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Chapter Eight
Jessie
"Risk!"Icry,rushing across the driveway to fling myself into my brother's waiting arms. He picks me up off the ground in a bear hug, spinning me in circles. I laugh and smack him upside the back of the head. "Put me down, you big bully!"
"Hell no," he growls. "I haven't seen you in weeks, baby sister. I missed the hell out of you."
"I missed you too," I whisper fiercely, hugging him hard as emotion chokes me. It's funny. He's spent so many years breathing down my neck. Now that he isn't right there, I've missed it. He'd probably laugh himself into a fit if I told him that, so I keep that little revelation to myself. What he doesn't know won't hurt anyone.
Besides, spending time apart has been good for both of us. For the first time in a long time, I think we're both living. I know I am. Being with Devil is…well, magical probably isn't the right word because there's nothing magical about my grumpy biker. He's far more devil than angel, much more likely to lead a legion of demons out of hell than to ride around on some Pegasus. But he's good to me. So damn good to me.
When I pictured my future, I never saw myself with a man like him, one so fierce. But I guess I'm not surprised that's who I chose. I'm more devil than angel too. And the only role models I know are just like him. They're loud, unruly, hell-raising bikers. He's my favorite. Not that I'm telling my brother that. Not yet anyway.
He needs time to get used to me having a life of my own before I throw a whole biker at him. Especially one of his brothers. I have no illusions about how he's going to react to that news. No matter how we slice it, Risk is going to be pissed. Probably really pissed. But like I've been trying to tell him for years, this is my life. It's beyond time he learns to let me live it.
"Come meet my girl," he says, lowering me back to my feet.
"I'm nervous," I whisper. He's the only one who'd ever hear that confession pass my lips. Well, him and Devil. I keep my heart firmly locked away from the rest of the world, but I've never been able to hide it from my brother. He knows I'm a big mess under my armor, just as afraid of rejection as the next girl. When I was little, he was the one who picked me up and put me back together when the other kids in my class bullied me. He was the one who taught me to fight back. And he was the one who held me when I cried. He's always been able to see right through me.
"So is she," he whispers back, tapping me on the nose. "You're going to love each other. And drive me up the fucking wall." He rolls his eyes like he's already dreading it, but he can't fool me. I see the pervasive happiness glinting in his eyes. He's settled in a way he never has been before, at peace in a way he never was before now. "I'll need another fucking gun and a lot more alcohol with the two of you around."
"I was kind of hoping we'd make it through dinner before we had to shoot you," a soft voice remarks from behind us, her tone full of humor. "But you are getting old. Maybe we should go ahead and get it over with now."
I peer around his shoulder. Pen is beautiful. She's short and curvy like me, with big emerald eyes and an awesome fashion sense. She offers me a big smile and a little wave. "Hi, Jessie," she says. "It's nice to meet you."
"It's nice to meet you too." I step around my brother to greet her properly. It's not hard to see why he fell for her so fast. Despite being one of the most famous people in the world, there's something genuine about her. And something fierce too. I bet she gives him all kinds of hell. I immediately love her. "If you shoot him, can we bury him in the desert?"
"Why the desert?"
"Isn't that what bikers do? Hide bodies in the desert? Besides, it'll take years for anyone to find his body, so I'll inherit all his stuff. I don't know if you've seen his bike, but it's awesome," I say, trying to keep a straight face. "I want to paint it pink and add glitter flames to it."
"I have seen it. I think it'll look good in pink. Oh, you should totally put tassels on the handlebars too. You know, like the ones on bicycles? That'd look really good."
"Tassels," Risk mumbles from behind us, sounding sick. "Tassels, she says. Fuck my life. I can't die. I can't ever fucking die. They'll turn my baby into a goddamn Pepto nightmare."
Pen winks at me and then giggles, which makes me giggle. Within moments, we're clinging to each other and wiping tears.
Risk growls, glares at both of us, and then shakes his head. He can't hide his smile though. "I'm going to need a whole lot of alcohol this week," he mutters, stepping forward to wrap one arm around each of our waists. "And you aren't getting my bike, Jessie."
"Yeah, I am."
"Hell will literally freeze over."
"At the rate the ice caps are melting, anything is possible," I sing-song and then nudge him in the ribs. "And it won't even be that much longer until it happens, so I think the odds are in my favor."
"Jesus," he mutters, shaking his head. "Your outlook is as positive as ever, I see."
"I'm a realist."
"You're full of shit is what you are," he says, leading us toward a small house at the back of the property. "You like the world to think you're a realist, but you're really a hopeless romantic hiding behind a dark sense of humor, a false sense of fatalism, and impenetrable armor."
"Touché," I mumble, sticking my tongue out at him.
"I'm just saying…it's okay to put it down for a while, Jessie girl." He reaches up and tugs gently on a strand of my hair. "You don't have to prove anything to anyone anymore. You left those assholes in the rearview mirror a long time ago."
He's right. But his speech is about three weeks too late. His MC brother already scaled my defenses and sent my walls tumbling. They're in ruins at my feet now, completely obliterated. Surprisingly, life on this side is good. Letting someone love me isn't as terrifying as I thought it would be.
"Maybe I'm already working on it," I whisper to my brother, risking a glance at Devil's cabin as we pass it by. If he's inside, he's staying out of sight.
