But she smiled when she saw me. “Hey. You, okay?”
I stepped in and closed the door behind me. “I could ask you the same thing.”
She shrugged and sat up a little straighter. “Busy day. What’s up?”
I stayed standing. The air in the room felt too still.
“I heard you’ve been seeing someone.”
Her smile didn’t falter. But her eyes flicked to my hands, to my stance. Reading me. She always did.
“Ava told you.”
“Is it true?”
She leaned back, fingers wrapping around her mug again. “That I’ve been seeing someone? Yes.”
“Spike,” I said.
She nodded slowly. “Logan.”
“He goes by Spike.”
“Not to me.”
I rubbed a hand over my jaw, trying to keep my voice even. “Do you even know who he is?”
Remi sighed, setting her mug on her desk. “I know he rides with a local MC. I know he used to run in rougher circles. I know he’s done time.”
“And that doesn’t concern you?”
She met my gaze. Steady. Calm. “He’s never been anything but kind to me. Respectful. Protective. Funny, even.”
“Funny?” I scoffed. “Remi, he’s a biker. You think he just woke up one day and decided to be Prince Charming?”
“I think people change.”
I stared at her, stunned. “This isn’t you. You don’t do reckless.”
“Maybe I’m tired of being careful.” Her voice was soft, but there was steel beneath it. “Maybe I’ve spent enough of my life looking over my shoulder.”
I crossed the room and stood at the edge of her desk. “You’ve also spent your life helping women crawl out of situations exactly like the one you’re walking into.”
She didn’t flinch. “Logan isn’t like that.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I know him better than you do.”
“He’s part of Devil’s Ride.”
“And? You had no problem with me spending time with the Dawnbreakers...”
“Remi, they are not the same... please just trust me. He is not a safe choice for you.”
Remi stood, her expression unreadable now. “No one is safe, Harlan. Not really. You think I’m under any illusions about that? You think I don’t know what kind of world we live in? What kind of menwalk free, and the women they leave in ruins who walk through my door every damn day?”
She was trembling now, but she didn’t look away. “He makes me feel seen,” she whispered. “Not pitied, not broken. Just… me. And I see him. He is soft with me, different... I feel like he is exactly who I have been looking for... You just haven't seen who he is with me.”
