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He stole it, probably not even aware of it.
He stole it, then held it in his hand and crushed it within fingers.
He stole it and, goddamn it, he still held it captive.
It belonged to him now.
A man who was a mechanic and biker living a lifestyle so unlike what she had ever lived, from what she’d ever known.
At first, she only thought his world was different.
Now she wondered if it was dangerous.
With all the down time she had during the day while Whip worked, she had done the research. Asked Shay general questions. Got online and read up on various MCs.
She found some clubs were good. Brotherhoods who helped their community by doing charity work. Some of them protecting victims.
Then there were the bad. Violent. Trafficking guns and drugs. Treating women like shit, like nothing more than objects. Even trafficking women and children for profit. Basically organized crime. No different from the mafia.
She had thought the Fury was the first type, but perhaps they were the second.
“You lied to me.”
His soft, steady breathing filled her ear, but no words.
If he wasn’t going to speak, she would take the opportunity to have her say and then hang up.
And, if possible, take her heart back. This way she could plug it back into her chest, hope it healed and then move on.
“Do you know how I know what you said to me was a lie, Whip? I spent time with the ol’ ladies. You know, the sisterhood that you reminded me I didn’t belong to since I was only a guest in your world. But in the short time I spent with those ladies, I discovered something. Something important. Every damn one of them is strong. Every one of them is independent. Even the quiet ones like Red, Syn and Shay. You know how I know? And I’m not talking about seeing it with my own eyes and hearing it with my own ears. It’s because they have to deal with the men they love. Men who have strong, very possessive, very protective, sometimes overbearing personalities. I know because while staying at the motel, I got to know Ozzy and Shay better than the rest. If Shay wasn’t strong, Oz would steamroll right over her, crushing her spirit and her personality.”
She didn’t give him the opportunity to respond. She mustered on.
“You said those women were property, when that’s the farthest from the truth. None of them need their men, they choose to be with them. The truth is they are equal and hold power in their own right. On the surface it might appear differently to outsiders, but it’s smoke and mirrors, just like the ‘Property of’ cuts they wear by choice and not because they are forced. Deep down at the very center, the very core of your club, Whip, they are equals. Those women are loved, cherished and respected by men not afraid of being called weak for it. And that…” She blinked away the sting in her eyes and cleared the thick in her throat. “That’s how I knew what you said was all a lie.”
He lied for a reason and she wanted to know why. She was at least owed that much. But the other end of the line remained quiet.
Disturbingly quiet.
“Why, Whip? Why did you drive me away?”
She counted the heartbeats between her question and his answer.
It took three. Three heartbeats. One for every week she spent with him.
“Wanted to keep you away from… this mess.”
No, that answer was a cop-out and unacceptable.
“What mess?” Her chest tightened and she rubbed absently at it. “Whip, what mess? You owe me that much.”
“Was tryin’ to protect you.”
“But you didn’t protect me. You hurt me by lying.”
“That hurt ain’t nothin’ compared to what else coulda happened.”
“Like what? Why couldn’t you be honest with me? Why can’t you be honest with me now?” She slowly drew in a breath. “Were you trying to protect me from the Shirleys? Or the truth about you and your club?”
Her questions hung between them for far too long.
She should hang up. Delete his number. Never look back. It would be for the best. Probably for both of them.
“Both.”
Shit. The fine hairs on the back of her neck stood. The news stories this morning. The news flashing across the screen in her Airbnb tonight. All of it.
All of it.
She knew it.
She knew it.
She had hoped it wasn’t true.
“What happened on that mountain… It was your club, wasn’t it?”
He sucked in a sharp breath. “What’re you talkin’ about?”
Was he going to play dumb? Lie to her again? “Were you involved in that? Blowing up homes where families lived?”
He hissed out a breath. “Don’t assume with shit you see on TV. You don’t know the whole story, Fallon.”
She wasn’t sure if she wanted to know all the details, either. But she did need to know one thing... If he was involved, if he was capable of creating that kind of devastation and destruction. The deaths and disappearances of a whole group of people.
