She nodded.“Yeah.”
They walked out together, his presence at her side a steady, grounding thing.The parking lot was bathed in orange light, shadows stretching long and distorted across the asphalt.Elena searched for her car on instinct, but Reaper shook his head.
“Ride with me,” he said.
She didn’t argue.The drive back to the clubhouse was quiet.The town slipped past in streaks of light and shadow, the engine’s low rumble vibrating through the seat.Elena watched the road and tried to put words to the knot in her chest.
She broke the silence when they were nearing the compound.
“I saw you,” she said.
Reaper’s hands tightened slightly on the handlebars.“Yeah?”
“The guy in the hospital,” she continued.“By the vending machines.I saw you talk to him.”
He didn’t deny it.“He shouldn’t have been there.”
“Was he...”She hesitated, then forced herself to finish.“Cartel?”
“Yes,” Reaper said automatically.
She swallowed.“What did you say to him?”
“That you’re under the protection of Devil’s Crown,” he replied evenly.“That if he or anyone else touched you, it would be taken as a declaration of war.”
Her pulse spiked.Fear flared, sharp and bright.There was also something else.Gratitude and relief.
She turned to look at him fully.“Thank you.”
He glanced at her, surprised.
“For what?”he asked.
“For being there,” she said simply.“I never had anyone watch out for me in my life the way you’re doing.”
He was quiet for a long moment.“You shouldn’t have gone to work today,” he finally said.
“I know,” she muttered.
“You put yourself at risk,” he pointed out.
“I did,” Elena admitted.
He exhaled through his nose, jaw tight.“You’re stubborn.”
She huffed a tired laugh.
“I’ve been called worse,” Elena answered.
They pulled into the clubhouse lot, engines and voices drifting through the night air.Reaper parked and cut the engine, but neither of them dismounted yet.
Elena stared at her hands.
“I know I was selfish,” she said.“Wanting to go in today.I knew what could happen and I did it anyway.”
Reaper turned toward her, his expression unreadable.
“I don’t know how to sit still when people need help,” she continued.“It’s not bravado.It’s just ...who I am.”
