Knox smirks and ignores my question. “I came to talk to you about something.”
Oh shit, does he know about me and Viv? “What’s up?”
“Aren’t you going to let me in?”
Fuck, he probably means to fight. Fine, if it’s a fight he wants, then it’s only right that I oblige him. Besides, the sooner I tell him about my feelings for Viv, the faster I get to see her again.
I move to the side and let Knox enter my apartment, closing the door behind him and following him to the living room as he limps over to the couch. “Do you want something to drink?” I offer.
“No, thanks. I don’t plan on staying long anyway.”Here we go.“Congratulations, Kyle.”
What?
I blink at Knox, confused, until he raises the hand I didn’t notice he was hiding behind his back and I see the black leather jacket. But it’s no ordinary leather jacket. This is the jacket members get when they join the Steel Rebels. It has the club’s patches and insignia on the back and arm sleeves.
My breath catches when he turns the jacket to show the name on the back in bold.
“Maverick?”
“I personally picked your MC name—Maverick. I think it suits you perfectly,” he says, his eyes dropping to the jacket. “You’vemore than earned your full membership status with the Steel Rebels.” He lifts his eyes to mine and I can’t help but notice how similar they are to Viv’s, albeit a little harder and darker. “You’ve proved yourself in the last two years, but what you did for my sister, getting her across the country safely, and then in that cabin in Omaha…I am forever in your debt.”
I stare at the jacket in his hands, smiling when he extends it for me to take, but I know my smile doesn’t reach my eyes. It’s bittersweet.
Christ, I’ve dreamed of this very moment for years.
Way before my parents were murdered, I always thought my Uncle Kyle was the coolest. I was named after him, and I always felt proud when I told my friends that my namesake uncle belonged to a motorcycle club. Sometimes, he would pick me up in his Harley, and I wanted so badly to follow in his footsteps. I wanted to become a Rebel. An enforcer, like my uncle. The dream was cemented when I lost my parents, and I was more convinced than ever that this was the path for me. I would protect other people’s parents from dirt like the Vipers.
As I stare at the jacket, all the memories of how hard I’ve worked flash through my mind. I’ve earned this. It’s mine for the taking. After so many years of hoping and patiently waiting, it’s mine and yet…
“I can’t accept this,” I tell Knox, noting the surprise that flashes on his face.
“What?”
“I’m sorry, VP, but I can’t accept the Jacket. I can’t join the Rebels.” It hurts more than I can ever explain to say those words, but I know I need to say them. “Something…someonehas become more important to me than becoming a patched member of the club. I know I can’t have both, so I choose her.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“Vivienne,” I say, and I watch his expression darken but I meet his hard gaze head-on. Even with Knox’s injuries, I’m not sure I could get very far in a fight against him. The man has at least a decade on me and years of experience fighting, but I don’t intend to back down. “I’m in love with your sister, Knox. I understand this might not be what you want to hear right now, but it’s the truth. I want her, and if I need to choose between her and the club, then I’ll choose her.”
His eyes narrow. “You’re willing to toss away all your hard work and your chance with the Rebels for a girl?”
“For this girl, yes.”
There’s a long beat of silence.
“Well, I’ll be damned,” Knox says, and I watch with surprise as he throws his head back and breaks into laughter, the sound booming and echoing through the walls. “You’ve got to have balls of steel to face me like that. I always knew I liked something about you, from the moment you showed up here with your uncle, rest his soul.”
Wait, what?
“We’re not fighting?”
He laughs again. “Were you hoping for a fight?”
“Well, I was expecting one,” I say, unsure what to do with myself now. “I figured you’d be angry.”
He shakes his head and walks to the couch before lowering himself down. “I’ve known you for over ten years, Kyle,” he says. “Your uncle helped mentor me when I was your age. He and a bunch of the older Rebels practically raised me.”
He starts to tap the arm of the couch, his eyes moving to the window. “I don’t know how much of our past Vivienne has told you, but my family used to owe money to the Rebels. We lived on one of their properties and hadn’t paid rent for months. I agreed to work so I could pay off that debt and take care of my sister. I had no idea my mother was borrowing money from other gangs and putting her and my sister’s lives in danger. It was another gang that made her run to LA with Vivi, but my mother convinced my sister that it was the Rebels. She hated how much I loved the Rebels and wanted them to be my family.”
