Stripped: A Dark Bad Boy Romance

by Brook Wilder

  Those girls had seen something. He was sure of it.

  The first one had even appeared concerned or worried. It was possible she’d seen something. Charles’ death hadn’t been widely reported on the news, and most people didn’t pay attention to the deaths of bikers anyway. If she was aware of the spot where it happened, it was likely she had been there that very night. She could be the key to proving what really happened to Charles.

  Prescott knew that he needed to talk to her.

  Della had almost refused to go to the library with Kate. She knew Trevor was expecting them, and that this project was worth a third of her grade, but she couldn’t stand the idea of being near that place again. The place where the gunshot had rang out.

  Kate wasn’t having any of it. The one concession she made was to join Della in crossing the street from the other side, so that they’d be farther away from where it happened. Della had no idea why it made her feel safer, but it did.

  So they’d gone to the library, and Della had breathed a sigh of relief when they were done working for the night. Simon wasn’t waiting for her that time. At least one good thing had come out of it. She still kept an eye out for him when they left the library, but he did not appear.

  Then it was just a matter of crossing that street again. It was almost the exact same time as before, too. She couldn’t help turning to look, as if she expected to see the body still lying there. But there was nothing. Only silence. The whole mess had long since been cleaned up.

  Her heart skipped a beat when she saw a motorcycle parked on the street a half a block from their building.

  “What are you looking at?” Kate asked. “Della, come on! This is too much.”

  She grabbed Della’s arm and dragged her the rest of the way to their apartment.

  “There was a motorcycle there,” Della said.

  “Lots of people ride motorcycles,” Kate replied as she unlocked the front door. “We’ve been over this, Della.”

  “I screamed, Kate,” Della insisted. “He had to have heard me, and I saw him turning to look. How could he not know we were there? He’d have to have been blind to not see us.”

  “If he’d seen us, we would know by now,” Kate said. The slight tremor in her tone belied her confident stance on the matter. “We’re not in any danger, Della.”

  “I wish I could believe you.”

  “The whole thing’s a nothing issue,” Kate said. “Look, I’ll search the web again, and nothing will come up.”

  She fished her laptop out of her bag and opened it. Della looked over her shoulder as she typed in the searches they’d tried earlier that week, first thing on Tuesday. She searched for shootings, deaths, and murders. She typed in “motorcycle” and “motorcycles” and “bikers.” No results popped up,just articles from other cities or from years in the past.

  “See?” Kate said triumphantly. “They hushed it up.”

  “Isn’t that bad?” Della asked. “If someone covered up the crime, doesn’t that mean they’d go to any length to keep it quiet?”

  “Yeah, but it also means as far as the world is concerned, this crime never happened. As long as we don’t talk, we’re just another couple of ignorant college students. So what we know never leaves this room. Okay?”

  Della flopped down on the couch and let out a breath. “I could’ve sworn he saw us.”

  “Like I said, he clearly didn’t.”

  “Right. Because we’d be dead if he knew who we were.”

  “Exactly.”

  “So comforting.”

  Della picked at a loose thread in her jeans. She wasn’t sure if she agreed with Kate, but she was starting to believe that the danger had passed. Even if the biker had seen them, he wouldn’t know who they were or where to find them. They were safe as long as they remained anonymous, like Kate said.

  “Simon wasn’t at the library tonight,” Della said, changing the subject. “That’s a relief, right? Thank goodness for small blessings.”

  Kate sat down on the arm of the couch and looked sympathetically at her friend.

  “How long is that going to last, though?” she asked. “Simon has made it clear that he’s not going to give up on you. You’ve got to let him down now, Della. You can be nice about it, but you should do it sooner rather than later. I don’t see this thing getting any better for you if you let it drag on.”

  Della dropped her head into her hands and heaved a sigh.

  “You’re right. I know you are. He just scares me. I don’t want to provoke him.”

  “You don’t have a choice, hon. If he tries anything when you reject him, then you go to the police. That’s what they’re there for. In the meantime, we should find someone sane for you, because it’s clear you need to get laid.”

  Della reached out and smacked Kate’s leg.

  “It’s true! When was the last time you had sex? Seven months ago?”

  “Closer to eight,” Della conceded. “Hell, maybe I should go for Simon. He’s obviously willing.”

  “Ew! Don’t even joke about that.”

  Della laughed. “Sorry, couldn’t help it. But my love life is the least of my worries right now. I think I’m just gonna go to bed.”

  “Alright, but hey,” Kate reached out to stop Della as she headed for her room. “We’re going to be okay, yeah? I’ll take you out this weekend. Just you and me. We can take a day to de-stress and get our heads on straight. Come Monday it’ll be like none of this ever happened, and you’ll be able to face Simon with confidence.”

  “That actually sounds pretty good,” Della said. “It’s a date.”

  Kate laughed. “Not quite, but we’ll tackle that hurdle after our girls’ night. Go get some sleep.”

  Della didn’t need to be told twice. She brushed her teeth and crawled into bed, falling asleep within seconds.

  Della dreamed that she was being pursued by a shadowy figure on a motorcycle. Because it was a dream, she felt like she was running through tar as she tried to get away. The dream kept switching so that sometimes she was seeing herself from a distance, observing the chase. Then the shadowy figure was holding a gun, and Della was pressed against a wall. She awoke right when the shot rang out.

  Sun was pouring into the room, and the gunshot was still ringing through her ears. Della groaned and rolled over, checking her phone for the time. It was late morning, so she’d had a solid nine hours of sleep. The problem was she still felt exhausted.

  Struggling out of bed, she got dressed and splashed some cool water on her face. After brushing her teeth, she left the room to find that Kate was making breakfast.

  “I was just about to wake you,” Kate said. “Are you ready for our day of relaxation?”

  “I think I am,” Della said, pouring herself a cup of coffee.

  “Didn’t sleep well?”

  Della told her roommate about the nightmare.

  “Jeez, you are really letting this thing get to you,” Kate said. “Fortunately, I have the cure. We’re going to pamper ourselves today.”

  She slid some eggs and bacon onto Della’s plate. Della, who wasn’t feeling all that hungry, ate just to be polite. She let Kate take the leads on their plans, since that was obviously what her friend wanted.

  It was a bright, crisp morning. The cool air was refreshing, and Della found herself relaxing a little bit at a time, just as Kate intended.

  The day started with a trip to the mall, during which Kate tried to get Della to buy some more interesting outfits. Interesting by Kate’s standards, anyway. Della was comfortable in her simple dresses and skirts.

  After shopping and a quick trip to the hair salon, they hit a movie. Munching on candy and popcorn, they allowed themselves to sink into the seats and ignore reality for a while.

  It all ended with dinner at one of their favorite restaurants.

  “See?” Kate said, setting her menu aside. “Am I the expert at de-stressing or what?”

  “I give in,” Della said. “You are undoubtedly the
expert, and I owe you big time. I haven’t felt this good in a while.”

  She was telling the truth, too. At first Della had been dubious about Kate’s plans, but the day out had proved to be exactly what the doctor ordered. They indulged themselves with wine and lingered over their meals, finishing off with cheesecake.

  They left the restaurant feeling full and satisfied. Della was already thinking about bed, but her body ran cold when she glimpsed a familiar motorcycle parked at the curb a couple blocks away from the restaurant. She thought about pointing it out to Kate, but then thought better of it. Her friend would just say that Della was being paranoid and ruining a perfect evening.

  Della half convinced herself that Kate’s imagined response was right. After all, lots of people rode motorcycles; there was no guarantee it was the same one. She glanced around to see if anyone was watching them, but didn’t see anybody. Deciding she really was being paranoid, she pushed the motorcycle from her mind.

  But it wouldn’t leave her alone.

  As the week went on, Della was sure she was being watched. Whenever she went to class, or stopped at the library, she glimpsed a man in the crowd. She never got a good look, because he always disappeared before long, but she was sure it was the same man every time. He was even wearing a leather kutte, which chilled her to the bone. The one thing she was sure of was this was not the biker who had committed the murder.

  A part of Della wanted to confront the strange biker, just to get the whole ordeal over with, but the saner part of her mind stopped her. She knew it would be a terrible idea to purposefully get herself involved in biker affairs. Kate would say the same thing, if she even believed that Della’s stalker existed.

  But he did exist.

  Della was seeing him everywhere. She even thought she glimpsed him lurking by the crash site when she was walking home one night. But the same thing happened every time she tried to get a better look at him – he disappeared.

  By Friday, Della was ready to hole up in the apartment and not let herself out until she had to for class on Monday. She was ready to head home when she decided to stop at the campus bookstore to do some shopping she’d been putting off. It was a little late, but the store was still open.

  That was her big mistake.

  She went inside and then down the stairs to the café in the basement, figuring she’d grab a bite to eat while she was there. While there had been a few people upstairs, the café area was virtually deserted. She bought a decaf coffee and a sandwich, then decided she’d eat upstairs where there were more people.

  She found a little table off to the side and sat down to eat. For the first time in a while, she completely forgot about the biker. But when someone stopped at her table and pulled a chair out, she realized there was a completely different stalker she should have been wary of.

  “Hey, I’m glad I bumped into you,” Simon said, seating himself without waiting for an invitation.

  Della slowly lowered her coffee cup and glanced around. The area had emptied out while she ate. She felt nervous, and wondered if she could make up a good excuse to get away.

  “How are you?” she asked, stalling.

  “Doing good,” Simon said. “I’ve been trying to be patient, you know, but I can’t wait anymore. Go to dinner with me, Della. I promise you won’t regret it.”

  Della shifted in her seat, still thinking about escaping. But Kate’s voice echoed in her head, urging her to put an end to this once and for all. Della sighed, steeling herself.

  “Simon, I’m really sorry, but I’m just not interested right now.”

  Simon’s face fell instantly. “What? Why? Is there someone else?”

  “No, there’s no one else,” Della said, trying to keep her voice steady. “It’s nothing like that.”

  “I don’t believe you!” he growled, reaching forward and grabbing hold of her wrist. “Who is he?”

  “Simon, that hurts,” Della said. “There’s no one else, I just reserve the right to choose who I go out with.”

  “What’s wrong with going out with me?” Simon demanded, not letting go of her wrist.

  “Let go of me,” Della commanded.

  “Not until you answer me!”

  He rose to his feet, towering over her. Della’s heart was pounding. This was exactly what she’d feared would happen if she rejected him. She tried pulling free, but that only made him squeeze harder.

  “Answer me!” Simon shouted.

  Della slapped him. It was all she could think of to do. It surprised him enough that his grip loosened. She quickly got up, pulling her arm free, but he was on her a second. He cornered her with her back against the wall, too far away from anyone in the store to see what was going on.

  “Bitch,” Simon seethed. “You think you can string me along like that?”

  Della swallowed down her fear. “I was trying to let you down nicely, Simon. I’m sorry if I hurt you.”

  Simon’s entire body tensed, his face quickly turning red. Della tried to find a way to escape from him. She was sure he was seconds away from becoming truly violent. But then the most unexpected thing of all happened.

  A familiar face appeared behind Simon, his hand falling on Simon’s shoulder.

  “Looks to me like you’ve worn out your welcome,” the stranger said, his deep voice leaving no room for argument.

  Simon turned around to confront the newcomer, giving Della a good look at him as well. She could hardly believe that she was staring into the eyes of the man in the kutte who had been following her.

  The biker was saving her.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  He had found her easily after he’d seen where she lived. After that, it was only a matter of keeping tabs on her. He wanted to know a little more about her before he confronted her.

  Prescott wasn’t sure what he had expected when he realized that a woman had witnessed his father’s murder, but this was not it. The woman he found himself following was young and beautiful. She had a quiet air about her, and she always wore very simple clothing. Despite that, she always stood out in a crowd. Prescott couldn’t ignore the dips and curves of her body, nor the allure of her full lips and expressive eyes.

  He knew he should have confronted her long before this, and yet he couldn’t help watching her. Sometimes he found himself forgetting why he was following her in the first place, just getting lost in the joy of looking at her.

  Then he’d followed her into the campus bookstore, where her meal had been interrupted by some guy Prescott hadn’t seen before. His first thought was he was discovering a boyfriend, which made him feel inexplicably disappointed. But that thought was quickly chased away by how she reacted. Her whole body tensed, and she pulled away from him, rather than leaning closer.

  He’d wanted to interrupt them almost immediately. The urge to intervene surprised him. All he knew was he didn’t like seeing this girl with another man, especially when he reached out to take hold of her. He inched closer and heard the gist of their conversation.

  Someone just didn’t know how to take rejection.

  It was obvious now that the girl was scared. Prescott was already moving by the time the two of them got to their feet. He dropped his hand onto the asshole’s shoulder.

  “Looks to me like you’ve worn out your welcome.”

  The guy turned to look at him, bur Prescott’s attention was on the girl. She stared up at him with remarkably green eyes, and he was sure he saw a flash of recognition there.

  “Who the fuck are you?” the guy asked.

  “The guy who’s gonna break your shoulder if you don’t leave right now,” Prescott replied, giving him a little squeeze for emphasis.

  “This isn’t any of your business. You’re not gonna scare me with that tough act.”

  Prescott leaned forward to look into the shorter man’s eyes. “Do you really think it’s just an act?” He nodded at the woman, “Look at her. Does she look like she wants you to stick around?”

  He glanced behind hi
m for a second, and Prescott could see the indecision in his eyes.

  “I didn’t have anything else to say anyway,” the guy grumbled, pushing past Prescott.

  Prescott turned to watch him go, making sure the door closed all the way behind him before turning back to the woman. She was visibly shaken, but was breathing calmly.

  “Would you really have broken his shoulder?” she asked.

  “If he’d forced my hand, but I knew he wouldn’t.” He leveled his gaze at her, trying not to let her sheer beauty distract him. “We need to talk.”