by Kasey Krane
“I’m perfectly capable of loading a dishwasher, and I’ll clean up around here too. That way, your housekeeper will be less burdened.”
I wasn’t going to argue with her about picking up jobs around the place which she didn’t have to. That was her choice.
“I have to go to the Clubhouse, have a meeting with the MC. Something’s come up.”
She nodded. “Yeah, of course. You go. I’ll keep myself busy around here.”
“What will you do? Maybe it’s better if you stay here today. Lie low.”
Allegra looked at me and smiled.
“Don’t worry, I know exactly how to lie low and stay out of trouble.”
She came toward me as I was about to leave the room. She put her hands on my shoulders and looked straight into my eyes.
“I know what I said is a lot to take in…” she began.
It was more than that. I wasn’t sure she would fit in my lifestyle, but I said nothing. Not now. “…but I’m very happy that you have been willing to listen. You have no idea what your support means to me, Flash.”
I kissed her lips. It was one long, deep kiss.
“I’ll make sure to be back by dinner, and we can talk.”
“I’ll make dinner for us. I’m sorry I was too stunned to cook us breakfast.”
“Sure,” I said and we finally parted ways. I knew she would end up sucking me in and I would never leave if I didn’t leave now.
I went to the bedroom and changed into fresh clothes, and the whole time, it was only Allegra on my mind. I couldn’t look at the bed now without picturing her in it.
She looked so beautiful there. Mine. All mine.
But what if I had to let her go? What if she was the kind of responsibility I wasn’t prepared for?
And she was the first thing Bolt asked me about when I met him outside Fifth Gear. We were both parking our bikes and heading in.
“Where is she now?” he asked.
“At my place.”
He stopped in his tracks. I knew he was surprised to hear it because he was aware of my reluctance to bring any chicks back there.
“You took her to your place? And you’ve just given her free rein of your house while you’re here?”
I stopped too and turned to him. I knew what he was thinking—that I was losing my mind.
“I want to help her. Keep her safe from her ex. Her life is in danger.”
Bolt glared at me. Maybe he was thinking about the fight I’d put up against him when he claimed Cassie a few weeks ago.
“And is she sleeping in your bed too? Rearranging the cutlery while she’s at it?”
I ran a hand through my hair. He wasn’t wrong.
Bolt came up to me and he wasn’t grinning any more.
“Look man, take it from me. She seems like a nice girl. With complications, but a nice girl, nonetheless. She doesn’t seem to be like the rest of the chicks around here. Even Cassie said so.”
“Yeah, I know. She’s nothing like anybody else I’ve met before.”
“Are you going to claim her?” he asked out of the blue. Did he read my mind? I got immediately defensive.
“I haven’t done anything yet. Like I said, I’m just trying to keep her safe for now.”
I strode away from him before he could say anything else. I didn’t feel like getting any more unsolicited advice from him.
When I walked into Fifth Gear, I noticed the immediate chaos around me. Guys were shouting. I could hear Drax’s loud voice above all the din.
I pushed past the guys so I could get to the spot by the bar. Ghost, Spike and Drax were already standing there, discussing something loudly.
“What the fuck is going on?” I growled and some of the men parted so I could go through.
On one of the bar stools, a prospect was sitting with his shirt off.
Drax, Ghost and Spike looked up just as Bolt joined me by my side.
Ghost glared at me and put his hands on the prospect’s shoulders, slowly turning him around on the stool so I could see what they were all looking at.
“Fuckin’ Hell.” Bolt groaned under his breath while I stared at the scene in front of us.
The guy had a searing mark on his chest. His face was scrunched up in pain and he was clutching a glass of whisky like it was medicine.
Someone had branded him. It turned his skin a deep red with purple blotches, but the design was unmistakable.
It was the Silver Knights logo.
He’d been branded by them.
I looked up to meet Drax’s eyes. They were bloodshot and enraged. Slowly, he shook his head like he was going to kill someone.
14
Allegra
Flash was gone and I had the whole house to myself. I didn’t know when exactly the housekeeper was supposed to arrive, but tried cleaning up around the place anyway. It wasn’t like I had anything else to do and this way, I’d stay occupied and distracted till dinner, I hoped.
I wanted to stay distracted from the thought that I’d messed up everything with Flash.
Why did I let him convince me to tell him the whole story? I shouldn’t have spilled all. I should’ve known it would spook him and make him doubt our compatibility.
I cleaned up around the kitchen and then the bedroom. Alone in Flash’s house, I couldn’t help but be tempted to look through his things. I hadn’t even started exploring. Maybe he had a secret stash somewhere. A shoebox of his own. What would I find out about him if I went looking?
I stood in the middle of his bedroom, trying to decide what to do next. I could have easily started looking through all the cupboards and drawers in the house—and there were plenty—but eventually, after thinking about it for a few minutes, I decided I wouldn’t snoop.
Flash, after everything he had done for me, was entitled to his privacy. Besides, if he really had something to hide from me, he wouldn’t have just left me here to do whatever I wanted.
And I wanted it to be different with Flash. I’d been foolish in my past relationships, but with Flash, I wanted to start on a different note. On a mature note.
Now that I’d told him everything worth knowing about me, the ball was in his court. It was now up to him to reveal anything to me he thought was worth knowing about himself. I didn’t intend on going poking him about his past.
So I walked away from the bedroom and made my way to the living room, looking around, admiring the detail in the decor and how well maintained the place was. Flash’s personal life was just so vastly different from his professional one.
Outside the Club, he was neat and clean and took joy in having a good-looking house. He was clearly willing to spend money on it.
But outside this house, the man you were confronted with was dark and dangerous, rough around the edges, living a dangerous life and involved in activity that wouldn’t please most of this darling neighborhood if they found out about it.
I peeked through the curtains and looked out at the quiet street.
What did these people think Flash did for a living? Who did they think he was in his professional life?
I tidied up the curtains again.
I knew exactly who Flash was in his professional life. He didn’t need to spell it out for me to figure out exactly what his Club was involved in.
I just wanted him to know none of that bothered me anymore.
If he gave me a chance to explain, I’d help him see how much I’d changed in the past year. I wasn’t that naive girl anymore. I wasn’t that girl in the story I was telling him.
The Allegra Gordon who’d flushed down a box of drugs or run away scared from confrontation—that girl had been left behind. I’d spent too much time on my own, too much time looking out for myself and I’d met many different kinds of people along the way.
Being on the run had given me a brand new perspective on life. The kinds of people I’d interacted with, some good, some helpful and kind, some cruel, some criminal…they all had their stories and despite my circumstances, I
’d tried my best to understand them.
The one thing I’d figured out along the way was—it didn’t matter which side of the law someone lived on. What mattered was what their personal morals were. Just because someone committed a crime, or what was considered a crime to the rest of society, it didn’t directly make them a bad person.
And I knew that was true for Flash and the rest of his MC. I’d known that about him from the first moment I met him. Maybe the old me would have been afraid of him and his lifestyle. The old me would have already run away by now. But I wasn’t scared of Flash or what he had to offer. As long as he treated me well, kept me safe and was loyal to me, there was no reason why I couldn’t have a future with him.
This was what I wanted to tell him today.
It had been less than an hour that Flash was gone. I was done cleaning up. I’d changed into fresh clothes, brushed my hair…even put on some makeup. He said he would be back home by dinner, but it was only the start of the day. I didn’t know how long I would have to wait to see him again.
I was getting impatient.
There was so much I wanted to tell him.
I wanted him to know we had a fair shot at a future together—if that was what he wanted too. If he was serious about claiming me and protecting me.
I walked around the house aimlessly for a while longer. Drank another mug of coffee and ate an orange. For the first time in a very long time, I felt at peace. I could get used to this good feeling, I thought with a smile.
Starting to feel bored, I decided to go for a short walk. Just around the neighborhood. Just to get an extended taste of what it would be like to live here with Flash. To start a new life.
Digging my hands into the tight pockets of my jeans, I stepped out of the front door of Flash’s beautiful house.
In the light of the day, I looked up at its red-brick facade and sighed. How had I landed myself here? In this gorgeous house, leading a perfect life with the perfect man?
Sure, nothing was set in stone yet. I didn’t even know if he might change his mind by the end of the day…but just living this slice of a possible new life made me feel good. It made me feel hopeful.
Hopeful that maybe Flash had felt the same way about me.
When I woke up that morning and found him sitting beside me, I was filled with an intense urge to just grab him and kiss him and make him promise to never leave the house.
I wanted to spend all my time with him. But that wasn’t going to be possible. That would never be possible. Flash would always have his Club and even though we might build a life together, he would also have other priorities.
I would always have to share him with his other world, but that was something I was willing to do.
I walked down the pavement of this cute neighborhood, looking up to admire all the other lovely houses. It was amazing that a man like Flash had picked a house like this in a neighborhood that completely clashed with his outward appearance.
I would not have pictured him in the heart of suburbia when we’d first met. But then again, Flash was always full of surprises and that was probably what attracted me to him. I just never knew what to expect with him.
As I walked around with a smile on my face, blushing at every thought of this man I had fallen for, I suddenly noticed the sound of a car engine behind me.
The only reason it caught my attention was because I heard it slow down behind me. They had no reason to.
I looked over my shoulder, and as I did it, my heart began to sink. I knew what I would see before I even saw him.
Billy was behind the steering wheel. There was a bruise on his face where he’d fallen and hit the ground that night. Even through the windscreen of the car, I could see the rage in his eyes as he glared at me.
I ran.
I screamed as I ran. But nothing stirred. Nobody opened their doors. I was running blind and the only sensation I felt in the next moment was Billy’s hands on my shoulders. He wrapped me up in his arms and I struggled desperately.
For a loser, he was strong, overpowering me, just like he had done every time before. I kicked and screamed but he had the back door of his car open and threw me in.
I slumped down on to the floor, my face brushing down the car seat as I started to cry. He banged the door shut and I felt like I was suddenly shrouded in darkness.
“Billy, please no…just give me a chance…I’ll get you the money,” I pleaded. I looked up through my tears to see him sit down in the front seat again. He started the car and didn’t bother turning to me.
“You are worth more than the ten thousand now, bitch,” he growled and I had no idea what he meant.
15
Flash
The prospect who’d got himself branded by the Silver Knights was called Shards and he spent a significant amount of time sobbing in pain and knocking back shots of whiskies till someone had the bright idea to call our in-house doctor.
“What the fuck is going on with this shit?” Spike growled, pacing around the common room.
Shards was sitting on the bar stool, cursing and sobbing while we waited for Doctor Pulsner to arrive.
“How the fuck did you let this happen to you? How the fuck did you let them do this to you?” Ghost was on a rage-filled rant.
“Just leave the kid alone for now. We need to get him checked out by the doctor and then we can decide what to do with him,” I suggested.
It was like everybody at the MC was running around like a bunch of headless chickens. Shards getting branded by the Silver Knights was an act of fury that needed to be met with fire.
But I just wanted to avoid anybody doing anything stupid. The slightest move in the wrong direction could spin this whole thing out of control.
Just then, the doors of the Common room opened up and two guys ran in, dragging a limp-looking body between them.
“What the fuck is this?” Bolt yelled as we turned to see.
The two guys dragging the body were prospects from our MC, and the guy being dragged had a leather cut on with the Silver Knights badge clearly visible.
“Someone had to do something,” one of our prospects said.
For a few seconds, the rest of us just stared at the scene in front of us.
“Are you fuckin’ kidding me?” Spike growled.
“Who ordered a kidnapping?” Drax was furious.
“Nobody did. We made our own decisions,” the other prospect spoke up.
Spike pounced on them, pulling the guy off, and was about to beat the shit out of him but Bolt held him back.
“Since when do prospects make their own decisions around here without an official order from an officer?” Drax barked.
The rest of the members in the room fell quiet. The prospects kept their heads down. This thing was turning into a disaster.
“Take the guy down to the basement. Lock him up. Keep an eye on him,” I shouted the order to the prospects who’d dragged him in. The guy looked unconscious now, but he wouldn’t be for very long.
We needed to come up with a plan for when the Silver Knights discovered one of their guys was missing.
They took him away and the whole place was buzzing again.
“What the fuck are we going to do? We need a plan with this shit,” Spike said.
“We have a Silver Knights asshole in our basement right now, and we need to figure out how to deal with that first,” Ghost added.
“And let’s not forget the fact that one of our guys got branded by them. They need to get it through their thick skulls that they can’t keep attacking us,” Bolt said.
“So what are we supposed to do now? We can’t wait around. We need to attack!” Spike growled. He was pumped up and ready to go. The air inside Fifth Gear was supercharged on adrenaline and testosterone.
Since most of the girls had been banished from the premises, there was a sense of desperation in the air. These guys needed to focus their energies on something, and quick. They didn’t even have the fucking outlet now with the
chicks gone.
“We can’t go on the attack. That will definitely grab the attention of the cops,” Drax remarked.
“So what?” Bolt asked.
“So we could get in big shit if the cops came after us right now. We have three major shipments coming in next month, or have you fuckin’ forgotten about them?” Drax raged. “If we have the cops breathing down our necks now, we won’t be able to carry out those operations smoothly. Do you get that?”
Spike and Ghost exchanged looks. Bolt looked to me and I breathed in deeply.
“So we continue sitting tight?” I asked.
“For now, yes. If we can divert the attention of the cops to the Silver Knights, then that’s what we do, but until then, we wait till the last moment. We need those shipments coming in. And we need to rebuild the store downtown. Everything is a fuckin’ mess.”
Drax growled and drank and then growled some more. He was like a wild caged animal pacing around inside his cage, growling at the other animals. But he was in captivity; his hands were tied. He needed to make the sensible decision here, as much as we all wanted to attack the Silver Knights now.
“So we spend more time sitting around doing nothing,” Ghost remarked when Drax was out of earshot.
“He’s right. We need to think about the profits of our MC, over revenge. Plus, we have one of their guys knocked out in our basement. We have some shit to sort out,” I said.
Ghost grunted and shook his head.
“Yeah, you don’t care; you have that piece of ass to keep you busy,” he said and then grinned at me.
I couldn’t respond to that. I didn’t think these guys knew Allegra was in my home.
“I have shit to do here,” I grumbled and walked away from them. I wasn’t going to give them more fodder for gossip. I’d spend the rest of the day at the Clubhouse if I had to.
By the time I returned to the house, it was late. Much later than I told Allegra I would be. I didn’t like the idea that she would’ve been waiting up for me with dinner prepared, but there was shit to do at the Clubhouse. I couldn’t just abandon the guys at the MC and return to her.