Page 14 of Pain

“Conclusion: She has a right to have a say in her future,” I whispered to myself.

She’d begged me to take her with me when I left that town where I’d found her, and I’d grabbed her and shoved her onto my bike without thinking it through. I’d saved her like she’d asked.

And I wasn’t going to keep her or send her back without giving her the same courtesy. I wasn’t going to send her back to Devil and the beatings—or keep her here and safe—without first hearing what she thought about the issue.

I shoved my chair back from the desk and got to my feet, turning toward the room where she might or might not be sleeping. I had some more questions for her, and I needed answers.

And as I stalked out of my small, cramped office, I did my best to focus only on those questions. I didn’t need to think about the reasons I was asking them... or what it meant for me personally.

I didn’t think about how different this was from my usual way of handling things.

And I damn sure didn’t think about why that might be. Or that it might have more to do with Saraya herself than I was comfortable admitting.

***

SHE WASN’T SLEEPING when I got into her room. She wasn’t even lying down on the bench anymore. Instead, the blankets were neatly folded and left behind, the pillows piled in a neat stack that made a joke of the thin layer of filth covering the fabric.

And Saraya herself?

I turned, frowning, and let my eyes dart from wall to wall, looking for the tiny girl. This particular room wasn’t exactly large, though it did contain a sink and a coffee bar, which meant there were plenty of places for a girl that small to hide. I glanced at the sink, then at the cupboards below it, wondering if she’d decided that she was actually going to hide from me. If that was the case...

I stalked toward the cupboards, the fury building inside me, but stopped when I heard the throat clearing to my side.

“Do you stalk around like an angry gorilla everywhere you go, or is it something you only pull out for me?”

I turned on my heel, surprised and even angrier that she’d caught me by surprise, and saw her leaning forward onto the coffee bar. “Where the fuck were you?” I snapped before properly considering her question. Then, having processed what she said, I added, “And I’m pretty sure I wasn’t stalking like an angry gorilla when I saved you off the street. An angry gorilla probably wouldn’t have done any saving.”

Her mouth curved with the start of the wonderful smile I’d been thinking about earlier, but she didn’t let it go any further than that. “I suppose that’s true. An angry gorilla would have started throwing things instead.”

That brought me up short. The last time I’d been in this room, I’d been so angry I had been thinking about throwing things.

Fuck. Was I actually an angry gorilla? I’d never thought so before, but...

Her face broke into a tight grin, and she came out from behind the bar. “Relax, Knight. I don’t think you’re an angry gorilla. Though you could walk lighter when you go places.”

I shrugged, suddenly self-conscious. “Big guy,” I noted. “Hard to walk lightly.”

She tipped her head at me. “Big? Is that why the girls are always hanging off you like you’re their favorite brand of lollipop?”

I choked on whatever I’d been about to say, and to my complete and utter horror, felt my face blooming into a flush at her words.

I never blushed.

I also didn’t have girls hanging off me all that often. I hadn’t had a girlfriend in years, and though there were always girls hanging around the club, I never touched any of them. It just wasn’t me. I had more important things to think about. More important things to do.

And I’d thought everyone knew that about me. I’d thought it was common knowledge, even in other clubs, that I...

Oh.

Oh.

Saraya saw me realize that she was teasing me, and her grin got impossibly wider. “People don’t tease you often, huh?”

I forced the scowl on my face to grow. “People never tease me. I’m the boss here. In case you’d somehow missed that.”

She walked up to me, looking up to keep her eyes on mine, and poked me right in the chest. “A boss who rescues the first damsel he comes across. I don’t think you’re nearly as mean as you like to pretend.”

She was right. But she didn’t have the first idea how much pressure I was under, or how important it was that I maintain that reputation.