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“I think you’d better leave.” His voice was calm but completely detached.
“Leave?”
“Right now.”
“I’m sorry, I ju—”
With a roar, Rainer stood. “I saidright now.”
Esme felt a pang of fear, and deep, deep sadness. But worst of all, she hadn’t told him the full reading: there was no easy way out. There was deep hardship ahead for Rainer, and she couldn’t help but feel as though she was bound up in it.
Because the Nine of Pentacles was her birth card.
CHAPTER FIVE
Peoplesayangerisa wave. Or that it’s an explosion.
But for Rainer, that wasn’t the case. For Rainer, anger was a tide. Once it came in, he had a long, long wait ahead of him before it went out again.
It was still with him the next morning. Of course, he wasn’t angry with Esme — far from it. He was furious with himself. He’d gotten very good at being angry with himself over the years. It was easy as slipping on a pair of comfy shoes.
The anger was still with him after he rode to his garage. It was still with him as he worked all day long on Baron’s hog, and it still didn’t leave him when he decided to head to the Den after he finished work.
He was, of course, partly hoping that he’d see Esme at the bar. It was unlikely. He’d obviously scared her. He doubted that she ever wanted to see him again. She’d probably avoid anywhere he went regularly like the plague.
Why had he done it? Why had he let his past take control of him like that?
Esme hadn’t done anything wrong. All she’d done was interpret a fucking piece of card, and she’d done it so broadly that basically every single person on the planet would have seen something of themselves in the reading.
But it had felt as though what she’d said was designed to get under his skin. It felt sospecificto him and his history. He hated to think back to that dark time in his life, a time when it felt as though hewasfated for something awful. A time when — through no fault of his own — he’d ended up derided and hated by society.
As he pushed open the door to the Den, he did what he always did — stuffed the memory so far down into his subconscious that he wouldn’t have to deal with it again for a while.
At least now there was no question of anything romantic happening with Esme. He could forget about the presidential contest and get on with just being a mechanic.
“You look like someone shat in your beer.”
God damn you, Baron, and your observations.
“I’m fine.”
Wolf shook his head. “No way. I can tell you’re fucked off because of your lip.”
“He’s so right,” Baron said, prodding a finger into Rainer’s chest. “When you’re angry, your lower lip quivers.”
Rainer very pointedly bit his lip. “You know, I came here to avoid my problems, not engage with them.”
“Well, weareyour problems, brother.” Wolf grinned.
“Tell me about it,” Rainer replied.
“No, tellmeabout it,” Baron quipped.
Rainer sighed.
“You know, I kind of assumed we’d be talking about the future of the club, not of your love life.” Baron raised a drink to his lips.
The sound of classic rock pumped out of the jukebox. Crank was in here tonight, with a couple old drinking buddies from an affiliated MC. They kept pumping out cheesy hits. Guns N’ Roses, Led Zeppelin, and Pink Floyd.
