by Ali Parker
I watched the clock on my desk at work creep closer to five o’clock. The last fifteen minutes of my work day passed terribly slowly, and when there were still four more minutes left, I caved. I stood up, collected my purse and my jacket from the back of my chair, and hurried out of the office, hoping that no one noticed me leaving early.
Even if they did notice, it didn’t matter. Sabian meant more to me than this job.
My dream job.
That realization hit me like a ton of bricks as I got onto the elevator and hit the button for the ground floor.
I continued chewing the inside of my lip as I drove to Axel’s shop. I prayed Sabian was working. If he wasn’t… I stopped that train of thought and concluded that I would jump that hurdle if I got to it.
I was relieved to see Sabian’s car parked along the gravel drive when I pulled up in front of the shop. The bay doors were open, as per usual, and Ellie was inside. She had her back to me and was standing relatively still, which was strange for her. Usually, she was busy at work. But from what I could tell as I got out of my car, she was merely staring at the wall.
Maybe she was daydreaming.
I cut across the gravel. She didn’t even turn to the sound of my shoes crunching over the rocks.
“Ellie?” I asked as I stepped into the shop.
She spun around, eyes wide, and blinked at me.
“What are you doing here?” she asked.
I put my hands on my hips. “Excuse me? I’m allowed to be here, you know?”
“You should go,” Ellie said, looking around like she was afraid someone might see us. She hurried over to me and took me by the shoulders before turning me around and pointing me out the shop doors.
“Ellie, what the hell is the matter with you?” I asked, spinning back to her and slapping her hands down from my shoulders. “I haven’t heard from anyone in days, and I’m starting to get worried. Sabian isn’t answering his phone and—” I stopped talking. Ellie let her hands fall to her sides, and she looked away from me. “Have you been crying?”
“Just go,” Ellie whispered. “Please. I can explain later.”
“Tell me what’s wrong,” I said gently, moving to put an arm around her.
She pulled away and shook her head. “No. Please, just leave. It’s better for everyone.”
“I’m not leaving until I see Sabian and make sure he’s all right. Is he in the office?”
Ellie looked up sharply. “He is, but I wouldn’t go in there. He… he needs some time alone. It has nothing to do with you, though, I promise. He just—”
I walked away from her and marched toward the door to the office. Ellie called after me but didn’t follow, and I continued forward until I was pushing through the office door.
Sabian was sitting behind the counter. His heels were up on the computer desk, and he was on his cell phone. He was pinching the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger, and his eyes were squeezed closed. When the office door closed behind me, he opened his eyes and looked up.
He ended his call without a word and put his phone down face first on the desk. He took his feet down and stood.
“Angela. What are you doing here?”
I swallowed. Why was I suddenly so nervous? “I came to make sure you were okay.” I glanced around the office. Everything looked the same as it did the last time I was there. Then I looked back at Sabian. He did not look the same. There were dark purple bags under his eyes. He hadn’t shaved probably since before our dinner with my mom and dad on Wednesday. His jaw was dark with stubble, and his eyes were red. His appearance answered my question.
He was not okay.
“What happened?” I asked, letting my purse slip off my shoulder.
“Nothing, Ang. You shouldn’t be here. I have a lot on my plate right now.” He moved around the counter and put his hand on my upper back. He steered me back to the door. “You should go. I need to focus on work right now.”
I slipped out from under his touch and spun back to him, fixing him with a glare. “Why are you trying to get rid of me?”
“I’m not trying to—”
“Yes, you are. Don’t lie to me, Sabian Delgado. I can see right through you and your bullshit. Spit it out. Why are you pushing me away?”
I suddenly noticed how hollow he looked, like someone had ripped his soul out of his chest and run away with it. Sabian hung his head, then ran both his hands through his dishevelled dark hair. “Things are tense with the MC right now,” he said, his voice low. “I don’t want you around when the fire starts to burn. I don’t want you getting hurt.”
“I’m not afraid of fire,” I scoffed. The words sounded lame in my own ears, but I didn’t care. I meant them. “I’m not afraid to be by your side.”
“But I am,” he whispered.
I was overwhelmed with the impulse to hug him; to wrap my arms around his waist, rest my cheek on his chest, and swear on my life that everything would be all right. But I didn’t know if that was a promise I could make. How could I swear it would be all right when I didn’t know the scope of what was wrong? I stepped toward him to hug him, but he retreated.
“I can’t, Angela. Not right now.”
“Then when?” I sounded so fucking desperate.
He looked down at his feet and shrugged weakly. “I can’t answer that yet. But when things cool down, I’ll call you. I promise.”
I hated that I didn’t know what was wrong. I hated it even more that he wouldn’t tell me. The pain in his eyes and the way he stood, with slumped shoulders and slack hands, was a foreign sight to me. This was not the tall and proud Sabian that I knew and cared for.
I reached out and grabbed his wrist. He surprised me by not pulling away. I rubbed my thumb over the back of his hand and glanced down when I felt bandages. His knuckles were wrapped. My brow furrowed, but I kept my mouth shut. He didn’t want me to pry, so I wouldn’t.
“Don’t take too long, okay?” I asked. “I miss you.”
The smallest smile touched the corners of his mouth. “I miss you, too.”
“Okay,” I said lamely. Then I pushed the strap of my purse back up my shoulder and turned to leave.
Sabian hurried forward and opened the office door for me. “I’ll walk you to your car,” he offered.
“It’s all right. I can remember where I parked.”
“I’ll walk you.”
I detected the order in the words. He wasn’t asking. He held the door open for me, and we cut through the shop. Ellie didn’t look up from her work as we passed by. She was in on whatever was bothering Sabian, and it infuriated me that neither of them were willing to share what was wrong with me. It was obvious that it was something within the MC, so I understood in a way why I wasn’t privy to the scoop, but it was unsettling nevertheless.
We went through the bay doors, and the sun kissed my skin. The weather was much cheerier than the mood in the shop. Our shoes crunched on the gravel until we arrived at my car. I opened my door and turned back to Sabian, who had his hands in his pockets as his eyes scanned the property from side to side.
“What are you looking for?” I asked curiously.
His gaze snapped back to me. “Nothing.”
I arched an eyebrow in disbelief. He was lying through his teeth.
I decided to let it go and slid into the driver’s seat. I slammed my door closed, and once the car was on, I rolled the window down.
“Call me if you need anything, okay?”
Sabian nodded once, and then he was peering around the property again. Clearly, I wasn’t enough to hold his attention. I rolled my eyes and put my car in reverse. I backed out of the drive and out onto the street. He watched me go, but neither of us waved.
I drove home in silence as I seethed.
After how close we had become over the last couple weeks, I was surprised to be dismissed in such a direct way. Sabian had never given me the impression that he was capable of behaving in such a way. I had a right to be concerne
d.
Something serious had to be going on.
He looked sad, I thought to myself as I took a right turn onto my street. I pulled the memory of his face to the foreground of my mind. His eyes had been empty, and I was sure he hadn’t slept in at least a day.
I ran my tongue along the raw skin on the inside of my bottom lip. “What are you hiding, Sabian?” I whispered to myself.
If there truly was something big going on, I wanted to find out. The journalist in me was beginning to get that all too familiar itch to seek out the truth and find the story.
Maybe there was something bigger and better there than my online dating article.
As I pulled into the underground lot beneath the Kent building, I concluded that I was going to find out, one way or another.
Chapter 19
Sabian
As I swung my leg over the seat of my bike, I turned to look across the field, dotted with headstones, to the place where we had just lowered Hyde’s casket into the ground. The groundskeepers were tossing soil into the hole as his two sisters stood with their shoulders pressed together. They were dressed in form-fitting black dresses and had black lace kerchiefs clutched in hand to wipe away their tears.
The rest of the MC were gathering on the lane and getting onto their bikes to ride our route back to Ryder’s house, where we would all disperse after the tribute ride was finished. All of us were in our leather jackets with our Lost Breed crest on the back. We were hot, uncomfortable, and in mourning.
Ryder drew up short in front of my bike. We hadn’t spoken since our altercation in his living room the night I found out Hyde had been murdered. The muscles in his jaw flexed as he contemplated his words.
“Beers at my place in his memory,” was all Ryder managed to say before weaving through the other MC members and getting on his own bike at the front of the pack.
I flexed my fingers and revved the throttle as I kickstarted my Harley. All the other engines roared to life around me and hummed in my ears like a swarm of menacing bees. Axel was up ahead, his bike slightly behind Ryder’s. Slightly behind him and to the left side was Jax. I was just behind him. Caleb and Derek were on my tail as Ryder pulled away and we all followed.
I cast one last glance back across the field. Hyde’s sisters had turned to watch us leave. Even though I knew I couldn’t over the roar of the bikes, I thought I could still hear them sobbing.
After the tribute ride, I continued past Ryder’s place. Axel, Jax, Caleb, and Derek all pulled into his drive, but I headed home first to scrub the sweat and misery from my body. I slipped into a pair of fresh jeans and a white T-shirt. I left my jacket draped over the back of my sofa and grabbed my car keys.
I left the house feeling clean but exhausted. I’d barely slept since learning about what happened to Hyde. Part of me wanted to blame it on the grief and anger, but I knew it was because I was frightened. I was on permanent alert for the next attack. If they didn’t come after me, they’d be coming after one of the others, and I wasn’t keen on getting another call like the one I received from Jax. One death was more than enough to drive a point home.
The Black Hearts were coming for us.
I needed a coffee to chase away the fatigue that made it nearly impossible to keep my eyes open as I drove to Ryder’s place. I stopped at a small shop a few blocks from his place and left my car at the curb. It was a no parking zone, but I’d only be inside for a few minutes.
I ducked under the door, and a bell chimed above my head.
I got in line behind a man in a business suit that was a light shade of gray and looked like he’d owned it for at least twenty years. His eyes were glued to his phone screen, and he was scrolling through some sort of news website as we inched closer and closer to the register.
The bell above the door dinged again, and the clicking of high heels on the tile floors grew ever closer as the new patron took her place behind me in line. After a few moments, she tapped me on the shoulder.
I turned around to find myself staring into a pair of frosty blue eyes framed by dramatic black lashes. She gave me a coy red smile and gestured at the display case in front of me.
“Excuse me,” she said, and I took a step back so she could lean in front of me to grab a bottle of water from the lower shelf. “Thanks. It’s a hot one out there.”
“Sure is,” I said, facing forward again.
She tapped my shoulder again.
I half turned back to her. That same coy smile was still playing on her lips, and she swayed her shoulders a little before clasping both hands in front of her to hold the water bottle. This caused her breasts to push together, and the low cut of her white blouse made it hard to not look down.
She was a beautiful woman. Her eyes were captivating, her lips were full, and she was dressed entirely in white from head to toe. Her white blouse was tucked into a skin-tight knee-length white skirt, and her white pumps were a good six inches tall. In the shoes, she was the same height as me, which meant she was roughly five foot ten, give or take a few inches.
“You look familiar,” she said, her voice dripping with sex. “Where have I seen you before?”
I shrugged. “Not sure. I think I’d remember a woman like you.”
Her smile broadened, revealing perfect white teeth. “Would you now?”
I nodded. “You kind of stand out.”
“As do you.”
“I’m not sure if that’s a compliment or not,” I said, trying to force a smile. This stranger didn’t know the kind of day I was having, and it wasn’t her problem that one of my best friends had just been used as a piñata and bludgeoned to death.
“Oh, I assure you it’s a compliment of the highest regard.” She ran her tongue over her top teeth and shifted her weight to her right foot. The posture she assumed created an alluring curve of her body, and she tossed her mane of long, straight black hair over her shoulder. Then she looked me up and down like she was preparing to eat me. “Do you have plans for the rest of your evening, good lookin’?”
A little thrown off by her forwardness, I hesitated for a brief second. Then I collected my thoughts. “I do.”
She arched a black eyebrow and bit her bottom lip. “Not with another woman, I hope.”
“No, much less interesting than that.”
She chuckled and looked me over once more. “A shame. I would have liked to have gotten to know you better. Go somewhere a little more private. Maybe get a look at what’s going on under that shirt of yours. And those pants…” She trailed off and lifted her eyes to meet mine.
“Uh,” I stammered like an idiot, “Sorry.”
“So am I.”
It was my turn to order a coffee. I ordered a black Americano and paid the cashier, who blushed furiously when I dropped my change in her tip jar. Then I moved to the end of the bar to wait for my drink. It was only thirty seconds before the vixen sidled up beside me once more and ran her red-painted fingernail over the back of my shoulders.
“I bet you know how to show a woman a good time,” she cooed.
For the first time in my life, I was intimidated by a woman. She moved around me like a wolf circling its prey, all the while running her fingers over my shoulders. She paused on my other side and looked up at me with imploring eyes.
“You’re sure you can’t cancel these plans of yours to find a quiet place with me? It’s not often that I let a man get me naked without having to put in any work, but I’ll make an exception for you, sugar.”
The barista called my drink and slid it across the counter. I stepped forward and grabbed it before turning back to the raven-haired woman who was, despite my best efforts, managing to make the blood rush to my cock.
“You’ll have to find another guy,” I said.
Her drink was called just after mine, and she plucked it from the counter. She turned on her heel and slipped between me and the counter. As she passed, she ran her free hand over the front of my pants. She gave me a wink and then went to the door.
When she was halfway through, she paused and looked back at me. “I’ll see you around, Sabian. I’m sure of it.”
And then she was gone.
I stood like a fool with my coffee in my hand before shaking my head and going to grab a lid from the counter. As I snapped it on, I froze and ran through the last few minutes.
At no point during our exchange had I told her my name.
I bolted for the door, clipping shoulders with a middle-aged man who swore loudly at me as I stumbled out onto the sidewalk. I looked up and down the street both ways, eyes peeled for a black-haired temptress, heart hammering in my chest.
She was gone.
“Fuck,” I growled, looking both ways one more time for good measure. At some point in my mad dash to the door, I had managed to spill my boiling hot coffee on my hand and was only now becoming aware of the pain. I hissed under my breath as I got in my car and slammed the door behind me. “Fucking deceitful bitch.”
I didn’t realize I had also spilled coffee all over my white shirt until I parked in Ryder’s driveway behind the others’ bikes and got out of my car. I grumbled under my breath as I walked through the front door. I kicked it closed and left my boots on and made my way out to the back of the house, following the sounds of my friends’ voices to the back deck.
I found them all sitting around Ryder’s old wooden patio set. Dani was there, sitting in his lap with her ankles crossed and her arms wrapped behind his neck. She was resting her chin on top of his head, and when I stepped through the sliding patio doors, she shot me a protective glare.
So, she had heard about my confrontation with Ryder.
I ignored the daggers she was throwing at me with her eyes and dropped down into a seat beside Jax, who was nursing a can of beer. He looked over when I sat down and nodded his greeting. Then he saw the mess of my shirt and raised an eyebrow.
“Someone had an accident,” he commented.