Valentina was pacing her apartment floor, wondering what she should do.

Nobody told her she couldn't go out. But she was questioning everything she did at this point. She had officially gone stir crazy. It'd been a couple days with no work, no visits, no errands. Just her, her cat, and an empty apartment. This was insane—her life couldn't be put on hold because of her father. Not again.

Butcher had given brief text responses to any questions, other times not answering at all. But what she could immediately tell was that he was strict, similar to what she could only imagine a drill sergeant was. He even advised her against checking her mail until he got the camera installed.

It had been three days, and she was going to starve. She was down to a can of Pringles.

Valentina was in desperate need of groceries, and her small town barely outside the city had a market just around the block. She didn't want to ask Butcher the question she already knew the answer to.

It's just around the block. She shrugged and ignored Ziggy staring at her. "It'll be fine. I'll be quick."

That's how she ended up with a shopping cart filled with her favorite groceries and many other comfort foods.

Her head tilted while examining strawberries. Which ones would she like more...?

Going down her grocery list, she was almost positive she got everything checked. When she was double-checking, she saw her phone light up. Her brow furrowed—no one ever called her. Picking it up she saw two missed calls from Butcher and another ringing through right now.

Her eyes widened and she answered immediately, "Where's the fire?" she asked with surprise.

"Where the fuck are you?"

Her lips jutted out at his attitude. "At the market. How did you—"

"You're supposed to fucking tell me when you leave, goddamnit! I can't babysit you when you do shit like this. Don't move for shit, Valentina," Butcher barked through the speaker.

Her lips parted to speak up for herself but the call went dead. Valentina pulled away in surprise. She blinked once, then twice. Panic settled in her chest, head swiveling around as if Butcher were going to pop out of the woodwork.

"Maybe...maybe I can hide...?" she muttered to herself. Her head was on a swivel for something to duck behind.

It took her a few moments to restart, forcing herself to roll over to the checkout aisle. Sniffling quietly, she helped the cashier out by setting up all her food. He was young, eyeing the food and the obviously unhappy woman with a pout on her full lips.

"These are my mom's favorites," he offered politely as he scanned the chocolate-covered strawberries.

Valentina grinned a little as she took over bagging. "I used to make them homemade, melted the chocolate myself and everything. Now I don't have the time anymore." She recalled the mess in the kitchen left behind at her grandmother's home.

"My mom would be jealous—she's been banned from the kitchen. My dad is the cook between the two. Every time she cooks, somehow the plastic gets melted onto the stove. Doesn't matter what she's making." The kid—Josh as his name tag read—shook his head as if in disbelief.

Valentina snorted at the story, fully smiling. "Sounds like my brother. I don't know how they survive, honestly."

"They get lucky to have people like you and my dad who can cook, obviously." Josh smirked a little with a wink.

"Obviously," she nodded. It was amusing to have a teenager send her such a flirtatious look. She chuckled a little—the confidence was out of this world.

"You know I'm not supposed to do this," he said, "but since I'm in the presence of a great cook such as yourself I have an employee discount just for you."

Valentina's eyes widened a little. "You don't have to do that—"

"It's not a problem, I promise."

Valentina's head tilted but she nodded while thanking him. Josh had finished ringing everything in and was keeping up his flirting. She finished up one of the bags, her head down as she chuckled at the poor boy. Her mind was completely off Butcher and his angry phone call.

Josh was grinning, glancing at the pretty woman. His face fell in surprise and mild concern as a behemoth of a man suddenly appeared with his arms crossed behind her. He recognized the leather cut immediately. Everyone in town did.

Valentina frowned at the sudden silence, stepping back with her last bag organized, and yelped as she bumped into something that hadn't been previously there. His manly musk filled her nose; she'd know that embarrassingly soothing, signature smell anywhere.

Her shoulders fell. She knew exactly who it was.

Peeking over her shoulder, she saw Butcher glowering down at her. His amber eyes were so piercing they were almost scary.

"What's so fuckin' funny?" he grunted lowly, but both heard him clearly.

Valentina's mouth dropped. "Can we not do this? I just want my groceries." His attitude was not making her day any better just when Josh had been cheering her up.

Butcher glared as she fixed her cart and the bags inside of them. Valentina blatantly ignored him to get herself settled. Maybe if she acted like he wasn't there he'd get the memo.

Reaching back into his pocket, he slid his wallet out and narrowed his eyes at the cashier. He was a scrawny teen, not even a man yet. He scoffed. The kid actually had the balls to flirt with Valentina. As if she needed a boy.

Slapping down the total she owed, Butcher grit his teeth, noticing that the boy could barely breathe.

"Word of advice? Shut the fuck up and do your job, kid." Butcher leaned forward, Josh pulling back further. "She's under the club's wing—ya know what that means?" His eyes narrowed. "That means she's off fuckin' limits."

Behind him, the woman had just been rifling through her purse, looking up when Josh opened the register and took Butcher's cash.

"Woah, wait! What the hell, Butcher?" she hissed, and tried taking out the money she owed him.

"If you try that shit I won't be happy," he replied, stopping her abruptly.

Her wide brown eyes gawked up at him. "This is you happy?" Her attention went back to Josh, an apology in her gaze.

"Thanks kid, have a good rest of your day." Her smile was a little forced, seeing as Josh barely wanted to make eye contact.

Huffing, she shoved her cart out into the lot where her truck sat. "How did you even know I wasn't home? I was home for the past 72 hours and the second I leave you call me?"

The biker stode beside her on the pavement and crooked his jaw. He didn't want to admit it, but until the camera was set up, he was making rounds around her apartment complex. He figured it was the most efficient way to make sure she was safe while the other bikers went out looking for her deadbeat dad. And on his usual lap, he'd been especially unhappy to see her truck nowhere to be found.

Silence permeated between the two. Valentina was used to it by now, the unanswered questions from him. But Butcher just eyed her cart before gripping some of the bags and tossing them in the now open back seat.

"Gimme the keys."

Valentina's head whipped up as she begrudgingly reorganized the groceries that Butcher had so carelessly thrown in.

"What? Why?"

"I'm driving." His tone sounded as if it were obvious.

Her eyes went from his dead serious face to his bike that she could clearly see a few spots over. Her perfectly manicured brows rose and she waved over to the death trap, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"I'm putting the bike in the bed," he replied. "Toss 'em over, now."

"Butcher..."

"Valentina, I don't have the damn patience. I gotta get you over to the club house for some stupid shit." It was obvious he'd rather be doing anything but this. The laps around her apartment had become the most peaceful part of his day, with no one bothering him. Now with them being interrupted he wasn't in a good mood.

Sighing lowly, she closed her eyes and counted to ten. They don't have to help me...they don't have to help me...she reminded herself.

"Okay," she growled. "We need to drop my food off first. I have cold stuff." The keys flew through the air and he caught them effortlessly. The brute barely acknowledged her once he got what he wanted, getting to work on putting his bike in the back. Valentina sat down in the passenger side, arms crossed.

In a weird way...in a very weird way, he was almost nice. He'd paid for her groceries, he'd 'helped' put them in the car, made his way all the way over here when he didn't need to. On face value, if someone looked at what he's done for her, they'd consider him to be courteous. And yet, he still found a way to be mean in between each of those actions.

Valentina rested her forehead against the window, Butcher glancing over to her once in a while as she sat with her eyes closed as he drove. She stayed like that until they got to her apartment to get the food out. Then she proceeded to do the same thing silently on the way to the club, arms crossed over her chest but with her legs pointed towards Butcher.

She could feel Butcher's gaze on her; even with her eyes closed she could feel the heat of it. It was as if he had a homing beacon. She could feel him wherever he was, apparently. Sometimes the barbaric man would grunt, as if to test her reactions or gauge a response.

The breaks squeaked as they pulled into a spot and Butcher visibly cringed at the sound. "You need this thing fixed, woman."

Her head rested on the seat, slowly blinking at the roof. Finally, their eyes locked and Butcher once again did a once-over of her as if to see if she still held her anger.

"Mhm." She looked over at him lazily.

Butcher's gaze was narrowed, his suspicions high. It seemed like the girl had done a 180 with her mood. He nodded his head to the side, motioning for them to both go. When they got out of the truck, he waited for her to walk beside him towards the back entrance of the club bar.

Groaning tiredly, Valentina followed after him. "Why are we here?"

"Gunner has to talk to you."

"About good things or bad things?"

"Depends."

"You really are a beacon of comfort." Valentina snorted at her own joke, to which he rolled his eyes.

"Let's get this over with."

Surprisingly, Butcher held the door open for her and came up behind her. His large presence loomed over her. The bar went silent just like the last time she'd come in.

But this time around, she didn't think it was necessarily because of her. As she glanced at the large man who was closer than he'd ever been before, she saw that he was openly glaring at everyone looking their way.

Does he like anybody? Valentina wondered to herself. He leaned down, speaking low enough so only she could hear. His deep, rumbly voice made her shiver.

"First door on your right. I'm tired of these assholes," Butcher grumbled, watching the men salivating over Valentina. He knew this would be a fucking problem. The woman was wearing the shortest shorts he's ever goddamn seen and a small t-shirt. The amount of eyes she had on her was pissing him off. The fact that his own eyes were constantly lingering on her was pissing him off almost as much.

As soon as they were close enough to Gunner's office he wrenched the door open and practically shoved her through and away from the eyes of his fellow bikers. Valentina looked back at him as if to say "what the fuck?" while stumbling to balance herself. Her hands raised at him as she turned back to face him.  The two both opened their mouths as if to bicker but were cut off.

"Honey!" Gunner grinned at the sight of the pair together while standing from his desk.

"Gunner." She looked at him oddly over her shoulder before all of a sudden he was lifting her into a hug.

"Your brother should be here soon."

"How come?" Her brows furrowed with a cute tilt of her head.

Gunner smirked and pinched her cheek hard. He caught Butcher glaring from where he leant against the door.

"Your baby brother is earning his stripes. He's leaving on a road trip with one of the prospects that volunteered. Wanted you around for his send off." Butcher rolled his eyes; of course Gunner was meddling. Always pulling strings from behind.

Valentina's brows rose in surprise, "I don't think he'd care if I was here or not. Actually, I think he's pissed he's going. Me being here will probably make him more annoyed." The small woman snorted at the thought, but her eyes were sad.

Behind her, Butcher looked more annoyed than usual. He'd been indifferent to Jude before, but lately it seemed like he couldn't stand the fucker.

"It breaks my heart, honey, that he treats you the way he does." Gunner frowned and cupped both of her cheeks. Her eyes stared up at him as if he were crazy as he tilted her head up. Ironically enough, Valentina didn't seem uncomfortable with him like this. He squeezed her cheeks playfully. "Someone needs to give yer brother a kick in the ass, frankly."

Valentina nodded her head in his hold but was cut off as Butcher shoved Gunner's hands off her face, rounding between the two with a familiar look in his eyes. The blonde biker president was unbothered, meeting the scathing glare evenly, even looking a bit amused at his friend's actions. Gunner waved towards Butcher, who now stood between them,

"Has the neanderthal been treatin' you right?"

Butcher didn't glance back at her, not caring for her answer at first as she stood behind him, almost hidden by his frame. Valentina stepped around to stand beside him, her shoulder brushing his bicep to glance up at him. Finally, he spared her a look.

"Don't call him that. And of course he is." Her answer came out light and airy. It rolled off her tongue easier than it should have, because he was pretty damn sure it was a lie. But the way that she kept eye contact made him feel some sort of way.

Valentina finally looked away as she grew anxious, nibbling on her lip, "I really don't think Jude will want me here."

"He can talk to me if he has a problem."

Valentina had expected the threat to roll off of Gunner's tongue, but it was Butcher's rough voice that filled her ears as he shifted from next to her to stand only inches behind her.

Gasping quietly, she fought the urge to flinch away from his proximity. Swallowing hard, she nodded up at him before relaxing her shoulders.

After the club president eyed the two for a moment, he demanded that they go out and see if her brother had come to do celebratory parting shots.