afraid of Steven and his threats, and a part of her knew his promise to come after her had been real.
Staring at her bag that she’d set on the bed, she thought about how she still had things she’d left behind at her place. But Claire couldn’t find enough emotion to care right now. That had never been her home. Not really.
She’d never felt more at home than she did now in this club. But she’d go back eventually, because even if her apartment hadn’t been a home, just a place where she lived and was lonely, she wasn’t about to desert the things she’d gathered over the last two years.
She knew Mayhem and the guys would go after Steven eventually, but she wanted to go back to her place and pack her own things. Claire didn’t like being the person who had to rely on someone else to handle her problems, but now, with Steven, she was in over her head.
She’d never dealt with anything like this before, and she was truly afraid of the level of Steven’s craziness.
Her apartment may be a small one-bedroom that didn’t hold very many memorable times in it, but it was still hers. She wanted her shit out of there, wanted to start over someplace else.
No way in hell was she staying in that town where Steven only lived a twenty minute drive from her. Yeah, she was a person who could be flighty, who could just pack up and leave if something didn’t feel right. It wasn’t as if she had anything holding her back, not even her job, which was cleaning up offices.
Shaking her head and sitting on the edge of the bed, she ran a hand over her face mindful of her still healing bruise. There was a knock on the door, and before she could look up, it was being pushed open. Mayhem pushed the door open only enough that he could step inside, his big body making the room feel small.
The walls were cinder block, and the only window in the room was above the bed and not even big enough to let a good airflow in. The bathroom was off to the side, but at least, it was attached to the room, giving her a bit of privacy.
She might feel like this was where she belonged, but staying here meant she’d have to deal with what happened, or didn’t happen, with Big. And that scared her, too, almost as much as the crap she was in now.
Maybe it didn’t make much sense to people who hadn’t gone through it, but for her, it was very real.
“You doing okay?” Mayhem asked and walked further into the room. He stopped a few feet from her, and she moved over on the bed giving him space to sit down.
“I’m fine. I’m thinking about all the shit I left behind at my apartment.”
“With everything that happened, that’s what you’re worried about?” He grunted out the words. “Only you would care more about your clothes than that motherfucker.”
She jabbed him playfully in the ribs, trying to keep the situation light. For as big as Mayhem was and for the dangerous reputation he had, rightfully so, Claire just saw him as her brother, her twin. “I’m not worrying about my clothes. Just realizing I don’t have anything here. I need to go back at some point and get my things, though.”
He grunted in acknowledgment. “Are you going to leave again and go back there when that motherfucker problem is solved?”
She knew the answer, but she didn’t answer right away. “No. That wasn’t really a home. It never felt that way.” She looked up at her brother. “I missed you and the club too much.”
He leaned down and kissed her on the head. “This is where you belong, Claire.”
She nodded.
“What about that job you were working?”
“It was a temp position, so me not showing up isn’t a big deal, at least not to me. I have bigger things to worry about anyway than cleaning some old pervert’s office.”
Mayhem sat up straight. “Someone else fucking with you?” he said with all the darkness and violence he had inside of him. The thing with Mayhem, with all of these bikers, was that they took it very seriously when someone messed with what was close to them.
