mom died, and that's normal. But Deb meant a lot to me, and I'll do what I can to help you out on this." Zane sounded almost... normal. Why had I spent so many years terrified of him?
"But mark my words, Madison Kate. You step foot on my turf uninvited again? I'll send you back to my brother in worse condition than he left Skunk. We clear?"
Ah, yep. There it was.
"You got a ride home? Best you don't hang around here much longer." The leader of the Shadow Grove Reapers was back, and a deep shiver of fear passed through me.
I shook my head. "I'll grab an Uber."
Zane flicked his fingers. "Cass will drive you."
"You don't have to—" I started to protest, but Zane cut me off.
"Someone finds value in your death, Madison Kate, which means there's money involved and probably a lot of it. Watch your fucking back, girl, and don't be an idiot. Stick close to my brother and his friends. They're fucking psychopaths, but they like you." He jerked his head to Cass, then disappeared back into the bar without a second glance my way.
"Come on," the big guy said, leading the way down the alleyway to the parking lot. His hair was jet black, shaved on the sides and long on top, styled in a messy flop, while his beard was short and neat. Still scary as fuck, regardless of his grooming, and not someone I'd ever want to find myself on the bad side of.
He stopped beside a huge, black and chrome Harley and handed me a helmet from the handlebars. "Let's go," he ordered me. "Boss will want you out of here before Arch comes looking."
My palms were sweating with nervousness, but I took the helmet from him and buckled it on. Cass didn't seem like someone who'd stand for girly bullshit about getting on the back of a stranger’s motorcycle.
"What about you?" I asked as he slung his leg over the bike and waited for me to climb on. "You don't have another helmet?"
He didn't reply, just kicked over the engine as I situated myself and placed my hands tentatively on his leather-clad waist.
"Hold on tighter than that, girl," he told me as he rolled slowly out of the parking lot.
I did as I was told, gripping his leather jacket just in time to avoid being thrown off as he gunned the accelerator.
I'd wanted to ask him more questions, but beyond telling him which hotel I was staying at—which I’d needed to yell—there wasn't really any opportunity to talk.
Some half hour later he rolled to a stop outside the midrange hotel I'd been staying at on Bree's credit, and I slid off the back.
"Thanks for the ride," I told him, unbuckling the helmet and handing it back.
He gave me a short nod, his face an unreadable scowl. "Zane will be in touch if he digs anything up."
"Thank you," I said again, genuinely meaning it.
Something shifted in Cass's face, and his expression hardened further—if that was even possible. A second later, I heard footsteps behind me and felt his damn presence.
"Archer," Cass greeted my new shadow. "Just dropping your lost property home."
"I'm not his fucking property," I seethed.
"Appreciate it, Cass," Archer replied like I hadn't spoken. Fucking prick. "Now get the fuck out of here."
A small—and I mean minute—smile touched Cass's lips. "Gladly. Keep track of your toys, Arch. That one looks all too fun to lose." He revved the Harley's engine, peeled away from the curb without another word, and left me standing there with Archer fucking D'Ath.
His huge hand clamped down on the back of my neck, and I stifled a small scream.
"You're in big trouble, Princess Danvers."
3
I put up a fight. There was no way I was just getting in his car like a good little girl, especially after being spoken about like a stray dog. But when it came down to it, my choice was the lesser of two evils: Go home to my sparkly pink bedroom at Danvers Estate or suffer Archer staying the night in my crappy hotel room. With one small double bed.
No, thanks.
"Where are the other two stooges?" I asked, slouching in the passenger seat of his Corvette. I was sulking, big time, but I was also a bit confused why only Archer had been lurking at my hotel.
"Home," he replied. Succinct.
I had no idea when I'd stopped thinking of Danvers Estate as my father's house and more as my home... but I had. And so