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I let my eyes flit up toward the ceiling. Directly above my head was Hero’s bedroom. I sighed wistfully. I loved sleeping with him. While he was gone on the run, I’d felt protected here—part of the club’s family.
“You belong here, Roja. Promise you won’t leave while I’m gone,” he whispered in my ear. It was morning. In an hour, he’d leave with the others. I didn’t want him to go.
I held onto him tighter, my face buried in the curve of his neck. We’d just finished making love. Like all the other times, it was a religious experience, as Hero liked to call it.
“I’ll be here, keeping your bed warm.”
He tilted my chin up and pressed his full lips to mine. “Do you understand how important you are to me?”
I nodded as tears stung my eyes. He was doing it again. Caressing my soul with his soulful depths, branding it with his passionate declarations.
“God sent you to me. I believe it with all my heart. Do you believe it too, baby?”
I didn’t grow up in a religious home as Hero had with his grandma… his abuelita. It explained the crucifix tattoo on the inside of his right bicep. There were three vines at the bottom: an inscription on each. I hadn’t gotten a close enough look to read them. Didn’t want to make him uncomfortable. But I wondered if it was like a memorial with the names of those he’d lost. Like his wife, if what Emilee had said was true the day we were in Dairy Queen.
I’d ask him about it another time. For now, I’d savor my time with him.
I kissed his scruffy chin. “Yes, I believe it.”
Hero fisted my hair and crushed his lips to mine. “I’m never letting you go, Roja.”
I blinked away the tears burning behind my eyes.
Madeline surprised me when she dropped into the chair next to mine. “I had no idea Libby could sing so well! And a Gretchen Wilson song at that!”
“Big vocals in a tiny body.” I swirled a cocktail straw in my glass. Could the blonde kitten be any more perfect? Too bad I liked her, or I’d hate her guts.
“Exactly.” Mads sipped her lemonade, her drink of choice these days, and eyed me. I knew her question was coming. “You doing okay? You seem off tonight.” She took a handful of peanuts and candy corn and filled her mouth.
Every year when October arrived, Maddy mixed up a bowl of the nasty combo and munched on them until November. Peanuts I could handle. Candy corn? No, thank you. But it was a thing Maddy loved, so I never complained so long as she didn’t ask me to eat some, which she never did. That girl was possessive over her treats.
“Just missing Luna.” A partial lie. I’d gotten my baby all set up for the night. She’d done well using her litter box all week while I was at work. I made sure she ate enough and had fresh water before I left. Luna pretty much stayed on the sofa, perched on a pillow. I felt a little guilty for leaving her alone so much, but Copper had assured me she would be fine.
He better be right.
“Aww. Of course, you do. I didn’t even think about her. Wish you brought her so I could get some cuddles.” Madeline fidgeted with a napkin, her smile fading fast. I needed to change the direction of this conversation.
“Well, it’s still new to me too. So do you think Boxer and Ire will win tonight?” I glanced toward the corner when the song ended. Steph and Libby danced around, waiting for the next one to start. I recognized the song right off the bat from the intro. Yup, “Hit Me with Your Best Shot.” I was down for Pat Benatar, especially this song, after Hero knocked me down.
I’d always get back up.
Maddy screwed up her face. It was better than seeing her sad. “Oh gosh, I hope they win after the way those guys acted all week. So intense and focused. They were like robots constantly training. I hardly saw Ire, which isn’t unusual… You know, since the attack at The Bullet. But Boxer? He was all business and no play.”
“Would’ve loved to see that. Boxer’s such a flirt. Not more than Lynx, though.” I finished off my drink, then second-guessed raising my empty glass so Copper would bring me another. I needed to make nice with him. Only I wasn’t ready. All evening, he acted as if he didn’t notice me. I knew better, though. We’d become friends. I highly doubted he’d cut me loose after one fight, or I hoped he wouldn’t.
“Yeah, Lynx outshines Boxer in the flirting department.” She turned toward the clock above the bar. “They should be here anytime.”
I followed her gaze. It was after ten o’clock. The time sure flew by when drinking and listening to music.
Maddy raised a quizzical brow. “You changed the subject. What’s going on? Something happened. Don’t lie to me either. I can read your eyes when you’re lying.”
Shit!Now, what was I to do? I never talked about my past. Well, I did, leaving out all the dark parts. Maddy knew the basics, nothing more.
“They’re back!” Heidi, one of the kittens, announced.
Maddy was on her feet, along with the rest of the room. I caught a moment of reprieve, but it might not last long. Maddy seemed suspicious, which was never good. I needed to prepare myself for her questions. I had no clue what I’d tell her.
The truth? That my dad had found me and was up to something. Thewizard, as he called himself, always had an angle he worked. It usually involved drugs. Dealing was how he afforded his own heroin habit. If dear old dad brought his shit into Knight’s Legion territory, the club would take him out.
