Page 73 of Equilibrium
“Don’t babe me.” I gripped the knives. “Are they or are they not? It’s a very simple question.”
He sat down, taking one of the daggers with a red handle in his hand, and flicked his thumb over its tip. “They’re there because they want to be there. We might be a lot of things, Ophelia, but we would never participate in human trafficking.”
The cynical part of me was pulling me toward the distrustful side, but I knew he was telling the truth. After everything I told him, I knew he wouldn’t lie to me about something like that. And the somber expression he wore was enough to make me believe in what he was saying.
“Okay,” I finally spoke.
“Okay?”
“Yeah.” I grinned. “Okay. I trust you and I’m trying to be a bit better about this whole communication thing, so I’m gonna try to stop assuming only the worst things when maybe not everything is so bad.”
He seemed to think about it for a moment, nodding at my words, but his eyes were plastered on the suitcase. I was about to ask him if everything was okay when that little switch turned on again, and his whole demeanor changed from somber to an excited one.
“Get dressed.” He all but jumped from the bed and started walking toward the bathroom, still holding that dagger. “I’m just gonna take a shower.”
I wasn’t sure if confusion was the right word for how I felt right now, but as he disappeared behind the closed doors, I didn’t want to ponder over the fact that he didn’t want to talk to me when there were obviously things that haunted him, just like there were things that haunted me.
There was no use in overthinking this when there were more important things to do, but I was going to make him tell me everything. Just, small steps. Baby steps, whatever the fuck. If I could talk, so could he.
But right now, I needed to find some blood-proof clothes, and I just hoped that ZoZo managed to snag more of those black t-shirts. I didn’t have a chance to look over everything she brought, but I wouldn’t be surprised if she sneaked in a couple of pink tops just to fuck with me.
I glanced toward the bathroom door again before I walked to the wardrobe where he dropped my bags and hoped that whatever ate at him was going to disappear by the time he came outs. I was too tired for drama tonight.
* * *
My hopes for a less broody Storm flew out the window, and he kept ignoring me and everybody else as we drove toward the strip club. Atlas kept throwing cautionary glances Storm’s way and I knew I wasn’t the only one thrown off by his demeanor. One minute, he was okay, the next, he went completely quiet and brooding. I still rode with him, but it felt as if we were thousands of miles away from each other.
He was angry about the whole Sam situation, but this behavior came afterward, after I opened that suitcase and asked him about the strip club. I wasn’t going to ponder over the words used or the questions asked, but something was bothering him. His body was stiff beneath my hands and that playful banter we usually had was nowhere to be seen.
He reminded me of me. He reminded me of all the times I refused to even think about the things that were bothering me, when I would shut off everyone that tried to talk to me. I would retreat and try not to think about the shit running through my head, but it was always useless, because what we feared usually lived inside of us, and no matter what, we could rarely ignore it.
What we feared the most were almost always memories of people, of places, of moments lost or the ones ruined. I didn’t know enough about him to try to assume what was going on, but I wasn’t gonna sit on the side and wait for him to come out of his shell and talk to me.
I squeezed him tighter as we flew through the streets, going toward the busier part of town. Thankfully, I’d zipped the jacket I wore, otherwise the cold December wind would be enough to knock me off the bike and make me go back to the house where it was warm. I really, really fucking hated the cold.
I despised it, and though it wasn’t as cold as it used to get in Croyford Bay or in Ventus City, it was still enough to freeze my nipples. I was about to pull back, to try and lift the collar of the jacket higher, when one of his hands landed on top of mine. He entwined his fingers with mine, squeezing them, holding us together against his stomach. I wished I didn’t have the helmet on right now so that I could kiss the back of his neck.
Before we departed from the clubhouse, Atlas told me the name of the club and what to expect when we got there. They owned several establishments that dealt in the same kind of, well, entertainment. Some of them were in Santa Monica, the other ones were scattered across the West Coast, handled by the other chapters of Sons of Hades.
The one we were going to right now was called The Renegades, and it definitely wasn’t the kind of a place where respectable businessmen spent their time. Though, my father and Logan Nightingale were supposedly respectable businessmen and look what they did for a living.
The Renegades was located close to the Santa Monica airport, and while it didn’t take us long to get to our destination, I was ready to just be done with this night. I hated the energy around us and not knowing what was wrong. Fuck it, I loved knowing things about people I cared about, and Storm was definitely one of them.
Neon red lights on top of the building were the first things I saw as we pulled into the parking area, already occupied by several cars as well as motorcycles. The name of the club flashed on and off under the dark sky, and as we slowed down, stopped and turned off the engines, the same energy that buzzed through me earlier started coursing again, elevating my heartbeat, and I automatically reached for the knives nestled underneath my jacket.
I was the first one to get off the bike, followed by Storm who immediately stood behind me, placing his hands on my waist while we waited for the rest of the bikers to join us. Atlas and Creed walked toward us, accompanied by Indigo who as per usual, wore that scowl on his face. I wondered if he ever really smiled.
I wasn’t the most cheerful person, but I smiled... Sometimes. Okay, rarely, but I did it from time to time. He seemed like he had a stick permanently shoved up his ass.
Or maybe he needed to have a stick shoved up his ass.
I snorted as the thought entered my mind, my eyes immediately wandering toward Atlas. I really needed to ask him what the deal was with the two of them. Three other guys approached as well, standing close to us, but not as close as Atlas, Creed, and Indigo. I had no idea what their names were, and if I was being completely honest, I didn’t really care to find out. I tried remembering as many names as I could, but I usually sucked with those, and there were too many club members for me to remember them all.
Storm had already briefed them about the situation and why we were here, and I just hoped we wouldn’t spend too much time going over the logistics or whatever the fuck they wanted to talk about. Everybody waited for Storm to speak first, but the brooding behemoth kept quiet with his eyes solely focused on the entrance of the club. I followed the line of his sight seeing the two blond girls perched on the rails at the stairs leading toward the entrance, surrounded by the smoke from the cigarettes they were smoking.
Both of them wore leather jackets, both of them looked fucking stunning. Kind of badass if I might say.
Like well-trained soldiers, our little entourage started walking at the same time as Storm did, all of us heading toward the entrance. His hands remained on my waist, even as we walked side by side. I didn’t want to make a scene right now, but we were going to talk about this shit. I know, I’ve been doing the same hot-and-cold shit for days now, but I thought we were over that part. So, he was either going to talk, or he was going to get his balls busted. The choice was solely up to him.
