“Holy fuck. It’s Isla.”
At the mention of my name, I drop my hands from over my ears and peer up the driveway along the side of the car.
Like knights in shining armor, or bikers in leather cuts, stand Jackal and Shade, the two enforcers of the Iron Outlaws. Their weapons are drawn, their stances the same. Jackal is looking at me, but Shade’s eyes are focused on my relations.
In denim, heavy boots, and their cuts, they look intimidating.
Kevin and Jacob have no chance against them, but from the look on my uncle’s face, he hasn’t realized that yet.
After the work I’ve been doing on myself, the cuts are somewhat triggering. The smell of leather. The memory of how it feels against my face and the things I’ve done with men who wear it. I swallow deeply because there is no way I’m going to throw up.
I curl myself into the smallest ball I can to stop the shaking rattle I feel in my bones.
“This property isn’t yours, Isla. And you fucking know it,” Kevin yells.
“Left or right?” I hear Jackal say.
“You take the right,” Shade replies. “Looks scrawnier.”
Jackal chuckles. “Saving me from punches. How honorable.”
I hear their footsteps shift, but no sooner than they do, I hear the truck doors slam and the roar of the engine as they race down the road.
Breathing is difficult. The world seems so dark, I’m worried I’m about to pass out.
Can I be so unlucky that I reach this point in my journey, only to find I’m now living across from two of the bikers whose memory I’m trying to erase?
“What was that about, Isla?” Jackal says. He crouches next to me and places his hand on my back. The flinch is involuntary as I shrug him off. He immediately removes it and steps back an inch.
“I’m fine,” I lie. Forcing myself up, I use the wall to steady myself. My knees shake so badly they can barely hold my weight, which is never a good sign, but I just need to get inside.
Shade huffs as he comes into view. “Fine, my ass. You look like you got picked up and shook. If someone’s going to be coming around here firing shots, would be better to know what we’re dealing with.”
I look down the road to where I can no longer see the taillights. “That was my uncle.” There is a tremor to my words, and I take another deep breath. “My nanna…she…erm…she died, and she left me this house in her will because I was the one who looked after her and shopped for her and took her to her doctor’s appointments. My uncle challenged the will but ended it because his lawyers got pricey. He somehow still thinks this place should be his.”
Jackal looks at Nanna’s house. “We should get you some security, then. You won’t have met Wren, Catfish’s person, but they could hook this place up.”
I shake my head and back toward the house. I don’t know why I feel so scared right now. Jackal has never been anything other than good to me. And there have been a few too manynights when I’ve stumbled out of a biker’s room in various states of distress and Shade has been the one to hand me a coffee and make sure I’m alright. But I admit, I’m rattled.
“We’ll wait with you while you call the cops. We can be your witnesses,” Jackal says.
I step farther away. “No cops. I think he was just trying to make a point or scare me. Seriously, I’m fine.” I don’t believe a word I’m saying. There is no way my uncle is going to give up. “I had no idea we’d be neighbors.”
All three of us glance over to the house across the street. The one with the front door wide open.
Shade reaches for a cigarette and his lighter. “Got the keys before we went down to Arizona last week.”
I force myself to focus on his words and not let my brain spiral out to the club. No biker ever forced me to do anything. I offered. Even when it wasn’t in my best interest. None of them noticed when my desperation and consent blurred. They are not bad men, just…callous.
So, I say what I need to. “Well, I can stay out of your way, if you can stay out of mine.”
Shade’s brow furrows. “What do you mean by that?”
I shrug and try to remind myself that speaking about what happened while I was a club girl is part of my owning the journey I’m on. “The club. Who I was and what I did there.”
Jackal shakes his head. “We all know what the life is and what the expectations are.”
“I guess…I’m trying to leave all of it behind and forgive myself for it.” I don’t know what makes me admit it.
