Page 76 of Paco
Paco shrugged. “I think it was Mandy.”
“She was all over you. Fuck, those VP patches are chick magnets.” Army laughed.
Paco chuckled. “I’ve noticed. Maybe you should put a temporary one on your cut when you go to rallies.”
Army patted him on the back. “Don’t think I haven’t thought of it.” Chains and Paco guffawed.
“I’ll help you check out the motels. Let’s see if we can find this asshole and beat his ass,” Chains said, rising to his feet.
“More like kill his ass,” Paco replied.
The three men went out into the chilly air, laughing and talking as they ambled to Paco’s SUV.
***
“So Bobby’s notin Alina anymore?” Chelsea asked. She sat facing him on the bed with shoulders hunched and legs crossed.
Paco leaned against the headboard, his legs stretched out. “Army found the motel he was staying in. The manager said he took off a couple of days ago. Probably thought I took you away right after you saw him at Flanigan’s since neither of us has been around town.”
Her face slackened and her pallor intensified. “Do you think he’s in Findlay? I have to call my mom and warn her. And my sister.” She clutched the base of her throat. “If something happens to Kate, I’ll never forgive myself. I’ve got to call them.” She reached for her phone and punched in the numbers.
While she spoke to her mom, he watched her, a feeling of loss punching his gut. He didn’t want to dwell on her leaving, even though he knew it was for the best; she had to get her life back together, and he had a club to focus on. Whatever thing they had going on between them would go away once they were apart.
“My mom’s super excited that I’m coming home, and my sister has a bunch of plans for us. I can’t wait to see them.” The color returned to her face and her eyes sparkled. “I feel better now that I described the asshole to my mom. She promised to call the police right away.”
She’s gonna be fine. What we had was a pause in our lives. I love seeing her happy.A slight thump on his leg broke in on his thoughts.
“You’re a million miles away. Did you hear anything I just said?”
“Yeah. Your family’s excited you’re coming home and so are you. I’m happy for you. And don’t worry about the fucker, the club’s got you covered.”
“What does that mean?”
“We got your back.” A soft knock on the door stopped the next question he knew was coming. “Come in.”
Lucy walked in, her eyes darting from Paco to Chelsea and back to him. “Hey.” She stood by the door, shifting from one foot to the other.
“What do you want?” Paco asked.
“I know you’re leaving tomorrow, so I came for my sweater.”
“Fuck. I forgot about it, Lucy,” he said.
Chelsea scrambled off the bed and hurried to the closet. “I’m so sorry. I’ve been meaning to give it back to you.” She pulled out a hanger with the lavender sweater on it and handed it to the club girl. “Here you go. Thanks for letting me borrow it.”
Lucy snatched it from her. “No worries.” She ran her eyes over the bed, then locked gazes with Paco. “So you’re going home for good?”
“Yeah.” Chelsea closed the closet door.
Lucy smiled and the fine lines under her eyes crinkled. “That’s cool. Have a good trip. See you later, Paco.” She ran her tongue over her top lip and winked at him.
When the door shut, Chelsea came back to the bed and resumed her sitting position. “She’s glad I’m going. Now you can go back to your old life.” She pulled at a loose thread on the blanket.
“Lucy’s got plenty of brothers to keep her happy.” He waved his hand, pushing the idea way. “I bet you’ve got a few friends who can’t wait to see you.”
“I’m scared to see any of them,” she said softly. “I know they’re going to judge me, wonder why I didn’t just run away. They won’t say it to my face but they—my family included—will think I liked it and wanted to stay. They won’t get that my whole identity was robbed, and unless they’ve been in that position, they can’t understand. People’s whole idea of prostitution is that the woman wants to be there. They think sex trafficking is about illegal immigrants smuggled into this country and forced to work in massage parlors to pay off a debt, or that it only happens in faraway countries.” She shook her head. “They don’t think it involves the teen next door or the college girl down the street. Before it happened to me… I didn’t either.”
She locked gazes with him, her black eyes drilling into his.Those eyes.He’d never seen such darkness with so much light in them. They were the sweet silence before dawn and they pulled him in. But it wasn’t just her eyes, it was every part of her, and he was falling… falling fast… falling in love with her. He brushed his hand over her knee. “As I told you before, it’s gonna be tough.”
