Devil’s Vengeance (Devil’s Disciples MC #6)

Chapter 39

CHAPTER 39

CHASE

Part of me wanted to let her go. Croy couldn’t force her to stay. She wasn’t part of the crew and she wasn’t obligated to help us. If she left, he’d be forced to figure something else out. I would’ve let her go if Trick hadn’t come back to the library. If he was just coming after me, it would’ve been an easy choice. His showing up today proved he wasn’t going to let her go. He’d chase her just to screw with me. He wasn’t even at the house during the attack. At least, not that I could tell. A few of his guys died, some scattered. Only two were caught by the cops. None of them were Trick. He was lurking in the background, and I wouldn’t know if he was following her until it was too late if she left town.

“Mariah, wait–”

She jerked her arm away, glaring at me. “No! Can you even hear yourself right now? You want me to draw out the guy who threatened to rape me and pass me around his crew, all because I was in the vicinity of you when he found you. And you want me to do it here? Where innocent people come and go all day. Children. Are you out of your mind?”

I knew it was a bad idea. I argued against it when Croy suggested it. But he pointed out that Trick wasn’t going to let this go until he got his hands on Mariah. If I stashed her away somewhere like I wanted to, she’d be stuck hiding from him until he finally pulled his balls out of his pocket and manned up enough to face me. And I knew Trick well enough to know he’d never do that. He was a chickenshit.

She tried to walk away, but I caught her arm, dragging her back to face me. I didn’t realize how upset I’d made her until she slapped me. The crack of it was loud in the quiet afternoon atmosphere. Her reaction stunned us both. She covered her mouth with her hands, eyes wide, while I reached up to touch the stinging spot.

For a moment, I saw a flash of fear cross her face. I didn’t like that. No matter what she did, she never had to be afraid of me. So, despite the seriousness of the situation, I teased her to get her to relax.

“Next time, use a fist. It’s more effective.”

She huffed out a laugh that quickly disappeared as she shook her head. “I’m sorry. I don’t– I’m not handling all this very well. I’ve been jumpy all day, and I just snapped. I’m not this person.”

Slowly, so she knew I wasn’t going to hurt her, I drew her into my arms, resting my forehead against hers. “I know you aren’t. And I’m sorry for dragging you into this. It’s not fair to you. But you can’t run. He’s a real bastard and I wouldn’t be surprised if he followed you wherever you went and dragged you back here. I need you to stay here where I can protect you.”

Her face crumpled and her hand gripped my shirt as she leaned into me. “I’m scared, Chase.”

That confession felt like a knife to the chest. I’d heard it once before. It was the part I kept from Mariah. I kept it from everyone. I refused to let that situation repeat itself.

“Mariah? Is everything alright?”

The coworker poked her head around the corner, frowning at us. Mariah took a second to draw in a deep breath before forcing a smile and looking over her shoulder at her friend.

“Yeah. Just needed a minute. I’ll be right in.”

The coworker narrowed her eyes at me suspiciously, but eventually headed back inside.

“Pretty sure she doesn’t like me,” I commented blandly. I didn’t really give a shit if she did or didn’t, but it made Mariah snicker .

“She didn’t like Trick either. I should’ve listened to her when she told me he was slimy.”

I nodded, then frowned. “Hold on. Does she think I’m slimy, too?”

“I haven’t asked her yet. Do you want me to?”

I mean, kinda? It was morbid curiosity, seeing how I measured up to Trick in the eyes of this random ass older woman. But I doubted it’d make me feel better about all this. This whole situation was fucked beyond all belief, and I couldn’t see how we’d come back from this.

Mariah looked up at me, those deep brown eyes drawing me into her orbit. It didn’t matter how hard I fought, I still wanted her. Which was why I didn’t hesitate to tell Croy I was claiming her. It gave her more protection than if she was just some random chick who caught our enemy’s attention. I just had to convince her to accept it, and I couldn’t do that if she was primed to run.

“We’ll talk more later. You’ve got shit to do.”

Her grip tightened just enough for me to notice. “Are you leaving?”

I shook my head. “No, sweetheart. I’m not going anywhere.”

Croy would be pissed, but I wasn’t leaving Mariah alone unless she agreed to the plan. If he had a problem with it, I’d take it to Riley. I’d bet good money the First Lady would take issue with Mariah being used as bait.

Things were quiet for most of the afternoon. I sat in one of the comfortable chairs in the middle of the library floor where I had a direct view of Mariah. I picked up a book so her coworker wouldn’t bitch at me for loitering, thumbing through it without actually reading a word. I was too busy listening and watching for any signs that asshole was coming back.

I guess I was a shit actor, because after a while, Mariah came to see me, a smile tugging at her lips. “Do you even know the first thing about what that book is about?”

Looking up at her, I shrugged. “Indiana Jones meets Percy Jackson.” At her startled look, I grinned. “I’ve read it before. ”

She rolled her eyes, smiling at me. “That’s cheating. If you’re going to read, at least pick something new.”

“I’m not actually reading.”

“Oh believe me, I can tell,” she snickered. “So can everyone else. You’re not fooling anyone.”

Glancing over at her coworker, I twisted my mouth to hide my smirk when I caught her watching me with a squinty eyed expression. She really didn’t like me. I turned my attention back to Mariah.

“What are you doing over here, sweetheart? Checking up on me?”

She shot a pointed look at the cart a few feet away. “I’m working. And trying really hard not to laugh at your sad attempt at playing innocent. At least grab something with pictures in it. No one reads that fast.”

“That feels like an insult,” I pointed out, pushing to my feet. I followed her down the aisle as she slotted books away, helping her with a few that were out of reach. Whenever we came out of an aisle, I’d check my surroundings. I wished we could put cameras around here.

My brow furrowed at the thought. “You said the security system was donated, right?”

She looked up from where she was bending to put away some books. “Yeah. We think it was a kind parent after the library was trashed a year ago. A bunch of the parents rallied to help clean up, and the system was delivered and installed a few days later. The district didn’t tell us who donated it, only that it was donated.”

“Who the fuck trashes a library?”

She shrugged and straightened. “Bored teens, I assume. There weren’t any cameras or anything, and only a lock on the front door, so it wasn’t like it was hard to pull off. They didn’t try it twice. I think they realized they were only punishing themselves and decided to cause chaos somewhere else.”

Probably true. I grew up in a small town. Sometimes, causing trouble was the only cure for boredom. I never went as far as breaking and entering, but I did drive Trick around in my little beater while he shot people’s cars with paintballs. When Hannah found out, she reamed me for days for being so reckless. Threatened to break up with me if I ever did it again.

I wasn’t going to bring up the plan, since she hadn’t agreed to it yet, but I would ask Neo to install some cameras if we went through with it. If it was our only option, I wanted to make sure Mariah was covered at all angles.

She finished putting the books away and turned around, studying me.

“What?”

She shook her head. “Nothing. I’m just realizing how dumb I was. Trick didn’t let me put away a handful of books before he was trying for something. You’re more of a gentleman than he was.” She laughed when I wrinkled my nose. “Don’t try to pretend you aren’t. You’re a good guy. There’s nothing wrong with that. Some would even say it’s a good thing.”

Yeah, weak-willed bitches maybe. I wasn’t an asshole, but I wasn’t a damn gentleman either. And I had no problem proving it to her.

With a quick glance around to make sure no one was going to sneak up on us, I pushed her until her back was against the wall. We were hidden from the main area of the library by tall shelves and a stupid ass plant in the corner. That was good enough for me. I captured her lips roughly, grinning when her lips parted automatically for me. While my tongue teased her, my hands slid to her ass. I hadn’t gotten enough of it the night before. She had a fantastic ass.

Mariah hummed her approval, sliding her arms around my neck. We stayed that way, wrapped around each other, making out like teenagers until an alert on my phone forced me back into reality. I was hard as a rock and itching to drag her into the bathroom to continue where we left off, but this wasn’t some random bar and she wasn’t some sweetbutt looking for a thrill. I wanted to claim her. I wasn’t going to treat her like a cheap hookup.

I released her, stepping back to give her room to head back to the front while I cooled off. Before she disappeared out of sight, she stopped, raising an eyebrow at me, a smug smile on her lips. “So your way to prove it was to find a quiet spot out of sight and keep things PG? I think you only proved my point. Gentleman.”

I huffed out a laugh, staring at the spot she’d been before she walked off. Fuck. She might be right. I’d need to fix that eventually, or she’d get the wrong idea. This wasn’t one of her little romance books. I wasn’t an asshole, but I wasn’t a gentleman either. And the shit I did on the regular would shock her to her core.