Primal Fury (Primal Howlers MC Book 5) Page 3

  A scary, but very sexy, biker.

  Pulling up to my apartment, I dropped my head to the steering wheel and took several deep breaths before heading inside and flopping onto my couch. I had four hours to kill and as much as I wanted a bottle, wine was not in the cards this evening.

  Jekyll

  “Come on, I’ll show you around,” I said to Leo, and he nodded.

  I had a client in twenty minutes, so my tour was a quick one, and I passed Leo off to Vanna to finish the training. Two hours later, I walked my client out the door, and headed back to the front desk. Leo was tryin’ hard to flirt with Vanna who was havin’ none of it.

  “Leo. My office,” I ordered.

  I didn’t wait to see if he followed, stepping inside with Leo close on my heels.

  “Close the door.”

  He did so, and I waved to one of the chairs. He planted his ass and I leaned against my desk.

  “Am I in trouble?” he asked.

  “Why would you think you’re in trouble?”

  He shrugged, staring at his feet.

  “Bud, first lesson about bein’ a man is you need to look people in the eye when you’re talkin’ to them.”

  He looked at me. “Are you gonna fire me?”

  I studied the kid and shook my head. “Why would you think I’d fire you, Leo?”

  He shrugged again.

  “You clean the bathrooms?”

  “Yeah. Vanna said they look good.”

  “You took out the trash?” I asked.

  “Yeah. And I swept the floor and wiped everything down with the disinfectant wipes.”

  I nodded. “So, then, why would I fire you?”

  “I don’t know,” he admitted. “Everyone fires me.”

  “Well, first, you’re not actually hired, so, no, I’m not gonna fire you,” I said. “Today.”

  Leo’s whole face relaxed and he sat up a little straighter.

  “But we gotta have a chat about how you treat Vanna,” I said. “And this will also apply to the other women workin’ here.”

  Leo dropped his head again.

  “Not gonna tell you again.”

  He immediately looked at me again.

  “You are fifteen. They are not. They are off-limits.”

  “But—”

  “No. You are underage. But more importantly, you need to stop creepin’ on Vanna. She’s got a man. Someone who could lay your ass out with a single punch, but even if she didn’t, she has the right to come to work and not have her space invaded.” I crossed my arms. “If you wanna work here after you make amends, then you’re gonna learn to show women the respect they’re due.”

  “You’ll let me work here after I make amends?” he asked, hopefully.

  “If you continue to do a good job. Keep your mouth shut and your ears open, and leave the women alone, I’ll consider it.”

  “Seriously?”

  “Yeah. Let’s go have a look at what you’ve done, and we’ll go from there.”

  He shot out of his chair and grinned. “Okay.”

  Leo had actually done a fuckin’ great job. Better than anyone we’d ever had working here before and when I told him that, he grinned.

  “Indy’s pretty specific on how she likes things,” he said. “We get bonus points when we do it right.”

  “What do you get with your points?” I asked.

  “Depends. Sometimes we get extra screen time, or we can have less chores or whatever. We earn points, then we can cash them in.”

  I was finding myself more and more impressed with Indigo Walsh. She was young, just turned twenty-eight, and she’d taken a broken-down youth center and created a place for at-risk kids to feel safe and thrive. Who wouldn’t be impressed with that?

  “That’s cool, bud,” I said.

  He nodded. “She’s the coolest.”

  “Jekyll,” Vanna called.

  “Yeah?”

  She peeked her head around the corner. “Leo’s ride’s here.”

  I gave her a chin lift, then Leo and I headed back up to the front.

  Indigo smiled and I felt it all the way in my dick. She only had eyes for Leo, however, rushing to him and squeezing his arm. “How’d it go?”

  He leaned away from her touch. “I’ll tell you in the car.”

  Indigo tensed and her eyes flew to me. “Everything okay?”

  I nodded. “He did good.”

  “It’s cool, Indy,” Leo said. “Can we go?”

  “Yeah. ’Course.” She turned to me again. “Do you have his phone?”

  “Oh, yeah.” I pulled open one of the drawers behind the desk and retrieved it, handing it to Leo. “I put my cell in there in case you need to reach me.”

  He nodded. “Cool.”

  Indigo took it from him, and Leo rolled his eyes as she dropped the phone into her purse.

  “Tomorrow good?” I asked, and Leo lit up like a fuckin’ pinball machine.

  Leo nodded. “Yeah.”

  “I can’t bring you tomorrow, bud,” Indigo said.

  “Grandpa Hugh can.”

  “He’s got a date,” Indigo shared, which got her a couple of raised eyebrows from Leo. “What? He’s not dead, Leo, he’s sixty-five. He’s allowed to date.”

  “Gross, but whatever,” he said. “I’ll take the bus.”

  “Do you have money for the bus?” she asked.

  His face dropped.

  “I can send a recruit to pick him up,” I offered.

  Indigo shook her head. “That’s very nice, but he’s not going anywhere with anyone I don’t know.”

  “Indy, you’re embarrassing me,” Leo hissed.

  She rolled her eyes. “How does Friday work?”

  “Yeah, Friday’s good,” I said.

  “Okay, great. He’ll be here after school.”

  “See you then,” I said, and lingered in order to watch her perfect little ass walk out the door.

  * * *

  Indigo

  “Did you have to tell Jekyll I didn’t have money for the bus?” Leo accused once we were on the road.

  “He needed an answer, Leo.”

  “I could have called him… or you could have since I’m grounded.”

  I sighed. He had a point. “You’re right, bud. I’m sorry. I just got a little flustered.”

  He shrugged. “It’s fine.”

  “How did it go?”

  “So cool,” he said, his eyes lighting up. “He totally said I did the best job he’d ever seen with the bathrooms.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Yep. And he said if I did a good job and stopped creepin’ on…”

  He didn’t finish and I glanced at him. “Leo, what did you do?”

  “Nothing. I swear. I was just talking to Vanna and Jekyll didn’t like it.”

  “Talking or flirting?” I asked.

  He studied his hands with a shrug.

  “Leo,” I warned.

  “Okay, fine. She’s hot! What else could I do?”

  I groaned. “Oh my god.”

  “No, it’s cool. Jekyll and I talked man-to-man and it’s all good now.”

  “Oh, yeah? What kind of man-to-man talk did Jekyll have with you?”

  He filled me in on the conversation and I forced myself not to groan out loud. I didn’t want to like this guy. He was a degenerate biker and scary as hell, but he also seemed to be giving Leo some good advice.

  Advice that the horny little punk was listening to.

  “Okay, well, that’s good advice,” I admitted begrudgingly.

  “He said if I keep doin’ a good job, he might hire me.”

  “Wow, bud, that’s great.” I parked the car and smiled. “Proud of you, Leo.”

  “Thanks, Indy.”

  We climbed out of the car, and he walked with a confident swagger into the dorms, while I checked in with the counselors, then made my way home.

  I loved my townhouse. It was small but it was all mine. About the only thing I dipped into my trust fund f
rom my mother to purchase, in fact. Three bedrooms, two bathrooms, just over a thousand square feet, a big kitchen because I loved to cook, a small great room and office, but the selling point was the giant bay window with a view of the mountains. It was perfect.

  I should probably dip into Mama’s money again to fix my car, but I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. I don’t know why, but I felt like I should make it on my own.

  My father offered to help (often), but I was his daughter, and we shared a stubbornness that couldn’t be compared. In my defense, Dad was in sales, and well past retirement age but still working, so I didn’t want to dip into his social security just to have a few nice things.

  Shaking off my melancholic thoughts, I did my nighttime routine, sliding into bed but unable to find sleep. I could not get a handle on this man and his motivations behind helping Leo. Because it was obvious to me that he was trying to help.

  I just needed to find out why.

  Obviously, it wouldn’t be tonight, so I forced myself to shut my brain down and sleep.

  Indigo

  I awoke the next morning with a raging headache and a craving for something stronger than my overworked coffee maker could produce. I decided I’d splurge for a real coffee and headed to Flick’s Beanery.

  As I walked toward the door, I lost purchase on the handle, looking up to find Jekyll smiling at me. “I’d know the sound of that fanbelt anywhere.”

  I grimaced even as my heart raced. “It’s getting worse, huh?”

  “Yeah,” he agreed as I stepped into the shop.

  “Are you leaving?” I asked.

  “Nope, just got here. You got time to sit for a bit?”

  On your face?

  Goddammit, Indigo, get a grip.

  I forced a smile. “Um, sure.”

  He smiled and I shivered. It was like he knew my thoughts. I shook off my ridiculous fantasies and stood beside him in line.

  “You want a muffin?” he asked as we gave our coffee orders, and I shrugged.

  “Sure. Blueberry, please,” I said as I rummaged in my purse for my wallet.

  “I got this, GoGo,” he said, and I looked up at him.

  “Ah, no, that’s okay.”

  He leaned down so we were eye-to-eye. “How ’bout you go find us a table? I got this.”

  “You don’t scare me, Hyde.”

  “Not tryin’ to scare you Indigo. Just trying to buy you a fuckin’ muffin.” He raised an eyebrow. “You gonna let me do that?”

  I wrinkled my nose, turning on my heel, and stalking to a table as I mumbled under my breath, “Bossy alpha male biker thinks he’s all bossy and crap. Wants to buy me breakfast and be all sweet even though he’s a bossy biker.”

  “You done?”

  I jumped a little, spinning to find Jekyll right next to me. “How much of that did you hear?”

  He grinned, setting the food and drinks on the table. “That’s for my bossy ass to know.”

  “Right. Ah. Sorry.” I took my seat and pried off a piece of muffin. “Thank you for breakfast.”

  He chuckled, sitting across from me, and leaning his arms on the table. “How’s Leo feelin’ about the job?”

  “Outside of his hero worship of you?” I asked.

  “No shit?” He cocked his head. “Seriously?”

  “Yeah. Does that surprise you?”

  “Yeah.”

  “You’re a successful, grown-ass man who’s paying attention to him, of course he’s going to worship you,” I grumbled.

  “You don’t like that?”

  I sighed, setting my muffin back on the paper. “I don’t know how I feel about it. He’s a trouble magnet, and you’re part of a… gang—”

  “Club.”

  “Legal?”

  “Sure.”

  I frowned. “Well, either way, your club is notorious, and if he gets caught up in something outside of Potion or gets in the middle of something you’re doing with your club, then I’m scared to death he’s going to end up on the wrong end of a gun.”

  “You really think I’d let him get shot?”

  “I don’t know you,” I said. “I don’t know what you’d let him do. I can’t get a read on you yet.”

  “How so?”

  “Well, you seem like an honest, hardworking, and nice person, but you’re also part of a gan—club, that may or may not be entirely legal. I’m trying not to judge, but when you’ve been working with at-risk kids as long as I have, your radar’s up for any kind of bullshit.”

  “I get that,” he conceded. “How’d you get into it?”

  “Classic case of heading to college having no idea what I wanted to do, then I found myself on the wrong side of town because my GPS glitched out and ran into a group of kids who were ‘working’ a corner. Once I got past being both disgusted and scared shitless, I took a minute to talk to them.”

  “Jesus,” he hissed out. “Do you have any fuckin’ idea what coulda happened to you?”

  “I’m very aware, hence the scared shitless part of my experience. But I had nothing for them to steal—”

  “You coulda been killed… or worse.”

  “The oldest kid was fifteen, the youngest twelve. Sisters, who’d picked up a couple of boys about fourteen or so. It was broad daylight, and we were close to a little diner, so I took them out for food, and they helped me get back on the right road. The rest is history. After that experience, I changed my major to social work and discovered Walker House. I got those kids into the dorms. Unfortunately, the boys didn’t stay in the program, but the sisters did, finishing school, and we are still close. Emery even volunteers at our outreach events, sometimes dragging her sister, Toby, with her. They’re awesome kids. No, not kids. They’re adults now, but you know what I mean.”

  Jekyll sat back and studied me.

  “What?” I asked.

  “Nothin’,” he said. “Just don’t like you put yourself in danger. That’s all.”

  “Why would you care?” I asked, genuinely surprised by Hyde’s concern. “Besides,” I continued, “I wasn’t in real danger. I mean if it had been dark, I would get it, but it was all good.”

  His response was a quiet grunt, then he sipped the coffee and dropped the subject.

  “What about you? How’d you get into tattoos?” I asked.

  “I’ve always drawn. It was a natural progression.”

  I cocked my head. “That’s it?”

  “There’s not much to tell. The club helped me start the shop, I’ve been doin’ it for about ten years now. It’s good. So, yeah, that’s it.”

  “Okay, cool.” I sighed. I wanted more. I wanted him to bare his soul to me. Partly because I wanted to put my mind at ease by knowing Leo’s new mentor wasn’t a psychopath. I also wanted him to drop his guard and open himself up to me specifically. I don’t know why I wanted it so much, but I did.

  My phone buzzed, pulling me from my thoughts and I let out a quiet, “Shit.” Pushing back from the table, I stood. “Sorry, I have to go. I’m late for a meeting. Shit. Sorry. Really. Bellamy’s gonna kill me.”

  I didn’t wait for a response, rushing out the door to my car.

  * * *

  Jekyll

  I watched Indigo’s heart shaped ass run out to her car, admiring the view. I waited a few minutes, and when she didn’t come back, I grinned. She’d left her wallet on the chair beside me, which meant I had a reason to return it.

  I had an hour before my first client, so I finished my coffee, and headed to my bike. It took me less than fifteen minutes to get to Walker House, and I parked out front in a ‘fifteen minutes or less’ spot.

  Sliding my keys into my pocket as I walked through the front doors, I had to press a button for entry into the lobby, which was, in my fucking opinion, a little too easy to get through.

  A young woman, barely a girl, really, sat behind a counter and her eyes widened as I walked toward her. “Can I help you?” she asked.

  “I’m here to see Indigo,” I sa
id as I glanced at the nameplate on the desk. It read ‘HARLOW - RECEPTIONIST.’

  “She’s in a meeting.” Harlow asked. “Is she expecting you?”

  “No. It won’t take long. Just tell her Jekyll’s here.”

  She bit her lip, before picking up her phone and dialing. “Hey, Bellamy. Um… there’s a guy here for Indigo. He says his name’s Jekyll.” She glanced up at me, then at her desk. “Sure. Okay.” She hung up and smiled at me. “You can go on back. Bellamy will meet you.”

  She buzzed me through the door behind her and I walked into another room of sorts. Windowless, small, but big enough for a sofa and coffee table. I didn’t see a way out which suddenly made me feel incredibly claustrophobic until a portion of the wall appeared to split in front of me and a kid about sixteen or so walked through it.

  I didn’t think he was who I was expecting, but with the liberties folks were takin’ in namin’ their kids these days, anything was possible. “Bellamy?”

  He smirked. “Dude. Do I look like a girl?”

  Little shit.

  I crossed my arms and raised an eyebrow. “Don’t think you want me to answer that.”

  “Dude, you’re funny,” he said, but gave me an obviously forced laugh before cutting himself off and shrugging. “Bellamy’s busy. I’m JJ. I can show you to Indigo’s office. Follow me.”

  I nodded, stepping through the secret door and into a large, bright space, where a few cubicles were set up near the windows. JJ continued through the slight maze, stopping in front of a large door, and knocking.

  “Get off of me!” Indigo’s muffled voice growled through the door.

  I shoved JJ out of the way and pushed open the door to find some asshole pushing Indigo up against the wall. I didn’t hesitate, grabbing the back of his neck with one hand and his arm with my other. I pulled him off Indigo, tripping him over my boot so he fell flat on his ass. Once he was down on the ground, I settled a knee into his chest and wrapped my hand around his throat.

  “What the fuck are you doin’?” I growled, then glanced at Indigo who was rubbing her arms. “You okay?”

  She nodded, tears sliding down her face which intensified my rage, so I focused back on the asshole now gasping for breath.