“I’m not dating her right now, Ryder. It’s my life. I’m not reporting to you about the women I’m with. I know that much,” I bit back.
“You just received your nomad patches and the first thing you want to do is date someone from our rival camp? I’m questioning your choices, Diego. I don’t care who you fuck. It just doesn’t need to be associated with our crew.” The silence between two alphas ensued.
“Ryder, like I said to you earlier, I had no idea who her brother was. Get off my back about it.”
Ryder’s raspy breath pierced through the line. “Stop thinking with your dick. This is bringing heat to the organization. If it gets back to Las Balas, then what happens? We have a potential turf war situation. We just handled El Diablo recently. What… now we gotta handle another one? Think about your brothers, Diego. We ain’t got no small chapter, we’re at the top of the chain. Other crews are coming for us. Understand?”
“I hear you. But did you look into Palo? He looks clean. I don’t know enough but he looks clean.
His sister is studying to be a doctor. He’s not going to put her in jeopardy.”
“Sounds nice in theory, Diego. But men do what they have to do on the surface. He’s already living a double life. He works for some computer company during the day.”
“So you did look into him,” I shot back.
“Of course I looked into him. That’s why I’m telling you. Stay away from her if you know what’s good for you.” Ryder’s warning was clear. The phone went dead.
I looked over the warehouse, flicked off all the lights and headed home. I’d planned to get stuck into the bike on the platform, but I couldn’t concentrate.
Man, she looked good. On impulse I sent her a text message.
“I hope you got home alright. let’s talk. D.”
No way in hell I was going to let Outlaw Souls get in the way of what I had going on with Misty. I opened my fridge and picked up a beer. I let the cold brew hit my throat.
My phone went off and I picked it up without looking.
“Yo.”
“Hey, Diego.” I swallowed down more beer and retracted the phone to look at it. Misty was on the other end of the line. I leaned forward on the kitchen bench, listening. God, I missed her.
“Hey, you. Did you get home all right?”
“I got home fine. Thanks for the message. I didn’t come to argue with you. I missed you.” She spoke gently.
“I missed you too. You calmed down now?”
“I’m calm. I never wanted anything to do with my brother's club. You gotta believe me. That’s why I didn’t tell you. I wanted it not to be there. I wanted to pretend that he wasn’t part of a chapter.”
I let out a tired sigh. “Misty, be honest with me and tell me... Is your brother drug-running through the club? What the hell is going on over there since El Diablo?”
“I don’t know who killed him, but I’m glad. I’ve been so scared for my brother for the last few years. I asked him to leave the chapter. I want him to live a normal life. I begged him. He wouldn’t listen to me. Palo wants to change the chapter around. Do work in the community.”
The sincerity in her voice couldn’t be missed. I laughed. “Funny, Outlaw Souls want the same thing ultimately. They don’t want the stigma either. So here we are, right in the middle of a firestorm.” I drained the rest of my beer and set it down on the counter.
“I don’t know what to do, papi.” She sounded scared.
“I don’t see what that has to do with us. You and I can keep going,” I said, a heavy silence hanging in the air between us.
“How? Palo’s watching me now,” she whispered.
“Well, you have class, right? You have to go to school. He can’t stalk you forever. It’s going to be okay, trust me. To me, we’re not against one another.”
“I can never seem to keep away from you bikers.” I laughed to ease the tension. “Diego. This is too crazy.”
“Is it? Do you want me? Because I want you. I don’t want to fight about it. I can meet you after class,” I declared.
“Me too. I want to see you. I wish we didn’t have to sneak around to do this, but if that’s what it needs to be…” Misty’s voice trailed off. “I’m free tomorrow around one. Come pick me up and we can do something together.”
