Free Grasping For Freedom by Debra Kayn

the surface. She flinched at the sudden movement followed by the thunk .
    "I'll explain how it works." His mouth softened. "It's not your responsibility to protect Torque. He knows the rules, sweetheart."
    "But he shouldn't get in trouble for something I wanted to happen," she said, losing hope of convincing Rain of anything that pertained to Bantorus rules.
    "I don't care if you jumped him naked and manually inserted his dick inside you. A Bantorus never breaks the rules the club sets forth," he said.
    "Okay, I get that part, but isn't there anything I can do to make up for my part in what happened?" she asked. "Torque can't take all the blame."
    "Brandy..." Rain tightened his lips across his teeth. "Don't throw yourself down in the way of club business for Torque. He won't appreciate it."
    "But—"
    "Do you know his last name? Do you know anything about his past? Do you know if he's willing to commit himself to a relationship?" he asked softly.
    She leaned back against the chair, verbally beaten, and shook her head. It wasn't wrong to share a moment with someone. Her head pounded, because it was more than a moment to her. He'd given her a gift no one had before. "He's not an asshole."
    "I know that, sweetheart." Rain stood from his chair and walked around the desk.
    She got to her feet and raised her chin. "Don't mention that I came here and asked you to go easy on him."
    "Are you threatening me?" Rain's lips did their twitching thing again, and she realized he found amusement in the situation.
    "Will you fire me if I say yes?"
    He placed his hand on her shoulder. "No."
    She shrugged his hand off and walked ahead of him to the door. With her hand on the door handle, she said, "I'd appreciate it if this was kept between you and me. Torque was there for me when I needed him...and he has no clue how much he helped, and I'd like to pay him back by not causing any more trouble for him."
    "I'll keep this conversation private between us."
    "Thank you." She opened the door and almost walked into Torque with his arm up, ready to knock.
    Heat swarmed her neck. She gazed at him, taking in the way he studied her face, and the moment he realized why she'd come to Rain on her day off. His eyes warmed belying the hardness of his shoulders.
    That mixed messaged further confused her. She wanted him still. They hadn't had time to explore each other the way she would've liked, and she had no idea his full name. Rain's questions had her overthinking the situation, but he was right. There was a lot she didn't understand, but she wanted to.
    She knew Torque would never be happy spending more time with her. That was okay. She was here to do a job. Knowing him better was a bad idea anyway.
    "Excuse me," she murmured as she squeezed past him and walked toward the counter in the bar.
    She'd hang out, have a drink, and try to find out more for Radiant about the meeting. The best she could do is move on, and do her job.
    Taylor switched places with Bruce behind the counter, so Bruce could go to the meeting. Brandy sat on the nearest stool, closest to the hallway, to keep an eye on who came and went to the back room. Failure soured her stomach, and her head began to ache in earnest. She'd wanted to help Torque, yet she feared Radiant wanted information only Torque could provide.
    So, how was she going to make an excuse to stick by Torque if nobody would allow them to be together, and Torque wanted nothing to do with her?
    God, she didn't want to be the one who handed Torque over to Los Li. He'd hate her more if he found out Los Li sent her here to do a job. Though he'd shown her consideration, attention, and at the end, he'd soften his reasons for walking away from her, she could tell he wasn't a man to mess with.

Chapter Eight
    R ain motioned for Raul to shut the door to the room. Torque ignored everyone and took the second seat from his president's left beside Slade. He wanted to ask why Brandy was inside the office with Rain when he'd arrived, but