Cathleen Cole - Til Encryption Do Us Part (The Vikings MC Book 4)

Rat

A loud sound dragged me out of sleepit wasnt restful, the dreams always ensured thatbut it had been deep. I lay quietly in bed, trying to control my breathing, ears and eyes straining to take in my surroundings in the darkened room.

Rowdy laughter came from the hall and my eyes darted to the door, where the slim line of light glowed from beneath it. I recognized one of my club brothers voices as he tried to quiet another down.

The thud that knocked into my door had my heart galloping in my chest. I sucked in a breath and tried to find the doorknob in the dark, watching to see if itd turn.

You clumsy fucker. Youre going to wake everyone up! If you cant hold your liquor, dont drink so much, Trip slurred, and I knew without needing to check that he was berating Drew. The two were practically joined at the hip.

The last fog of the dream faded away slowly as my heart calmed. I sat, still as a statue in my bed. I knew I was safefor now. I hadnt always been, and I tended to wake up at any slight sound, listening for any sign that I needed to run or fight. It was a hard habit to break. Hard to accept that safety wasnt temporary.

Glancing over at the clock, I groaned and scrubbed my hand over my face. It was three a.m. and thered be no going back to sleep. I could lay here, staring at the ceiling until it was time to get up, or I could do something productive with my time.

Mind made up, I flicked the light on next to my bed. The glow lit up my small room. I didnt have much use for a lot of space so the room I was given at the clubhouse was perfect for me. This had been my place for the last ten years when somehow Cade managed to convince Daggerour former MC presidentto accept a bedraggled street kid into the MC.

In fact, Dagger had given me my road name. He called me Street Rat so often, it stuck. Cade offered to give me a different name, but I wore this one with pride. Over the years itd been shortened to Rat, but Id never forget where I came from or how hard I worked to elevate myself.

Dagger hadnt let me officially join the club until I turned eighteen. Not that he was concerned with me being a legal adult, more like he was waiting for me to put on some weight and not look like a starved teenager. What he had done was put my tech skills to use from the day Cade and Riggs brought me home. Theyd given me a place to live, safety, and a family. Id never been close with Dagger or his officers, but there were many of the members I liked. Cade, Riggs, Steel, and Gunnar were the only four I trusted for a long time, though. Eventually, Axel came along, and hed been added to our crew, and now Bass and I were like brothers.

I went over to my dresser and pulled on a t-shirt. I was already wearing sweats. I never slept naked. My formative years taught me that it was a bad idea. When you never knew whod be sneaking up on you in the middle of the night you couldnt leave that kind of shit to chance, or youd be running around the city with your balls hanging out. Ask me how I know

Shaking the memories away, I tugged on my running shoes and laced them. I crept down the hallway, careful not to wake anyone, even though Trip and Drew likely already had.

The gym in our basement was quiet and dark. I made it down without encountering anyone else and I was grateful for it. I hated letting the others see me after nights like these. The guys in my inner circle knew about my time on the streets, but that didnt mean I wanted to rehash it every time this happened, which was a few times a week.

Starting up the treadmill, I began running. Two things leveled me out, running and hacking. The physical exertion of pushing my body to the limits beckoned me more than fucking around online this morning.

Everything smoothed out inside my brain as my feet pounded against the track below me. The whir of the machine, the sound of my own breath in my head, chased the remaining memories back to the dark corner I tried to keep them locked in. I let my mind go gloriously blank.

I couldnt tell how long Id been runningalthough Id shucked my shirt already because it was drenched in sweatwhen the door to the basement that housed our club gym was wrenched open.

My gait stuttered so hard at the movement that I almost ate shit. Cade paused just inside the door and shot me a hard look before he glanced down at the watch on his wrist.

Its four a.m. Rat. Why are you awake already? His eyes narrowed on my face.

I found my rhythm again and kept running as I spoke. Couldnt sleep. I left it at that. It wasnt a surprise to see Cade down here this early, he seemed to sleep as often as me, and that wasnt saying much.

Id been down here for an hour already and yet as soon as Id focused, my mind was whipped right back into that tiny room where the twelve of us lived. Wed be out working the streets during the day, but at night we were forced to stay there, huddled together for safety and warmth.

Cade quietly crossed the room and set up the station he used to lift, but he kept shooting me speculative glances. The man somehow always knew what was going on in my head. It wasnt comfortable. Cade was like an older brother to me, though, and I trusted him with my life. Hed taken me on when no one else believed in me.

Id been out, trying to meet my quota that fateful day. Joe Sullivanor Sully as he made us call himhad a certain dollar amount he expected us to come back with. If we didnt, the punishment was brutal. At twelve, my amount was much higher than some of the younger kids and I often gave them whatever I managed to pickpocket in the morning so they wouldnt have to be out so long.

Earlier that morning, Id tried to convince Sully that I could make him so much more money if hed give me access to a computer.

Fuck that technology bullshit! Thats how they watch you, hed screamed in my face. Even at that young age I knew something wasnt right in his brain. Get out there and go to work and if I catch you at the library again, Seven, Ill make you pay.

Hed numbered us. I was the seventh kid hed foundor taken, in the other kids cases. He liked to crow that hed found me, thrown out like the trash I was. Sully never failed to remind me that my family abandoned me to the streets when I was four. Theyd left me huddled behind a dumpster in the pouring rain.

Thinking back on it, I guess I was lucky that Sully found me when he did. Theres no telling what might have happened to me otherwise. At one point in timebefore the MCI used to wish that Id been left to that nameless fate. What could have been worse than living for eight years with a paranoid schizophrenic who stole children and forced them to do his bidding?

My phone beeping drew me out of my dark thoughts. Cade had given up on pulling me into any kind of conversation and was grunting away as he repd a weight bar that probably weighed as much as I did. Id been working out with my brothers, but I had a ways to go before I was as ripped as some of these guys. Pride swamped me. Id always been a pretty lanky kid, but Id managed to build an impressive amount of muscle in a short time.