Free Damaged & Dangerous: The Sacred Hearts MC Book VI by A. J. Downey Page A

still,
his expression unreadable, and finally he straightened as if a decision had
been made.
    “You don’t gotta worry
about that,” he said, “It’s just you and me here for now. I think I can buy you
a couple of days more to recover, then I just need you to keep doing what
you’re doing for a little while longer.” He pursed his lips, and nodded with
finality before getting to his feet. He bent at the waist and before I knew
what he was going to do, he pressed his lips to the top of my head.
    “Just hang in there,
Rocket,” he murmured into my hair. I closed my eyes, his breath was warm against
my scalp as he spoke and it sent a rolling rush of pleasant tingling down the
back of my neck and shoulders. I swallowed hard and nodded, confused. It was
like something had flipped the prospect’s switch and I didn’t know if that was
a good or bad thing.
    I knew with absolute
certainty, though, there was more to Thirteen than met the eye. I’d been
watching men scheme and play each other against one another for a really long
time and Thirteen had that feel to him. He had another feel too, though.
Thirteen was dangerous. I could see it in the way he moved around the apartment
and in the way he took everything in. I just couldn’t decide if he was going to
be dangerous to me or not and so for now, I simply and wisely kept my mouth
shut.

Chapter 7
     
    Red-XIII…
    I didn’t know exactly what it was about Rocket,
but the girl flipped just about every switch into the ‘on’ position where my
protective instincts were concerned. The more I learned about her, the more I simply
just liked her . She was as smart as I thought she was from the
beginning, maybe even more so. She adapted pretty quickly and the thing that
got me about her was just how fucking selfless she was, even in the face of all
she’d been through.
    The girl, for all the fear she held inside,
was incredibly brave. After all was said and done, for her to fucking warn me
about not being overheard saying anything kind? Damn. She was incredible… and
speaking of adapting, I needed to do some of my own because my mission of
destruction had suddenly become a mission of mercy, too. I had to figure out a
way to not only take out the Suicide Kings, but I had to do it in such a way
that there would be minimal blowback on Rocket while I was at it. I wasn’t sure
how I was going to do that.
    Losing Axe and Corbin had lit a rather
substantial fire under The Suicide Kings’ asses and the more their members 
started dropping like flies, the more unglued the council was going to become;
and Pig-Pen had already proven that he wasn’t above using Dani as his whipping
boy – er – girl, as an outlet for his anger and frustrations. The problem was,
she was right. I couldn’t care, I couldn’t put myself in front of her and act
as a meat shield without drawing suspicion onto my self and exposing my
ulterior motives.
    I was sitting with Rocket as she ate another
bowl of soup when Pig finally decided to show up to check on his woman. The
front door to her place just opened and he walked in like he owned the place
which, seeing as he thought he owned her , shouldn’t have come as a
surprise. It shouldn’t have surprised me either that he had a fucking key, but
I’d been so absorbed in keeping her alive it’d slipped past me. So when I heard
the door open, I automatically went for my gun and had it pointed when Pig-Pen
appeared in the door.
    “The fuck you doin’?” he demanded.
    “Sorry, Man.” I pointed the Beretta skyward,
“Didn’t expect you; after Axe and Corbin can you blame me for being jumpy?” I
raised my eyebrows and put up my gun, tucking it into the back of my waistband.
His expression crushed down into a scowl.
    “I don’t check in with you, you check in with
me. Don’t you forget it, either.” He turned to Dani, who was still pale and wan
and looked like ever-loving shit.
    “You finish it yet?” he demanded. She nodded
her head rapidly