The driver stops and I bundle Phoebe into the back seat and tell her, “I’ll call you soon.” And slam the door shut, slapping the roof for him to drive on. “I’m sorry,” I murmur as she looks back out of the rear window.
I run for my bike and have it started in one swift move. I thrash the throttle and pull out into traffic. Gun shots fire in the distance and I head in their direction.
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight… my brothers have run into the assholes but by the time I’ve run three red lights and turn the last corner, there isn’t a Hog in sight, and my brothers are turning their rides around. I ride up beside Luca.
“Did you get any?” I yell over our engines.
He shakes his head. “Drive by and rode off.”
I slow down and ride behind King. Though we didn’t get one of them, I smile. One text from me and they came riding hard.
Police sirens fade into the background the closer we get to the club. I should go and see Phoebe, make sure she’s okay but I’ve got to see if Luca wants to make a move.
Turns out, I don’t need to go see her. She jumps up from the curb as we arrive back at the club. She follows us around to the back as we all park up.
Luca reaches me first. “She saw what went down?”
“Yeah. I put her in a cab before coming to find you guys.”
“Deal with her then come find me.”
He walks off and I turn to face Phoebe. “We can talk up in my room. Not down here.”
She follows without a word, not until my door is closed and we’re alone.
“Where do you see us ending up?” she asks.
Without a doubt, I say, “Together.”
“But what does it look like? Cause tonight, we couldn’t even go out for food without nearly getting shot. Would we have to stay here in your club just to live through each day?”
“That’s ridiculous,” I huff.
“Is it?” she snaps. “A guy had his gun pointed at you tonight, Ford. I don’t know about you, but my whole life flashed before my eyes, and I was hiding behind you!”
“I wouldn’t have let anything happen to you.”
“You wouldn’t have been any help if he had shot you and you were dead on the ground!” she screams. Closing her eyes, she collects herself and then says, “Our lives are so different now. We don’t belong together anymore, we certainly don’t have a future. I gave you tonight and it only proved what I’ve been thinking. We were each other’s first loves but we’re not each other’s last.”
I step closer to her, needing her to feel me, instead of letting her mind take over.
I plant my mouth on hers. I fully expect her to push me away, so I’m surprised when she kisses me back and drops her purse to the floor.
I walk her back until she’s backed against the door. “You’ll always be mine. You need more time, you’ve got it. You need space to wrap your head around who I am now, I’ll give you it, but don’t tell me we’re each other’s last love. You’re my only fuckin’ love, never gonna change, never gonna stop.”
I lost time to prison. I lost time to Effie. I won’t lose the rest of my life with the woman I love.
33
Maxwell
Adrenaline surges through me. Most would shy away from a shootout, but I find it exciting in a fucked-up way. Luca and the other brothers went back to the club, but Warren and I headed over to Darius’s. We used to hang out there before we patched into the club, having never joined Darius’s crew.
I want to fight, fuck, and drink, and I don’t care for the order they come in. But and these days there is always a fucking but, I have to stay focused. There will be no partying and letting loose for me tonight. The club needs to know where the Hades Hogs are based.
I slump my ass in one of the patio chairs on Darius’s decking area and accept the beer someone I don’t recognise passes my way.
Darius and Jermaine look to one another and then at me and Warren.
