Lucky: The Irish MC (27 page)

“Where are we going?” I asked shakily. Chase sped out of the parking lot and tore onto the freeway, accelerating and passing most of the cars. Looking out of the side windows made me dizzy, and Chase reached back and shoved my head back down.

“Don’t ask questions,” he growled. “And keep your fucking head down!”

I curled up in the fetal position and wrapped my skinny arms around my skinny legs. Chase flew over a speedbump and I fell out of the seat and landed on the floorboards of the car. Whimpering, I rubbed my temple and felt the beginning of a goose egg that was forming. Tears came to my eyes and I wanted to cry. What the fuck was going on, and why was Chase tormenting me like this?

The ride seemed to take an eternity, but eventually Chase slowed the car down and turned off the ignition. “Wait!” he commanded, opening his door for a few seconds. I screwed my eyes closed and kept my head buried in my hands. Finally, Chase opened the door of the backseat and picked me up with one hand. He carried me like I was a rag doll. I was terrified to open my eyes and see myself in a deserted park, or worse, in a deserted park with a bunch of guys who looked exactly like Chase. I wondered what Anne would think of me just running out of my job. Miserably, I thought that I’d probably be fired by the time I could explain what had happened.

I opened my eyes and was startled to see that we’d pulled into my apartment complex. “What’s going on?”

Chase eyed me and set me down gently on the ground. I had to crane my neck to look up into his face. “Keep moving,” he ordered. We walked up the stairs together, and with a shaking hand, I pushed the key into the my lock for the second day in a row with Chase behind me.

“What’s going on?” I demanded again once we were inside. “What the fuck is happening, Chase?”

He sat down on my couch and reclined back, putting his hands behind his head. He was so big that he practically took up all of the sitting room, but I perched my butt on the end. Chase smirked at me, but he didn’t move, and I felt anger boil under my skin.

“You can’t just fucking kidnap me, Chase! This isn’t a game! I could lose my job!”

“Relax,” Chase said in a commanding voice. I swallowed. My mouth was uncomfortably dry, and I looked down at the floor. “I’m not going to hurt you,” he said after a beat. “I had to get you somewhere safe.”

“I was safe at work, Chase!” I said with annoyance. “And what’s happening? What is going on to make you think that I suddenly need all of this help? I don’t fucking know what to do with you, Chase.”

“I don’t know what to do with you, either,” he spat. “I don’t want to be here. But you’re in danger, Lacey. If you don’t listen to me…” He trailed off and shuddered. For the first time, a real tremor of fear went through me. If Big Bad Chase was scared, I couldn’t imagine just how bad something could actually be.

“Chase, you can’t just go around ripping me off the streets,” I told him in a low voice. “If I lose my job, I’d have to move somewhere even worse than here.”

He gave me an odd look. “You won’t be alone any time soon,” he told me. A chill ran down my spine.

“What are you talking about?” I frowned. “Chase, what’s going on?”

“I can’t tell you,” he said gruffly. “But you need protection. I’m not letting you out of my sight until this whole thing blows over.”

“Chase,” I said, taking a deep breath. Sometimes, when a kid at Dawning Center freaked out, it helped if I could count to ten before dealing with them. On the better kids, it helped a lot. But with the kids who would have paint all over the wall before you could even get to them…well, let’s just say I was feeling like Chase was one of
those
kids. “You can’t just show up here and tell me that you’re going to keep an eye on me, okay? That’s really fucking weird.”

He shook his head. “This isn’t a game, Lacey,” he grunted in my direction. I watched as his jaw clenched and one of the muscles tensed in his neck. “If you don’t listen to me, you’re dead. And I can’t bear the idea of having another death on my watch.”

Even though I would have bet money that he was just bluffing, his words sent a shock of fear through my body. “That’s ridiculous,” I said flatly. “I don’t believe you.”

“Don’t be an idiot,” he grumbled. “Do you think I
want
to stay here like this?”

I shook my head. “I don’t know,” I said in exasperation. “You could want to rob me and rape me or something. Or kill me and use my apartment as a base of operations for…whatever it is that you do.”

Chase threw his head back and gave a full-throated laugh. The booming sound shook the paper thin walls of my apartment and I cringed. This guy was crazier than I thought. He stretched and I admired the sleeves of tattoos that trailed up and down his arms. “Don’t be ridiculous,” he said. “Lacey, how long have you lived in Detroit?”

“My whole life,” I admitted. “And I know it’s bad, but I can’t imagine things getting worse than they already are.”

“They will if you don’t listen to me,” he growled. “And I have to protect you, okay? Can you try to get that through your little skull?”

I shook my head. “Okay, can’t I, like, check in with you once a day or something? Surely you aren’t thinking of staying here.” I looked around in dismay. My tiny, one-bedroom apartment already felt cramped and I didn’t take up very much space. Chase dominated the living room with his hulking form.

“That’s not possible,” he informed me. “And you have to stay here. I can’t bring you anywhere else, do you understand?”

I gaped at him. “Chase, are you crazy? I have two finals next week! If I can’t go to class and take them, I’ll fail the semester.”

He set his mouth in a thin line. “I didn’t go to college and I turned out fine,” he said sarcastically. Against my will, I burst out laughing. Chase almost looked wounded when I clapped a hand over my mouth.

“I’m sorry,” I said gently. “But this is really important, Chase. That’s, like, thousands of dollars lost if I can’t take the finals. I really need to go to class, okay?”

“I’ll escort you,” he said gruffly. “We’ll deal with that when the time comes.”

I opened my mouth to protest but nothing came out. I took another deep breath and tried my Dawning Center trick again, but even counting to ten couldn’t calm me down.

“Can you at least tell me what’s going on?”

Chase shook his head. “No can do, lady,” he said. “Sorry. Them’s the rules.”

I sniffed. He didn’t
look
sorry. “Fine,” I said through gritted teeth. “So you’re just going to camp out in my house without telling me why? And I expect you think that I’ll be feeding you, too.”

Chase looked offended. “I’m not into kale, or whatever shit you probably eat,” he shot at me. “I’ll get my own grub.”

I shook my head. “Please. I’ll cook for you, at least some of the time.”

He frowned. “Remember what I said about the kale,” he told me. “I don’t fucking like that.”

I grinned. Despite his hulking size and intimidating tone, he could sometimes sound like a little kid. I giggled thinking about fussy Chase, and the face that he’d make if I served him kale anyway. With a shudder, I realized that it would probably wind up painting the walls.

“No kale,” I promised. “But can’t you please tell me anything relating to what this is about?” I moved closer to him on the couch and tried to take one of his massive hands in both of mine. Sparks shot between our skin and he yanked back quickly, as if I’d burned him.

“I really can’t,” he said. “Sorry. Is it going to be that much of a problem for you?”

“Well, come on,” I said, shrugging. “Wouldn’t it bother you to have a new roommate who you knew nothing about?” Chase opened his mouth but I saw him hesitate. “Come on,” I said. “Tell me.”

“I’ve been there,” he said darkly. He looked up at me and I was, as always, caught off-guard by his beautiful green eyes. They were so dark that they almost looked like pieces of jade. I frowned as I tried to contemplate what he meant. College students were mostly paired up in doubles, except he said that he hadn’t gone to college. That only left…

“Prison?” I looked at him and narrowed my eyes. He nodded.

“Possession.”

“Oh,” I said, nodding. “Yeah, I knew some people who did time for that,” I lied. “I’m sure it was hard.” I didn’t know anyone who had actually been to jail before. I always worried about Jackie getting picked up on gigs, but she’d been safe most of the time.

“Real life is harder,” Chase replied. “I have to deal with uppity bitches like you who put themselves in danger without even realizing it.”

I stood up, offended. “Look,” I said. “I work at The Pink Diamond, okay? You saw me singing that night. You know I have to go there, it’s not like I was just waltzing around trying to run into a drug deal.”

“That’s not what you saw,” Chase said darkly. “An information deal, maybe. But not drugs. I don’t fuck with those anymore.”

I nodded. Even though I didn’t quite believe him, I didn’t want to push the subject. “Okay,” I said finally. “I get it. You’re here to stay.”

Chase nodded. “First fuckin’ sensible thing you’ve said all day,” he quipped. I laughed humorlessly. My life had been verging on the surreal for a long time, but meeting Chase took the cake.

“How long do you think this will take?” I asked after a beat. “I mean, is this going to last for months, or what?”

Chase shook his head. “I don’t fuckin’ know,” he replied. He sounded tired and exasperated, and for the first time, I was starting to feel guilty for giving him such a hard time. “It’s happening now, and that’s all I can say,” he finished. “Unless you got a better idea.”

I stood up and brushed my hands off on my jeans. “I’m going to make dinner,” I announced. When I turned around, I felt Chase’s eyes on my body and the feeling was electric. I knew he was staring at my ass. Normally, I hated it when guys checked me out—they were always so creepy. But Chase had such a powerful presence that I knew I couldn’t make him stop even if I wanted him to. It was really sexy, but I couldn’t deny that I was also frightened of him.

“No kale,” Chase repeated. He stretched out and lay down on the couch. “I’m going to take a nap. Wake me up when it’s ready.”

“Aren’t you even going to tell me what you want?” I stared with my hands on my hips as he rolled over on the couch and buried his giant face in one of the pillows. Compared to his size, everything looked like doll furniture.

“Chase?” I asked again, my voice echoing in the apartment. There was no answer, and as I turned back around towards the kitchen, I heard gentle snores start behind me.

“Great,” I said aloud. “What a great new roommate.”

Chapter Six

Chase’s loud snores filled the whole apartment as I puttered around in the kitchen, making dinner. I didn’t really have anything good on hand, but there were some frozen chicken breasts in the freezer so I thawed them, sliced them up, and pan-seared them with olive oil and a can of crushed tomatoes that I’d had on hand. Despite my meager attempts at cooking, the apartment smelled amazing by the time I was through and my stomach was rumbling. I made some five-minute rice and plated the chicken on top.

“No vegetable?” Chase sat up on the couch and rubbed his eyes with both fists. “Don’t tell me you didn’t make that meal nutritious.”

His voice was the same gruff baritone as always, but it was
almost
like he was making a joke. I cracked a smile as I set the plates down on the table. Chase sniffed the air, then got up and stretched. He was so tall that his knuckles grazed the ceiling when his arms were lifted over his arm. One of his biceps was bigger than my head.