Page 5 of Her Feral Biker
Numb, I picked up the cold coffee and drank it, wishing my watcher had been here tonight in time to prevent the real monsters from coming in.
Wishing I knew his name as I tried to fix the broken till. Wishing I had a father who wouldn't tell me I should sell the shop to Prinze and marry someone who would take the pressure away from me rather than follow my dreams.
Wishing, wishing, wishing.
Cuddling my cold coffee, completely numb, I locked the door to my shop, turned out the lights and curled behind the counter on the industrial carpet. That was where I fell asleep in the dark, hoping that tonight wasn’t the night that Prinze carried out his promise.
Because I was too scared to walk home alone without my watcher shadowing the path behind me.
CHAPTER THREE
LAKE
My penance took too long. By the time I rode past Annalise’s shop her lights were out and the street was deserted. I stopped for a few minutes to check she wasn’t working late on her own anyway then drove around the back, but she’d already left for the night. My night took a dive when I noticed Prinze Kola—his actual name, not title, though he was a little entitled shit by all reports—the Albanian mafia heir, driving away from the town in his luxury sports car on my second circuit.
A quick message to Nomad gave little direction, though my energy promised me I was spoiling for a fight.
TITAN: Spotted the Albanian mafia shit in Jackson Ridge. Want me to follow?
NOMAD: Good to know. Take no action.
TITAN: You sure? I’m in the neighborhood.
NOMAD: Get your ass back to the Black Crown before you start something you shouldn’t.
I ground my teeth and pocketed my phone. At least the clubhouse offered plenty of distraction without wondering what the hell to do about the obsession that currently festered beneath my skin.
The few minutes it took me to get back slewed the anger away. Riding always did that for me, settled a sense of peace over the constant need to shred something that lay inside me. I strode into the clubhouse—The Black Crown—and gave Nomad a nod, noting the way he watched me with a wary eye as I ordered my drink. Black Crown bourbon was the house special, reserved for members. I took the glass, nodding my thanks to Reyna, the bar manager.
It turned out that Nomad wasn’t the only one watching me. She gave me a hard eye and jerked her head in the direction of some of the girls fawning at the end of the bar.
I shook my head. They all knew better. I rarely played with club pussy, and kept my relationships to myself. That Nomad knew about the one girl I had an interest in currently irritated the fuck out of me.
Finishing my drink too fast, I nodded to Reyna and headed to a room out the back. Sparse but functional, it had a shitty bed, and a few clothes of mine. I hung my jacket bearing my club patch on a hook beside the door that didn’t lock and tossed my leather pants over the single chair in the corner. Tomorrow, I’d see Annalise and go sayhi.It was time.
Tonight, I needed sleep.
Nobody liked a feral fucking biker. Especially someone clean and pretty like her who deserved a whole hell of a lot better.
I waited outside Annalise’s shop well after dark, but her light didn’t come on like it usually did, nor did she seem to want to decorate. She just stood at the window, watching. Looking away from me, or through me, like she didn’t see anything at all.
Listless.
Nothing like the woman who looked through the darkness the other night with a bright awareness that rocked me soul deep. Who I swore checked for me at the house, like an invitation glittered in those pretty innocent eyes of hers.
Something’s fucking wrong.
I didn’t need to be closer to her to know that.
Waiting in the darkness until the street cleared out took far too long, but I'd promised myself I’d keep my time with her to ourselves.
Maybe see if I could gather a little extra information for the club while I was here, though I didn't think there was anyone else sniffing around this end of the main street. The Pres and VP were off at the other end of town tonight handling their own business, which meant I had free reign to play this out any way I wanted.
Finally, the street emptied out. I crossed and laid my hand on her door. The damn thing swung inward without any resistance at all. My jaw clicked, the sound loud enough in the pervading silence to leave me wincing.
We’re gonna have words about your security, Annalise.
An open door might make tonight easier for me, but it also looked like an invitation for anyone else coming around. That left me paused with my foot halfway across her threshold. My bulk filled her doorway for a bare moment. That was all it tookfor the annoying as fuck little bell over my head to ring. Alright, not ring, exactly. More a broken sort of tingle, like she’d tried to fix it and semi-managed to get the damn thing working.
