Page 143 of Darling Psycho

Rider dealt with the business end of the problem by talking to Ruiz directly.

Lawless would get his hands dirty by finding the walking dead who shot up his truck.

And for once, he was very much looking forward to doing the dirty work.

THIRTY-TWO

“Only the monster under her bed could calm her now.” - Angela

Angela was crawling out of her skin.

And she could no longer pretend she was coping with being locked in.

It was crazy because she wasn’t locked in a closet or a dank basement. She had the entire club, which was huge in square footage, but she felt her airways closing as she paced around and around in one of the spare bedrooms.

The damn pant legs kept unrolling, so she huffed, bent at the waist, and fixed them again before she resumed the pacing.

It was nothing like last time when men threw Angela into a foul-smelling room, but her mind was still in fight or flee mode at the thought of not being able to leave when she wanted to.

For hours, she’d pretended she was okay.

Helping with all the kids.

She talked to Krusher about his burgeoning romance with Marianna’s mom and the new condo he’d moved into near Hawk’s place. But, of course, there was no amount of gossip the older man didn’t know, so she learned about Red Light’s son being born and his theories on Pretty-Boy being the next biker to tie the knot.

But even a friendly conversation couldn’t soothe Angela’s fears.

She hadn’t heard a thing from Lawless. Not that she expected to. He wasn’t big on checking in. Even knowing he knew how to take care of himself didn’t stop her from worrying.

She worried.

And paced.

And felt the walls closing in on her.

She wanted Lawless, needed him. He’d always been her haven. There was no instance that she hadn’t been able to rely on Lawless’ protection. Even weirdly when he was in prison. He’d taken care of her from afar in the only way he knew how.

She didn’t care he was a crazy stalker with a lack of boundaries or if he hurt a thousand people a day. She loved him to distraction and needed him here in front of her so she could see he was okay and not cut up in a ditch somewhere.

Unable to even go outside for fresh air, she’d been stopped by Tag when she attempted it.

Pacing until her knees hurt, another two hours disappeared.

She loved those people out there, but she’d never felt so isolated. Trying to calm her manic brain, she focused on what she knew. Everyone here was safe, and Lawless knew how to take care of himself. The MC members were well used to dealing with trouble at a moment’s notice.

Another hour and she felt like she was internally climbing the walls, needing air.

“Where you going,mamacita?” She heard as she went for her escape through the back door. Sighing, Angela turned to see Judge walking toward her.

“To get some fresh air before I pass out, and you will not stop me.” She warned in a haughty tone.

He kept coming until he stood in front of her and the door.

“Get out of my way, Judge. I’ll kick you in the balls, I mean it.”

“Not happening. You wanna talk about your great escape?”

“I want fresh air not to talk, move.” Trying to edge around his frame, she found her arms caught by his tight grasp. Then, in a spew of vicious Spanish, she told her friend what she would do to him if he didn’t let go of her.