Chapter 3

Carrie, Liana’s roommate, was sitting cross-legged on the couch with a bowl of cereal, watching a series when Liana came in.

“Wow, you’re early. And why do you look like you’ve seen God,” Carrie joked with her mouth full.

Liana dropped her bag by the door. “I think I met him.”

Carrie snorted. “What? You had an accident?”

“Haha,” Liana rolled her eyes.

“Was he rich?” Carrie probed.

“I couldn’t tell, but definitely scary.”

Carrie sat upright, pausing her show and turning to where Liana stood against the kitchen counter, pouring herself some fruit juice.

“Okay. Start talking.”

Liana kicked off her shoes and came and sat down beside her, juice in hand.

“So, there were like three guys. Like…not business guys. Not criminals either. I don’t know. Just…” She gestured vaguely. “I mean, they did look criminal, the looks on their face were so stern, not even a single smile, well, except their prospect.” She chuckled when she remembered.

Carrie leaned forward. “Wait, motorcycle guys?”

Liana froze. “How did you know???” She smiled, excited. “They looked so cool with their matching jackets, and their vice president, he had this cool vibe, I couldn’t wrap my head around it. He was so…”

Carrie’s face darkened. “Did they have anything written on the jacket, how did you confirm he’s the vice president?”

“He is. It was on his patch in the front. And on the back, it said Steel Saints for all of them and…”

Carrie set the cereal aside, disrupting Liana’s amusement. “I’m going to need you to tell me everything. Slowly.”

Liana ran a hand through her hair. “Okay? The one I’m…doing the project for? His name is Cain. He was the only one who introduced himself, he’s also the vice president I was speaking of. And he was so into me, fuck, I could tell. He tried so hard to hide it, but I just knew.” Liana bit her lips to curtail her excitement before it shot through the roof.

Carrie’s eyes widened as she listened to Liana go on. “Oh,” She just said.

That one word didn’t sound good. Liana chuckled. “What’s with that look on your face. He wasn’t rude,” Liana said quickly. “He was just… quiet. Observant. And kinda polite in this weird way.”

Carrie laughed without humor. It was a worried chuckle. “Yeah, Liana, that’s… that’s the dangerous kind.”

“You’re being dramatic.” Liana drank from her glass.

“No, I’m not. Just noticing things from what you said.” Carrie corrected and moved closer to her friend. “Steel Saints…” she said quietly.

Liana blinked. “Yeah, that’s the name of their motorcycle club.”

“And that name, Cain? He’s Steel Saints most dreaded.”

Liana scoffed. “That’s… p.l.e.a.s.e… see? I was right, dramatic.”

Carrie shook her head with a facepalm after. “Motorcycle club, Liana. What do you think that means?”

Silence slid in between them. Liana felt weirdly warm. “Oh,” She realized what her friend was hinting at.

“They’re not the cute type, okay?” Carrie said. “They’re the don’t-stare-too-long type.”

Liana picked at the hem of her skirt. “He didn’t look that bad.”

“Yeah, that’s the worst part,” Carrie said quickly. “They never do.”

She hesitated. Then added, “Some girls say he has a rule.”

Liana lifted her head. “What rule?”

Carrie’s mouth twisted. “Twenty-one days only, no getting attached.”

Something low flickered in Liana’s chest. “Now, you’re definitely making that shit up. Why would anyone want that?”

Carrie gave a slow look. “I heard it’s because it makes men like that keep those they like safe. You see how far they have to go to keep those they love safe? Don’t tell anyone I told you that, he said I wasn’t even supposed to know.”

***

Later.

Liana lay awake that night staring at the ceiling. She told herself she didn’t care. She told herself she wasn’t going to be thinking about his hands. Those veiny, strong looking hands she got to see briefly when he got up in Marla’s office earlier, before shoving them in his pockets.

She told herself she wasn’t going to think about his eyes, those beautiful brown eyes that looked scary and sweet at the same time.

***

The next day.

The office felt tighter than yesterday. Liana wore black. She didn’t know why. It wasn’t conscious. Or maybe it was…she thought black looked so good on Cain yesterday.

She set her presentation boards on the long conference table. She was going to advice olive leathered textures for the bar, and smoked mirrors too, with old brass detailing. She thought it suited their aura.

They arrived exactly on time. Liana noticed Cain was with the same set he came in with yesterday. Cain walked in first. He didn’t look at her immediately even if her eyes followed his every movement till he sat.

He picked up her presentation to see what she had edited to look how it’d would if she took it up. He looked at the room in the picture, the exits, the windows, then he looked at her.

She knew that was her cue to start so she swallowed and began. Liana talked about everything she had printed on the papers in front of them and waited in-between in case anyone had any questions, particularly Cain. But Cain said nothing during the presentation till she finished.

When she finished, she stepped back. “I can adjust anything,” she thought she’d open up the floor for an interaction or at least a comment from any of them.

Cain just leaned back against the chair he sat in and drew in a long breath before breathing out a sigh.

“Everything you just listed out is not what we spoke about yesterday.” He said calmly, and though it wasn’t harsh, it landed wrong.

She panicked a bit. “Well, you weren’t very precise yesterday. You just said you wanted something that was generally…”

“No, I’m pretty sure I was precise.” He stopped her mid-words. “What did we tell her we wanted, Jay?” He turned to the old man

Jay didn’t hesitate. “We told her we wanted distressed wood, exposed bricks with warm, dim lights.”

“You hear him? We didn’t ask for trendy,” Cain added quietly. “We asked for something that looked like it belonged to us.”

“Well…”

“Did that Marla assign an amateur to work with us?” Jay became angry, Liana could hear it in his tone.

The room went tight, and Liana, she felt suddenly…small. So small.

“I’ll fix it, then.” She decided to ignore what Jay just said and try to fix things to their liking.

“Will you?” Cain asked rhetorically and Anna saw it. It wasn’t rage, nor cruelty, just dismissal. He thought she was incapable of the task. “Go get your boss, I need to talk to her now.”

She chuckled nervously, “I can handle things, I don’t think she needs to be…” She stopped speaking after he tilted his head to the right like he was watching a mice walk into a trap. Her hands betrayed her and started to tremble so she assembled them behind her.

“So she will not be joining us?” Jay asked with a heavier tone and she forgot what she was going to say.

“I’ll go get her.” She swallowed and left the room.