by Kasey Krane
“We never were,” I replied and sank down on the ground. It was getting dark around us, but it didn’t matter. The Vegas city skyline was bright enough to keep us company. It was too dark for the polaroid shots too but I didn’t care. I kept taking more and more picture. I wanted to capture every moment of this experience.
Of this experience when Spade had blown me away with his charm.
He even brought over a light blanket he’d packed in the satchel and he threw it over my shoulder as I sat leaning against a big boulder. I didn’t care if the dusty ground was ruining my dress or my legs. Nothing else mattered but us.
“This is amazing, Spade. I’m really having an amazing time,” I said. I’d spread out all the polaroids around me on the ground. Tonight, Spade for the first time hadn’t tried to hide his face when I took his photos. He didn’t seem to be camera shy anymore?
“I’m glad you are, because I am too. It feels like we haven’t even missed a beat,” he replied which made me smile even more.
“Yeah, sometimes when I’m with you I forget that we haven’t seen each other in seven years. That we aren’t silly kids anymore. We’re actual adults. With lives of our own,” I said.
Maybe my words had a dampening effect on the mood. Maybe I shouldn’t have mentioned the fact that we both had lives of our own. It was a sudden jolting reminder that we had to make big decisions soon. Namely, I had to make a big decision soon—of whether I was going to stay in Vegas and start a life here.
We both grew silent after that, but only for a short while. Spade stood up and he came to sit down beside me, leaning against the boulder as well. He put an arm around my shoulders and I looked up at him intently, waiting for him to say something meaningful.
“I don’t want you to worry about anything tonight, River,” he said and he kissed my forehead. It was nice to hear someone say that, because all I’d really done the past seven years was worry about everything. Maybe he’d seen it in my eyes.
“I really wish that my dad believed me when I told him the truth about my mom. She is an alcoholic, she was never capable of being an actual parent to me,” I said.
Spade stroked my hair.
“I can’t speak for him, but all I know is that he felt anywhere would be safer and better for you than here. He was scared of only one thing; that he wouldn’t be able to keep you safe if you came back to Vegas. He didn’t believe you because he didn’t want to believe you.”
I held on to him tightly while we talked. Spade was convincing, whatever remaining shred of disappointment I felt towards my dad was slowly melting away now.
I looked up at him and he kissed me lightly on the lips again.
“That is not what I want for you, River. I don’t want you to live in fear. I want you do what you want and live your life the way you want to, but I’m always going to be there to watch out for you.”
I leaned my head on his chest and pressed my eyes close. How could this night get any more perfect than this?
We talked for a little while longer, reminiscing about the old days when we used to be here at this exact spot and didn’t know what the future held for us. I still couldn’t ask him how he felt, it would be too soon yet, but I had a good feeling about him, about us. Maybe sometimes it is possible to pick up where you left off.
Eventually, when it was getting too late, Spade suggested that he would drop me back to Marley’s place. I wanted to ask him about what was going on at the MC that was keeping him this busy and he said he would explain it all to me soon. Once he had a few things figured out and under control. All he told me was that dad dying had messed up their ‘mojo’ a little. Nothing they couldn’t handle.
I trusted Spade now. Not only did I trust him to get everything back in control, but I trusted him to tell me the truth too.
We got back on the bike and once again our bodies pressed together. His was warm and comforting as I leaned into him and while on the bike he turned so we could kiss one last time for the night.
Then we were on the road again. I held on to him tightly. I was going to be thinking about him all night in bed, but I couldn’t have asked for a more special experience. I was a lucky girl!
Chapter Eighteen
Spade
The night was perfect. Everything I planned had worked out well and I’d seen the way River beamed all evening. I knew that bringing her to this spot would be a good idea. I didn’t want to do anything ever again that would disappoint her.
Now she was sitting behind me on the bike, with her arms draped around me and our bodies pressed together. As we rode, in the direction of Marley’s apartment—I thought about how I could never ask for anything more than having River in my life. I wanted to tell her how I felt, how I never stopped feeling about her…but I hoped it wasn’t too soon. I didn’t want to scare her off. Maybe just a few more days.
I had a smile on my face as I rode, but from the corner of my eye, I saw suspicious movement behind us in the rearview mirror. We weren’t in a heavily populated area, the road we were on was fairly empty; which was why it made it very obvious that a black SUV was following us.
I knew exactly what a black SUV following us meant and I cursed aloud under my breath.
River heard me and she leaned in closer to talk in my ear over the sound of the engine.
“What’s wrong? Is everything alright?” she asked.
I clutched the bike harder, trying to keep my focus on the road. The SUV was a few cars behind us, but there was no doubt in my head now that we were being tailed. I should have known. I shouldn’t have let my guard down. I needed to fix this problem with Mr. Money first before I could think about having a relationship with River!
“We’re not going back to Marley’s apartment right now,” I called out to her.
“Why not? Why the change of plan? I thought you had to work?”
River still couldn’t sense that we were in any kind of danger. She just assumed that I’d simply changed my mind. Good. That was how I wanted it to remain. I didn’t want to scare her.
“Just hold on tight,” I told her and I revved up the accelerator and zoomed forward with a jerk. River was holding on to me and she squealed from surprise.
Within moments I was whizzing down the road, swerving through traffic and making quick turns as we hit a main busy street now. The SUV was still trying to tail us but I knew it wasn’t going to be fast or agile enough to keep up with my bike.
I was eventually going to lose them, if I kept making these turns.
I could feel River’s tight grip on me. She was holding on tight like I’d asked her to. I made another quick serve just as I saw the SUV emerge out of traffic and this time she squealed again, but it was out of fright.
I wasn’t going to be able to keep it hidden from her for long. She was figuring out there was something going on. This wasn’t just an ordinary bike ride back home after a date.
“Spade! What is going on? Where are we going?” she squealed. I kept my face turned forward, trying to avoid looking at her, even in the rearview mirror. Now was not the time for explanations.
I kept swerving, right at the last moment when we hit a turn. These quick turns not only surprised the SUV driver but they took River by surprise too. She was being tossed around in her seat behind me, and I knew this was not turning out to be a joy ride for her.
“Spade! Tell me what’s happening. Why are you doing this? It’s not fun for me anymore!” she screamed.
I kept riding hard. I knew I was successfully losing the car now. I hadn’t seen it for several minutes, but I wasn’t going to slow down.
We were in a different part of the city now, far away from mine or Marley’s place. I was trying to make split-second decisions on what to do next but River continued to scream at me.
“Are we being chased? Are we being followed? Spade!”
I hadn’t answered a single question of hers. I hadn’t replied to her once since the chase began. I needed to think and most of all, I needed t
o keep her safe. Didn’t she know that? That I was just trying to keep her safe.
Was I riding in circles now? I kept making turns even though I’d definitely lost the car by now. I wanted to be sure before I headed back towards my house.
Of course, there was a chance that the SUV could turn up at my house, that they could directly come to me—but I figured that wasn’t the point of tailing me tonight. They were trying to make a point. To drill it into my brain that they were aware of my every movement.
Were they watching River and me while we were on our date? While we had sex? Those sick fucks.
The more I thought about them, the harder I rode my bike.
“Where are we going? Spade!” River shouted at me again.
“To my place! We’re going to my place!” I shouted back at her. She was still holding on to me because she didn’t have another choice but I knew that she was not in the mood to be touching me. She was mad at me. Well, fuck that, I was doing what I had to do to protect her! To keep her safe from those goons!
My head was buzzing as we rode back to my house. I was on full alert, making sure nobody was following us again. This night was turning out to be not as perfect as I hoped it would be. And I had no idea what else it had in store for us.
***
Once I’d parked in my driveway, I jumped off the bike and pulled River off with me. I clutched her arm tight, tugging her along to the house while she tried to resist against me.
“We need to get inside, now, River!” I rebuked her, fiddling with my key. She stopped resisting when she heard the tone of my voice. I hurriedly opened the door and we rushed in. I firmly locked the door behind me and didn’t turn on any of the lights in the house.
“Stay here,” I commanded her while she stood fuming in the hallway. I knew she was mad and she undoubtedly had a million things to say to me, but they would have to wait till after I’d made a thorough inspection of the house first.
I left the house in darkness while I went from room to room, checking every window and door to make sure there had been no entry. Outside, the street was dark and quiet and I couldn’t see any sign of us being under surveillance. I hoped they left us alone for the rest of the night, at least till I could get River safely out of here.
I knew I would have to call for backup from the MC if things got any worse, but for now I wanted to create as less of a drama for River’s sake as I could.
When I went back into the hallway, she was still standing there. Her hands were on her hips and I could see her nostrils flaring, even in the dimness of the house.
“Come to the living room, I’ll switch on a lamp there,” I suggested and she followed me there. She remained silent as she watched me pull the curtains and then turn on a dim floor lamp in the room.
“Are you ready to talk to me now, Spade?” I heard her ask and I turned to look at her, already feeling exhausted. I wasn’t in the mood for a fight. I still had Mr. Money and our imminent danger on my mind.
“Talk about what, River?” I asked and sat down on the couch. She stepped forward, so that I couldn’t avoid eye contact if I wanted to.
“Are you seriously going to pretend like nothing is going on?” she snapped and I rubbed a hand over my face.
“Nothing is going on right now. We were being followed for a short while but now we’re not. It’s all good. It was nothing.”
I was trying my best to downplay the situation, just so that River wouldn’t panic but it didn’t seem to be her plan. She was shaking her head in disbelief.
“We were being followed and you’re telling me it was nothing? Who was following us? What is going on?” she asked, enraged.
I threw my head back over the couch, staring up at the ceiling, blinking.
“I just told you, River, nothing is going on. This is just a simple case of being followed and me shaking them off. I don’t want you to worry about your safety.”
I didn’t want to look at her because I knew she’d make me crack. I could have sat her down and explained the whole situation to her; explained to her exactly the kind of danger we were in, but that would mean scaring her.
“Simple case? Right. This is crazy. Is this about dad? Does this relate to his accident in some way?” she asked and I sighed.
“I told you what I can tell you, River. The MC is facing some issues, but we’re going to take care of it very soon. For now, it’s better if we just lie low for a while.”
“I want to know what’s going on!” she snapped.
I looked at her. She was standing directly in front of me now with her arms crossed over her beautiful breasts.
“I just told you…”
“I want to know exactly what’s going on. Who those guys were.”
This was frustrating. Our dealings and troubles with Mr. Money was not something I wanted to discuss, especially not with River. I had too much on my mind.
I glared up at her. Her curls were in complete disarray, a wild mess after the long crazy bike ride. Her green eyes were shining bright and her pink delicious mouth was clamped down together in anger. River was doing that thing again when she was trying her best to exude anger; but all she was really doing was turning me on.
I wanted to fuck her again. Right there in front of the couch. Throw her over the coffee table and take her from behind. I just couldn’t keep my hands off her, even when she was being a stubborn little princess!
I stood up from the couch.
“There is nothing more to tell you. I told you we’re having trouble with some of our competitors, especially since we don’t have a President of the Club at the moment. Things are in chaos and other assholes are taking potshots at us. Is that good enough for you?”
I walked past her and left the living room. In the darkness I found my way to the kitchen and opened the fridge to look for beer. By the time I was popping open a bottle, River had appeared behind me.
“Help yourself to some beer if you want. There’s plenty in the fridge,” I told her. She still had her arms crossed over her breasts, making her cleavage pop up over the dress she was wearing.
“I am not interested in drinking your beer, Spade, I am more interested in knowing why you lied to me.”
I crossed my brows and glared at her, feeling the smooth amber liquid pass down my throat to my stomach.
“Lied to you? What makes you think I lied to you?” I growled.
“Just some time ago, you told me things were going to be different between you and me. You wanted different things than my dad did. He shut me out of his life and his work. He pushed me away, threw me out of this city actually. And now you are doing the same,” she said. Her voice was a low angry hiss. Things were not looking up for us.
“That’s a crazy way to twist things around on me, well done,” I grunted as I banged the beer bottle down on the kitchen table. I pulled out a chair and sat down in the dark. River didn’t seem to care about the lack of light either.
“Yeah, sure, great, turn this around on me again, why don’t you! It’s all my fault. Banish me to some other part of the country because I happened to defy you.”
“You’re the one hounding me. I’m the one trying to keep you safe!”
“From what? What is it about the MC. About this life that is so dangerous? So, you guys run a casino. My dad had a fatal accident while trying to rescue your nephew. There are some bad guys chasing after us. That is all I know. Little nuggets of information that are not helping me paint a full picture of the situation!”
River’s voice was high pitched and loud. I rubbed my face frustratedly with both hands. I could feel the hairs on the back of my neck standing up. She was wrecking with my head, bad, and she didn’t even know it.
“I want to keep you out of it, okay? For now, the less you know the better. I will understand if you don’t want to deal with any of this and just want to leave Vegas,” I replied.
“Leave Vegas? I can’t believe you’re suggesting this again. You’re no different from my dad. Just
the same. You think I don’t know that I walked into danger by choosing to be here, to associate myself with you? I’ve accepted the fact I was born into this. That is exactly what my dad didn’t understand. That I wanted to support him. I can be fucking brave too!”
I looked up at River. Her eyes were shining big and bright. She was gritting her teeth with rage.
“And you told me you were going to let me in. I’ve been left out of it for too long, but now you’re shutting me out just like dad did. Nothing is going to be different for me if I’m with you,” she snapped.
“I’m trying to keep you safe, River,” I tried and she shook her head slowly, disappointedly.
“You don’t have to do that, Spade. I didn’t need your protection for seven years and I don’t need it now.”
“Okay, you need to calm down. You need to seriously think about what you’re saying right now, River,” I said, standing up from the chair but she was already backing away from me, still shaking her head.
“I should have known. Nothing has changed. You are the same. You’re exactly like my father,” she continued and now I saw that her lips were quivering with anger and sadness.
Chapter Nineteen
River
I was backing away from him, from the kitchen…because I just wanted to get out of here. I couldn’t stand to be around him anymore. Not if nothing had changed. Not if he was going to shut me out too. I’d been so foolish in thinking that things were going to be different with Spade.
As I took one step back out of the kitchen, Spade lunged forward. He had one arm around my waist and he pulled me to himself. I fell on his chest. I could breathe him in, feel the force of his muscular grip around me.
“You’re not going anywhere this time, River,” he said, searching my eyes. I knew he was angry too, I’d seen frustration in his eyes just moments ago but now he looked calm. I couldn’t understand him. What did he want?
I tried to wriggle in his grip, but there was no way I could get out that. He was way stronger than me.
