She looked down and then smiled back up at me. “I have been thinking about you and our night together for a long time. I don’t think I could ever stop thinking about you, Grady. You have done something to me, but I figured I would never see you again.”
“I’ve been looking for you and now you are here. I didn’t know about the baby, but I couldn’t be happier that it is with you. It’s meant to be.”
“But your record and my job. How can it work?”
I didn’t know. I couldn’t give up the gang. They were like family to me. I certainly couldn’t be with a cop. It wouldn’t be safe for her. One of us was going to have to give up what we did for a living. “I can’ leave the Black Angels. No one ever leaves. You are in it for life.”
She pulled away and sighed. “I know Grady. That is why it is impossible. My uncle was killed by a motorcycle gang. He got caught in the crossfire. That’s why if I would have known, I never would have looked at you again. I can’t be around that, my son is not going to be raised to think killing and drugs are normal.”
I could see she was working herself up. There was a knock at the front door and then the man from before was back. “Casper if you don’t get the fuck out right now…”
Casper shut the door and left Laney looking at me. “See.”
I didn’t see her point. The little punk was on my nerves and the last thing I needed to think about was if the two of them had been together. I didn’t even want to think about someone else’s hands on her. It drove me crazy to even consider such a thing.
“He is nobody and you know it. I am the one who’s child you are carrying. What does he matter?”
I could tell he mattered as much to her as he did to me. “So what do we do Laney? What do I have to do to make you come back with me?”
“I am not going back anywhere with you Grady. Our son is safer without you around.”
***
It hadn’t been easy to convince Laney to leave with me and I didn’t get her back to the city like I had hoped. We both couldn’t change who we were, but I told her I would try. I had some money stashed away for a rainy day and this was the downpour that I had saved for. But leaving the Black Angels wasn’t an option without consequences.
We had moved away from the city and further away from her home town. Renald knew about Laney and I didn’t want them to find us, so we had to completely disappear. It was not what she wanted, but after a little touching and tasting over a couple of days, she couldn’t think beyond the last orgasm and she finally agreed.
Now it was almost time for our son to be born and I was putting the finishing touches on the baby room. The furniture was put together and everything was set. I heard a noise in the other room and I stopped for a second. It didn’t sound like Laney. She was large and loud at this point in her pregnancy and would usually call out to me when she was home.
I hadn’t wanted her to go out alone, but she insisted. Laney was a hard woman to get along with, so used to doing things her own way. A touch could usually tame her. But it wasn’t her that was making soft noises as someone who didn’t want to be heard did.
The hairs went up on the back of my neck and I moved to the side of the wall. I saw the gun before I saw the man and grabbed it out of response. He pulled a shot off and I hear the loud ringing in my ears from it being discharged so close. The bullet went into the wall behind to me because I ducked in time.
I didn’t need to see the shooter to know who they were or at least, who had sent them. It didn’t matter how loyal I was, I knew once I left the gang, the boss would send people out looking for me. It was just too soon and I was racking my brain trying to figure out how they found me there. I moved back behind the wall and waited.
“Come out Grady. Loch has decided to give you a slide this one time if you come back now.”
Loch didn’t let anything slide, so I knew it wasn’t true. The fact that he had already squeezed off a shot was a good indication that what he said was a lie. Loch wanted me dead. I knew that.
I would have waited him out if it wasn’t for the familiar sound of Laney in the hallway, coming up the stairs. I moved out in front of him, knocking the gun out of his hands and putting my hand over his mouth. The last thing I wanted was for Laney to walk in on it. I didn’t want her to always be looking over her shoulder. Ignorance was bliss in this scenario.
Dragging the other man to the kitchen, his struggles were lessening and by the time she made it to the front door, he was out of sight. I didn’t know if he was dead, but he was out of the equation for the moment.
“Grady? Why is the door open?”
I put a smile on my face and shut the door on the incapacitated would-be attacker. “Sorry love. I was just about to check the mail when I had to use the restroom. How was your day? Did you get any shopping done?”
She smiled back at me and waddled towards me. She looked ready to pop and there had never been anything more beautiful that I had seen in all of my life. Laney practically glowed. The kiss got heated quickly and I had to push her away before I forgot what was going on.
“Is smells strange in here. Like something is burning.”
“Oh, I just put a candle out. I know how you like the smell of the cookie one.”
“Yes, it’s making me hungry and I have to pee.”
“I steered her away from the bathroom. “Why don’t we go out? I know you don’t feel like cooking and it’s been a while since we went out just because.”
Laney was happy with the surprise. “Sure that sounds good.”
I breathed a sigh of relief as I ushered her out the door. She stopped and looked back for a minute at the wall in front of her and then walked towards the car. Laney waited for me to open the door and then got in. I closed it and went around to the driver’s side. “So are you really not going to tell me why there is a bullet in the wall or why there was a gun shot in the house?”
I looked over at her stunned. How did she always know? “Laney, I…”
“Was it Loch that sent him?”
I nodded and started the car. “So we have to move again?”
I shook my head again and she sighed. “Well I really liked that place. How many times is he going to make us move? The baby is going to be here soon, we need to take care of it.”
She was scary sometimes. There was no other way about it and I couldn’t help but think that she would have been someone I could have worked the business with. There was something sexy when she acted tough. I knew that I was part of the reason I had been drawn to her no-nonsense way and I loved what Laney had become. “I will take care of it. You don’t worry about anything.”
Resting her head on my shoulder, I heard her sigh. “With you next to me, how can I worry about anything? I know you take care of what is yours.”
ROCCO
A Bad Boy Romance
By: Sabrina Riley
Chapter 1
Nicole
“I just can’t believe you are going to go live in a co-ed house. It’s going to be so different than it is here.”
I shook my head. “I hope so. I don’t know about you, but I hope I never have to see this place again.”
Annie shrugged. “I don’t know. It wasn’t so bad. Guys are overrated and there is going to be more problems. It’s not too late to go to Johnson Academy with me.”
Putting down the last bit of clothes I was folding, I felt bad. Annie and I had been roommates for some time and now that we were going our own separate ways, it was going to be hard to not see her anymore. I was moving to the east coast and it would be several months before I planned to see her again. There was something in the way she looked at me, the way she’d always looked at me that told me that Annie had always wanted more than I was able to give.
“It won’t be that bad. You know that they don’t have any biology classes there. What am I going to do, go for woman’s studies?”
She was offended. I could see it on her face. It wasn’t quite her proposed major, but
it might as well be. Social sciences were all the rage, but I just wanted a degree that would actually have a job at the end of it. The bonus of most of the jobs being close to the equator, made my path even clearer. But it was the rest of it, the unbridled feelings that I couldn’t get passed. I thought it would be good us to have a little space. Maybe she would find someone else to pine after and things could go back to the way they were before we got a little too drunk and kissed that one night.
“There is nothing wrong with social work.”
“No, no, you are right. It’s just not for me. I know that you are going to be great and change the world and I am not just saying that.”
Annie was not convinced and I felt a little upset about her being so against the move. She knew that I had been dying to go to Carolina Tech and I wished more than anything that she would be happy for me. I was happy for her when she got into the all-girls college she had her heart set on.
“Thanks Nicole. I am sorry I am being such a bitch. I should be happy for you. I know that. But I am just going to miss you. We have been here for four years together and it’s not going to be the same with you gone.”
I relented, I always did with her. She wore her heart on her sleeve and I found myself hugging her and trying to comfort her. It was only when she was slow to release me and had the look of wanting to kiss me again, that I realized I was confusing her. I didn’t want to give her any false hopes.
“It will be fine Annie. You are going to have a new roommate at Johnsons and I am sure that one won’t keep you up all night studying. Besides, you won’t have to live with all these aquariums anymore.”
She just shook her head, wiping a tear from her eye. “You know I don’t mind. You aren’t going to take them with you, are you?”
By the way she looked I was guessing it was not a good idea. I really wanted to take them all, but I was only going to have a room with shared facilities, so there would be no room for them all like there was there. I knew that I wasn’t going to have roommates like Annie that would let me haul in 5 of them and whatever scum and fungus I could find to study at all hours of the night. The more I thought about it, the more I realized I was really going to miss her as well, for more than just gossip sessions.
“I am going to take one, but I am giving the rest to Tonya. She is into that kind of thing, so at least I won’t have to throw it all away.”
“Well I will not miss the smell, but definitely you. I would take a couple of weeks to get to know them first, before you start bring home sea creatures.”
I agreed that I would. Now I was getting misty eyed and I tried to ignore the feelings that were welling up inside. I was going to miss boarding school. I did hate it, but there were so many memories there, that made it a place that I would always think about. Since Annie had been part of many of my antics in the past, I knew that she was going to be one of those things that I was going to think about a lot too. We had done everything together in the last four years of high school, but I had to remind myself that it was time for something new.
“I am going to miss you Annie.”
“Call me as soon as you get there, okay?”
We hugged again and I promised that I would call her when I got off the train. I had almost a day of a ride ahead of me and I wasn’t looking forward to it, but I knew that it was just part of my new journey that I was on.
***
The train was cramped and there were several times I day dreamed of getting off at one of the stops on the way. The constant swaying and talking was more than I could handle and by the end of it, I was practically running off of the train. I had to sell my car to get the money to go to my college, as the grants and loans didn’t pay for room and board. I was missing old Betsy as I stretched at the train depot.
I sat down with my backpack and duffel bag beside me. While I would have loved to have called a cab and just gave them the address to sort out, I knew that I needed every dollar I had until I found a job. So that meant that I had to find the map on my phone and figure out the walking directions. I was eager to just get there after almost a day of travel. I needed a hot shower and a bed. Nothing else sounded so good as I made my way up the sidewalk the half a mile to my new shared house.
Taking in everything around me, quaint kept coming to mind. The town was a rather small seaside town and everything was just so, in place where it should have been. Each little house was about the same size and they all had small yards in the front and a white picket fence to cordoned off their little bit of green space. I was waiting for a makeup seller in pink to come walking down the street. Charlton was quaint and I was already feeling more at ease being there. I could smell the salty sea air and it smelled like adventure.
Chapter 2
Rocco
“I haven’t heard much. Just that she is a marine biology major. I think that is all any of us need to know.”
“Come on, she could be hot.”
I just gave him a look. I had never met one that was and since I had banged most of the girls on campus, I was pretty sure I was an authority on it. “Trust me, she won’t be.”
“I don’t like the idea of a chick living here again. You remember Jessica?”
We both cringed. She was the roommate that had just left and the one that the new girl was going to replace. “Yeah I remember her. We are both broke because of having to pay her part of the rent. We need a third and this chick was the only one looking on the boards, so we will just have to make it work.”
“It’s going to be hard to deal with some ugly chick walking around here.”
I just sighed. “It won’t be much different than the girls you have being bringing back here the last couple of weeks. I am going to start cutting you off if you are too drunk anymore.”
He waved me off. “You don’t need to worry about me. Jessica left because you couldn’t keep your junk in your pants. You can have anyone you want, just not the roommates. Seriously Rocco. I want to have beer money this month, so no scaring this chick off.”
“What’s her name again?”
Carl just shrugged. “Does it really matter?”
It didn’t matter to me, but I couldn’t help but feel a little guilty about Jessica. I had tried to keep away from her and it hadn’t been that hard, but then I had woken up from a hangover and needed some. She was there and looking all roused from bed. I couldn’t help myself.
I went back to look at the letter. I was pretty sure that she was supposed to be there later that day. “Her name is Nicole.”
Carl still didn’t care, but I couldn’t help but wonder if she was going to be another Jessica.
We both looked at each other over the dining table when we heard the doorbell. It had to be her, all of our friends knew just to knock or come in. There was nothing hanging on the door at the minute, so the house had always been opened without it.
Carl was going to get up, but I stopped him. He never made the best first impressions and if she was ugly like we figured she would be, it was best if I went. I had a better poker face. Then at least he wouldn’t piss her off when she first gets here. When I opened the door, I was not expecting the little petite blonde that was in front of me. She was more than a little cute and for a second I thought she wasn’t the roommate. But I had never seen her before. I would have remembered her.
“Hi, I’m Nicole. I am supposed to move in today.”
I just stared at her for a minute and I knew that I shouldn’t, but I couldn’t help her. Her long blonde hair was falling all over her shoulders and her chest heaved as she was a little out of breath. Color rose to her cheeks as I looked at her. Did she know how hot she was?
There was no makeup on her face and she looked at me with a little concern of my mental wellbeing. There was no guile in her eyes or a knowing look that I was used to.
“Am I at the wrong house?”
She pulled a sheet of paper out of her pocket and I shook my head, finally able to get it together enough to give an answer at all
. “No, this is the right place. I am sorry. Come in please. I was just not expecting you to be so…”
“So what?”
I just shrugged, knowing that I was about to put my foot in my mouth. I didn’t want to tell her about the conversation I had just being having with her other roommate, guessing how hideous she was going to be. It was comical now and I was at a loss of words.
“Let me introduce you to the other roommate. We have lived here for several years now together.”
“So you run the other ones away?”
I chuckled. She was going to be interesting. “Carl. Our new roommate is here.”
Carl’s face showed the surprise that I had felt when I first saw her. When I saw him start to give her that smile, I had to laugh a little to myself. He had been lecturing me just a few minutes before about Jessica and there he was drooling over the new girl.
She didn’t seem fazed, but had the same concerned look that we may both be idiots. Sticking her hand out, Carl took a moment to move. It made me feel a little better that I wasn’t the only one. “Nice to meet you Carl. I am Nicole, but you can call me Nikki if you want.”
Turning to me, she asked my name and I heard myself telling her. I was lost in her blue eyes and she looked away. “Well nice to meet you both. Would you like to show me which room is mine?”
I nodded my head. I may very well be an idiot. “Yeah come on.”
Carl and I had close to a tug of war with her bags and she was walking ahead of us to the hallway. Nicole waited for us to get there and then Carl pulled ahead to open the door. I don’t know what was going through my head, but I wanted to be the one. Me and Carl had never competed for anything, especially not a girl, but she was different. I wanted her bad.
“You can paint it however you like. I will help you out if you decide to. The last roommate was kind of strange and she really liked black.”
I could tell that Nicole was less than impressed. I suddenly wished that I had gone through a little more trouble to clean the place up. I was just so happy to get Jessica and her tension out of the house that I just gave over the deposit without really checking anything. She had left the walls black and it was dark in the small room.
ROMANCE: MC BIKER ROMANCE: CARSON (MC Biker Romance)(Bad Boy Motorcycle Club Romance) (Contemporary Military Romantic Suspense Thriller) Page 48