Breaking the Rules (Roaming Devils MC #1)

by Lexie Davis

  Chapter Fifteen

  When Ella had been in the fourth grade, she played a game of playground softball. One of the boys threw a ball at her face and busted her lip, sending her loose tooth flying into the field. She spent two hours on her hands and knees looking for it, convinced that the tooth fairy wouldn’t visit her if she didn’t have the tooth.

  She groaned as she opened her eyes. Why getting an elbow to the face made her think of that story was beyond her. The bruised face hurt worse than a busted lip. She glanced over at Ryker, who stared back at her with concern. She knew how it looked. No one would ever believe that he’d done it accidentally. Her mother was already convinced that he’d beat the shit out of her, and with his prior assault history, their accident looked really bad to the unknowing eye. That was the whole reason she’d fabricated her story to the hospital. He didn’t need to be associated with it or all hell would break loose.

  He’d been in a trance. Whatever went through his mind surrounded him as if it were real. Blood had poured from her nose while tears had filled his eyes. God, she hated that look. It was the same look he’d given her in the room at the clubhouse when he’d been high. It broke her heart to even think about it.

  “You’re going to fuck up.” She closed her eyes. “This is just a big fuck up.”

  “I’m sorry, Ella.” He sat up and turned toward her. “I’m so sorry.”

  She blew out a breath. “Stop saying you’re sorry.” She sat up and pushed the covers back to stand. “No more. I forgave you the moment it happened. I know it wasn’t intentional. I made up a story to protect you, so stop saying you’re sorry. I’m okay.”

  She stretched and walked to the bathroom. After using the facilities, she went back to find him damn near tears in their bed.

  “Ryker,” she wrapped her arms around him, carefully avoiding accidentally bumping her cheek against his head, “what’s wrong?”

  “I shouldn’t have given in to you that first night.” He swallowed. “I was so damn selfish because I wanted you and I knew that I was no good for you. Nothing good will come from you being with me. I’m going to hurt you. It’s who I am.”

  She pulled back and stared into his haunted eyes. “You’re not your father.”

  She knew it had something to do with what happened. His reasoning was vague but he hadn’t killed Razor even though that was what he’d set out to do. She kissed his forehead.

  “I think you should take the job in DC.” He pulled her arms from him and stood. “I need to go to the club.”

  She watched as he snatched his clothes from the dresser and left the room in his boxers. Ella sighed. She didn’t know how to help him. He hadn’t told her the full story that had started this mess and she shook her head at her need for asking him. If she’d just left things alone. But no. She had to ask the question. She had to bring it up.

  After getting ready for work, she decided to meet her father for breakfast. She had to do poison control that week, so the hours were slightly more lenient. She did her best to cover the bruising with makeup, but the swelling was still visible. When her father saw her, his expression went stone cold.

  “What happened?”

  “Junkie jumped me at the clinic. Nothing is broken. I’m fine.”

  “At the clinic? I thought you were in the ER yesterday?” He pulled out a chair for her at the restaurant. “Why were you at the clinic?”

  “I don’t want to talk about it.” She smiled at the waitress and ordered a coffee along with a country breakfast. “I’m worried about Ryker, though. He’s really not in a good frame of mind right now, and I don’t know how to help him.”

  “What do you mean?” he asked her, cop face in place. “What did he say about the junkie that hit you?”

  She hesitated. Her brain wasn’t firing on all pistons and her cheeks felt like a squirrel packing in acorns for the winter. She met his eyes, unsure of what to say.

  “I’m going to kill him.” Her father shoved his seat back. The legs of the chair screeched along the linoleum. Ella grabbed his arm, but he easily got past her. She watched as he stalked out of the building, blowing out a breath of air.

  The waitress came back with her food and Ella asked for a to-go box. The whole situation between him and Ryker was getting out of hand. They would never be able to stay in the same room together. She didn’t know what she was going to do.

  Making a quick call to her boss, she let him know she was running late. Then she headed to the clubhouse to—she hoped—stop the fight before it started.

  She was too late.

  Rushing inside, she found Ryker and her father throwing punches at one another with several scary-looking bikers gathering around with bats and metal bars. What the fuck? She pushed through the crowd.

  “Stop it!” Ella screamed as her father threw a punch at Ryker.

  She desperately searched for Vampire and Superman, who stood off to the side, watching. “Do something!”

  Vampire pushed away from the wall he stood against and walked toward her. “You don’t need to be here.”

  She stared at him. “Where the fuck am I going to go? Do something.”

  “He said not to intervene.”

  “I don’t give a fuck what he said. Do something!”

  Vampire held his hands up, backing away from her. She shook her head in fury. If she called the cops, Ryker was going to jail. If she let it continue, one of them would be in a body bag.

  She rushed out to the car and found her medical bag. She’d left a vial of medicine for rapid sedation since she’d experienced hostile patients in the ER the previous day. Now was a great time to use it. Loading up two needles with a dose that would sedate them, she went back into the clubhouse. She dealt with combative patients all the time in the ER and clinic. Some didn’t know any better and some simply wanted to fight. It fucking sucked to drug them, but sometimes it was needed for their safety and hers. Walking over to the two men, she pushed her way past the bikers and stabbed Ryker in his shoulder with the needle first. Her father stopped long enough for her to stick him next.

  “What the fuck?” Ryker turned toward her and she waited, the drug lessening his agitation as seconds went by.

  Vampire arched an eyebrow, moving in to catch Ryker before he fell on his face. “What’d you give them?”

  She didn’t respond, watching the two of them. Her father stumbled and fell to his ass, muttering something. After a few minutes, they were asleep. She finally pulled her attention away from them and focused on Vampire.

  “What the fuck were you thinking?”

  He set Ryker’s limp body on a nearby couch. “He said not to intervene. We were all ready to defend him but he told us not to.”

  “And what? You wanted to add another fucking body to the total dead body count?” She didn’t know why she was yelling, but it felt good. She shook her head, staring at them. They were both a bloody mess. In some ways it had been a long time coming.

  “Look, I know you rule the roost at your house, but you’re not a patch member.” Superman came toward her. “Take your father and leave.”

  She didn’t hide the shock on her face. “Excuse me?”

  She glanced between him and Vampire. That was how they treated her? Really? She walked over to her father and grabbed his upper body. He was more than twice her weight but she tugged and pulled, moving him little by little to the door. She should have called the fucking cops on them.

  “You’re an asshole.” Ella struggled, then stopped, realizing she was losing the battle. She grabbed her phone from her pocket and dialed.

  “Who the fuck are you calling?” Superman asked.

  “The cops.” She stared at him. “I mean that’s what you guys are all about, right? You help your own. Since my father is an officer, I wonder what his buddies would say about this?”

  Vampire exhaled. “Women.”

  He went over to her father and grabbed him around his chest. He could lift him significantly better than she coul
d and helped her get him in the backseat of his truck. She pocketed her phone and gave him her thanks. She went back inside to check on Ryker’s vitals before she left. His face looked about as bad as hers felt. Maybe that was what he wanted. She shook her head.

  When she left, she grabbed her breakfast food and her medical bag before going to her father’s truck. She’d have her mom drive her back to the clubhouse to get her car once she got her father home.

  She was fairly sure her day couldn’t possibly get any worse, but the universe was screwing with her. Anything was possible.

  ****

  Ryker woke to several eyes peering down at him. Groggily, he winced and blinked a few times. “What the fuck happened?”

  “Your girlfriend sedated you.” Vampire sighed. “And before she goes all bat shit crazy about Superman kicking her out of the clubhouse, let it be known that I helped her carry her father out.”

  Ryker tried to think back to what the hell had happened and nothing floated into his mind.

  “Why did Ella sedate me?”

  Superman pulled a chair over to him. “You were fighting with her father.”

  He groaned. Her father. He didn’t remember any of it. Shit. Ryker rubbed his eyes and glanced down at his hands. Dried blood covered them along with bruising. Fuck. He’d gone a few rounds with her old man.

  “I need to fucking talk to Ella.” He tried to sit up. Every muscle in his body was relaxed. He couldn’t get mad about the situation if he wanted to. “What time is it?”

  “Noon.”

  He groaned. “Fuck.”

  “You don’t remember anything, do you?” Vampire asked.

  “Not one damn thing.” He stood and walked slowly toward the back. Hell, he felt like he’d taken an elephant tranquilizer. He went to the bathroom and stared at himself in the mirror. Her old man had gotten in a few good hooks. His eye was swollen and his lip busted. He didn’t want to know what he’d done to Pat.

  He grabbed his cell phone and found her number. After pressing the button, he put it to his ear. It didn’t take her long to answer. “Are you okay?”

  “I feel groggy.”

  “That’s normal.” She paused a moment. “What were you thinking?”

  “I don’t fucking remember.” He groaned. The stiffness from the fight mixed with sleeping on the couch wreaked havoc on his muscles. “What happened?”

  “My dad came after you for the whole incident with my face.”

  He winced, vaguely remembering the cop forcing his way into the club. His memory came to him in bits and pieces, but Ryker knew he hadn’t even defended himself when Pat landed a right hook on his jaw. God, he’d wanted that fight. Relished in it.

  “Yeah. I remember that.”

  She didn’t say anything for a minute, the background noise of the poison control center filling the silence. “We’ll talk about this later. I need to get back to work.”

  She disconnected with him before he could protest. He wanted his fucking bed. The van was still out of town delivering his father to the nomads and he didn’t have anything to get him back home.

  “Fuck.” He left the bathroom and went back to the front of the clubhouse. He glanced over at Ella’s car parked outside and grabbed Vampire. “Drive me home.”

  She’d given him the spare a few nights ago when he’d driven her to her parents’ house. He still had it on his key chain. He handed it to Vampire and went to the other side of the car. It fucking sucked to feel so damn helpless.

  It didn’t take them long to get home and once he did, he locked the door behind him. He walked to the bedroom and fell face-first onto the bed.

  He slept most of the day away. He’d been so pissed about what happened with Ella that he’d tried to hide in the club. Her father barging in had been a needed release. He’d wanted that fight. Pat was older but he was fit. He remembered him coming at him, throwing the first punch. He’d said something to Ryker, though Ryker hadn’t really heard what it was. Ella was his daughter, and Ryker knew all fucking well that he would have done the same damn thing if he found Ella hurt. The guys that had broken into their apartment had learned that all too well. Ryker sat up on the bed and decided to get something to eat. The effects of the drug had worn off mostly and he felt more like himself.

  While he was heating leftover fast food in the microwave, Ella came home. So much of his life was violence and destruction. Now, just by living with him, she got a taste of that. He watched as she put her medical bag aside. “Why did you drug me?”

  She glanced up. “Because you wouldn’t stop fighting. I asked Vampire to do something and he refused, saying you told him not to. I thought about calling the police but you’d only end up in jail. I wasn’t about to let either one of you kill the other. It was the only other option I had.”

  “Don’t fucking do that again.” He frowned. “I’ve had enough of other people pumping shit in my veins.”

  “It wasn’t a narcotic. I use it for combative patients in the ER.”

  “I don’t fucking care. Don’t do it again.”

  She stared at him. “Don’t go looking for a fight, then.”

  “I didn’t. He came after me.”

  “I know he did. But you could have stopped it.”

  He shook his head. “He’s lucky he’s not in a body bag.”

  He opened the microwave door and grabbed his hamburger. He bit into it, trying to focus on his anger. He was helpless in so many ways and it pissed him off. He wanted to build a life with Ella, but he couldn’t figure out how to protect her, especially if he was the one that hurt her. He didn’t know what to do about the situation with her father. They’d never be able to stand in the same room together. Especially now. Anger was all he had to get her to realize that he was no good for her. She deserved so much better than him. Someone that wasn’t fucked up.

  “I don’t want to argue with you about this. He was trying to protect me.”

  “Yeah.” He sneered, grabbing something to drink from the fridge. “Why the fuck are you still around, anyway?”

  “Excuse me?”

  He slammed the fridge door. “Go to DC. Get out of this fucking city. Out of my fucking life.”

  He twisted the cap off. Anger was all he had. He was pissed at her for sedating him against his will. It was the only thing that enabled him to push her away. He needed to focus on the club. It was a big deal to him to be voted in as president and he had to put that as his top priority.

  “Look, I know it was difficult for you to handle the situation with your father, but taking it out on me is not the answer.”

  His eyebrows pinched together. “You don’t know shit about the situation with my father. You don’t know shit about anything. Hell, you asked me to go to DC with you. What about me would ever make you think that was going to happen?” He shook his head. “My grandfather was right. When pussy stops being pussy, it creates all kinds of problems I don’t want to fucking deal with.”

  She let out a breath as she stared at the floor. Ella was not going to be pushed away easily. His father knew it. He was too fucking dumb to see it. He didn’t know why she kept staying around.

  “I’m not some fucking problem for you to fix. You can’t save me, Ella.” He shook his head. “You need to go. Go while you can.”

  The longer he stood there with silence dangling between them, the more he ached for things to be different. He wanted a way that he could have the best of both worlds. A family. The woman of his dreams. His club. He didn’t know how to do it and he failed miserably trying.

  “I was never just pussy to you.” She finally met his eyes. “Don’t even go there with me.” He knew that. God, he fucking knew that and it pissed him off that she knew it too.

  Her gaze never wavered from his. “And I don’t see you as a fucking problem for me to fix. When you’re in a relationship, you weather the storm and work your problems out. You keep trying to push me away, Ryker, but it’s inevitable that I’m going to come back. I don’t giv
e up easily, and I won’t give up so easily on you.”

  Ryker took a long sip of water. Ella glanced around their new apartment. “Maybe we need some time apart, though. I would offer to move out, but my stuff is filling this place.”

  He could go to the club. It was the one true constant in his life. If all else failed, he still had the club. His brothers. Fuck it all to hell. Everything about that was great, but they didn’t keep him warm at night. They didn’t make him smile quite like Ella did. He was torturing himself with the thought of giving her up when he should have been pushing her away. He should have had the balls to fix everything he fucked up and save her from the life he was destined to live.

  “I need to go.” He didn’t move, even though he said the words. “You can do whatever you want.”

  She snorted. “I don’t need your permission for that.”

  Ella folded her arms over her chest. He watched as she contemplated something. He couldn’t help taking in her profile. She’d pulled her hair back. He knew she did it when she’d had a long day at work. He felt like an ass for even dragging her into his mess. He walked around the kitchen peninsula and grabbed her elbow. Her surprise gave him the perfect opportunity to kiss her without much protest. His mouth came down against hers as he forced his tongue between her parted lips.

  It hurt so fucking much to push her away. He was too weak to keep away from her. Despite all the trouble with her father and all the bullshit he put himself through, he was too needy to forget about her. Ryker stroked his tongue against hers, deepening the kiss. He’d used his anger to fuel his focus, but even if he did spit off bullshit to her, he couldn’t stop thinking about the way she felt in his arms. The way he still wanted her in his life. He would always want her unlike he wanted anything else in the world.

  Including the club.

  That was the realization that scared him the most. She’d come into his life and flipped it upside down. He should have been angry. He should have had a better way of dealing with his obsession with her. But he didn’t. He knew somewhere deep inside that if it came down to it, he’d choose Ella over the club every day of the fucking week.