Page 16 of My Older Biker

"I will."

"Promise me."

"I promise." He tilts my chin up. Makes me look at him. "I love you."

The words hit me in the chest. "What?"

"I'm in love with you. I have been for years."

Tears burn behind my eyes. "Dean."

"I need you to know. Before I leave."

"Then tell me again when you come back." I kiss him. Hard. "Tell me when you're safe."

He pulls me closer. "I love you."

"I love you too."

We lie there until the clock says nine forty-five. Then he gets up and starts getting dressed. I watch him transform. Black jeans. Black shirt. His cut. Boots. He's not the man who just made love to me. He's someone harder. Someone capable of violence.

When he's ready, I walk him to the door, now wearing his shirt and nothing else. He kisses me in the doorway.

"Be careful," I say.

"I will."

"Come back to me."

"I will."

Then he's gone. The sound of his bike fades and I'm alone.

I go back to the couch. His shirt smells like him, and the ache between my legs reminds me of him. I sit in his living room with all the lights on and I wait.

The hours crawl. Eleven comes and goes. Midnight. One am. Two. I think about Perry, and about Dean walking into the same danger that killed his friend.

The fear sits in my chest like a living thing.

But I don't regret it.

Instead, I wait for him to keep his promise.

Chapter 5 — Dean

The warehouse sits a few miles off Route 47 in an industrial zone that hasn't seen legitimate business in a decade. Rusted chain-link fencing. Gravel lots full of weeds. Three structures, the largest one a corrugated metal building with loading docks along one side.

We park the bikes a quarter mile out and go in on foot.

Midnight. No moon. The darkness is thick enough that I'm navigating by the glow of distant highway lights and muscle memory from studying Cain's floor plans.

Tate moves up beside me. His face is hard to read in the shadows but I know that expression. The one he gets before violence. Calm. Focused. Present.

"North entrance," I say quietly. "You and Cain. Roan and Axel take the back. Ford stays on the bikes. I'm going through the main loading dock."

Everyone nods. We split without another word.

I approach the main dock alone. There's a regular door beside the larger rolling gate. I test the handle.