“I wanted out and he was the first bike that came along.”
“Now who’s lying? I saw the drone footage of you kissing that Rager, lookin’ all happy and content.”
Anxiety swirls in my gut because if Stripe or our old man sees that, my life is going to get exponentially more complicated.
As if intuiting my worry, Spark explains, “Don’t worry, Sis. I deleted that shit before anyone could see it.”
Swallowing thickly, I fight through my emotions to tell him, “Thanks, Spark. I appreciate that you thought to do that.”
Spark presses his hand to his chest and looks at me earnestly, “I’m not your enemy. You do know that, right?”
“You’re wrong about that. Stripe bought me. Money exchanged hands. From where I’m standing, you’re helping them traffic me. You can fancy it up all you want but those are the facts.”
He looks away, staring blankly into the distance. “I know I always sound like I’m supporting Pa’s choices, but I begged him not to sell you to Stripe. He wouldn’t listen and said it was the only way to move the club forward.”
“He sees women as expendable,” I say, my voice sounding broken.
“There’s no way out for any of us, Nora. I tried everything I could think of. Nothing worked.”
“You overlooked the obvious, though.”
I can tell he knows what I’m referring to because he gets a wary look on his face and his lips press into a firm line.
“I’m not gonna challenge our old man for leadership of the club, Nora. That’s crazy talk.”
“Yeah, but he’s going to get us all killed if he keeps going like he is. You know that and I know it as well.”
My father’s gruff voice yells from the building, “Spark, get your ass in here. We’ve got shit to deal with.”
He rushes me inside. I realize that although it doesn’t look like one from the outside, it’s a warehouse, or rather they’re using it as one. There are wall-to-wall steel shelves stacked with crates of God only knows what. Some of the boxes have Spanish on them. They’ve got one of their long workbenches with drone parts laid out down both sides. Both the Hyenas and the Sons love their damn drones. It’s the one and only thing they have in common that I can see. I guess MCs are adapting to the modern age.
My father levels one of his disapproving stares at me as we approach. “Brave tells me that you fought him when he rescued you.”
My eyes flash to Brave. He’s sitting there with a proud expression on his face. He’s acting like a man who proved his worth tonight. He smirks at me, “I said she tried to fight me off.”
“Hey, Brave,” I say, bringing my bound hands up to push a strand of hair back out of my face. “You’ve got blood on your collar. Did I do that?”
His eyes narrow on me, because we both know I clawed him hard enough to draw blood. It wounds his ego that now the other brothers know.
My father’s eyes drop to Jinx’s property cut. “Those Ragers must have taken a real shine to you if one of them put you in his property cut.”
Spark interjects, “I already mentioned that her little episode of playin’ biker princess with the Ragers was a stupid thing to do. Runnin’ off like a brat was a waste of our club’s time and resources.”
“Spark is right, Nora. You shouldn’t have run,” my father says, clearly disappointed with his only daughter. “I told you we were coming for you.”
“Because I didn’t want to marry Stripe.”
My father shoots Stripe a meaningful glance before saying sternly, “Stripe is a righteous brother. I’ve already made the arrangements. You’re gonna be his wife, and I don’t wanna hear any more nonsense about the Ragers. They’ll be dealt with soon enough anyway.”
During this whole conversation, Stripe doesn’t speak to me. He just sits there while my family tears me down and forces me into being with him. Finally, he stands up and walks over to me. His expression is unreadable as he reaches out and peels Jinx’s property cut back and off my shoulders. I force myself to stand perfectly still as he drags it down my arms, until it’s hanging off my still bound hands. Then he takes out his knife and slices through the cut, rather than the zip ties. Pulling it away, he tosses it carelessly aside.
“Won’t be needing this,” he says.
“You’ve put on some weight,” he comments. “Your daddy thought you’d pitch a fit. I told him you’re smart, and smart girls settle.” He looks down at me. “We’ll be married by Sunday, you and me. You’d best get used to that idea because nobody is coming to save you. Those fuckin’ Ragers are in completedisarray. Plus, they don’t even know this site exists. No one does.”
“You’re forcing me,” I point out.
He chuckles, “Yeah, of course I am. No pretty little club princess in her right mind would hitch her apple cart to mine, if she had a choice. I plan to win you over after the fact.”
