“A motorcycle club?”
“Yup, the best one in town.”
She frowned. “My late husband once prospected a motorcycle club. That’s his bike out there. Well, I guess it's my bike now.”
“It’s a really nice bike,” Juliette complimented.
“Thanks,” Ruby mumbled weakly.
“What club was your husband a part of?” Archer asked, assessing her the best he could with minimal tools.
She looked up at him and sighed. “He prospected for the Hell’s Artillery MC, but decided to get out before becoming a member. Do you know them?”
We all looked at each other, our stomachs plummeting at the same time.
If Ruby was a member’s Ol’ Lady, did that mean she still belonged to the club?
“Yeah, Darlin’, we know them,” I answered.
She frowned.
“I hate them,” she admitted. “I wish they were all dead.”
Archer raised a brow, his mind running the same way mine was.
Why did Ruby hate the Hell’s Artillery?
And what the fuck made her husband want to leave?
Chapter Four
“You have a visitor, Ruby.”
I looked away from the window towards the nurse who was smiling softly at me, but had definite pity in her eyes. That was the same look I hated, and the one that I had seen over and over again before even arriving at the hospital in Austin.
“I don’t want to see him,” I told the nurse, knowing exactly who was out there waiting to see me. It was his fault I was here in the first place. Not only did he stop me from reuniting with Chase, but he brought me to the hospital, who in turn, threw me in the looney bin. That’s what they did with people like me—discard them and put them in a padded room with other crazy people.
My roommate’s name was Sabrina, a woman who sat on her bed rocking back and forth, muttering to herself at every waking hour. I didn’t know what her issue was, but I hoped they were able to help her, and I wished they would just leave me alone.
“It may do you some good, seeing someone from home who cares.”
I laughed sarcastically. “He found me. That’s all there is to it. Nobody cares if I live or die. The only one that would have given a fuck is dead himself.”
The nurse frowned. “That’s not true, Ruby.”
“You think so?” I stood up and looked at the nurse, anger and frustration rolling through my body in waves. “If he hadn’t found me when he did, the state would have been burying me.My parents turned their back on me when I chose my husband, and now he’s gone, and I’ll never get him back.”
I didn’t realize I was yelling or crying until a doctor came into the room. My body was shaking, and I screamed at them to leave me alone. I screamed for Chase until arms wrapped around me and a needle sunk into my arm.
The world around me went fuzzy, and for once, I was able to sleep without the memories of the night Chase died waking me up. Those moments always seemed to fester in my brain, but for that single night, I didn’t hear the squeal of tires, or the echoing scream of his yell of surprise. More importantly, I didn’t see the haunted look in his eyes right before impact. That look will always haunt me, almost as much as the aftermath that came from the crash. You can’t unsee a body hanging halfway through the windshield among blood-painted shattered glass and chunks of flesh embedded with twisted metal. That jumbled kaleidoscope of grotesque images will forever taint my soul.
“I told them to tell you to leave.” I crossed my arms in front of my chest, protectively. There was something about the man standing in front of me that gave me chills. Almost like he could see through all the walls I’d built around myself, taking in the broken woman hiding within. It terrified me almost as much as living without Chase.
Cap’s eyes were focused on the white, speckled, tiled floor. His thick arms rested on his knees, and the tattoos that covered his arms and chest peeked out from under his shirt, making his caramel-colored skin even hotter. At the sound of my voice, helooked up, his dark eyes meeting mine. Relief flashed in those dark orbs, and I felt a tiny piece of my wall crumble.
“I know, but you don’t have anyone in your corner, so I decided to be the one pulling for you—even if you aren’t pulling for yourself.”
I swallowed hard. A ball of emotion stuck in my throat as I took the seat across from him. It was awkward because I didn’t know what to say. The man in front of me had seen me at my absolute worst, lowest point, and I wasn’t sure if I’d ever be able to right my life again, or if I even wanted to try.
