Page 70 of The Heart We Guard
I feel like there’s a new era of biker around the corner. One that doesn’t play by the same rules of honor among thieves. I’m not sure I like it, which probably makes me a fossil in trying to think through how these clubs work. There is no way I’d go after one of their wives, or a doctor. There are some people you just don’t shit on.
“I’m sorry I left you alone, Greer. But I’m not going to do that again. For whatever reason, a club that has issues with my own, also, for separate reasons, has an issue with you. But my club won’t let you down.Iwon’t let you down again, I promise.”
Which is why, forty minutes later, Greer is tucked behind me at the side entrance. She’s dressed in some jeans, her own thick jacket, and my Iron Outlaws leather over the top. On her feet are a robust pair of hiking boots.
“When we get to the bike, climb on and hold on tight.”
“I’ve ridden pillion before,” she says. “Eli would take me out on his bike.”
I’m glad she clarified it was her brother, because there was a rare wave of envy that she’d been on someone else’s bike before mine.
It being her brother I can deal with.
The bikers have lined their bikes up a short distance down the lot from mine, as if bored of waiting for us to appear. It’s a childish plan. Jackal and Shade are going to come around the building from the other side and distract them. While they’re looking to the two bikers approaching, Greer and I are going to run for my bike.
I’m relying on them not starting a shootout in a busy hotel parking lot.
Greer’s hand slips into mine. “I’m scared, Butcher. This doesn’t feel safe.”
“It’s not.” Sometimes that’s half the fun of the life, but right now, it feels like a massive weight around my neck. “But we’ve got you.”
“It looks like a hundred yards. The fastest man on the planet can only do that in a little under ten seconds. They’ll see us.”
I squeeze her fingers. “I guarantee you, it’s twenty yards max, and the boys know to create a long enough distraction.” Shejumps when we hear the roar of the motorcycles. “Now,” I say, and pull her around the corner.
Jackal and Shade’s arrival does exactly what I expect, all eyes go to the east side of the building, while we run from the west.
“Quick,” I whisper in hushed terms when we get to my motorcycle. “Get on behind me.”
“She’s there,” someone shouts, just as Greer gets her leg over the seat and I start the engine.
This machine knows me better than anyone else on the planet. It’s more forgiving than anyone else, and Greer’s comfort and experience having been on a bike before gives me hope we’ll be okay.
As she grabs ahold, I lift the kickstand and speed out of the lot.
Out of the side mirror, I see Jackal’s leg stretch out and kick the Rebels’ bikes over, and we’ll be long out of sight before they manage to right them to follow us.
21
GREER
Iglance in the side mirror and see Butcher’s calm and reassuring face. Steering his bike, he looks invincible. There’s also a serene smile on his lips as he focuses on the road ahead of him.
There’s a terrifying air of competence about his courage. That he’d happily park up his bike, lift his sunglasses, and deliver the kind of beating that would leave you bleeding with your teeth smashed into the curb.
It perhaps says something about my mental health that I find it all…attractive.
Perhaps it’s a touch self-absorbed, but I wonder if he’s thinking about me.
Or being a father again.
And I’m shocked to discover it matters what the answer to that is.
It’s hard to reconcile my feelings about the two. There’s a piece of me that worries he came for the baby, and I’m some kind of bonus prize. Maybe he’s riding along, thinking about what it’s going to be like doing late-night feeds again or having a toddler he can take to the park on Sunday mornings.
I hate the idea that I might be an appendage. A default that comes with the baby because I’m carrying it for the next thirty-four weeks.
Although, last night seemed to mean something. There’s a connection that’s developing when we orbit each other, whether we want it to or not.
