"It's fine your acting crazy. n.o.body will know." Tray tried to calm her down, only it wasn't helping. Not at all.

"I'm the one whose a.s.s is on the line. HOW MANY, Tray." She growled.

"None." Tray's words almost made her heart stop. None. Had he just said none? She wanted to cry in dismay. How had they given out seven crates of food in a day? She wondered desperately.

What was she going to do now? She wondered. She knew one thing for sure she was done helping this idiot. She should have listened to Marcus. He'd tried to tell her this was a bad idea. Only she had been too stupid to listen and now look where she was at.

"Fine, but I'm done helping you, Tray." Mia told him as she rose to her feet. "Find yourself another sucker to help you stick it to the council. I'm not helping you anymore."

"Wait, Mia. Sweetheart, you have to help us. You know n.o.body else will care." He said catching her arm in a tight grip as she made to walk away.

"Yes, and you're the reason they will go hungry. Congratulations, Tray. You f.u.c.ked up." Mia jerked her arm free and began walking to the door. When she did movement off to her right caught her attention, and for a second her heart stopped. Then it resumed its steady beat. She thought for a moment that she'd seen Hilconn slipping into the crowd, but of course that was ridiculous. The man would never frequent a place like this, he was too stuck up to lower himself to drink with the commoners. She shook herself, and exited the bar headed home.

The next day she was still trying to figure out a way to explain the missing crates. Standing in the warehouse about to head to her office she heard the sound of heavy foot falls headed in the direction of her office. She didn't really think anything of it until she heard Hilconn.

"What do you mean she's not in there? She was in there a minute ago."

"Sir, the prisoner isn't here." Mia froze. Who were they talking about? They couldn't mean her could they?

"What the h.e.l.l? Hilmia was in there. She must be in the warehouse." Mia didn't wait she ran towards the back door to the warehouse. She peeked outside seeing that there were no guards back here. She darted out into some bushes that ran alone the far side of the warehouse. If she could make it to the market she'd be able to escape in the crowds, she thought.

Moving along inside the bushes she crouched near the building moving until she could see the front of the building. Hearing shouts and seeing men running into the warehouse she felt her heart pounding in her ears. There was no way she'd make it across the yard. Not with that many guards.

That was when she heard the bikes. She waited, maybe she could make it to the market when they were dealing with the delivery she thought desperately.

Ratchet was already in a really s.h.i.tty mood today. Pulling up to find five guards blocking their way didn't make him very happy. Bone who'd come expecting to talk to Mia, wasn't happy either. He walked up talking to the guards. He looked grim when he headed back to talk to him and Tank who was standing with him at the back of the truck.

"s.h.i.t, they're f.u.c.king looking for that woman." Bone growled angrily. "Something about stolen food."

"What woman?" Ratchet asked, but he already knew. There was only one woman who worked here. f.u.c.k, what had Mia done?

"The one I'm here to talk to, Hilmia I think."

"Mia." Ratchet automatically corrected. Bone looked at him.

"What?"

"Her name, it's Mia. Not Hilmia." He told him.

"Oh, well that's who they're looking for."

"f.u.c.k," Ratchet said feeling a bit rabid. They weren't taking her to jail. He wasn't going to allow it he thought, dangerously.

"You armed?" He asked Tank.

"What the f.u.c.k Ratchet? We can't start shooting people." Bone said, glaring at him. Yeah, he didn't f.u.c.king care how much trouble he got in for this. He wasn't letting them take Mia anywhere. It wasn't f.u.c.king happening.

He headed back to his bike ignoring Bone, who hissed. "Get your f.u.c.king a.s.s back here."

As he neared his bike which he'd parked near the back of the truck he heard the bushes move. He glanced over at them seeing Mia huddled in them. f.u.c.k, well that was convenient, he thought. He knocked the stand on his bike up moving it behind the bushes, hissing.

"Get your tight a.s.s out here, Mia." She stared then moved to stand making him hiss again. "No, stay low but get over here."

That was when Tank and Bone came up beside him. "What the f.u.c.k is the matter with you Ratchet?" Bone demanded, then he saw Mia who was crouched near the bushes.

"Fine, make it quick. We'll distract them." Bone growled, and Ratchet knew he was in for a s.h.i.t storm later.

He parked his bike then moved over to Mia. Bone and Tank went to the front of the truck and began demanding that they be taken care of right away. They were yelling at the guards and being d.i.c.ks. Ratchet yanked Mia behind the buildings edge.

"What are you doing?" She demanded.

"Getting you out of here." Ratchet grabbed her bun and began unraveling it. Then he looked at her skirt, they'd never buy that was something that a Red Devils woman would wear, he thought grimly. Taking his knife out of his boot he began cutting off the skirt to just about mid-thigh. Hearing her gasp.

Mia was a bit shook up when Ratchet demanded that she get out of the bushes, and she'd thought he was going to turn her over to the guards. Only instead he'd told her to stay low, and then that he was going to help her. Even the two men who were yelling at the guards were helping. She didn't understand why though. As she felt Ratchet's hands in her hair, she wondered what the h.e.l.l his plan was.

When he took out a knife and started to cut her skirt off really short she was so shocked that she let out a loud gasp. What the h.e.l.l was he doing? She wondered. Her lips trembled as he finished cutting and put the knife away in his boot. Then he surveyed her again.

"f.u.c.k, that's still not enough. What are you wearing under this?" He demanded, tugging on her shirt.

"A bra, why?" She demanded feeling naked with her skirt cut off and lying on the ground nearby.

"Is it lacy, or one of those full cup things?" He demanded, making her question his sanity. He wanted to know what her underwear looked like now while they were looking for her to arrest her. Had he lost his mind?

"It's not lacy, but why the h.e.l.l are you asking me that now? We are not having s.e.x right now, you realize that, right?" She demanded.

He glared at her like she was the one asking stupid questions when he was asking about her underwear while trying to rescue her. "Take off your shirt." He told her.

She just stared at him. What the h.e.l.l was wrong with him? "No," She told him angrily.

"Look, we don't have time for this modesty bulls.h.i.t. Take the f.u.c.king shirt off now, Mia." Mia didn't know why, but the commanding tone made her start unb.u.t.toning the shirt.

"Hurry, Beauty." Then when she slid the shirt off her shoulders her face glowing a cherry red, and her whole body trembling she looked at him.

His eyes devoured her for several heartbeats before he let out a vicious "f.u.c.k. That is not going to work." Then he was taking off his cut. He shoved her into it b.u.t.toning the four b.u.t.tons, then seemingly satisfied, he grabbed the skirt and her shirt stuffing them into his bikes saddlebags.

Seeing Mia's bra almost made him explode. f.u.c.k, that wasn't a bra. The d.a.m.ned thing barely covered her breast, and the idea that anyone see it made him want to rip them limb from limb. f.u.c.k it, he was already in deep s.h.i.t. Taking off his cut he shoved it on her. d.a.m.n, this had never happened. He'd never disrespected his cut this way.

But someone looking at Mia in that bra was enough to make him commit murder. He needed her covered. He put her in it and b.u.t.toned it. Even though it was way too big it covered enough of her b.r.e.a.s.t.s that he wasn't ready to kill anyone. Unless their eyes lingered there for too long, then all bets were off. f.u.c.k, he was so d.a.m.ned screwed, he thought climbing on his bike.

"Get on, now." He told her. He signaled Rock who whistled from the other side of the truck letting Bone and Tank know it was time to go. He could hear the guards moving around the back of the building and cranked his bike. Mia hesitated, looking at him.

"Either get on or they take you to jail. Your call." Ratchet growled, knowing that even if she didn't get on he wasn't leaving her here. Mia moved then climbing on the bike her little hands landing on his shoulders to steady herself. Pulling her hands to his waist he pulled her forward until she wrapped her arms around him.

"Watch the m.u.f.fler it gets hot." He told her indicating it so she didn't burn herself.

Bone and Tank both moved quickly to their bikes, and two minutes later they were all taking off. Ratchet shot out into the mix of bikes that was headed away from the gate. He didn't breathe a sigh of relief until they were three miles away.

Chapter 9.

Mia couldn't believe she was on the back of a motorbike headed to G.o.d knew where. She was really starting to wonder what the h.e.l.l she'd been thinking climbing on the back of this bike. Only then she realized it was either get on this bike or end up in prison, or worse dead. She clung to Ratchet's bare back, his leather vest the only thing between her near naked body and his. She was still blushing from that whole strip Mia scene. She didn't understand why it had been necessary and when she finally got a chance to ask him she wasn't going to be nice about it.

They'd been riding so long that her thighs were sore. She didn't know that riding a bike could cause that. It made her wonder where the h.e.l.l they were going. They'd turned a little while ago and were pulling into a town. When they pulled up to a two story building with at least twenty bikes outside, she didn't know what to think.

Ratchet began helping her off the bike. She was hanging onto his arm to steady herself and her trembling thighs. Ratchet was about to let go to grab something from his saddle bags. Only he didn't get a chance.

There was a whistle and a man called out. "d.a.m.n, where'd you find that hottie? She a new sweetb.u.t.t. I'd give her a ride." Then Ratchet who'd been holding onto her arm was moving towards the man who'd spoke and his fist was suddenly, shockingly in the other man's face.

Ratchet didn't think. He'd been reaching into his bags to get Mia's shirt so that she could put it on, and he could take back his cut. Then that idiot prospect had opened his mouth and suggested that anyone beside him had the right to touch her and he just f.u.c.king lost it. Before he could even think to stop his fist was slamming into Tanners face.

"f.u.c.k! What the h.e.l.l was that for?" The man demanded looking a bit surprised.

"Call her that again and you'll find a bullet between your eyes, Tanner."

"Holy s.h.i.t! You could have just said she wasn't a f.u.c.king sweetb.u.t.t. You didn't have to knock my d.a.m.ned jaw out of place." The man was rubbing his jaw and watching Ratchet with a leery expression. Mia couldn't blame the man. She wasn't sure what the man had called her but surely it didn't warrant such a violent reaction from Ratchet, she thought.

He came back over to her and she stared at him with apprehension. She'd just essentially ran off with this man and she didn't know him. She didn't know him at all, she realized. This was not good.

"Don't look at me like that, Mia. He doesn't get to call you that. n.o.body gets to call you that." Ratchet told her as he jerked open the saddle bags.

"It's not like he called me a wh.o.r.e, Ratchet." Mia told him quietly.

"But he basically did, Mia. He called you free p.u.s.s.y. Is that what you are? Are you going to run around offering yourself to any man in the club who wants a piece?" He demanded making her blush even harder than she already was.

"NO! How dare you even say that?" Mia yelled at him.

"Yeah, that's what I thought. This is my world Mia, not yours. Here you don't know the rules, and if I'd allowed him to keep thinking that for even a second then it could get ugly. You get me. I will protect you, but you have to trust me." Ratchet handed her the shirt. Mia took it and began to put it on over his cut.

f.u.c.k, he should have thought of that. He needed to take her into the club house and let her take off his cut in the bathroom. Out here where anyone else could see her in that little bra was out of the-f.u.c.king-question. That thought in mind he pulled on her arm.

"Come on. You need to take my cut off and give it back, but inside. Not here." He said clenching his jaw. He began dragging her into the clubhouse. Bone moved into his path.

"Ratchet, we need to talk about this." Bone growled looking at the hand he had on Mia's arm. He didn't f.u.c.king care what the man had in store for him. Mia was his and he wasn't f.u.c.king allowing even Bone to tell him that wasn't true.

"Not now. She needs to put her clothes back on and give me my cut first." Ratchet said, moving to walk around the other man.

"Look I..." Bone began, but he was interrupted by a feminine voice that Mia would recognize anywhere.

"Mia? What the h.e.l.l are you doing here? Wearing that?" Racheal's shocked voice demanded from the porch.

"Racheal?" Mia said before she was almost tackled by the other woman. The woman wrapped her in her arms clucking in a way that reminded Mia of Miss Pearl. Mia hugged her back awkwardly because Ratchet didn't let go of her arm.

He was still holding her arm in a possessive grip that Racheal seemed to notice as she stepped back. Her eyes narrowing on that hand which held her in an unbreakable grip. Then she asked in a cautious voice that Mia knew meant trouble if her questions weren't answered correctly.

"What's going on here?"

It made her happy to hear that deadly calm voice coming from her friend. After she'd married her husband Eugene, Mia had thought her friend was gone forever. She was grateful to see that she'd been wrong about that.

"They saved me." She told her wanting to protect Ratchet from her friend's retaliation.

"They did, did they?" Racheal asked a brow raised in question.

"Yes, I kind of got into some trouble helping the rebels." Mia told her trying to tug her arm free of Ratchet's hold. He didn't allow it just moved closer and held on. She glared at him, but he only stared back at her. "Ratchet." She growled, and he finally released her arm. He didn't look happy about it though.

Ratchet wasn't happy when Racheal called out Mia's name and ran over to hug her. What the f.u.c.k. How did she know Racheal? She was from the Hill district. He didn't understand. Nor did he like the idea that she had someone else to guide her in his world. He didn't want anyone else teaching her about who they were or protecting her or h.e.l.l anything. He was the one who was supposed to guide her not Racheal and certainly not another man. Even a man with an old lady he adored, he thought grimly.

He knew he was being stubborn as he held on to her arm, but f.u.c.k this wasn't the way this was supposed to go. He heard her telling Racheal that he'd saved her and he liked being the one who'd saved her. Only he didn't like that she lumped him in with the rest of the club who'd been there. Not at all. He also didn't like her tugging away from him. Frankly it p.i.s.sed him off. He finally released her when she gave him a defiant glare and said his name in a s.e.xy pleading tone. He didn't move away though. That just wasn't going to happen.

"Rebels?" Racheal asked.

"Oh, I forgot that its been a while since you were in the city. After you left things went downhill fast. Harsher punishments for smaller crimes. Beatings. Deaths." Mia's voice faltered on the last words making Ratchet feel protectiveness rising up in his chest again.

"Yes, but why did you need saving? Did these rebels get you into trouble? Tell me that Raven and Marcus were not involved in this." Racheal demanded anger in her voice.

"Of course, they weren't involved it was Tray." Mia said not feeling very proud to admit she'd been working with that jerk. She'd been an idiot.

"Tray? That little smarmy a.s.shat had something to do with you getting into trouble?" Racheal asked.

"Well I was kind of working with him on getting food for the slums, Things have gotten really bad, Rach. Really bad. People on both sides are getting hurt, and I think they are headed for a war. It was awful. The Slum district is sure to revolt if they don't stop with the starvation and the beatings. Anyway I took a job at the food plant and Tray was only supposed to take the two crates I told him were okay to take. Only they took seven, and somehow they must have found out and that was how they ended up coming after me. So then Ratchet and these other guys showed up just in time, and they saved me." Mia finally stopped letting words flow out of her mouth. A little embarra.s.sed by her long explanation.

"Oh hon. I'm sorry that this happened, but at least you're okay. Come on lets go get you something besides that to wear. You know Pearl will want to see you. And Molly's here. You met her that one time about four years ago, you remember her right."

"Wait a d.a.m.ned minute!" Ratchet grumbled watching as Racheal began to pull her away.

"Right. Thanks for saving my friend, Ratchet. See you later." Racheal said dragging Mia away. Ratchet would have followed and taken Mia right back if a hard hand hadn't landed on his shoulder. He turned looking at Tank who was glaring at him. Bone stood next to him a look just as grim on his face.

"Let's talk." He said. Ratchet sighed, f.u.c.k. He wasn't going to be able to follow Mia. She'd just waltzed away with Racheal after he'd saved her a.s.s back at the city. That was grat.i.tude for you. How dare she just walk away?

As he watched her retreating form, he almost growled in displeasure. She turned looking at him over her shoulder. f.u.c.k, he thought as he followed Bone and Tank into Bone's office. Ratchet was sitting in the chair across from Bone's desk when Tank suddenly asked, "Where's your cut?"

That was when he realized that although he never let his cut out of his sight, he'd just let Mia wear it as she'd waltzed away with Racheal. f.u.c.k, he was really screwed, he thought. Because if he'd let her walk away with his cut he was already way too attached to her.

"Mia was wearing it over her bra. That's why I was bringing her inside. To get it back." He told the other man.

"What I want to know is what you'd planned to do today? That gate was crawling with guards. We didn't have enough men to handle that. Were you planning to kill them all to get to Mia? Are you patching her? Is that what this is about?" Bone demanded.

"f.u.c.k no!" Ratchet told him.

"That might not be the answer you want to give me. See I am sure that I told you to stand down at that gate, and the only way I could be okay with the direct defiance that you were about to engage in is if she was yours. Otherwise, this is going to need some explanation." Bone said slamming his fist down on the table.

"Fine, I don't know what the f.u.c.k this is. I just know I want to keep her safe. f.u.c.k I don't know." Ratchet finally said after Bone glared at him for about three minutes.