Page 8 of Insidious Heart
I’m sure he’s more than pissed.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper as I drop my gaze. “I didn’t have time and when I did, I was more concerned about leav—”
“Don’t matter. You call with good reason, or you get lectured.”
I flinch as he pushes off the driver’s door.
That’s what my father calls it:lecturing. It’s not though. In no way are the punishments I get from stepping one millimeter out of linelecturesunless you count the amount of yelling he does during them.
“Give me your keys.”
I flinch again then slowly lift my eyes from my purple Crocs. “My keys?”
Cal nods. “Driving privileges have been revoked.”
Immediately, I want to argue. I want to tell Cal to fuck off then call my father and tell him the same. How the hell am I supposed to get to work? Or go to school? I might be off the next two days, but I have classes from eight in the morning to two in the afternoon on Monday, then I go right to work at two-thirty. If I can’t drive myself, then…
“Yeah, princess. Got yourself a chauffeur for at least a week.”
My eyes dart around Cal as another body steps out of the darkness and that fear I’ve been feeling skyrockets.
Joker—Jax, according to his wrap sheet—my father’s top enforcer, grins at me before he licks his lips and allows his evil gaze to rake over my body from head to toe.
Which is a whole other level of scary.
At first glance, some might think I’m pretty.
Soft brown hair, bright blue eyes, delicate features, and a lean but slightly curvy figure. I’m what Cal’s old lady likes to callclassically beautiful, like the starlets from days gone by, or at least I would be if I didn’t have one glaringly obvious flaw.
Scars.
A few large scars on the right side of my face and neck made by a horrible incident when I was three.
I have several more in places that can’t be seen, but that oneisseen by everyone no matter how hard I try to hide it and the story behind how I got it is something I want to remain hidden as well. But between that and the fact that I’m Beau’s daughter typically means I’m off limits to club members, if they were inclined at all to look past my flaws. And for the most part, both keep them at bay.
But not Joker.
Joker has an almost insane and unhealthy obsession with me, one rooted in the fact that he also has scars on his face—scars that make it look like he’s always grinning, hence Joker. For some reason, the crazy son of a bitchlikesmy scars and the story behind them, and even though he’s gotten his ass kicked more times than I can count by my father for it, he keeps trying to lay claim to me. And Beau keeps making him my personal body guard when Ifuck upin spite of it.
I’m just waiting for the day that Joker snaps and takes things too far.
Too many close calls already tell me that day is coming sooner than later.
I drop my keys into Cal’s hand, ready to accept my fate and ride home with Joker, but almost sag in relief when the sergeant issues his orders.
“Joker’s driving your car home. You’re riding with me. Prez wants you there when he gets back.”
With a nod, I lower my eyes and turn, then follow Cal a few feet to his truck I didn’t notice when I first came outside.
Saved by the lesser of two evils.
We get in and ride in silence most of the drive, but it’s only ten minutes and I’d prefer Cal not say anything anyway.
He terrifies me, but not in the same way Joker or my father do. Over the years, I’ve come to associate Cal with mylecturessimply because he’s almost always the one to come get me for them.
Cal has never laid a hand on me, never even yelled at me when I was little, but I know what he’s capable of—what they’re all capable of—and between that and essentially being the constantbearer of bad news, he scares me just as much as Beau does.
Not to mention, while he’s never laid a hand on me—unlike a few other members of the executive committee—he’s never spoken up on my behalf either. Cal just sits back and watches whatever my punishment is, never intervenes or tries to help. Which is silly to think any club member would because they are loyal to my father and never question him, but out of all of them, I feel like Cal is the only one with a conscience.
