by Nicola Jane
Chapter Four
Leia
It doesn’t take a genius to know that Chains has slipped off with Star. They deserve each other. She’s entitled and self-absorbed and he’s a sex-addicted asshole. I drink a shot of vodka bitterly and wipe my mouth on the back of my hand. Since I laid that kiss on Chains, he’s all I think about.
Jade holds up her cell phone. I glance over the advert she’s made up and laugh.
Virginity for sale. Must be wealthy. Must be able to prove a clean bill of health. For more details contact my agent on . . .
“I’ll put my details down and we can go through the applicants together.” She smiles.
“This isn’t happening,” I say and laugh. “Don’t post that until I’m completely sober and of sane mind.”
“It’ll be fun. Let's do it.”
I’m distracted by yelling. Anna has arrived and she doesn’t look too happy about Riggs being drunk again. I head over and gently rub Anna’s shoulder, hoping to calm her down. “He texted me,” she says, holding her cell up for me to view the text. “He’s cancelled on me. He doesn’t want to come to the scan and see his unborn child.” I read the text and it is pretty blunt. I see why she’s pissed about it.
“If you’re not coming back, then it's done. I’m not sharing a kid and seeing him every other weekend,” he slurs.
“I’m not coming back. I’m moving on with my life. Goodbye, Riggs.” Anna heads for the door and Riggs stands.
“If you’ve met someone else, Anna, I’ll fucking kill him!” he warns. The bar falls silent and all eyes are on the couple.
“You forgot that I’m good at running, Riggs. I don’t need you in my life and I can do better. You’ve made your choice. No going back now, so keep your threats to yourself. I’ve faced bigger demons than you.”
She leaves and Riggs slowly sits down. He looks defeated and it breaks my heart. “It’s such a mess,” I mutter. I’ve not seen him this down since Michelle left him all those years ago. “I love you,” I whisper, and he smiles a little and then wraps me in his arms. “I’ll talk to Anna,” I say into his chest. “I’ll make her see that you and she are meant to be.”
“Good luck with that, sis. She hates me right now and I don’t fuckin’ blame her, but she’s right. I gotta step up and prove I’m a good dad. No more drinking for me. I’m gonna sort my head out. I’m gonna go away for a while. Time alone on the road will sort me out.” He releases me. “I’m leaving Cree and Chains in charge, so no giving them the run-around.”
“Moi?” I smile innocently. “As if.”
Monday soon comes around again. Riggs left yesterday with no real plan, just him and his bike. He said the road would sort him out and Mum agrees. Apparently, my dad swore by it if he was having a tough time.
“What time do you get out?” asks Chains as I get off his bike and lift my backpack onto my shoulder. “Is that nerd waiting for you?” he adds, nodding past me. I glance back and smile at Ryan who waits patiently.
“He always walks me to class,” I say. “And I get out around twelve.”
“Why does he walk you to class? Don’t you know the way?”
“Because he’s nice.” Ryan was one of the first people to take me under his wing when I started University two years ago. He’s two years above me and doing a Ph.D. in medicine. He’ll be a surgeon or something equally as amazing one day. “I’m going to see Anna after here, so I can make my own way and call you afterwards?”
“I’ll be here at twelve,” he says firmly. I was hoping he’d let up now Riggs isn’t around.
I head over to Ryan. “How was your weekend?” I ask.
“Dull. I studied all weekend. You?” Ryan takes his study very seriously. I do too, but maybe not to the extent where I’m studying all weekend.
“Aw, ya know, caught up with friends.” I shrug my shoulders.
Ryan laughs. “Did you even bother to pick up a textbook?” I shake my head. “You start placement in a month. You need to get your head in a book.”
“I will,” I say with promise in my voice.
We stop outside my lecture hall. “I was wondering if you wanna study after lectures? We could grab a coffee and sit in the park?” asks Ryan.
“I can’t. I’m getting collected at twelve. Maybe tomorrow?”
Ryan nods and smiles. “It’s a date.” I watch as he walks off in the direction of his lecture. I don’t like the way he said the word ‘date’, but it’s too late to correct him.
By the time I get to Anna’s after twelve, I’m exhausted. The lecture went on and on this morning, and my brain wouldn’t absorb anything. Maybe Ryan has a point about studying more and partying less. “I’ll wait out here,” says Chains.
Anna looks tired and pale when she answers the door. We hug and I follow her inside. “Does Chains hate me too?” she asks, glancing behind me at Chains sitting on his bike.
“No. Nobody hates you, Anna.”
“I feel like they do. I’ve been abandoned since I upset their damn king.” She winces and takes me by the hand. “Sorry. I’m tired and miserable.” She leads me into the kitchen and I take a seat while she makes coffee.
“Riggs is gone,” I say, and she looks back at me. “He said he needed to get straight.”
“Well, that’s the truth,” she mutters. “Pity we can’t all run away from our responsibilities. What about Ziggy?”
“Mum’s taken him to the beach house in Southend. She said Riggs will come back better.”
“I had my scan. I’m twelve weeks. Everything seems okay.”
“That’s good. Did Eva go with you?” Anna nods. It’s killing her to be apart from Riggs, I see it in her face. “He loves you so much, Anna.”
“We can’t keep having these conversations. I know he does. I know he’s scared. I know he’s struggling separating what happened with Michelle, but ya know what? I’m done waiting. I’m too hurt to stand around while he gets his shit together. I’ve accepted it. I’ve decorated the baby’s room here. I don’t plan on ever coming back to the club, so I’m making this home for me and my babies. Malia is settling again. It took her time, but she isn’t asking for him or Ziggy as much now.”
A pain hits me in the chest and I realise that it isn’t just Riggs and Anna going through this. We’re all hurting.
“Promise me that we’ll be okay. I see you as a sister,” I say and Anna smiles, setting a coffee in front of me.
“Always,” she says. “Now, tell me something about your life so I don’t think about babies or men.”
I take a deep breath. “I kissed Chains.” I figure it won’t hurt to tell Anna seeing as she doesn’t plan on speaking to Riggs. She gasps and then breaks into a grin.
“You kept that quiet. I mean, Riggs always thought that Chains had a soft spot for you, but I didn’t see this coming at all.”
I shake my head dismissively. “There’s nothing between us. He said we should keep it quiet and that's fine but . . . ” I trail off.
“But?” Anna pushes.
“But I can’t stop thinking about that kiss and him.”
“Is that a bad thing? Chains is a nice guy and he’s hot.”
“You know how I feel about making my life different. I don’t want to be stuck as an ol’ lady bringing up kids and looking after a man like he’s my king.”
Anna smiles and pats my hand. “You see it as very one-sided, which is weird seeing as you grew up in the club life. You treat him like a king and you stand as his queen. The guys in the Kings respect their ol’ ladies, you know that.”
“I don’t know why we’re discussing it. Riggs won’t ever allow it.”
“So, you’ve thought about it?” she asks, wiggling her eyebrows.
“Chains doesn’t like me in that way. I kissed him. I threw myself at him, in fact.”
“Leia, if you like Chains, then speak to him and speak to Riggs. It’s time they all saw you for the woman you’ve become and not the little kid of the club. Why don’t Eva an
d I give you a makeover this weekend? We could all visit the salon, it’d be fun.”
I find myself agreeing, but I don’t plan on telling Chains anything.
CHAINS
Riggs hitting the road makes me jealous. The pull of the tarmac is strong this week and being around Leia is getting harder. All the more reason to get on my bike and get the hell outta here.
She’s walking across the parking lot with the same nerd who waits for her every morning when I drop her at University. He’s carrying her backpack and she’s laughing at whatever he’s saying to her. I’ve watched him staring at her longingly all week and I’ve thought about throat punching him over a hundred times at least.
They slow down as they approach me. “So tonight?” He smiles and she nods. “Eight o’ clock?” She nods again and I glance back and forth between them. What the fuck is happening at eight?
The nerd smiles at me and hands me her backpack. “Take care of her.” He winks and slaps me on the arm. I raise my brow at his show of male dominance and the urge to throat punch hits me again.
“Get on the bike, Leia,” I growl and she presses her lips together in a way that tells me she’s stifling a laugh. “Now.”
Nerd boy watches us drive away. I want to run over his foot, but I settle for giving him my best pissed look. I stop the bike ten minutes later outside a salon. “Cree’s picking us up when we’ve finished here,” she smiles.
“What’s happening at eight tonight?” I ask coldly. “And don’t say it’s a date.” Riggs might not be around, but he wouldn’t let her go on a date, and I intend to keep things as he’d like them.
“No, a group of us are meeting.”
“Right, well, I’ll be ready for eight.” I have a meeting with Vinn, but I’ll cancel. I want to keep my eye on Leia closely until Riggs returns.
“You really don’t need to. We’ll be just up the road from the Windsor. I’ll be with Anna and Eva too.”
“Anna?” I growl. She can’t go to a bar—Riggs would bust a nut.
“She isn’t drinking. I guess she knows she can relax with Riggs not being around.”
“Then I’m definitely coming.” I drive away before she can argue.
“Fuck, brother, did you see the girls tonight?” asks Gears. “I know she’s the Pres’s sister, but man, if she wasn’t . . . ” He fake bites his knuckle and then begins tapping me discreetly and nodding to the stairs. Eva makes her way towards us and she looks great, but my eyes are fixed on Leia. Her hair is wavy and it frames her beautiful face perfectly. She looks different, maybe more grown up. She’s wearing tight black pants and a low cut fitted tee. But the thing that really sets my heart racing is the leather jacket she’s wearing. She looks hot. “Do ya see what I mean, brother?” whispers Gears and I nod my head slowly. I don’t trust myself to speak.
“Who’s she trying to impress?” grumbles Rock. “Riggs would have a fit if he saw her looking like that.”
“I dunno, but it’s about time she looked her age. Maybe now he’ll stop babying her,” says Gears and Rock laughs.
“And look how you asses are drooling over her. He’d hate it for that reason alone.”
“Brother, I can take the girls out if you wanna go meet Vinn,” says Cree and I shake my head. There’s no way I’m taking my eyes off Leia tonight. “Suit ya self,” he mutters.
We pick Anna up on the way and I park the truck in the parking lot at the Windsor. I’ve barely stopped before Leia is out the truck and encouraging the girls to get out too. “Wait,” I growl.
“You can follow us in. You don’t have to be at my side,” she huffs. But looking as good as she does, I know exactly where I need to be all evening.
I groan as I follow them inside the bar. Leia’s hot friend is amongst the group waiting for her along with nerd boy. They all greet like they haven’t seen each other in a month and I roll my eyes. Leia’s friend places a well-manicured hand on my chest. “You got me into so much trouble.” She smirks and I feel Leia watching us.
“It was a bit of fun, darlin’. You never said you were taken.”
She giggles. “Well, you didn’t stop to ask. It doesn’t matter now anyway because Colin packed his things and left me for good. I’m completely free and single, which means anytime you want some fun, head to my place.” She winks at me and then turns back to the group. I think she was going for sultry and sexy—it didn’t work. There’s no way I can go there again when her eyes are full of hope.
I stay close to the group, parking my ass at the table next to them. I stare down at my phone, pretending I’m not listening to their conversation about Leia’s virginity. My hands grip the phone so tight, I'm afraid the screen might crack. Nerd boy has the same annoyed expression on his face. He’s clearly not happy as the girls try and encourage Leia to place some stupid ad to sell her V card.
Anna knows I’m listening. She isn’t stupid and she tries hard to talk the group down. “Leia should wait until she finds a nice guy. Anyone could buy her. It could be an old, eighty-year-old with a pot belly and foul breath. Leia, you’re stunning. What you have is so special and it should be given to a man you love.” Anna’s eyes flicker to me before settling back on Leia.
“It’s my birthday soon. If I haven’t lost it by then, I give permission for you to place the ad.” Leia grins and I ball my fists. Riggs needs to know about this, but bothering him now when he’s trying to clear his head might tip him over the edge.
“I’ll do it,” blurts out nerd boy and the group turn to him, all eyes wide in shock. “I mean, rather than you selling yourself to some overweight, balding man with bad breath.” He laughs nervously.
“I’m not some charity case,” says Leia and then she laughs. The rest of the group join her, but even I can see that this poor guy is in love with her. Leia knows it too because her laugh is awkward and nervous. “I just want it over with,” she adds.
“And why not make some extra cash out of it,” says one of her friends.
“Everyone seems to be doing it but me,” mutters Leia and she looks at me, confirming she heard what her little friend said when we arrived. “Let's stop talking about this. Ears are everywhere around here. I need to dance.”
I watch the group dance. Nerd boy doesn’t join in, but he can’t take his eyes from Leia. Much like myself. When she finally stumbles back from the dance floor, she’s glowing and my chest bursts with pride when she falls against me and not him. “Take me home,” she slurs.
“With pleasure,” I say, smiling at her heartbroken friend.
Leia is so drunk, she falls asleep in the truck the second I strap her in. Back at the club, I scoop her into my arms and carry her up to bed. Feeling her head against my chest does something to me—not just in my pants, but in my chest too. It feels right having her like this. Depending on me. Needing me.
I place her into bed and pull the sheets over her. She stirs and takes my hand. “Don’t leave,” she whispers.
“Get some sleep,” I say, but she tugs harder and grumbles something. “Just for a little while.” I sigh as I kick off my boots, climb onto the bed, and lay next to her on my back. I can’t risk getting up close and personal cos I don’t wanna get caught like this. Leia rolls towards me and smiles. “They think I should sell myself,” she slurs, throwing her leg over mine and laying her head against my chest. “I don’t want to.”
“Then don’t,” I mutter.
“Would you buy a virgin?” she mumbles sleepily.
“No,” I say quietly. “You shouldn’t rush to give it away, Leia. Save it for someone who deserves it.”
“There’s only one man I want to give it to and that’s you, Chains,” she says, pressing herself closer to me. “Because I think I love you.”
My body stiffens, but Leia doesn’t seem to notice as she idly runs a finger up and down my shirt-covered abs. She loves me? Where the fuck did that come from? She doesn’t wanna be an ol’ lady. She wants to move away from the club. I lay frozen as she snores lightly
against my chest for an hour. Eventually, I carefully roll her onto her side and slip out of her room.
Chapter Five
Leia
I pick at the toast Mum placed in front of me more than ten minutes ago. I know without doubt that if I put another crumb in my mouth, I’m gonna hurl. “Feeling delicate?” Mum smirks.
I wish a hangover was the only thing bothering me today. I inwardly cringe as the memory of what I said to Chains last night floats fuzzily through my mind. As if conjured from my thoughts, he stalks into the kitchen, glances at me, and then stomps back out with a scowl on his face. “What's up his ass this morning?” mutters Mum. I shrug and then casually get up to follow him. I catch him going into Riggs’ office.
“Chains,” I mutter and he scowls harder as he takes a seat behind Riggs’ desk. “Can we talk?”
“About selling your virginity or your little drunken confession last night?” he asks coldly.
“Both,” I say with uncertainty. “I’m sorry,” I add weakly. “I was drunk and I . . . ” I run out of words. I can’t deny that my feelings for him have grown.
“Riggs said you can date,” says Chains, and I suck in a surprised breath. It’s not what I expected to hear. “I had a chat with him early this morning. He agrees that you’re old enough to make your own choices, and as long as I know where you are and who you’re with, he said you can date.”
“Oh.” It’s the only thing that falls from my lips, and Chains looks more annoyed by the second.
“Find someone your own age. The rest will come naturally. No need to prostitute yourself,” he says coldly and it stings a little.
“I wasn’t going to—” I begin to explain, but he puts his hand up to stop me.
“Nerd boy is hot for you. He’d happily fuck your virginity away, so make the arrangements.”
