Sentinel - Devil Riders MC Book 1 (MC Romance Novel with FREE Bonus Novel!) (4 page)

She found it ironic that the guys everyone considered outlaws were the only ones to help. But next time, she might not be so lucky, and she shuddered to even consider that possibility.

“Thank you all for being there for me,” she said. “If you’ll excuse me, I have something I need to go do.”

Rafe nodded, and they all stood and watched her go, before congregating around the row of parked bikes sitting in front of the diner.

Chrissy stepped inside, sweeping her gaze from left to right. She wasn’t quite sure what she was looking for. The other trucker had likely taken off. If he’d seen what happened to his pal, he’d be staying a long way from the Devil Riders. She poked her head through the doorway into the kitchen. It was empty.

“Dick? Are you here?”

No sign of him. Typical.

“Dick? I need to speak with you!”

He poked his head around the corner of the hatch, a fearful expression on his face.

“Are those bikers gone?”

“Not in here, but not gone yet, either. Why?”

“They’re trouble. I hid out here when I heard them starting whatever shit was going on.”

Chrissy could only scowl at him.

“Well the bikers are out hanging around out front. The thing is, they aren’t the problem. It’s a good job they were here, Dick, because if they hadn’t been I don’t even want to think about what your grab-ass trucker pal was going to do to me. Didn’t you hear me cry for help when he grabbed me?”

Dick shrugged.

“I mind my own business.”

“You sent me out back, you jerk. I work for you.”

“Well, maybe, but what was I going to do? He’s a big boy. How the fuck was I going to stop him? I was looking for my phone to call the cops when I saw those bikers rush out. I sure as hell wasn’t going to get mixed up in that.”

“But you called the police.”

Dick turned red. “It looked like things were happening too fast. They wouldn’t get here in time to do shit, so why have the cops messing around here scaring off customers?”

Chrissy clenched her fists in fury, trying to keep inside the poisonous words that she wanted to hurl at him.

“Okay, Dick. That’s it—I quit.”

“Look, Chrissy…”

“Right here, right now, I quit. I’ve had enough of this shit, Dick, and I’ve had enough of you. Find someone else, because I’m done.”

He opened his mouth to speak, but before he could say anything Chrissy flung her apron down on the floor and stormed out. She hurled the door open with force and stomped over to her car, flinging herself into the front seat and starting the engine. It was only then that the tears started—tears of relief, a release of the built-up tension of what had happened.

She sat in her car knowing that her tears were more than that. She was scared. Even though she’d had a damn good reason, quitting was rash. She hadn’t worked there long, and now who’d hire her? Chrissy faced her tuition bill for the next semester all too soon. And, she’d had to use her credit card to get her car fixed right after she’d moved here, and that meant more bills.

She had nobody but herself to rely on, no family to bail her out. She knew she would get through it, she always managed to find a way, but at the moment she had no idea when or how a solution would turn up.

It felt right to allow herself to cry.

She was so wrapped up in herself that she didn’t even notice Rafe until he was right next to the window, leaning in.

“Wanna talk about it?”

Chrissy hurriedly wiped away her tears. That she had given in to self-pity embarrassed her, especially in front of this strong man. She looked up at him with eyes still blurry, and just shook her head, not trusting her voice.

He crouched by the window bringing his head level with hers.

“My educated guess is that you went in there and told that clown to shove the job up his ass, didn’t you?”

She nodded, wishing she’d said it that way.

“And now, back outside where the air is clean and you can think, you’re wondering how you’ll pay the rent? You don’t want to give this dump as a reference even.”

Nodding mutely, she found his concern was already relaxing her.

“Listen. You can do better than a shithole like this place.”

Chrissy just shook her head, and suddenly, even without her consciously realizing that she was doing it, words began to tumble from her mouth unbidden, telling him, talking about just getting an apartment, paying for school and trying to make it. “As much as it sucks, I needed this job, and I don’t know how I’m going to do it right now. I’ve got no savings at all. The truth is that if I thought he’d go for it I’d probably walk back in there and beg for my job back.”

Rafe just snorted with derision.

“No, you wouldn’t.”

She looked at him in amazement. “I wouldn’t?”

“Nope. First thing is you are better than that. Second thing is I ain’t gonna let you. Fuck your manager, and fuck this shitty diner.”

He stopped for a moment, considering. Then he opened his wallet and pulled out a card, placing it into Chrissy’s palm. She sniffed, wiping her eyes again to get a clear look at it.

It was a business card with the same logo he’d shown her on his jacket. Underneath the logo were the words
Devil’s Hideout
, with an address.

“What is it?”

“A bar. Bikers have to have a bar, don’t they?” He grinned. “It’s a rule. And in addition to being a bar, it’s a clubhouse where they can hang out. I own the place and if you can stand being around these bums, and serve beer all night and keep smiling, you’ve got a new job.”

She stared into his eyes, wondering if this was some kind of a con.”

“I really appreciate what you did for me tonight, Rafe, but…”

“I’m serious, Chrissy. I run a bar and we need another bartender. The one I’ve got is nagging me about something called a day off, and sooner or later I’ll have to cave in and give her one. Hell, it’s only been a year, I don’t know what she expects. Next thing she’ll be making noise about a vacation and I have to plan ahead a little.”

Chrissy found herself laughing. “I can open beer. I can even pour beer into a mug.”

Rafe shuddered. “I won’t tell if you don’t. No self-respecting biker uses a glass.” He laughed. “It might not seem like it, but even bikers have social mores. You’ll learn. Show up there tomorrow evening around six and we’ll get you started.”

Just looking at him made her tremble and she feared that what intrigued her about him might make for a new problem.

“I don’t know...”

“Of course you don’t know. You just went through having the shit scared out of you, then you fought with your boss and quit your job. On top of that, there’s some bum of a biker who keeps staring at you like he might have a thing for you, and he’s spooky enough to offer you a job, and you worry that he might just be trying to get in your pants. Well, you’re gonna have to work through most of that yourself, but on that final point, no matter how hot the stupid biker thinks you are, it’s a legit job offer, and no strings attached. Anything else would be worked out over time and in my place, as long as people are behaving, nobody forces anyone to do anything.” He held out a hand. “You have my word. I don’t have much else, but I give you that.”

She stared at his proffered hand for a moment, absorbing what he’d said. He claimed to be a stupid biker, but he sure nailed her confusion. The butterflies in her gut were doing somersaults as she took his hand and shook it.

“Okay, Rafe.”

“Then it’s done. See you tomorrow evening. Oh, there’s no uniform. Just dress casual. Don’t want the guys getting all spooked.”

And that was it. He turned and walked back to his waiting men.

Chrissy watched him, once again finding herself aroused by the way he walked, the confident way he held himself; like he owned the space around him, nonchalantly made it belong to him. He climbed onto a motorcycle, a big hulking gleaming thing that roared and purred as he turned the key in the ignition and kicked it to life. The other bikes raised their voices in a chorus of throaty roars and the gang pulled out of the parking lot in a cacophony of squealing rubber.

Chrissy was left alone in the parking lot, clutching Rafe’s card in her hand. She stared at it for a few more moments, before slipping it into her purse and starting her car.

She’d expected the events of the evening to haunt her, to have her mind churning through scenarios that recalled her confrontation with Dick, but on the drive home, she barely even thought about quitting her job, or the scumbag that had tried to drag her away. All she could think about were those green eyes, and the idea of working for Rafe, trying to imagine being around him every day, wondering what his bar would be like.

What am I getting myself into?

She told herself that he had just assumed she took the job—she hadn’t actually agreed. She’d only promised she’d show up the next evening. But she’d sleep on it, think things over. Then, in the clear light of day, she’d make a decision. She’d think about it, examine the facts and do what was logic and sensible.

But, in her heart, she knew that the next night she would start a new job at the Devil’s Hideout.

****

CHAPTER TWO

CHRISSY

After dragging herself out of bed the next morning and trudging to her classes, then sitting through them in a distracted haze, the last thing that Chrissy wanted to do was tutor Justin Willbanks. On the other hand, even
if
she could afford to quit, common decency dictated that she show up and give him notice, face to face. Besides, the new job was an unknown quantity. Rafe hadn’t even told her how much he was paying her, and she could wind up hating it. Probably not as much as the job at Riggs, but it might not work out even if Rafe was a good guy. And the rent wasn’t going to pay itself.

He was waiting for her in their usual spot, in a corner of the campus library that was quiet and didn’t see much foot traffic. Justin told her that he liked it there because they could focus on their studies better. That was a lie. Justin didn’t focus on the studies at all, He barely made an effort, hardly even pretended to care about the subject matter. As far as she could tell, what he liked about the place was that they were there alone. Originally, he’d tried to get her to give him his lessons at his apartment. She’d flatly refused, insisting it be at school, and he’d picked this place.

When she arrived his face broke into a smile.

Although she didn’t like him, Chrissy had to admit that Justin had engaging good looks. From her point of view, the first problem with Justin was that he
knew
he was good looking. She often caught him posing, as if he expected people to look at him and admire him. He had tousled blond hair, light blue eyes, and a cheeky smile that she was sure many girls had fallen for over the years. It seemed to piss him off that she wasn’t so easily swayed.

“Hey there, how’s my favorite redhead?” he said, standing as she arrived. He tried to initiate a hug, but Chrissy stepped back out of reach.

“I’m fine, Justin.”

“No hug?”

“Let’s try and focus on the work today, huh?”

He whistled and sat next to her.

“A little testy today, are we? You on your period or something?”

Chrissy stared at him for a moment. She had thought guys with attitudes like this died out in the previous decade.

“Classy, Justin, classy. I’m just busy and I’ve had a rough time lately. I don’t need shit from you. So do we get on with the work? If you don’t want to talk about the work, I have other things to do.”

The last thing she wanted was to get into a conversation with him about her personal life.

He studied her for a moment, then pulled a couple of textbooks from his bag and placed them in front of her.

“I’m supposed to write a paper on these for next week.”

Chrissy just looked at him. He was sitting, looking at her expectantly. Did he really think that this was enough?

“Justin,” she said, with the world-weary tone of somebody explaining a basic concept to a simpleton, “I’m going to need to know a little more than that to help you. What’s the title of the paper? What’s it about?”

He fished around in his bag again and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper.

“Uhhh, let’s see…the title is: The Effect of the 2008 Economic Crash on Mineral Stock Prices.” He looked up at her. “Boring, isn’t it?”

“It is if you aren’t the least bit interested in the subject. The point of writing a paper like that is supposed to be that you dig into the dynamics of the situation and learn the interesting things that happened. You have to find something interesting to you that you can focus on.”

He leaned back and stretched.

“Like I said, it’s boring. I can’t wait to be done with this shit.”

“Why are you even in school?” she asked, then regretted asking. She didn’t want to know more about him.

“Because I intend to run my Dad’s company one day. But the dumb fuck won’t give me a job until I graduate. Not that I need a stupid diploma to be the boss, but he won’t let me have anything to do with the business without one.” He grinned. “And that’s why you get paid—to help me get the degree, not to teach me anything. I don’t actually want to
know
this stuff.”

Chrissy couldn’t have rolled her eyes harder if she’d tried, but she didn’t say anything. She’d come to understand that Justin thought he already knew everything he needed to, but she hadn’t realized how stupid he was. He didn’t want to talk about the schoolwork any more than he absolutely had to. He didn’t take it seriously at all. And the reason he’d picked her as his tutor was because he wanted to get in her pants, not because she was so good at explaining the material. She was fine with the idea a guy might pick her because he enjoyed the company of an attractive woman as a tutor, but this was too much.

She took a breath, and opened the first textbook. It was huge, dull, and impenetrable.

“Let’s get started on the paper.”

Justin let out a groan of frustration, but eventually sat forward, realizing she expected him to at least pretend that he was listening to what she was saying.

For the next two hours Chrissy tried to come to grips with a topic she knew next to nothing about, while Justin did his absolute best to contribute nothing of value. Eventually she managed to get the information into a workable outline.

“This isn’t my specialty, but it’s not bad. All you need to do is take the notes I’ve made and write the damn thing.” With a final weary stroke of her pen, Chrissy slid the paper across the desk to him. “You can work from that. It shouldn’t take you too long—I’ve broken it down by paragraph, and included all the quotes you can use from the textbook.”

Chrissy stood and stretched, and started to gather her things.

“Wait, wait,” Justin said. “You’re leaving already?”

“Yes,” she replied. “I need to go get ready for my evening job.”

He scoffed.

“You work too much.”

She glared at him. “Some of us have to earn a living. I don’t work, I don’t eat.”

Justin frowned. “Then I’ll make you an offer—let me take you to dinner, a really nice one.”

“It’s more than getting food, Justin.”

“Then I’ll give you whatever you would have made at your other job and you lose nothing.”

Chrissy could only look at him, incredulous.

“You’re offering to pay me to go on a date with you?”

He smiled.

“Yeah! We can have some fun, and you won’t need to worry about working all the time.”

Chrissy was silent for a few moments. When she spoke again, her voice was strained with fury.

“Justin, I don’t know who or what you think I am, but I am not someone you can just buy. I’m not a fucking escort, you hear?”

He drew away, surprised at her tone.

“Hey, no need for that,” he frowned. “I just thought…”

“I don’t give a fuck what you thought or meant,” Chrissy hissed. “Your attitude is gross and insulting. If you want these tuition lessons to continue, you need to back off, OK?”

He still hadn’t given up; she could see it in his eyes. He reached out to her again and placed a hand on her leg.

“Chrissy, you’re looking at this all wrong. I’m not suggesting that I’d pay you to go on a date with me—I just want to help you out. I thought that giving you money would mean you didn’t have to work all the time, didn’t have to struggle. Then you could have time for some fun. We’d be helping each other out.”

The inference behind his words wasn’t lost on her, and his hand on her leg conjured unpleasant memories of the previous night and the trucker.

“Take your hand off me,” she said coldly. “Don’t touch me, and don’t ever bring this up again. I pay my own way, and I don’t need or want your help.”

He got the message this time, but instead of looking apologetic or embarrassed, Chrissy was alarmed to see the anger that glittered in his eyes.

“I see how it is,” he whispered.

“What do you mean?”

“Nothing. I’ll see you at our next session.”

She sighed with relief that she hadn’t blown this job too. She watched him cautiously as he packed his books and left without another word.

Chrissy left the library a short time afterwards, wondering if she’d just made an enemy. She’d learned a lot in a very short time, and had her eyes opened to the way people manipulated and used each other. She’d been shocked to learn who Benny really was, underneath it all, but the lesson let her see other things and other people more clearly. That included Justin. She could see that he was much like Benny—arrogant and sure of himself, and all because of his money. He felt entitled.

Well, fuck him. She’d get through the tutoring and continue to keep him at arm’s length. Maybe it would be easier now that his feelings were hurt. No matter, if the new job worked out, as soon as she could do without his money, he’d be history.

* * * *

JUSTIN

Justin left the library shaking with rage.

“That goddamn stuck-up bitch.”

He couldn’t get over the unbelievable nerve of the ungrateful cunt! She was a nobody who acted as if she would be soiled by his money. Didn’t she know who he was?

Being flatly rejected had caught him off guard and left him stunned. He’d never been dismissed in such an out-of-hand manner by a goddamn girl before. Especially a poor one, a girl who wasn’t more than a servant. At least the servants knew their place.

Sure, some girls were a bit wary of him because he had a reputation. A lot were reluctant at first, but they came around easily enough. A quick spin in the Mercedes and a fancy dinner, or an expensive gift, brought them around. They realized that what he offered them was worth spreading their legs for. Even if they knew he wanted nothing more than a quick affair, they saw the benefit. Sooner or later they proved willing enough, if not eager.

This fucking tutor was out of her league and he wasn’t going to let her get away with treating him the way she did.

He muttered darkly under his breath as he stalked across the quad considering his options. What made it worse was that Chrissy James wasn’t even all that special. Sure, she was good-looking. She turned him on. Why else would he have hired her to tutor him? And he wanted to see what she looked like without her clothes, to get her naked in his bed, or just nail her in the back seat of the car, up on the bluff. He wanted her, but she wasn’t all that hot. He’d fucked hotter girls. Dozens of them. And he’d get others.

What he couldn’t let go of was her attitude. The bitch didn’t think he was worthy to touch her. She thought she was better than him! He couldn’t accept that. He was rich and good looking, and she was kind of hot, but poor. She should be willing to lick his boots if he asked her too.

He felt embarrassed and refused to let this nobody think she was better than him, just because she liked to read. She was already slacking on the tutoring. For the money he was paying her, she should’ve taken the hint and just said they should make out and she’d take the paper home and write it for him. But no, she expected him to pay her to sit there and tell him to write the paper. Where did shit like that come from?

Worse, she was acting like he was repulsive or something. She’d needed to be taught a lesson.

But what? He was stronger than she was, but that wasn’t useful. He didn’t mind the idea of dragging her somewhere and banging the crap out of her, but the truth was that was over the top even for him. She’d understand a lesson like that but it could get him in a kind of trouble even his father’s money couldn’t fix. So that would remain something of a pleasant fantasy.

Besides, he wanted her to submit. No, he wanted her to beg him to fuck her. The only way to get that was to present her with even worse alternatives, put her in a position that she’d beg him to let her suck his cock.

Finding that kind of solution meant finding her weaknesses, uncovering whatever secrets she had and determining the best way to exploit them. The problem was that he didn’t know enough about her beyond that she was a good student and needed money. He didn’t even know where she worked. But those things were fairly simple when you had resources.

Knowledge was power—his Dad told him that. Everyone had secrets, and those secrets gave you leverage. The lesson had been intended to apply to business and his father spent gobs digging up information on business competitors, and it had always paid off for him. If you could dig up some good dirt on your enemies, you could smear them with it, let the world know they’d fucked up somehow or weren’t the people they pretended to be. Even better was that you could choose to get them to play along in turn for keeping it secret.

Even more to the point was the way his father used the same techniques in his personal life. He regularly invested in learning about people in order to get what he wanted from them, even if he didn’t need it immediately. It was only now that Justin finally understood what his father was trying to teach him, and when you got it, well it was simple. What Justin wanted was for the bitch to play along with him, at least until he got bored with her. That meant finding out everything about her and digging until he unearthed something she didn’t want people to know.