“I won’t ever let you go,” he spits out, stepping closer to me.
“You don’t have a choice. I’m done,” I say before grabbing my purse and tossing my phone out, since I know he can track me with it, and throwing my ring his way.
“Ana!” he shouts, sounding on the verge of panic when he sees how serious I am about leaving.
“If you guys ever cared about me, make sure he doesn’t follow me. I can’t be here right now,” I say, looking at the president of the Devious Eagles MC.
He looks at me for a moment before nodding his head. “Hold him down,” he states as Viking lets out a pained scream.
I whisper “thank you” as I leave the place I once called my home, and as the man I once loved lets out roars of rage.
Outside, I look at my vehicle knowing that Viking could track that too; but I see Danielle waiting in hers.
I make a run for it. “Thank God you are here. Take me to the airport,” I choke out, trying not to cry.
“Are you okay?” Dani asks as she pulls onto the street.
“Nothing is okay right now,” I whisper.
“Where are you going to go?” she asks me.
“I wish I could tell you, but I don’t want Viking to know,” I tell her.
“I would never say anything to him. I’m your girl. I’ve got your back,” she tells me. Fuck, this woman has become my best friend and has tried so hard to help me through it all.
“I know, but sometimes there are risks. I’ll message you when I get there to let you know I am safe,” I say and grab a paper from my purse. “When we stop, write your number down. I didn’t take my phone with me.”
The rest of the drive is quiet. My thoughts go through everything that just happened. How one moment I was sitting with a friend eating Chinese food and, the next, I was leaving the love of my life.
I know I may not be welcomed where I am going, but I have nowhere else to go.
When we get to the airport, Dani hands me a wad of cash, and I look at her with wide eyes. “What is this?”
She shrugs with a small smile. “Well, I know you better than you think. I asked my dad if I could keep “just in case” cash in my purse because I knew that, one day, you would need it. I had a feeling you would leave Viking sooner or later. I really hope you guys work it out because I’m going to miss the fuck out of you, but this cash was always intended for you.”
I don’t bother to wipe the tears that fall before pulling her into a tight hug. “You don’t know what this means to me.”
“The last time we got drunk together, you said you worried about leaving because you knew Viking would track you. From what you have told me, he is very protective of you and had multiple ways to track you down. Since us Old Ladies are always at risk of being kidnapped, I don’t blame him for ensuring he knew where you were at all times. I did, however, start planning a way for you to leave if you finally decided to. I figured you wouldn’t know how to explain having twenty thousand dollars cash to Viking if he ever found it, so I kept it and told Zane that it was for a friend. I’m pretty sure he knew it was for you, and he trusts me, so he left it alone,” she says after she pulls away.
“That’s too much. I only need a flight,” I say with a shake of my head.
“You don’t know that. For all you know, you may need a hotel, and you’ll need food. Even if you come back only using a thousand, that’s fine. If you use it all, that’s fine too. The money is yours to give you the break you need,” she says while putting the money into my purse and giving me the paper with her number on it.
“Call me or text me, day or night. I will answer. I will not tell Viking or anyone where you are until you are ready. If you ever need help, just text me the word, ‘tacos’ and we will come to you; no matter what it is you need,” she says. I give her a small smile that our emergency word is going to be “tacos.”
“I’ll send you my location as soon as I settle down. That way, you know where to come if I ever send you the word ‘tacos’,” I tell her.
I give her one last hug before leaving to purchase a ticket to the only other place I used to call home.
Chapter Two
Maverick “Viking”
I feel the rage consume me as the one woman I have ever loved walks out of my life.
My brothers hold me down as I try to go after her to plead for a chance to make it right, or chain her to me so she can never leave me. Honestly, both options sound good at this point.
When I finally give up and settle down, my brothers finally let me go. I’m nothing but a mess on the ground.
