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I do not respond.
I stare and stare some more.
Liam smirks, and it’s the most frustrating thing I've seen since breakfast.
Eleven
Victor must have gotten my number from my dad. Or from his stalking ways, who knows, but either way he had text me Tuesday afternoon asking if I was free that evening to go for a walk with him.
I was initially shocked that he hadn’t asked to go for food to some fancy restaurant or to a film. That seems to be the normal type of first date that people go on, but then I remembered two very important things. The first being that he was a MC President’s son so his idea of a first date would be very different to most teenage boys I had known in school; and secondly that he had himself admitted to having me watched which meant that he probably knew I liked to be outside – hiking, walking, running – just about anything so long as I had fresh air around me.
I had asked Crow how he felt about it, not wanting to go without speaking to him about it first, even though I didn’t have a huge amount of choice in the matter.
I didn’t doubt that Victor would take no as a solid answer without question if I suddenly changed my mind but with Gray’s life on the line and that of my father’s men; my family, I couldn’t very well turn him down and change the rules of the deal now. I mean, I could, but I wouldn’t. It wouldn’t be fair to Victor or to those around me that are relying on this deal going well.
I know that I could have just said screw it all and either marry him without getting to know him or just say no to it all, but both felt too hasty. I have to give him a chance. I hardly know him but from what I do know, although I don’t see myself falling for him when I have Crow that is slowly but surely stealing my heart, I feel that Victor deserves a chance and so do I. If I do end up marrying him, I want to know him, really know him – even if the marriage never ends up being a conventional one.
Crow had been surprisingly easy going about it all so long as I promised to be honest with him throughout, which of course I had and intend to be, but now that he is walking me to the club to meet Victor, he seems more tense. Understandably so. Just before we enter the Club grounds, I halt and grab hold of his upper arm, feeling his bicep tense as I do.
“Crow, will you stop for a second?” I ask him, ready to beg. I can't lose him, not over this or over anything for that matter. I need him more than he could possibly know.
His jaw is set, his eyes dark and his face a mask, showing no emotion. This isn’t Crow, and I can’t even blame him.
“I’m sorry. I wish it didn’t have to be like this,” I tell him as I fasten my body to his in a hug I have no doubt we both need.
His arms wrap around me tightly as he sighs into my hair.
“You don’t need to be sorry, Char. I get why you’re doing it, I just wish you didn’t have to,” he tells me as he lifts my face and places a gentle kiss on my forehead.
I look up towards him and find his soft gaze burning into me. It’s more than just physically being able to feel him, it’s all of him. His presence, his safety, his constant reassurance that overwhelms and completes me. Being in Crow’s arms makes me feel like the world could stop, the people could disappear, and it wouldn’t even matter because he would somehow find a way to make it OK. The warmth of his breath, his arms, and his love surround me in ways I spent my childhood dreaming of and it’s in that moment, the moment I can feel myself falling for the man that I know I shouldn’t, that I hear an abrupt clearing of one’s throat. An intentional cough that breaks up our faces veering for one another.
I startle and pull away, worried that it could be my dad catching us in a compromising situation. No matter how much he likes Crow, I don’t doubt that he would be unhappy finding us seconds away from kissing. But when I turn to see the face the noise came from it seems even worse than my dad catching us.
Victor.
His face is blank, much like Crow’s was only moments ago.
Crow tugs me closer to him, kissing the side of my head possessively, his eyes not straying from Victor’s.
“You go on, Char, your dad will be picking you up here afterwards and I’ll see you at home later,” he tells me as he releases his hold on me.
My body shivers instantly, not only from the cold around me but from the immediate disappearance of his warmth around me.
I nod at him and walk to Victor, ready to apologise.
I open my mouth to speak, but he starts before I have the chance to fumble and say I’m sorry.
“No need. You did warn me. Let’s get going.” He nods to Crow before putting his hand on my lower back and guiding me away.
“I am sorry, I know I told you but it’s not fair for me to parade it around in front of you.”
He lifts the helmet off his bike and hands it to me, helping me fasten it below my chin before putting his on.
I realise now that he’s still dressed impeccably. He’s in a suit again. Does he not get it ruffled and dirty on his bike, I wonder.
“I haven’t had a woman on the back of my bike before so yank on my shirt if I’m going too fast,” he tells me before lifting his leg over his bike and encouraging me to do the same.
I circle my arms around his large chest, feeling the muscles beneath his shirt rippling and moving under my touch.
