She's Mine (A Bad Boy MC Romance)

by Sara Crest

  That voice, it sounded so familiar.

  I turned to the biker expecting to see someone I knew but all I saw was an older man with a beard that went down to his chest. He had his hair buzzed short and a tattoo that you could just barely make out on the side of his head. We made eye contact and he froze, when I looked deeper into his eyes there was something about him I recognized but I couldn’t figure out who it was.

  He slowly backed away from me, letting go of my wrist as the scuffle behind me still went on. I watched him back into the crowd, disappearing. I quickly stood on my tip toes, trying to see where he was going and maybe get one last look at his face but he was gone.

  A gunshot rang out behind me, I dropped to the floor and quickly turned around to see if Jack was alright. I saw Zeke with a smoking gun aiming it towards the ceiling with everyone who was in the scuffle quickly backing away leaving both Jack and the man he was beating laying on the floor.

  “Now that I have your attention; I’m gonna take my friend here back home and we’re all gonna forget about what happened here tonight. I ain’t gonna hold any of this against anybody, I don’t care who did what and for what reason and I don’t want to hear a word about it from anybody else. You got that?”

  The bar was silent, everyone had their eyes on Zeke but I had my eyes on Jack who was still lying motionless on the ground.

  Zeke picked Jack up and slung him over his shoulder, struggling from the sheer size of his friend. I rushed over to help and check on Jack who was still motionless as Zeke carried him.

  “He’s- he’s not-”

  “Dead? No don’t worry, he just got knocked out. Always amazed me that Jack could take on that many guys and still hold his own. He’s the toughest guy I know by far, could probably take a bullet to the head and find a way to walk out of it alive. Now come on, I’ll get you two out of here.”

  Zeke carried Jack out of the bar as everyone went back to what they were doing. Once we got outside Zeke carried Jack over to an old beat up car, couldn’t imagine that he used it much being in a motorcycle club and all.

  I opened the door for him and he put Jack in the back seat, I climbed in on the other side to make sure he was alright.

  Zeke got into the driver’s seat, flipping down the sun visor and letting the keys that were hidden there fall into his lap.

  I tried to see how bad Jack’s bruises and cuts were but couldn’t in the bad lighting. As he drifted in and out of consciousness he would push me away and I couldn’t understand why.

  Zeke quickly drove us back to Jack’s place and I helped carry him inside and lay him down on his bed. Watching as he continued to drift in and out of consciousness.

  “I don’t know how long he’ll be out for, but whenever he comes through just tell him no hard feelings and that he can stop by at any time to get his chopper” Zeke said as he began to walk out to return to his club.

  “Zeke, can I ask you a question?” I said looking as Jack lay there unconscious.

  “Yeah sure, what’s up?” he said as he stood in the doorway.

  “You’ve known Jack longer than I have, has he ever been that angry before?”

  “Maybe once or twice but it’s nothing regular with him if that’s what you’re wondering.”

  “Do you know why he got that mad? I mean he got angry at those guys who were rude to me outside of the bar but it was nowhere near as bad as when he was beating that man up…”

  Zeke sighed, leaning against the doorway and looking straight at me “look he probably wouldn’t want me to tell you but… I gave him an offer to run the club with me, sounded like he really wanted to but he didn’t want to go back on his word with you. Sounds to me like he was trying to come to terms with the fact that he could have the lifestyle of a biker or he could have you.” He looked over at Jack “and if you ask me it seems like he’d prefer to be with you.”

  I stood there in silence looking at Jack, unsure of what to do. I looked over to Zeke to ask him something but he was gone, left to go back to the bar.

  All this time I was worried about whether or not Jack truly liked me, all the time I worried about my father chasing us, and I never stopped to ask if this was what Jack really wanted.

  He put himself in danger for me, he was taking me out west because that was where I wanted to go. Never did I think I would give him the struggle of having to choose between me and the lifestyle he wanted to live. I thought that even while running away from my father that we could still live the way he had planned, but now I knew that there was a choice that he made and that he chose me.

  I walked over to him and kissed him on the forehead, I couldn’t imagine how much he must care for me to choose me over a dream he has had for years. It was just… I didn’t want him to look at me and always see the girl he gave up his dreams for, I didn’t want it to be like that. I also didn’t want to live the life of having to see him constantly wrestling for control in the constant power struggle of running a motorcycle club.

  I remembered who my father was before he became the Don of the Chicago Russian mafia. I remember a man who, even though overprotective, was a much kinder and gentler person towards me that he was in recent years.

  I lay down in bed next to Jack, kissing him on the cheek. I didn’t want him to turn into a man like my father, a far harsher and unforgiving man because of the constant struggles of running that kind of organization.

  Then it popped into my head, an idea that almost brought me to tears, if I was the girl of a MC leader then he would give me protection. Constant protection. He would have to make sure I couldn’t be taken from him and used against him just like my father feared.

  I couldn’t give in to what he really wanted, because then I would be walking right back into the life I wanted so badly to escape from. I also couldn’t just keep going on with what we have now, because I would always be the girl that took his life from him.

  I didn’t know what to do. I could feel my head so full that it felt like I was going to burst. How was this happening, why did we even stop here. I would have rather us both live our lives in blissful ignorance thinking this was what we really wanted then to come to these horrible realizations.

  Tears began to well up in my eyes, I was uncertain and overwhelmed with nobody to talk to. What was I going to do? What were we going to do?

  What was going to happen to us.

  Chapter Nineteen

  (Jack)

  I turned over in bed and my head began to throb, I slowly opened my eyes to see daylight peeking through the window. I had no idea how long I was passed out for, I didn’t even know how I got back home last night.

  I sat up and noticed that Viktoria wasn’t in bed with me, although the pillows on the other side of the bed looked used so I assume she did sleep next to me. As soon as I thought about her all my thoughts from last night began rushing right back into my head. Even through the throbbing pain leftover from that brawl all I could think about was what my revelation would mean for us.

  I got up out of bed, I was still fully dressed from last night so I threw off my dirty t-shirt and slipped on a new one. I walked out into my apartment to see Viktoria sitting on the couch eating some food from a coffee shop that was just a short walk from here, didn’t think that place would have still been around to be honest.

  She smiled at me but there was something different about it, I could tell that there was something on her mind.

  “You’re up, you had a pretty rough night last night” she said. She wasn’t really looking at me in the eye, she seemed unnaturally fixated on her food. “Zeke said that you can come by whenever to get your bike, it’s still where we left it.”

  I wasn’t about to tiptoe around this thing, I needed to know what was up with her.

  “Everything alright? You know you can talk to me if something is wrong.”

  She was silent for a few moments, opening her mouth a few times as if she was about to speak before hesitating. Finally she spit it out.

 
“Zeke told me… about the offer you got last night I mean.”

  “Yeah he gave me an offer to help run his MC, I declined though.” I looked at her but she still just stared at her food, unable to make eye contact.

  “But that’s the life you want, you’re made this choice because it was what was best for me.”

  “I’m not doing it because of you” I lied. “I’m just making the choice that I think will be the best for both of us.”

  She turned and looked at me in the eyes “do you really think that? Or do you actually want to be a part of their club?”

  When I looked into her eyes I knew that she already knew the answer, I might as well be straight with her. “Look running an MC with my best friend is something that I’ve always wanted to do, yeah I’ll admit that, but in the end I made a promise to you and I do want to be with you. That’s why I made that decision.”

  She stood up, it almost looked like she was on the verge of tears. “But if that’s what you really want to then then I’ll always be the woman that stood in the way of your dreams.”

  I walked over to her and hugged her, she pushed away at first before fully embracing me. “I don’t want you to grow to resent me” she said as she began lightly crying into my shirt.

  I didn’t know what to say, I was a little pissed at Zeke for telling her about that offer. It was just going to make things that much more difficult.

  “Look baby we can forget about all of this, we can keep pushing forward I’m sure everything will be fine between us.”

  “No, no it won’t. I saw how you were when you were with the Iron Horses, I saw how you didn’t want to be there, how you began to hate the people around you for the situation you were in. How do we know you won’t look at me like that one day.”

  “Because I’m in love with you Viktoria! And I’d do anything to keep you around” I said holding her firmly by the arms and looking deep into her eyes.

  “That’s how you feel now but what about in a month?! In a year?! You’ve wanted the dream to be in a real MC and to really be free for years and you expect me to believe that your desire of that dream won’t one day overtake your love for me? Just… just go do what you want.”

  “Well, why don’t I join the MC and you can stand by me. I could give you anything that you ever wanted, we’d still be happy and we’d still be together.”

  “What and relive the life you just freed me from? Not only would I need to be protected from whatever gangs are here but my father is still after me! I’m not going back to that life! I’m not going to have be protected by bodyguards all day every day because of a decision you made! You become the leader of that club and you think my father won’t find out about it? You’d have to lock me away in a bunker with a hundred men outside to keep him away from me once he knows where we are! And even then I’m not watching the stresses of that club slowly take you from me just like it took my father and turned him into the horrible man that’s hunting me at this very moment! I… I can’t do it Jack!”

  She pushed away from me and ran out the door sobbing, I didn’t know what to do. I hesitated from that bombardment that she just gave me. I finally ran after her but it was too late, I ran down the stairs and outside of the building, looking all around for any sign of her.

  “Viktoria!!!” I called out to no response.

  “Viktoria please!”

  I love her, I love her and now she’s afraid of the only lives I can offer her. I looked all around the parking lot for my bike to chase after her, for a second I was afraid that someone had stolen it before remembering that I had left it back at the bar.

  “COME ON!” I yelled out in frustration, kicking one of the cars in the parking lot and putting a dent in the rear bumper.

  I sprinted to the direction of the bar, running as fast as I could to try and get to my bike. “I have to find her, she’s not safe out there alone” I repeated to myself over and over again.

  But as I ran there I began to slow down, going from a run to a jog to flat out walking. I realized that even if she was in danger the last thing she wanted to see right now was me.

  I was furious, furious that I couldn’t live the life I really wanted to live without giving up the greatest woman to ever walk into my life. Furious that if I spent my life with just the two of us that I probably would grow to resent her until it broke us apart. Furious that if she did make a change for me that in the end she would be right and that I would have to give her extra protection, joining that club would paint a target on our backs. But… but if she went off on her own… if she went off on her own without me then she wouldn’t have to fear her father coming after me. I wouldn’t know where she went, even if her ass of a dad put a bullet in me I wouldn’t be able to tell him where she went.

  “But then I’d never get to see her again....”

  I arrived at the bar, there was no point in even hopping on that copper now when she wanted nothing to do with me at the moment. The only thing I could really do is hope that she would come back tonight.

  I looked at the bar, it wasn’t as full as it was last night but there were still some bikers hanging out outside and I could hear music coming from inside.

  “I need a fucking drink.”

  I walked to the doors, the kid I had forced to apologize was leaning next to the doorway. He looked a little scuffed up but was fine other than that, I probably looked worse with the beating I took from the place last night.

  I made eye contact with him and he nodded at me, I nodded back.

  “Is Ezekiel around?” I asked

  “Nah he’s out on club business, probably setting up highway patrol so that we know if anyone tries to come in so they can muscle us out of their territory.”

  “Damn, well if you see him tell him I asked for him alright.”

  I walked into the bar, a few people eyed me and I assume they recognized me from the night before but nobody said anything. It was like any old member just walked in. I headed to the counter and waved over the bartender, my mood lightened a bit when I saw that they still kept my favorite beer on tap. I would need a gallon of it to get over the thought of possibly having to separate from Viktoria.

  The bartender poured me a tall glass and I downed it in a few seconds flat before ordering another one.

  “Man drinking like that has something on his mind” I heard a voice behind me say. I turned around to see an older man with a buzzcut and a beard that would make a Viking blush. He had a tattoo running along the side of his head that looked fresh, was probably still healing.

  “You’re the guy who brought that girl in last night ain’t you?” he said sitting down next to me.

  “Yeah. Yeah that’s me” I said taking a sip of my beer. It sure was nice to actually have it straight from the tap instead of the bottle.

  “You’re a lucky guy to have a girl like that under your arm.”

  “Yeah well we’ll see how long that luck lasts.” I downed my second beer, I was hitting them fast and on an empty stomach so the alcohol was getting to me faster. The bartender quickly came and got me a third.

  “So, why isn’t she with you? Right now I mean.”

  “Does it matter she’s her own woman she can do what she wants can’t she?”

  “Oh it was just that she seemed pretty attached to you last night.”

  I looked at the guy, staring him up and down. There was something about his tone I just didn’t like, something about him the threw me off, but with everything that happened the night before I wasn’t about to go throwing punches again.

  “I’m gonna assume that since you’re already on your third beer in under 10 minutes just after noon, and from the fact that your lady friend is nowhere to be seen, that you’re having girl trouble.”

  “Yeah well I ain’t exactly in a normal predicament buddy” I snapped back before downing my third beer. I could already feel the buzz starting to get to me.

  “Yeah girls from Chicago always give guys trouble.”

 
“She told you where she was from?” What the hell was she doing going around and telling people she was from Chicago, that could put both of us in danger if someone was looking for us. Yeah we came up with the fake identity but she was only supposed to use that in emergencies.

  He didn’t respond, he just waved the bartender over and bought us each a drink. “So tell me, what exactly is the issue you’re having.”

  “Look, no offense I know you want to talk and you just bought me a beer but I kinda just came here to drink and mull over something in peace.”

  He put his hand on my shoulder and smiled at me “I’m just here to help you buddy, no need to be alone when you got me around.”

  Suddenly his phone went off and he excused himself to go answer it. He disappeared into the crowd of people and gave me a moment to myself.

  I thought about booking it, thought about just leaving right then and there so I wouldn’t have to deal with this guy. There was something off about him that made me uneasy but for all I knew that was just the headache I had from the hits I took last night.

  I reached into my pocket and pulled out the picture of Viktoria that Axel’s uncle gave to me back when we were hired to take care of her.

  “Most beautiful girl and loving girl I’ve ever met and it ain’t even gonna work out.” To think that after making love to her last night I was on top of the fucking world and now it was all coming crashing down. I guess it was inevitable then, if all that was needed to bring our faults, fears, and dreams forward was for me to get an offer to run an MC. Maybe if we never stopped here in KC I would have grown tired of having her on the back of my bike… maybe I would have started to feel like I was her chauffeur more than her lover. I think what hurt the most was the fact that even she didn’t believe that we could make it.

  Before I could even finish my thought the strange guy came back and sat down, he had a serious expression on his face but lightened up when I stared at him for a few seconds. I wanted to leave but if he kept buying me beer I would tolerate him just a little longer.