Page 93 of Fox (Road Rebels MC 4)
“I took out a restraining order against him. He’d given me a black eye, and I was afraid for my life,” I said, and Thorn nodded his head. I couldn’t bring myself to tell him the whole story, not yet anyway.
“Good, that’s very good,” he said, and I could feel the tops of my cheeks turning red.
“But that was in New York, I don’t know if the police can help me here,” I said and Thorn’s brows crossed. Within the span of just a few minutes, I had told this stranger nearly everything important there was to know about me.
“You were in New York?” he asked, and I drew in a deep breath.
“That’s where I lived all my life. I moved to LA five years ago. I don’t have any family here, barely any friends,” I explained and Thorn continued staring at me.
“Did you move to LA to get away from him?” he asked, and I looked away from him. It was time that he knew who I really was. There was no use in hiding it from him anymore.
“In a way, yes, but I always wanted to move to LA. I wanted to pursue a career in acting,” I admitted shyly and Thorn came towards me again. His face had lightened up a little, he looked a little less enraged now.
“The big dream, huh?” he said, and I gathered the courage to finally smile.
“Well, it’s not just a dream anymore. I recently landed a big role on a show. It’s called Failing at Love, but something tells me that you’ve never heard of it,” I said, still smiling faintly and Thorn rubbed a hand through his hair again. Almost apologetically.
“No, I haven’t, but it gives me a good idea of why and how this guy found you again,” he said, and I bit down on my lip nervously.
“Yeah, I’d never thought of it like that. I had thankfully not heard from him in five years. I was hoping that he just moved on and forgot about me. Now that I have this role and there is some publicity around me, I guess he noticed,” I said, and Thorn started pacing the room, while I followed him with my eyes.
“Guys like him don’t ever just give up. To him, you were his property, and you slipped through his fingers. It doesn’t matter how much time goes by, he’s going to keep trying to retrieve his property. That’s just the way these guys are wired,” Thorn explained.
I felt another cry rise up in me, and he sensed it too because he came rushing towards me again. He moved up to the couch and placed his arms on shoulders, and I leaned into him.
“I came to LA to get away from him and to pursue my passion. Ryan was always dead against me getting into acting. When I was free from him, I finally felt like I could do what I wanted. That I was finally independent,” I cried and covered my face with my hands.
I didn’t expect Thorn to bend down and wrap his arms tighter around me. He held me close to himself, and I breathed in his natural masculine scent. Our bodies grazed, and even though he was hugging me, he was holding me at a distance. It was clear to me that he wanted me to know he wasn’t making any sort of advances.
I cried on his shoulder for a few minutes, while he gently stroked my back. I couldn’t have imagined that a big muscular man like him could be capable of this kind of tenderness.
After a few minutes, I was embarrassed by crying again, and I gently pulled myself away. Thorn straightened himself up and stared down at me, concern filling his eyes.
It was then that the idea struck me. It was probably because I noticed the helmet on the floor and the leather cut he was wearing. I remembered that he belonged to a motorcycle club.
“Can I pay you to protect me?” the words came blurting out of me, and Thorn’s brows crossed again in confusion.
“Say that again,” he said, and I could feel the excitement mounting up in me. Suddenly, all my fears were gone. Like they had never existed in the first place.
“You belong to a biker gang. A club. I’m sure you guys do this sort of thing all the time, don’t you?” I asked him, and Thorn stared at me without any response.
“What if I pay your club money to act as my bodyguards until I start feeling safe again? I don’t think the police would be able to make me feel as safe as having protection twenty-four-seven would,” I said, and Thorn still looked as confused as when I first suggested it.
I jumped off the couch and stepped towards him with excitement. I couldn’t believe that I hadn’t thought of this before. It was the perfect plan. I had never felt as safe with anybody else, as I felt in the presence of Thorn. I was sure that his biker friends would make me feel the same. When I was scared an hour ago, the first thing I had done was call him.
“You want to pay me to protect you?” he asked, the realization finally hitting home. I nodded my head excitedly.
“You and your Club. I know it’s not a one-man job. You can quote me a price. You can decide how much you want to charge me and I’ll be willing to pay it,” I said, and a smile was forming on my face.
The only thing was that I wasn’t sure what he thought of the idea.
Chapter 13
Thorn
I have never wanted to protect someone more. Everything that Ensley had said to me about Ryan had made me angry. I didn’t want to think about the things she must have gone through with him. He was physically and verbally abusive to her. He had given her a black eye. She was afraid for her life. I could feel the rage pumping through my veins.
But now, she had suggested paying the club and me to protect her. That wasn’t something I had thought about before. I was willing to offer her protection for free. I had landed up here, in the middle of the night because I wanted her to be safe. The fact that she might be willing to pay for that safety hadn’t occurred to me.
“I’m sorry, Thorn, I didn’t mean to offend you,” I heard her say. Her voice had snapped me out of my thoughts.
Ensley was standing in front of me now, in a pair of pink silk pajamas that hung smoothly from her slender body. She had tied her golden hair up in a messy bun on the top of her head. From the moment I’d walked into her apartment; I’d noticed that she had no makeup on and somehow, she looked even more beautiful now than she had at the bar.
There was something so natural and honestly beautiful about her. It wanted me to keep her safe even more.
“You haven’t offended me. I’m just thinking about your offer,” I told her. She had her expectant blue eyes turned towards me, and I sa
w them soften a little now. She was worried that I was going to say no.
“That’s okay. I’m sure you all are busy men, and keeping guard over me isn’t exactly on the top of your priority list,” she said, and a small, weak laugh escaped her lips. I watched as she turned away from me and stepped back to the couch. She settled down in one corner of it again, and she looked angelic as she sat there like that.
“That’s not what I’m thinking. I just have to offer the idea to my brothers and see what they think of it. We have never done anything like this before, and I don’t know if they’ll be up for it,” I said, in all honesty.
This was a good idea. Offering bodyguard services to an upcoming actress in LA was exactly the kind of legit gig that we were looking for. It was what the club needed. This wasn’t something that the cops or anybody else could point fingers at us for. However, it was the kind of work that none of my brothers had expected to get involved in. Protecting a damsel in distress? It wasn’t our ideal job.
Ensley caught me thinking, and she forced a smile on her face.
“I get it. It’s okay if your brothers don’t agree to this,” she said. I looked at her and nodded my head in thought.
“I’m going to put it to the vote first thing tomorrow morning and get back to you,” I said, and she forced that weak smile on her face again.
I turned from her, and picking the helmet off the floor, I walked to her door.
“I’m glad you’re okay, Ensley. I just wanted to come over and check on you,” I said. She remained sitting on the couch. Her face had suddenly turned deathly pale. I got the feeling that she almost didn’t want me to go. But what was there for me to do now?
I’d come over and checked on her. There were no signs of her being watched right now, and I was worried that I had already overstayed my welcome. It was obvious that she thought of me as more of a business prospect than a man in her bed.
