mouth to within a hair’s breadth of hers. “That would be the least of what I would do to Primer,” I growl between my teeth.
“You scare the starch out of me, you know.” Her tone is light, but I can see the fear behind her eyes.
I squeeze her nape and smile into her hair, thinking of what I’m planning to do to her tonight, after all the club business I have to take care of is done.
My fingers tighten on her neck until I feel her shiver, panic pouring through every inch of her until I can practically smell it.
“You have no idea,” I tell her.
“I know,” she whispers.
No, she really doesn’t.
“Spider.”
I turn to see Dragon waiting with Dex, the White Springs prez, at the double doors to the chapel.
“Church in ten.”
Dragon is probably intending to spend some time catching up on business with Dex before the meeting. They’re probably waiting for one of the White Springs officers to show up, or else they’d have started church right away now that I’m here. Good. It’ll give me time to deal with another matter of business that needs handling.
I give Dragon a nod and grab Emma’s wrist, leading her toward Bishop’s room.
“Where are we going?” Emma bursts out, sounding shaky. “What are you doing?”
“You’re going to be taught a lesson I should have taught you a long time ago.” I know she can’t see my smile. It’s just as well, because if she did, it would probably scare the shit out of her.
8
Fit to Be Tied
As soon as Spider answers, I know I’m in trouble.
His voice says it all. The brutality in his deeply growled tone tells me exactly what kind of lesson he intends to teach me.
Unfortunately, I have some idea of what’s coming. He knows that by taking that wallet, I’d been planning to escape. By taking it, I’d betrayed him. Gone against him. Again. This isn’t going to be pretty.
The last time I’d tried to escape, he’d tied me to his bed for hours, naked. Then he’d tied me to a tree outside of Casper’s, where I’d had to stand naked in front of the entire clubhouse during Diesel’s birthday party. And when he thought I had not only been planning to escape, but that I had information on Adamson, he’d strung me up in a cell and tortured me. What will he do to me this time?
Spider heads down a short hall at the back, and up a set of steps toward the second floor. Instinctively, I look around for a door that leads outside, trying to get the lay of the land. His grip on my wrist tightens.
“There’s no point in trying to escape from here, Wildcat.” He points to the top of the stairs. “There’s cameras all around this place.”
I raise my eyes. Near the ceiling on the top landing, a small camera is perched, a dark lens directed right at me.
Unease pricks at me. I glance over my shoulder at the barroom. How many other cameras are there that I can’t see? Was there one at the entrance we came through?
We pass the camera on the stairs, and I can’t help keeping my eyes on it longer than necessary.
“What’s the problem?” Spider asks, obviously picking up on my unease.
I shake my head mutely, shoving down the old memories that flicker through my mind. Memories that invoke a suffocating claustrophobia.
“Spit it out,” he orders.
“It’s nothing. I just hate the idea of having cameras in my face. I can’t stand the idea of someone watching me all the time. In the Colony…” I shake my head again.
For some reason, Spider’s lips twitch. Amusement dances in his eyes. “Let me guess. Those dipshit people at the Colony liked to keep a close eye on their brainwashed little sheep.”
That’s only half the issue. They also had cameras in the isolation chambers, allowing them to spy on us at any time. Not only that, but I’d always had the feeling they weren’t just keeping an eye on us. They were using them to study us, and, in some cases, they were using the recordings for more sinister purposes. I’d been cleaning one of the pastor’s houses and come into an office to find one of them watching a girl in the shed, certain he’d had his hand down his pants right as I walked in.
When I don’t look at Spider or answer, he shrugs. “Well, I want eyes on you at all times. Come on.”