AllFreeNovel
Share Us
It's an offer tailor-made to cut through every defense I have.
All I need to do is open my mouth, say the 'yes' that we both want me to say, and I'll break the most vital vow I've made in my life, ruin my trust with my best friend, and do what Dani and I have both wanted for as long as we've known each other.
I keep my mouth shut.
Darkness and quiet hurt settle between us until the silence becomes the soft sighs of her sleep. When I'm sure she's deep enough in slumber that she won't wake up, I stand.
I can't stay in this room. I'm not strong enough.
I have to do something, anything, to take my mind off the temptation that’s sleeping just feet from me.
Anxiety and doubt take me outside to the perimeter gate.
At first, I don't know what I'm doing there except getting away from her, but then one look at the suited, shotgun-toting guard tells me exactly what I need to do: I need to get back to my people. Even for just a little while, I need to be back with the MC, with my friends, so I can have a break from all this mafia madness and the seductive dream sleeping in my bed.
"The fuck you doing out this late?" The guard says.
"My girl's asleep. I thought I'd take a trip into town and visit some friends, if you know what I mean," I say, tapping my nose, trusting the guard to understand, because there has to be at least one philandering asshole at this event.
He nods. Chuckles. "Have a good night."
* * * * *
I hitchhike once I get back to the main road. Half-an-hour later, I'm outside Reid's Repairs. There's a light on inside, which is exactly what I want. It's probably Bullet or Thunder pulling some late-night work or having a strategy session about how to expand the club's business. Lately, there’s been talk about strengthening ties with the Twisted Devils up north. Though I'm not one for business talk, preferring action or the honest silence of good hard work, I'll take planning and the company of my club brothers over sleeping on that cold stone floor next to the woman who effortlessly shreds my loyalty.
But it isn't Thunder or Bullet I find inside the garage.
"You look like shit. Also, you shouldn't be here," Rook says, hardly looking up from the motorcycle in front of him.
It's impossible for me to tell if he's pissed off at working late, or if this is his normal level of grumpiness. The two are so often the same.
"Had to get out. I spent the day surrounded by freaking Vertuccis, I need some fresh air and honest company. A ride, too," I say, adding that last part as almost an afterthought, though even as the words leave my lips, they sound true. I need a ride. A way to clear my head.
But clearing my head and raising my mood doesn't involve spending time with Rook. As much as he's a brother, he can also be a menace. Clearing my head means some task, some mission, that keeps my mind off the temptation sleeping in my bed.
As if reading my thoughts and knowing the exact wrong thing to say — because he's an asshole — Rook says, "I get you about needing a break. But this thing with that girl at that wedding is more important than you know. Smokey and his two friends, Ghost and Hawk, came by the shop earlier. Let drop the hint that they may look for a place to take them in, should this thing with his sister go well. We could use the extra firepower, too. Chatter on the street is the Santoros are still eying Costa Oscura and may make another move soon."
"Chatter on the street?" I say.
"I talked to a guy with connections," Rook says. "Then I put him in the hospital. They had to wire his jaw shut. Broke his fingers, too, so he won't be communicating for a while except by blinking."
Sounds about right for Rook and sounds like awful news for me. The last thing I need is knowing that this thing with Dani means more than just clearing my debt with Smokey, it may even mean the survival of the club itself.
There's some noise in the back office and a light flicks on, revealing Bullet at the lone desk in the office, on the phone.
"He's on the line with the Twisted Devils in Ironwood Falls. I connected Bullet with Rabid up there to see if they could work out something to the mutual benefit of both our clubs. The Devils are established, have great access to the Interstate and all those commercial connections, but they ain't seaside like us, nor are they as close to a major port as we are. Though I'd never tell them to their faces, those guys could be valuable partners."
"You wouldn't tell someone to their face that they're valuable?"
"And openly compliment them? Who the fuck do you think I am? Mother Theresa?"
"You're a strange man, Rook."
"Likewise, Wedding Boy."
"Shut up," I say, grinning. Even though he's a damnably surly asshole, Rook's still a more welcome distraction than spending time on the cold, hard floor next to the woman that I want, but can never have. "You about finished with that bike job for that Chaos guy?"
"Mayhem," he corrects me. "And yeah. It's about back in working order. Took forever, too. Entire engine was burned."
