Then I hear a little gasp.

My eyes pop open.

And Serenity is standing at the door, mouth open, cheeks flushing, eyes on my dick.

Fuck.

“Oh. Oh. My. Oh. I’m so sorry. I didn’t know you were home. I thought...I thought...Oh...”

I quickly take a towel, covering myself. “Shit,” I rasp, my voice still husky from pleasure.

“I...I was just...I was just getting my cell and...”

“Um,” I mutter. “Fuck. I got nothin’.”

“I’m so sorry,” she babbles, “oh god, Jackson, so sorry.”

“It’s ok, I mean...”

“I...I...should go!” she stammers, turning and rushing out of the door.

“Serenity!” I call, but she’s gone.

A moment later I hear the front door slam.

Fuck.

~*~

SERENITY

I get home that night before Jackson and Addison. I was hoping Jackson wouldn’t come home tonight, but he found me in the club earlier and apologized for the incident in the bathroom. Just thinking about it has my cheeks flushing. God, seeing him like that, watching him come with his eyes closed; his hard body tense. It was stunning. He was stunning. My pussy clenches, and I grit my teeth, hating that I want him so badly. I can’t escape it. Doesn’t matter what I do. It’s not going anywhere. And worse, Jackson hasn’t once mentioned the kiss, which kind of hurts.

I decide that while I’m here, I might as well try to make dinner, hoping it will take my mind off everything. I still feel like I’m putting them out, and guilt wracks me most days, so I try and do what I can. I hate what I’m doing, and I’m trying to figure out a way around it. I’ve thought about it, but I just can’t figure out how to bypass Hogan without him figuring it out. I just know I can’t keep telling him what’s really going on. How can I? These people have become my friends. They’ve made me feel a kind of warmth I’ve not felt before. How can I betray them? How can I be that person?

I head to the fridge, fumbling through until I find some chicken and vegetables. I find a knife and a chopping board, and begin dicing the chicken. A minute into my cutting, my phone begins to ring. I peer down at the screen, and see it’s Janine. Beaming, I pick it up and press it to my ear, using my shoulder to hold it so I can keep chopping.

“Hey you!”

“Why didn’t you tell me what he’s making you do?”

Shit.

“Janine...”

“He’s putting you in danger; he’s making you lie and risk being killed if you’re found out.”

“I had no choice, Janine.”

“There’s always a choice!” she cries.

“No, sometimes with Hogan, there isn’t.”

I’m not about to tell her he threatened her daughter. I can’t do that. She has no way to escape. It would cause an all-out war, and that wouldn’t help anyone.

“You could be killed!”

“They’re not like that,” I whisper.

“Oh my god, you like it there...”

“Janine,” I whisper. “Please. I know it doesn’t make sense, but these people, they’re different. They’re funny, and kind, and friendly. It’s not like Hogan’s club, it’s so different. I am struggling, because I don’t want to lie. They’ve been so good to me; they took me in and made me a home. They knew nothing about me, but they did it anyway.”

She sighs deeply. “You know I worry. This could go so wrong.”

“I know,” I say, weakly. “I just don’t know how to get out of it. If I don’t deliver to Hogan, he’ll do very bad things. If these guys found out what I’m doing, well, I lose them and they’re the first good things in my life for so long.”

“Have you ever thought of just lying to Hogan?”

I stop chopping and listen. “I don’t understand...he would know...”

“No, he wouldn’t. If you gave him the wrong information, you could send him away for a while; maybe give that club some warning.”

“They’ll likely kill me if they found out...”

“I thought you said they were different?”

I sigh. “They’re still a club, Janine. I’m still betraying them,” I say, shaking my head. “No, I can’t do it. I can’t let them know what I’m doing.”

“You have to think about what’s more important. You don’t tell Hogan the truth, and you tell it to them, you might find a way around it. You lie to them, and tell Hogan the truth, and he does damage. It’s all the talk around here; it’s how I found out where you were. I heard them talking. Honey, they’re not planning on making it a mild attack.”

I feel sick. I drop the knife and clutch my stomach. Her words are true, I know they are. Hogan is vile and will kill anyone in his path. Addison. Ciara. Muff. My stomach jerks violently.

“I know,” I whisper. “But what choice do I have?”

“There’s a choice, you have to decide if you’re going to make the right one.”

“I can’t go back there,” I whisper, feeling my eyes burn with unshed tears. “I can’t go back to that life.”

“No, but you can’t live with that club being slaughtered either.”

“Oh god.”

“Lie, honey. It’s not easy, but it’s the best option.”