Page 8 of Breaking the Rules (Roaming Devils MC 1)

It didn’t feel as good as it used to. Ryker rubbed his forehead, completely fucked up. The bitch worked his dick and he had no response to her. He sat up and pushed her off him.

“Enough.”

She blinked a few times.

“I’m not attracted to you. Go wipe your nose for fuck’s sake. It’s bleeding and dripping all over me, you bitch.”

She held her nose and ran out the door. Ryker needed a shower. The smell of blood was getting to him as much as the other shit going on in his life. He stared at the cocaine on the dresser and clenched his fists, wanting a hit so bad he could almost taste it. He took a few deep breaths, staring at the mess she’d left behind, before he grabbed the bag and scraped the powder into it. Some spilled on his hand and he knocked it to the floor before carrying it to the bathroom. He didn’t even think twice before he dumped it in the toilet and flushed. He washed his hands with soap and water to get the residue off him and stared at himself in the mirror.

He hadn’t shaved that morning, so a light amount of stubble covered his chin. He was tired and his eyes showed it. He needed a shower to wash the stench off and he needed to brush his teeth.

He started with the teeth. He opened a new toothbrush and dabbed some of his toothpaste on it. After scrubbing his teeth, he decided to strip. He didn’t know what the fuck was wrong with him, but all he could think about was Ella. He wanted to believe that she’d called her mother and her mother had given her the comfort he couldn’t give. He wanted to believe that for her sake, her father made it out alive. He didn’t understand the closeness she had with the cop, but he’d felt a pang in his chest as he’d watched her response. He wanted to hold her. To pull her against him and protect her. He ached for it.

A quick shower got him clean and he decided against shaving. He was too fucking tired to care about what he looked like. He got out and dried off, walking naked to the bed. The sheets were clean and he was okay with wallowing in his misery for a little while.

****

“What do you mean the Roaming Devils just found him?”

Ella stared at her mother. “They just found him.”

She shook her head. “They would never help a cop in need, Ella. They did this to him. I’m going to press charges.”

Ella grabbed her mother’s arm. “Don’t. There is plenty about this that you do not know. Don’t make it worse.”

Her mother’s eyes widened. “What? What do I not know?”

“It doesn’t matter. Just be thankful he is alive.” Ella took in a shaky breath.

The doctors performed surgery on her father and gave him a room in the ICU. He’d had just about every bone in his body broken. Once the swelling went down, they would go back and fix him up again. He had been close to death. Ella realized that when she first saw him. She didn’t know much about gangs but she had heard of death of a thousand cuts before. From the shallow gashes all over his skin, she assumed that was the torture he’d endured. Along with the beatings. There were marks on his body that looked like he’d been prodded. She took a deep breath and let it out.

“Are you mixed up with them, Ella? Are you in trouble?”

“Stop asking questions, Mom.” Ella stared at her father. “The less you know, the better off you are.”

“What is wrong, Ella? I can’t help you if you don’t tell me what is wrong!”

Ella grabbed her frantic mother’s hand. “Listen to me. You need to drop it right now. Your husband was beat up by some unknown assailant and the Roaming Devils found him. That is all you need to know.”

Ella stood and left the room. She’d committed a felony. The thought was hard to live with. She’d used one of her friend’s patients to steal fentanyl for Razor and she was pretty damn lucky that she hadn’t been caught. A life of crime wasn’t for her. If she didn’t have the fucking residency, she would have cut her losses and gotten out of there like Razor wanted.

She needed to transfer her father. Get him somewhere safe so nobody could hurt him again. Her savings could do it. Make him disappear while still getting the best medical care she could afford. She was sure that there would be a way.

She went downstairs and grabbed her cell phone from her pocket. After dialing her boss to let him know what had happened, she sat down on a park bench outside the entrance. Extortion only worked if one party had leverage over the other. She had a feeling that Razor would hold rescuing her father over her head for as long as he could. He also had ways to deal with people that didn’t obey their agreements. While she didn’t think he’d beat her, she did think he could easily take everything she’d ever wanted in life out from under her. Her family, her job.

She thought about Ryker. He’d been there for her when she’d broken down. Such relief had filled her that she couldn’t stand and he’d wrapped his arms around her to hold her up. She thought about the way his hands felt against her. The way he stroked her back lightly as she clung to him. He was probably the last person on earth that she should have turned to, but she’d found herself pulling him closer.

It was exactly what Razor didn’t want.

She laughed to herself at the irony. His son liked her. That much was obvious. He’d been high and she’d been messed up in her own way. Her father had been on her case about moving back to town and she’d wanted to get back at him. He was over the guns and gangs division at the department and the idea of fucking one of the men he’d love to arrest was the only thing she could think of at the time.

And it wasn’t like she was completely immune to Ryker. He stayed in trouble and had more women than anyone, but he smiled at her like she was the only woman he saw. He talked to her like she was the most important person in the world. He made her feel like she mattered.

Maybe to him she did.

She closed her eyes, recalling that night. She came on to him because she knew he was high. His pupils were tiny and his hands were shaky. She took him back to her parents’ house instead of the one-bedroom apartment she’d rented and took her clothes off. She pulled him closer, willing him to fuck her hard and quick.

Instead, he kissed her tenderly. His lips were soft and he took his time, exploring her mouth with his tongue. His hands had drifted along the flat expanse of her stomach while he kissed along her jaw. She didn’t plan on him taking so much time to learn her body and make her feel good. She’d assumed all he wanted that night was sex. Hard, fast sex that should have been over with in minutes.

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