Tyler lazily slung his arm around Meredith’s neck and leaned back fully against the counter beside them. His long legs braced against the floor, and he cut his eyes at the woman sitting in front of them. “Look, Felicity,” the ladies snickered as he used her pseudonym, “not everyone around here escapes with their lover boy every couple of days to have a forbidden tryst in a hotel room.”
“Whatever.” She blew out a breath. “I’m just saying, he’s changed since I came here, and if you’re wondering where he’s going—my money’s on a woman.”
Late October in South Central Kentucky was a crapshoot. Sometimes, the lingering heat of summer had a sharp hold on the region. Every once in a while, though, if they were lucky, October brought with it cool mornings and a crisp scent to the air that told all the residents that winter was coming. On this morning, Travis Steele knew that winter was coming. He could feel it in every part of his bones, could smell it rising up from the earth.
He walked across the gravel driveway to where the garages sat. Instead of going through the clubhouse, he took a quick look around, hoping that no one saw him. If someone saw him, then they would ask questions and he would have to lie. Something he had been doing for months already; he already felt like a piece of shit. Lying to his brothers didn’t sit well with him, but these were extenuating circumstances and desperate times called for desperate measures. One more glance behind him and he entered the garage, got on his bike, put on his helmet, started it up, and off he went. Gravel flew behind him as he made his way down the drive. The faster he could get off Heaven Hill property, the better he would feel.
Once he was out on Porter Pike, he opened up the throttle, going faster than he normally would. The tension in his body was palpable—the sneaking around, the secrets, they were all beginning to take a toll on him.
Travis drove down Porter Pike, turned right at Louisville Road, and then made his way out onto Highway 526. Pulling into a subdivision, he parked his bike in the driveway of a nondescript house before getting off and walking to the front door. Instead of the normal key lock, there was a number pad. Only he and the occupant of the home knew the code to get in.
“Travis, is that you?”
The cadence of the soft voice could be heard before it could be seen. Christine was still very jumpy when it came to having people in her personal space. That was one of the reasons he never called before he showed up, but he had a set schedule that the two of them had learned to agree on.
“Expecting someone else?” He smiled slightly. It was a joke, a new thing in their relationship. It was only a few days ago that he’d tried joking with her. She had giggled just as softly as she talked, and it was then that he knew he would do whatever it took to make her do it again.
“No.” She shook her head, her dark hair falling across her face.
Outside, he could hear children playing up and down the street, but he couldn’t see them. Christine kept her blinds closed; she never opened them up, even when he was here with her. For the most part, she seemed scared to let the outside in.
“It’s a gorgeous day,” he started, wondering what the answer would be this time. Sometimes she said yes to going out in public with him, but more often than not, it was a flat no. She usually didn’t go out unless it was to work or to get something she needed for her home. “It’s not too cold yet. Would you like to go out on the bike for a few hours?”
In front of her, she clasped her hands, her fingers intertwining. “You think it’s okay?”
“We’ll head towards Allen County if you want, maybe even cross the border into Tennessee. We won’t hit main roads, and we won’t see anyone that you don’t want to.” Travis wanted to spend time with her, as much time with her as he could, especially if it was on the back of his bike.
“Just so long as we don’t head towards Franklin,” she whispered.
He knew that Simpson County was a no-go for her. It had only been once that he had even suggested they go there, but all it had taken was once. She’d had a panic attack, the likes of which he’d never before seen.
“I promise.” He held his hand out to her. He watched as her blue eyes roamed the tattoo that went from his wrist to his forearm and snaked up his bicep. She always looked at it. He wasn’t sure why and hadn’t yet gotten the guts to ask her. Making a come-on motion with his hand, he finished. “I brought you a bandana. We can cover your face until we get to Allen County, that way you don’t have to worry.”
The tension that had caused her to stiffen released immediately. She always worried Jagger would see her or he would see her. Worse yet, one of the men that worked for him would find her. And she wasn’t stupid; she knew that those men were everywhere.
Travis wasn’t sure yet if those people were a figment of her imagination or if they were real.
A bright smile finally lit up her face, and just like it always did, it knocked the breath right out of him. “You ready?”
Christine nodded, her dark hair falling over her shoulder. It was so different than the hair he had seen her with months ago at Wet Wanda’s, but then they’d come a long way from those first meetings. Travis had made sure that she didn’t have to take her clothes off to make a living. He’d made sure she had a roof over her head, food in her belly, and a dependable car to get her from point A to point B. He’d been responsible for all of it, including calling in favors. Those were favors he had thought long and hard about calling in, but knew at the end of the day, she would be worth it.
“I am,” she finally answered, her voice still soft.
“Then let’s go.”
They walked outside, both getting on his bike. Once he was seated, he handed the bandana back to her and watched behind his shoulder as she put it over the bottom part of her face. Big sunglasses covered the upper part before she put the helmet on. No one would be able to make out who she was, and that was the way they liked it. The secret had to stay just that, until it was allowed to come out.
Chapter Two
Christine wrapped her arms tightly around Travis’ waist as they traveled back down Highway 526. It was getting easier for her to be near him, for her to trust him, the more often he came around. He was her savior. It was as pure and simple as that. During those dark days when they had first met, she wasn’t sure they would ever be at this place in their relationship, but they were. Hell, she hadn’t been sure there would even be a place for him in her life, but he had gently never taken no for an answer.
“You’ve got to let me help you,” he begged. “I can’t stand the thought of you taking your clothes off for these men every night. Your brother is one of my best friends; I can’t let you keep doing this.”
She wanted to believe that there were good people in the world, that not everyone wanted something from her that she couldn’t give, but unfortunately that had never been the case in her life. Trusting someone was the hardest thing for her to do, and four weeks into a friendship felt like a very short amount of time. “What kind of job did you say it is?”
“A receptionist and front-counter girl at the Curly-Q in town. They could probably fix your hair,” he blurted out.
A smile played at the ends of her lips. Her hair did need help in a bad way. “I’ll think about it.”
As they came to a stop at the Louisville Road intersection, Travis leaned back. “Left or right? We can get there both ways.”
The night he offered her the job had changed everything and had led them to where they were at this moment. Right would take them toward town and the possibility of seeing people she knew…left would take them deeper into Warren County until they would have to turn east. This decision would be important, and it would mark a step in either her recovery or her staying complacent.
“Let’s go right,” she said just loud enough for him to hear over the sound of the bike.
Travis didn’t give her a chance to question whether this was what she really wanted to do or not. As soon as she said right, he lifted his feet off the ground and
pointed them in that direction. He could feel the bite of her fingers, even through the leather cut he wore, the closer they got to the interstate and Porter Pike.
Fear rolled up into her throat. “Don’t go that way!”
The words were shouted next to his ear, and he made a split decision to go through town. They could take the bypass and then Scottsville Road all the way out to Allen County. “We’ll go through town, it’s fine.” He did his best to reassure her.
Pushing her head against his back, she hid, not wanting to see any of the cars that passed them by. Slow tears made their way down her cheeks, and she again cursed the name of the man that had made her this way.
Travis loved the drive to Scottsville. It was long enough that he could open up the throttle but not necessarily have to worry about going too fast. They pulled into the city limits and passed some home cooking restaurants before going out further into the county. This was one of their favorite things to do together, and they had been doing it once a month for the past few months. Pulling into their first stop, they got off the bike, him helping her with the helmet and taking the bandanna from her face.
“You want some honey today?” he asked as they made their way to the Amish roadside stand. Several dotted the landscape, and they had a set route that they always took. There were a few that had special things that she liked to get, and he always made a point to stop at those. This was the last week the stands would be open, as cold weather would be making its way into the region soon.
“Yes, please,” she answered softly, politely, as they made their way up to where the honey sat.
The woman who ran the stand recognized the two of them. “Christy,” she called to them, her voice heavily accented. “I have one special for you.”
Christine, not used to anyone giving her a nickname or calling her out in a crowd, looked scared for a moment.
“Hey, you’re good,” Steele told her, casually putting his arm around her shoulders.
“I know, just took me by surprise.”
She waited patiently for the girl, who looked to be around the same age as her, as she brought the jar of honey over. “Thank you so much, Naomi!”
“My pleasure, I like to take care of my good customers.”
Travis reached into his jeans and pulled out the money for everything they purchased, handing it over to the young girl. “Thanks, Naomi,” he smiled to her.
“You come back next season, and I’ll have even more for you.”
Christine glanced over at Travis. She hated to be presumptuous, but she would love to come back with him, would love to know that next season they would still be taking these rides together.
“We’ll be here,” he nodded as he grabbed their sack and walked them over to the bike.
“If you have plans, it’s okay,” Christine told him. “I can find my way out here in my car.”
Travis shook his head. “Nope, I got plans with you.”
It had been this way since the day he’d picked her up on the side of the road and taken her to the CRISIS house. “You don’t have to keep hanging around me, Travis,” she told him softly. “You got me a house, a job, a car. I’m not a pet project.”
“Never thought you were.” He shrugged and got back on the bike.
“Surely to God, there’s some other woman you’d rather be hanging around with. One that opens the blinds to her windows, maybe?”
This was the first time she’d brought up any of her nuances, and he would be crazy to let it pass. “Why do you do that?”
“’Cause I don’t want him to find me.” She immediately hugged her arms around her middle to ward off the chill she suddenly felt.
In all the time they’d hung out, he’d never been able to find out who him was; he only knew that the man she sometimes referred to had made a huge impact on her life.
“You ever gonna trust me enough to tell me who he is?”
“It’s complicated,” she whispered. If he knew everything that she was dealing with and what she had dealt with, he would go running. She knew without a doubt that she didn’t want that to happen. Whether she’d meant to or not, she had come to count on him, to depend on his steady hand and level head to be there, to prevent her from falling when it all got to be a little too much.
“I’ll take that answer for now, Christy, but at some point, I need to know. At some point we’re gonna have to tell Jagger.”
That thought caused her heart to beat double-time. How would Jagger take what she had decided to do with her life? What would he do when he realized it was him leaving that had put her in a precarious situation?
“Please, just let me do it on my time,” she pleaded.
He sighed, that wasn’t at all what he wanted to do, but he had learned that with her, he couldn’t push. She didn’t push back, she flat shut down, and then it would take him weeks to get back the little trust he had managed to get from her. It wasn’t worth it to push, but goddamn he wanted to do just that. He was sick of not being completely honest with his bothers. He had to wonder about himself—how it was so easy for him to keep living a lie.
“Whatever you want,” he breathed loudly through his nose.
Christine could tell in the rigid way he held his body that he was unhappy with her. She hated that, but now was the time she could protect her brother, now was the time that she actually had some control over the situation, and she didn’t want to give that up for anything. There were a million times in her life that she had backed off and let other people tell her what to do. She wasn’t doing it again. There was a part of her that didn’t want to upset Travis, but there was a bigger part of her that wanted to own the fact that she could upset him.
“It is what I want,” she told him.
“Then we’ll do it your way, but I want you to realize that every time I lie to him, I’m potentially fucking up my spot in the club. And realize I’m doing that for you.”
He didn’t turn around as he talked to her, but she heard it just the same. The defeated tone in his voice about killed her, but she knew that this was the time she needed to be selfish, she needed to worry about herself, because if there was one thing that she had learned, no matter how much she wanted to—it was that she couldn’t trust anyone but herself. She couldn’t count on anyone but herself, and that was just the way life was.
“Where’s Steele?” Liam asked as he walked into the clubhouse.
The group all had one look for their pres, all grinning. “According to Felicity over here, he’s out with a chick.” Tyler pointed at Jessica.
“Would you stop calling me Felicity?” she asked, feigning irritation.
“Why do you think he’s got a woman?” Liam asked as he had a seat and checked the time on his phone. It was almost time for the kids to get off the bus, and he knew that he would have at least a few free hours. Mandy and Drew were completely in love with their little sister, Tatum, and he didn’t even get to hold his daughter when they were around.
“There are many reasons,” Meredith piped up from where she sat next to Tyler.
“Do share. I’m not just asking where he is for my health; I need to see him about some business.”
Jessica ignored the chuckle coming from where Tyler sat. “He leaves here every couple of days; his beard trimmed, the soul-patch just so, or even clean shaven. He has on clean clothes, and I’ve caught whiffs of a feminine scent coming off him. Those things taken separately don’t mean a lot, but all together, they’re telling me that he’s got a woman.”
Liam sighed. “I don’t even wanna be involved in this. When he gets back, tell him I’m looking for him. I’ll be taking a much needed nap if anyone needs me.”
“Who’s at the shop?” Tyler asked, referring to Walker’s Wheels, the club’s source of legitimate income.
“Jagger was leaving to go over there right as I came in. Bianca’s got to do a sort of Fall Festival or some shit, so he’s going to go over there after he closes up the shop. He wanted to be close in case sh
e needed help.” Liam couldn’t help the sheepish grin that came to his face. The way these guys had changed always amazed him. It didn’t make them any less dangerous when they needed to be in his eyes; it made them more dangerous because now they had something to lose.
“Did you get the message that Rooster left on the club’s voicemail for you?” Tyler asked, seemingly satisfied with the answer from Liam about the shop.
“I did.” He cleared his throat loudly. “That’s what I want to talk to Travis about.”
None of them said anything, but over the past few months, Rooster’s name had been coming up more and more. They all wondered what in the hell was going on, but nobody wanted to ask.
Chapter Three
It was dark when Travis made his way back to the clubhouse, and he wasn’t in the best of moods. Being dishonest to the people that cared about him and always had his back was tiring, and it fucking sucked. Thinking he’d gotten somewhere with Christine only to get the feeling he was never going to get anywhere also fucking sucked.
“Liam’s lookin’ for you.” He stopped short, not having seen Tyler on the front steps smoking a cigarette.
Travis cleared his throat and did his best to wipe the scared look off his face. “Is he inside, or do I need to go see him at home?”
Tyler kicked his long leg out in front of him, his voice deep in the dark of the night. If Travis didn’t know better, it would sound threatening. “He waited on you a long time.”
The Native American was a man of few words, and he always made them count. Travis had purposely ignored two calls from his pres. “I was out of range, and I only saw his calls when I hit Porter Pike. By that time, I figured I’d be here in a few minutes anyway.”
Tyler took a long drag off his cigarette and leveled his gaze on their security officer. “I don’t know what’s goin’ on with you. Some of the ladies seem to think it’s a woman that’s got you so tore up, but I’m just gonna be honest and lay it out on the line for you.”
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