Page 14 of Dane

“There’s cream in the fridge if you want it,” the one with brown hair said. She had a kind of brightness to her, a looseness in her shoulders that made the room feel lighter. “I’m Eliza.”

“Hi.” I gave her a little wave before wrapping my hands around my mug.

“Have you met Pippa or Mia yet?” Hannah indicated the two other women in the room with her at the table. “Pippa is married to my brother, Gunnar, who’s vice president of the club. Mia is with Oktober.”

“It’s good to meet you,” I said automatically. Truth was, I hated meeting anyone here. It felt like condemning eyes glared at me everywhere I went. I’d hurt one of their own, no matter the reasons, so I didn’t blame them. I just hated coming out where everyone could see the spectacle I made.

“You’re a long way from home,” Pippa said, not as a question.

“I am. Sorry for the intrusion into everyone’s lives.” I looked down at my coffee, ready for the rebuke.

Pippa grinned and shook her head, a little wild with it. “Woman, please. We’ve all had drama in our lives. You don’t get inside Kiss of Death, or anywhere near us, unless you’ve had shit things happen in life. Besides, only thing we’ve been concerned about lately is if the chili cook-off is going to take out half the club like it did last year.”

Mia let her head fall back with a groan. “Don’t remind me. I think I’m coming down with whatever stomach demon’s been going around. I got up this morning and brushed my teeth. Soon after, I was making unholy noises and praying over the porcelain altar.”

Hannah covered her mouth, stifling a laugh. “It’s not just you. Ellie said she got sick right before bed. Explosive vomiting like she’d never experienced. I told her to stay in bed until she could keep water down. Nadine’s been checking on her, but said she was kind of afraid she’d caught the bug too.”

“Christ,” Mia sighed. “I pray it doesn’t jump to the men.” Mia’s gaze flicked to me. “Let this be your warning, Brielle. Unless you grew up with brothers, you’re not ready for the audio-visual experience of a full-grown biker with a stomach bug.”

I found myself giggling a little. I didn’t have brothers, but even I knew Man Flu was a real diagnosis.

Pippa studied me for a second. “You got family back wherever home is?”

I shook my head. “No.”

“Friends?”

“Sure.” I answered automatically, though I had made a point to keep to myself in case Sutton turned on me because I’d known for a while it was only a matter of time before my usefulness would either be at an end or he realized I knew more than he thought. Then I didn’t want the blowback to hit someone innocent.

“Look,” Hannah said. “We’ve got your back. We don’t know the full story and we don’t need to.”

Pippa reached over and took my hand. “I know the guys are worried someone’s coming after you. Either physically or legally, they don’t know. But they’re preparing for it. So are we.” She glanced at the other two women. “We’ve all got your back. Every last man and woman in this place.”

I felt tears welling. If only. “I appreciate the sentiment, but you realize that I’m the one who put Dane in prison. My testimony convicted him and I lied.”

“Listen to me.” Mia moved to my other side, making me focus on her. “If you were a bad person or intentionally harmed a member of our family, you wouldn’t be here right now.” I shook my head, but she continued. “You’re wrong. You didn’t put Dane in prison. His own choices put him there, and he knows it too.”

I gave her a grateful smile before looking back down at my coffee. “Sutton is a monster,” I whispered. “I was in the wrong place at the right time, and he took advantage, I guess.” Then a humorless laugh escaped me. “He probably planned it around my work shift. That was my first day working as a teller on my own. I was the perfect choice.”

“Like I said,” Hannah brought my attention back to her. “We’ve got your back. We’ve got the best lawyers working on the problem from a legal end while Knuckles is taking care of any physical threats.”

“Why?” I looked at each of them. “You don’t even know me.”

Mia gave me a gentle smile. “I know you’re the kind of person who tries to make something right. You didn’t have to come here and offer Dane the information you had. But you did. That’s all any of us need to know.”

Hannah nudged the conversation back to neutral ground. “Do you like pancakes?”

“Who doesn’t?”

“Great.” Hannah stood and went to the bar where several plates sat. “We don’t usually do much in the way of breakfast, but for some reason, we all had the craving for sweet and salty this morning.”

“Despite barfing my guts up this morning,” Pippa muttered.

I loved their friendly banter. It was something I’d never had. Not since high school anyway. Not since the robbery. I realized, in a kind of cold clarity, that the only reason I’d survived the last twelve years was because I never let myself want that kind of relationship with people. The fact was, I craved this kind of camaraderie because it would finally mean maybe I’d found where I belonged.

“Oh, my God, I’m starving!” Another woman entered the kitchen, her gaze zeroing in on the pancakes at the bar. “Buttermilk?” She didn’t take her focus from the pancakes as she forked five onto her plate in one big stack.

“Does it matter, Ellie?” Pippa giggled as she forked her own bite of pancake into her mouth.