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“Chloe, um, where is the man who saved me?”
“Ryder? The one that you got sick on?” she asked with a little smirk.
I groaned and rolled over hiding my face in the pillow. “I’d almost forgotten about that.”
Chloe laughed and shook her head. “Don’t worry. He doesn’t hold it against you. He’s had much worse things happen to him,” she assured.
That didn’t really make me feel any better. “Ryder? His name is actually Ryder?”
“Yeah. Birth name too, not an alias. Kind of funny, isn’t it?”
“I was thinking more ironic.”
“Well, he was born into the life, so I suppose that makes it a little less coincidental,” Chloe said, rolling her neck a little with a sigh.
“Born into it? He was born into this gang?”
“Heavens no! He was born into the Hell’s Angel’s. It’s kind of impressive, really,” she mused, nodding a little as she stood up.
I forced myself to sit up and looked around. “So, am I going to be sent on my way?”
My mind was still racing. For a moment I’d almost forgotten why I was here in the first place. I had a mission. If I failed my mission I’d have a whole lot more than a beating coming my way.
Chloe looked at me as if I’d just asked the most ridiculous question in the world. She smiled softly and shook her head. “Of course not. Why would we help you and then send you right back to that asshole? Who was he anyway?”
I cast my eyes downward, frowning deeply. “He was my boyfriend,” I lied, trying not to gag as I said it.
“Your boyfriend? He’s much older than you,” she didn’t sound surprised, though. She’d probably seen situations like this before.
I chewed on my bottom lip and looked up at her, taking a deep breath. “Can I possibly use the restroom?”
“Of course.”
Chloe helped me out of bed and took me down the hall of her fairly large house. It was strange to see bikers living so well. Their community was so beautiful and so well kept and they all seemed sober. It was the strangest thing I’d ever seen. There were no needles lying around and I could hear the laughter of a child. It caught me off guard and I turned toward the sound, eyes wide.
“You have a baby?”
“Yes. Her name is Mariana. Would you like to meet her?” Chloe asked, her eyes lighting up at the mention of her daughter.
“Yes I’d love to. I should probably use the restroom first though.”
“Of course.”
She showed me to the bathroom and when I closed the door and locked it, I took a deep breath. I was happy to see that it wasn’t a half bath and that, if I wanted to, I could take a shower. I chewed on my lip and slowly stepped forward, glancing at myself in the mirror and wincing.
My eyes were turning a deep, almost angry purple and my lip was split open, though it wasn’t bleeding anymore. My tongue darted out and brushed at the wound, causing me to wince and pull away. Jesus that hurt. I shook my head and turned on the water, wondering if it was rude to shower without asking my host. I wasn’t really sure of the rules when it came to visiting people’s houses, as it wasn’t something I’d ever done before outside of the club.
I let the water cascade over the small cuts on my hands, closing my eyes as the stinging sensation turned into a numbing one. It was easy to ignore the pain. It felt good to clean up and when I stepped out and started to dry off, I started to feel human again.
A loud buzzing sound made me jump and I stared at my jacket with wide eyes. I’d almost forgotten about my phone entirely. I unzipped the pocket I kept the phone in and cursed when I saw that the screen was cracked, probably from the impact of being thrown to the ground. I sighed softly and opened the text message on the screen, trying to ignore the way my heart dropped when I read it.
Don’t forget why you’re there.
Chapter Six
When I came out of the bathroom, Chloe was holding a toddler on her hip. The little girl had wispy blonde hair and it made something inside of me ache. This was what a normal life looked like. Kids and a house, and a loving family, even if they weren’t your blood. This was what happiness looked like, and God I wanted it so badly.
I just stared at the child for a long moment and Chloe smiled. “Do you want to hold her?”
