“I give a shit, Victoria,” I tell her, my eyes focused on her intently.
She gives me a small smile that doesn’t reach her eyes. “Okay, straight to it then. I, ahh… went to see Maria today.”
That makes me pause.
My mother.
Her boss.
This is where she tells me we’re done.
I knew this couldn’t last—a biker and a cop—we werenevergoing to make it.
“Yeah?” I manage, trying to sound casual, but my pulse picks up.
Victoria nods, her eyes on the horizon. “She said she thought I would be good for you… that I would keep you in line.” She hesitates, then faces me fully. “She just wants you to keep out of trouble, I guess.”
I shove my hands into my pockets, grounding myself against the sudden weight in her words. “You didn’t go into the precinct today to discuss my behavioral habits, wildcat.”
“No,” she says, voice steady now. “I went in to hand her my badge.”
The words hit like a hammer to my chest, so hard I find it difficult to push my words out. “You…what?”
“I quit, Sin.” Her chin lifts a fraction, like she’s bracing for impact. “I walked into her office this morning, handed in my badge, my gun, and the paperwork. Effective immediately. She looked me in the eye and told me I’m doing the right thing.”
I stare at her. The wind pulls at my cut, rattles the loose chain on my bike. My poker chip bites into my palm because my fist tightens around it. “You left the force,” I say quietly. Not a question so much as a hope.
“I did.”
“Forme?”
Her eyes flicker more softly. “Forus.”She gestures between us, to the bike, to the city below. “Forthis.”
I swallow hard. I had a hundred things I planned to say if this moment ever came, but now my mind’s blank. My chest feels too big, too full, like my ribs can’t contain it. “You know what you’re getting into, wildcat?” My voice is low and rough. “This life chews people up. It’ll test every inch of you.”
She steps closer, her hand sliding over mine, stilling the restless spin of the poker chip. Her palm is warm. Steady. “I knowexactlywhat I’m getting into,” she says, a warm fire in her voice. “And I want it. I wantyou!”
Something breaks loose inside me, the thing I’ve kept locked up since the day I met her. I reach into my other pocket and pull out the second chip. The one I had made weeks ago. The one I swore I’d never get to give her.
The engraved metal glints under the moonlight with the words…
Property of Sin
“In the MC world, this means you’remine,” I say, rougher than I intend. “Officially. My Old Lady.”
She takes it between her fingers, turning it under the stars. The grin she gives me makes my heart slam against my ribs. “So, I’m property now?”
I step into her space, sliding my palm up her back until my fingers tangle in her hair. I pull her in until her mouth is a breath from mine. “You’re my queen, wildcat. My equal. My everything.”
She lets out a shaky laugh. “You always know how to make a girl feel dangerous.”
“I don’t make you dangerous,” I murmur, leaning in until our noses touch. “You already are.”
And then I press my lips to hers. It starts soft, like a question, but the second her lips part, it’s like we both stop pretending. My hand fists in her hair, angling her head just right. She gasps against my mouth and presses closer, her fingers curling into the leather of my cut. The city blurs to nothing, the stars burn brighter overhead. I taste her, salt, dust, promise, and I deepen it, slow at first, then hungrier, until the kiss is all heat, teeth, and surrender.
She moans into me, a low sound that hits me straight in the chest. Her body molds against mine, fitting perfectly, like we were built for this. For each other. For the chaos we’re about to step into.
When we finally break for air, our foreheads rest together under the desert sky, breath mingling.
