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Not here.

Not like this.

Not with fear curling in my stomach and shame burning in my skin.

There had been a time when getting caught with Luke hadn’t felt like the beginning of the end. There had been a time when his world had opened for me instead of closing around us.

The first time Luke had chosen me in front of his entire world.

Chapter 27

Gabriella

Before

19 Years Old

“Where the fuck do you think you’re going?” Crash barked at the pair of us, making me flinch. I had never seen him this close before—and certainly not this angry.

Usually, I caught a glimpse of him here and there when Luke snuck me in and out of the clubhouse, but he’d always looked reasonably happy. I’d witnessed meetings between him and my dad, both of them screaming at each other, and still, at this moment, he seemed angrier than I had ever seen him.

I fiddled with the dog on my charm bracelet—“for the Devils’ stray,” he’d whispered—and waited with bated breath for Luke’s answer.

How had this all gone so fucking wrong?

Not ten minutes ago, Luke and I had been in bed together—something we had done dozens of times.

I knew it was stupid. We both did. But we had grown bold. We’d never been caught before. We were careful. We plannedour meetings when everyone else was out. And, with Dante’s reluctant help, we had made it work.

Until Crash had walked in on us—me on top of Luke, quietly riding him, both of us with our hands over the other’s mouth to silence the moans. There couldn’t have been a shred of doubt in Crash’s mind what was happening, and it was painfully obvious this wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment thing.

“I’m leaving,” Luke said, his voice loud and confident, meeting Crash’s eyes without hesitation.

After Crash had caught us, he’d barked “Downstairs,” and quickly spun around and slammed the door back shut. Followed by some vicious swearing and his fist slamming against the wood.

We’d heard Dante fighting our corner, telling Crash it was none of his business, and he had no right to go storming into a grown man’s room without knocking. Crash had told him to fuck off, and Dante had laughed and told him his jealousy was showing, and that he shouldn’t begrudge a young man getting a ride from a fit bird. I tried not to take offense at that.

Luke had gently lifted me off him and packed a bag, kissing away my protests, and told me he wouldn’t be separated from me. That he would choose me over his brothers. He’d assured me it wouldn’t come to that, but if push came to shove, the club would be forgotten, and we’d forge a new life together somewhere far away from all of this.

As sweet as that was, I didn’t want that for him. I didn’t want him to leave behind the only family he had ever known.

“How long?” Crash asked through his gritted jaw.

“As long as it takes for you to accept us,” Luke replied, earning himself a scoff from his leader, as though that was the most ridiculous thing he had ever heard. He eyed the pair of us, me pressed against Luke’s side, Luke defiantly staring him down, and sighed.

“I’m not talking about you leaving—we’ll get to that in a minute. How long has this been going on?” he said, waving his hand between the two of us.

“A while.”

“Did you know?” he asked, not looking at his son, but we all knew he was directing the question at Dante anyway.

Crash gripped the back of one of the chairs, leaning his weight on it, his knuckles growing white.

“I knew,” Dante said with a shrug. “I’ve known for years.”

“And you didn’t think to put a stop to it?”

“Didn’t think I needed to,” he replied. “Who Luke chooses to be with is his own business. At least one of us should have a choice,” he muttered.