Page 24 of Break Away (Riot MC Next Generation #2)

Chapter fifteen

At My Mercy

Alexandra

I stood next to the front door staring at Beast, Tundra, and Rafferty. “I’d love to go to lunch with you all, but I have a study group at two o’clock.”

“You still need to study?” Tundra asked.

I sighed as guilt crept in. “I suppose at this point if I don’t know the material by now…”

“Be straight with us, Lex,” Rafferty said.

He always knew when I was trying not to be an inconvenience. The truth was that even if I spent the next two hours with the group, the material wasn’t likely to penetrate because I still couldn’t believe Ines was gone.

Beast grinned. “She’s always been a smartie. If she says she’s got this, I believe her.”

I gave Beast a head shake. “I need to get on campus by one-fifty. I don’t want to force you all to eat fast and—”

Beast shoved his sunglasses up on his head, his blue eyes full of confusion. “You aren’t forcing us to do anything, Allie-Alexandra.”

I blushed at him using the nickname he gave me when I was a kid. “Okay, where are we headed?”

“McAllister’s,” Tundra said.

We piled into Rafferty’s Titan, Beast and Tundra insisting that I sit up front.

“Are you good on rent for the next few months? Or are you going to start looking for another roommate?” Tundra asked.

I stared out the window, my mind flooding with memories of Ines and me after move-in day.

We’d been neighbors at our last complex and bonded before Simone moved.

Which was good because when our old complex raised the rent, we both needed a roommate and we’d found a new place.

The idea of going through that hassle again made my stomach twist.

In the side mirror, I made eye contact with Tundra who sat behind me. “I’m sure I could find a new roommate, but I’m thinking I might be better off moving. Get away from the memories and start fresh.”

Tundra reached up and gave my shoulder a squeeze. “I understood you being here when you could room with Simone, but - JU has a dental program.”

If I had a dollar for every time I’d heard that. Simone’s mom graduated from Jacksonville University, and she raved about how much she loved it.

I shot Tundra a small smile through the side mirror. “I know, but now I have a part-time gig with a cool pediatric dentist and I only have another two years to go.”

The air in the cab felt stifling.

“Seems the prospect doesn’t like that,” Beast said.

“Not exactly. I didn’t know JU had a program, that’s all,” Rafferty said.

Tundra chuckled. “Bet you’re more motivated than Jackie for her to apply there.”

Rafferty turned as though he were checking his blindspot. It struck me that he was probably hiding his disgruntled reaction to Tundra’s razzing.

“It’s not like the brothers will give him much free time. Or have you stopped running prospects ragged?”

Beast laughed. “You're right. He couldn’t be so lucky.”

Rafferty pulled into the parking lot for a large shopping center, and parked in front of McAllister’s.

By the time I was half way through with my food, Beast crumpled up his sandwich wrapper. When I glanced his way, his concerned expression made me brace.

“When your roomie was working for the auto parts place, did she ever talk about someone giving her a hard time?” Beast asked.

I thought back, then frowned. “No. She talked about them being misogynistic, but that goes with that territory.”

Tundra picked up a potato chip and pointed it at me. “Anybody ever corner her outside your gym? You two were workout buddies, right?”

I nodded. “We were, but she was far more committed to gym life than I was.”

“What do you mean?” Rafferty asked.

“She’d go twice a day some weeks. It depended on which classes were on offer. So, if someone confronted her in the parking lot or something when she went alone, she never told me.”

We lapsed into silence.

I caught Beast’s attention. “Are you going to tell me what’s going on? Should I be on the look-out for someone who was giving her a hard time?”

Beast sighed. “No. It happened when she first met Brantley.”

“It’s how they met, to hear him tell it,” Tundra said.

Rafferty looked at Tundra. “You don’t believe him?”

Tundra shrugged. “Like I told Alexandra, I don’t trust anyone when drugs enter the picture.”

“I don’t think Brantley was lying about that. Ines said she met him outside the gym one night. I never really asked more than that because it was a while before I met him.”

Beast sipped his drink and put it down. “It’s good you’re coming back home. You probably don’t have anything to worry about, but giving this shit a week to die down doesn’t hurt.”

Tundra glanced at his watch. “We gotta get you back if you’re gonna make it to your study group.”

The following afternoon, I opened the door to my apartment, and saw Rafferty in the kitchen.

“Did your finals go well?” Rafferty asked.

“They’re done. At this point that’s all I care about. I’m starving,” I said, while setting my backpack on the couch.

He grinned. “I thought you might be hungry when you got back, so I took the rest of the mochi out a few minutes ago.”

I hurried into the kitchen. “You’re the best!”

Rafferty held the plate out to me. I grabbed a mochi piece, popped it in my mouth, and gave a small moan.

Rafferty stared at me like I was cute. “You aren’t going to like this idea.”

I swallowed the ice cream. “If you know I’m not going to like this, why not come up with a different idea?”

“I think we should leave your car here.”

I blinked. “That would leave me without a car in Jacksonville.”

“Yeah… but you stay with me - I’ll take you anywhere you want to go.”

My eyebrow arched with the sardonic twist of my lips. “The brothers are going to put you back to work.”

“Maybe, but you never know.”

“Who are you trying to convince, me or yourself?”

He put the plate down and crossed his arms. “Seriously, Lex. There’s no point in both of us driving back.”

This was true, but I hated being so dependent on him to get around. “Fine. But it’ll be harder to look into JU without wheels.”

A ‘don’t-give-me-any-bullshit’ grin spread on his face. “You can do that online. And really, someone will take you if you’re serious.”

“Okay, when are we leaving?” I asked.

“My bike’s already loaded into the bed of my truck. How soon can you be ready?”

My brows drew together. “You want to go tonight?”

His eyes turned molten. “I want you in my bed at my house at my mercy. The sooner, the better, baby.”

I felt myself get wet. “I thought you had an apartment.”

His lips quirked. “I said I was renting. Didn’t say what type of place.” He dipped his chin. “You wanna stand here and talk real estate, or you want to get your shit together?”

Two and a half hours later, Rafferty pulled his truck into a narrow, gleaming gray driveway. From the outside, the house seemed small, but it also looked brand-spanking new.

The house was located on the edge of Avondale, a few blocks off Highway 17, where the homes could be affordable, but this house looked pricey.

“How much is your rent, Raff?”

He pulled the keys from the ignition. “Half of what it should be.”

My eyes widened and I turned my head toward him. “Half? How on earth—”

He chuckled. “Dad bought it, and it was in shambles according to him. I put in the roof with the help of a few buddies I used to work with in roofing. It took five days when it should have taken two. Roofing has to be one of the hardest fuckin’ jobs I’ve ever had, but I saved Dad over ten grand doing it. ”

“Really?” I asked, impressed and proud of him.

He nodded. “Did most of the re-wiring. Helped re-plumb both bathrooms. The kitchen isn’t done yet. Needs a new sink, new cabinets came in just before I went to Memphis, the appliances are dated, but they work.”

I shot him a small closed-lip smile. “And your dad gave you half rent because of that?”

He shrugged a shoulder. “Got half rent because all the work I did saved Dad a minimum of thirty grand and since I did most of it, he knows I’m gonna take great fucking care of the place.”

We hopped out of the truck and Rafferty grabbed my bags. “What about your stuff?”

He fiddled with the key ring until he had a single key between his fingers. “My clothes and shit are in the saddlebags. I’ll grab them when I unload the bike. Let me give you a tour.”

The inside of the house was even more impressive than the outside.

The hardwood floors were honey-colored and gleamed like they’d been waxed. The walls were freshly painted in a soft beige, and he had a wooden sunburst hanging over the couch. I knew it came from Relax, Aunt Lisa’s furniture store, because I’d had my eye on it for over a year.

“I can see you have great taste.” I tipped my head toward the wall. “If I’d had somewhere to put it, I was going to buy that piece.”

A knowing gleam hit his eyes as he gave me a wide grin.

“What’s that grin for?”

“Jazz told me that you wanted it.”

My reactions warred within me. “Um… that seems creepy.”

He shook his head. “No. I did it out of spite at the time. Luckily, it seems it worked out.”

My head tilted. “Do you think we would have worked this out?”

He stalked closer to me. “I don’t know. I know it’s not worth thinkin’ about that shit. It wastes energy.”

I wandered into the kitchen and stopped short. “You think this room still needs work?”

A lopsided smile flitted across his face. “Not gonna do a job half-assed.”

“But—”

“You should see the bathrooms first.”

I followed him through the rest of the house. The guest bath had a large walk-in shower with dark metal fixtures and marble hexagon mosaic tiles on the walls and floors. The toilet looked different to me.

Rafferty leaned toward me. “It’s a bidet.”

“Okay.”

He chuckled. “Don’t knock it until you try it.”

Everything from the floors to the bidet to the fixtures shone like a showroom, and it even smelled new.

He guided me to the nearby guest room, which served as a catch-all for tools and kitchen cabinets still in their boxes.

“No pressure, but you transfer to JU, this’ll be your office to study or whatever.”