Page 41 of Taken With You

“What? I was worried. Can’t I be worried?”

I glared at all of them.

“I already quit. I know I owe you all an explanation. But I don’t know exactly what I need to say to you guys.”

And that was the crux of it. I didn’t know what to say. There was nothing that would put me in a good light. I didn’t deserve that anyway.

“You don’t get to quit,” Aiden snarled. “And no, Beckham, we’re not firing you either.”

I could only look at them, blinking. “But I have to go. I can’t stay.”

“Because they’ll find you?” Brendon asked, totally serious.

“I don’t fucking know. Jesus. Those guys at the bar? I used to run with them.”

“We figured that out,” Cameron said. “We were there, you know.”

I’d been so focused on Meadow, I hadn’t really thought of it.

“So, you were a biker? I thought you were a hipster.”

I looked at Dillon, who shrugged.

“Just trying to bring some levity to the situation, but I can tell that wasn’t the right thing to say. So why don’t you tell us what happened?”

Again, the kid was wise beyond his years. I didn’t want to tell them any of this, but I owed it to them.

So I’d tell them everything. Well, mostly. Some things I didn’t need to say. Ever.

Except to Meadow. If she asked, then I’d tell her.

“I used to be part of that club. I thought it was a family when I didn’t have one of my own. My parents skipped town when I was young, and I finished high school but didn’t do much after. You know, stupid shit.”

“Considering that our lives were comprised of mostly stupid shit before we moved in with the Connollys, I get you,” Aiden said dryly.

“Well, you ended up in a nice family. I ended up with a family that ran drugs.”

“Really?” Dillon asked.

Suddenly, the kid sounded his age. Sure, he was nineteen now, but he was still so innocent in some ways. Of course, he had been through more shit than I had until I joined the club, so maybe he wasn’t that innocent, after all.

“I didn’t care about anyone’s feelings. I did whatever I wanted. Did what I was told at the time when it came to the club business. Then they started moving into harsher things, and I didn’t want to be a part of it anymore. I woke up with some girl in my lap that I didn’t remember, the guys all laughing around me about some shit, and I walked away. They’d drugged me and I hadn’t even known it had happened. They didn’t let me walk away freely, though,” I whispered.

I didn’t need to tell them that part.

They could probably guess what had happened.

The movies weren’t right, TV sure as hell wasn’t, but there was still violence in my world. Scars on my back because of what they’d burned from my body.

I wished I could have been in one of the good clubs, but we were definitely one of the bad ones. One that gave the others a bad name.

“Anyway, I walked away with nothing but the clothes on my back and the bike under me. And I’ve been sort of on the run ever since. Because once you’re in, you really don’t get to leave. Not unless they want you to go.”

“And you knew Meadow back then?” Aiden asked.

“I knew of her.”

They looked at me as if waiting for more, but I wouldn’t give it to them. Not when it wasn’t my secret to tell.