Under Locke

“Open up, Ritz,” Dex barked from the other side of the door.

“’Kay,” I mumbled, unlocked the bolt and took a step back to let them inside.

Dex’s eyes were on me as he strode in, his walk full of that same swagger that made me think he either practiced it or he just got really lucky. That gift kind of seemed unfair but whatever, this wasn’t the time to think that.

“You okay?” Trip asked me, following in after Dex, who also watching me closely but without a crease between his brows.

I should have been tough and said that I was, but realistically, I wasn’t. “Kind of.”

The new guy walked in with a nod and a, “Sup,” which I answered with a weak “Hi.”

“Where’s his stuff at?” Dex asked me as he made his way into the living room like a mother goose leading its babies to water.

“On the coffee table.”

He nodded to himself, bending over the table with his faded but fitting jeans winking at me. “Trip, go check his room. See if anything’s missing. Buck, check out the garage,” he ordered them as he flipped through the slots in So

The two guys didn’t say anything in response but split up, going in opposite directions in the house to do as he’d asked. I just hovered in the corner at a loss as to what I could do without getting in the way of whatever their plan was.

“Can I do anything?” I asked hesitantly.

Dex’s eyes drifted up to mine, slowly. He was still pissed, I could tell, but he was trying to rein it in. “No, babe. We got this.”

“You sure? I don’t have very much money, but if that’s what they want, I’ll give you what I have to get him back,” I told him, feeling my chest constrict. This shit was straight out of an action movie, only this time I couldn’t be certain it would have a happy ending because life wasn’t always like that, unfortunately.

Dex looked at me for the longest before shaking his head and lowering his voice. “No, no. Don’t worry about that. It's not your money they want.”

I almost asked what the hell else they would want. I almost also asked who "they" were. But my survival instincts said this wasn’t the right time to ask so I bit back the questions and nodded at him.

“Babe, this place is about to get packed. Got any errands or something you can run before you go to the shop?” he asked me in that same soft tone he’d just used.

I didn’t but obviously he didn’t want me to be at the house when the other guys from the WMC showed up. But if it helped So

“Yeah, I can go do a few things.” I just didn’t know what.

His head tilted down so that he could look at me through his long, dark eyelashes. “All right. Already talked to Blake and he’s openin' with you instead of me but put my phone number in your cell so you can get in touch with me if you need to.” He pi

I wanted to believe him, but those were pretty much the same words So

~ * ~ *

“Babe.”

Make it stop.

“Babe.”

Oh God. Please. Stop.

I’d barely fallen asleep following an hour long staring contest versus the ceiling. The tension in my body after my shitty day had finally seeped out of my bones enough to let me relax. I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about So

I buried my face deeper into the pillow.

All day, I’d been worried sick. After Dex had pleasantly kicked me out of the house, I’d gone to the mall. I watched a matinee by myself at the theater to kill time until work while also distracting me just a little from the uneasy goldfish swimming around in my stomach. I couldn’t remember anything clearly, not the movie or the things I’d seen in the stores, or even the customer’s faces I’d helped throughout the day at Pins.

Blake and Blue must have known something was up because they’d been even nicer to me than usual. They gave me space by not asking a million questions I couldn’t answer but came by to sit with me silently each opportunity they had. I'd tried calling Dex a few times but he'd only answered the first time, sounding a

Fucking So

The more I thought about what happened, the more pissed off I got. He’d known they were out there. The men hadn’t broken into the house and taken him. So

So I stewed all day. Thinking about friggin’ So

So

As soon as we closed down the shop that night, Blue had asked me if I needed anything—which was extra sweet because she rarely spoke to anyone, much less me—and then we’d all gone our separate ways. The thought of not going to So

And now, I was quickly losing that sweet reprieve from reality.

“Honey, wake up,” someone whispered in the dark.

Someone?

Shit!

I knifed up in bed, my heart jack-hammering against its house of bones. I blinked away sleep, expecting to see one of the bikers, or I don’t know, a serial killer sitting on the bed next to me with his hands on my arm, thumbs making lazy circles on my skin.

“What the—!” I panted, blinking in the dark to see that strikingly familiar facial structure inches away.

“Chill, Ritz,” Dex murmured gently, thumbs still circling.

My hand flew up to press against the skin over my heart, willing it to slow down. “Jesus, you scared me,” I panted.

In true, normal Dex fashion he didn’t smile in amusement or apologize. "What are you doin' here?"

"Sleeping?"

He sighed. "Blake didn't get my text?"

What was he talking about? I shook my head.

“Get up,” he ordered. “You need to go talk to your bro before we get outta here.”

I blinked again slowly as his words settled in. Talk to my bro? "So

Dex nodded. "He's packin' some shit up. Pack a bag so you don't have to come back here for a while, then go talk to him."

Confusion swamped me in a million different ways. Where was So

Like a good girl, I tried to focus on what to pack so I could figure things out as soon as possible. Luckily, I had enough good sense before falling asleep to keep a pair of sleep shorts on because I usually slept in just my underwear and a bra. Dex flicked the lamp on while I grabbed a bunch of random clothes from the dresser.

“Where was he?” I asked him while stuffing my duffel with what I’d absently picked. I couldn’t even look at Dex as I asked him the question, it made me too nervous. I'd ask if So