She nodded, but I knew it wasn’t a good enough answer. I took her chin in my hand and lightly kissed her lips. “Grace, I was trying to get over you.”
“Oh.” Her voice cracked on the vowel.
“But I couldn’t,” I continued, “no matter what I tried, you stayed with me.”
I couldn’t gauge her reaction. Her eyes bore into mine, and I’d never seen such a serious look.
Her lips moved. “Run away with me.”
“What?” What was she suggesting?
“After the semester. I’m getting out: California or something. I don’t know, but I want you to come with me.”
“Really?” I couldn’t believe she was asking this of me. This might finally be my chance to get out, to get away from it all.
I looked deep into her eyes, making sure she knew the severity of her request.
“Okay.” I said.
“Okay?” The energy between us began to calm.
“Yes. Okay.” We broke into short bouts of laughter, unable to grasp what we had both just promised.
I drew her closer to me, swinging her from side to side. I brought her softly to the ground and leaned over her, enraptured by our silent conversation. I lowered my lips to hers, taking what was about to be mine forever.
“Ryan,” she sighed, “I have to go home now.”
“When can I see you again?”
She looked to the ceiling, calculating. “My semester is over December 20th. Meet me here.”
“Right here?”
“Right here.” She giggled and brought my head back to hers, stealing a kiss before sitting up.
I helped her to her feet and pushed her back up against the car. Each word was broken up by a taste of her lips. “Then…December 20th…just you…and me…forever.”
Her hands moved fast, our talk of escape obviously making her hot. We were like two teenagers, hormones raging, needing more of each other every time we met. Her hands slid up my shirt, the soft velvet of her skin making me swell with excitement. We were lost in the anticipation of each other’s bodies. We didn’t even hear the footsteps.
A light chuckle preceded the words. “Well, well, well, Gracie. I thought your secret relationship was o—”
We both turned quickly toward the suddenly stopped voice.
“Aunt Kathryn!” Grace was startled, awkward, and unable to find any more words.
“Grace, get over here.” She was staring at my bare side. Grace had pushed my shirt up to my chest, and her hands were now frozen in place.
“Aunt Kathryn, it’s okay. This is—”
“He’s a Cupid, that’s what he is Grace. Get the hell over here.” She must have seen my tattoo.
“Please, don’t freak out.”
“Oh my God, baby girl, you knew? You knew who he was? And now you’re down here…you know I have to tell your father.” She started sobbing.
“No.” Grace let go of me and stepped to her aunt. “Please, you can’t. Please don’t tell him.”
“You don’t get it, Gracie. This is very bad.” She looked around. “I have to go.”
She ran up to the exit and out of sight. Grace began to chase after her, and I after Grace. We reached the outside and looked around the empty streets. Which way had she gone?
“Can you grab my car?” She tossed the keys at me. “It’s a remote start.”
As soon as the words left her mouth, she ran off on foot. I sped back down the decline, and pushed the button on the remote. The images in front of me morphed into slow motion. My hands instinctually moved to cover my face as the car shattered into flames. Someone must have set a bomb that was triggered by her ignition.
And I knew exactly who had done it.
Grace
I was running faster than I had in my entire life. I needed to stop Aunt Kathryn before she took off to tell my father what she had witnessed. The ground shook, causing me to trip to my hands. I wiped the small stones from my palms, questioning what could have caused an earthquake in the middle of Philadelphia.
I turned around, my sight stung by the colors of the flames. Ryan. My car. Another explosion.
Aunt Kathryn would have to wait. I took off again, this time in the opposite direction.
“Ryan!” I screamed. There was no use being discreet. I needed to know he was alive as soon as possible.
Through the smoke, I saw his large figure running toward me. My heart lifted, and my pace picked up, causing me to slam into his chest.
“I am so sorry. Are you okay?”
“This wasn’t you, Grace. My uncle must have rigged your car.”
“How did he know which was mine?”
“I don’t know. But I have to get back and take care of this.”
“Ryan,” I stopped him, “I need to catch my aunt.”
What was more important: me stopping my family from killing him or him stopping his family from killing me? In my mind, I needed to protect him, but I knew he wouldn’t see it that way.
“Let your father find out about us.”
“Ryan…”
“No. I’m tired of hiding in the club. We’re running away from all of this.”
“We will.”
“Now. Grace, we have to leave now.”
“But,” it wasn’t the plan. I had things to do. I needed these three weeks. “I need to finish my semester.”
The red in his face deepened as he took my shoulders in his hands. “Grace, your life is on the line. You’re not going to finish your semester. Do you understand that?”
“I’m not a child, Ryan. You don’t have to speak to me that way.”
The fact was if I left school now, the entire semester wouldn’t count, and I wouldn’t be able to transfer the credits. Yes, with my life at stake, it may have been a silly worry, but I had worked hard. I didn’t want to see it all go to waste.
And I hated when people talked down to me.
“God, Grace, maybe if you’d just think about your well-being once in a while I wouldn’t have to treat you like a child.”
“I’m not your property, Ryan, I can do whatever the hell I like, and you can’t tell me otherwise.”
“Is that what this is about?” He wrapped his arm around my waist and brought me up to his chest. His voice lowered with his intention. “I don’t know what you think I’m capable of or planning to do to you, but you have to stop treating me as though I’m going to punch you in the face if you step out of line. You’re refusing to have a conversation with me because you’re so set on the fact that if you let me win, I’ll think I have control over you. I’m just trying to keep you alive. Let me do that.”
He was right. I was so set on not being the “property of” Ryan that I wasn’t listening to anything he had to say when it came to the club. I was so used to knowing what was best for me that I was completely unwilling to be in a relationship.
“Ryan, you’re right. But please, I do need to stop my aunt. Then we can leave.”
He resigned, accepting that he had at least won half of the battle. “Okay, we’ll take my bike.”
“I’ll take your bike. I need to do this alone.”
The mood lightened, and he laughed. “Oh babe, you’re not taking my bike.”
“Ryan, I need to go.”
“Do you even know how to ride?”
It was my turn to laugh. I may not like motorcycles, but I was damn good at operating one. “Give me your keys.”
He fished them out of his pockets and dangled them in my face.
“Do you know how many rules you’re breaking right now?”
I winked at him and turned away, satisfied with my victory.
“It’s the maroon Harley, just around the corner.”
It was a good thing that he had called after me, for I had never seen his bike before. I was so full of pride at my win that I had completely forgotten to ask. I chuckled to myself and blew him a kiss. I knew we were both scared, but this little bit of flirting was making me feel more confident in our
decided plan.
“Oh, and…” he turned me around, bringing my face to his. “Grace, I will never hurt you, I will never make you wear a patch, but know this: you are mine. You, Grace Brennan, are my property.”
His tongue found mine, and my body collapsed in his arms. Why the hell was he so sexy? After all that fuss, how had he turned me on by calling me his property?
We separated, and I caught my breath.
“Grace…”
“Yes?”
“Crash my bike, and we’ll be having some words.”
I smiled, jingled his keys, and ran, turning the corner. The bike in front of me stopped my feet from moving. It was beautiful. Could this bike be Ryan’s? I hopped on, found the ignition, and brought her to life. It had been some time since I’d been on a bike, but the vibration woke me up inside. Between the rush of the motorcycle and the exhilaration of being called Ryan’s property, I finally began to understand how women get trapped in this life.
It wasn’t going to happen to me though. I had one more thing to do, and then I was out—for good.
Ryan
My heart was racing. I had just lent my bike to a woman. Who, in their right mind, would ever do that? But I didn’t have time to freak out about it. I needed to get back to the club and confront my uncle and my Pops. My uncle had just tried to kill my girl, and my Pops hadn’t stopped him. They would not walk away from this untouched.
I hopped the stairs up to my apartment and grabbed my cut off the bed. I would don my colors one more day, and then I’d be gone. I knew that if we were to escape our families, Grace and I would be running for the rest of our lives. There was no other way. For me to leave on good terms was highly unlikely. The option was always available, but it normally ended with a game of Russian roulette. I was certain, under these circumstances, they would not let me go that easy. If I survived whatever torture my family had in store for me, I would still have to fear the retaliation from Grace’s father. No. It would be much safer if we left with no word, no contact, and fled a thousand miles away.
I walked the three blocks to the clubhouse and heard the pounding of tools. The guys were working away, fixing what I had broken. I still felt the pangs of regret when I looked at the new building. All those memories were burnt up with the flames. At least the memories from this new clubhouse would start without me in them.
I walked around the new construction and saw Sean, huddled alone over a set of architecture plans and a shotgun. My instincts got the best of me, and I ran directly at him, tackling him to the ground. The folding table came with us, cascading to the muddy grass. I’d positioned myself above him, and took one fast swing at his head. He was agile, especially for a man in his early fifties, and swung his leg around and in front of me, pushing me off of him with his calf. I rolled back and rocked right up to my feet, in full ready stance for a fight. His follow was quick and he jabbed twice, missing my chin by only an inch. Then his knee met my groin and I cried out in pain, throwing a right hook directly into his cheek. The hook brought him to the ground, but within arm’s reach of the shotgun. He reached out, took his prize and flipped around, aiming the barrel at my chest.
“Go ahead.” I tempted him. It was all I could do; I would never show Sean weakness.
He cocked the gun with a smile.
I put my arms out to the side, giving him a full target. I didn’t expect him to shoot, but I wanted to show him I wasn’t scared.
Then his face changed, and everything went out the window. There was a darkness that I hadn’t witnessed before. I was wrong. Sean was about to kill me.
“Ryan! Sean!” Pops kicked the wall, separating our stare. “You can’t go around killing each other!” Pops had a temper, but it wasn’t often I saw him so angry. He pulled Sean to his feet and took the shotgun from his hands. “What the fuck is going on here?”
“He just came over here and tackled me.”
I was losing it. How dare he blame this on me when he knew full well why I was here? “He blew up Grace’s car.”
The air changed, and Sean snickered. “She finally took that baby out for a spin? How many pieces did you find her in?”
Had Pops not caught me with his arm, I could’ve killed him right there. He had intentionally tried to kill Grace. My adrenaline had kicked in, and I was losing my sanity.
With Pops holding me back, a silver lining came to light. I now had an advantage: they both believed Grace to have been killed in the blast. I chose not to tell them otherwise.
Grace
I had never been on a bike so fast. It had a custom hot-rod engine that could easily challenge the fastest bike in my father’s club. The compression ratio must have also been well above a stock Harley’s, because, oh my God, the thing was loud. Had this bike blown by me on the street, I would’ve given a dirty look and made some snide comment regarding the rider’s dick size, but actually being the rider in question, made me feel powerful. I wanted people to look at me; I wanted to be judged, but most of all, I wanted to catch my aunt before she did anything stupid.
I was speeding down the highway at 120 mph, feeling invincible toward any authority figure. I hadn’t often seen patrol officers on this road, but right then, the possibility didn’t even matter. I was racing to save Ryan’s life.
A trip that normally took me just about four hours was over in fewer than two. I hadn’t seen Aunt Kathryn on my route, but I was sure I had beaten her. Now the only question was as to where I would confront her. She’d most likely run straight to the club, asking to see my father, but I couldn’t show up myself riding a motorcycle. There would be too many unanswered questions. I decided instead to pull off into a cornfield about a quarter mile down the road, and hide his bike among the stalks. I killed the engine and swung my leg around, throwing my feet to the ground.
I sucked up the bitter cold that was—surprisingly—only now hitting me and ran to the club. Broken beer bottles were strewn across the floor and remnants of meth littered the bar top. Thongs were hung from the ceiling fan and dollar bills were lying on the tables and chairs, unclaimed. It must have been one hell of a party, but the party was over. The place was empty.
Dad always closed the club on holidays, but with everything that had happened, I’d forgotten that today was meant to be a day of celebration. He was probably at home, giving the turkey one final basting, and I’m sure Aunt Kathryn knew that. So home was where I needed to be too. But I was in Shadow territory now. I couldn’t just hop back on Ryan’s bike and race the four miles to our farmhouse. A quick decision landed me running down the street, the freezing wind chapping my cheeks.
Thirty-six minutes later I pushed through the door. I knew I still had a good hour before my aunt caught up to me, but I was determined to have all that time to ease my father into the facts he was about to be told.
“Gracie, you’re here! Help me give this guy a final basting.” I knew my father all too well.
“S-s-sure, Da-a-ad.” My teeth wouldn’t stop chattering. I tried to pin my jaw shut, but the opposing forces were too strong.
My father walked over to me, covering me with his giant arms. “You’re freezing, kid.”
“Uh, yah, I ran from the club.”
“Well why the hell would you do that?”
It was time to start being an amazing liar. “My car broke down.” Simple lies would be best.
“Where’s your aunt?”
“She actually drove separately. I begged her for some alone time.” It was plausible, and he didn’t seem suspicious.
“But she’s on her way?”
“Yeah, she was a little behind me. Maybe another hour?”
“Okay,” he squeezed me into his chest, “why don’t you take a nice shower to warm you up?”
“That would be nice.”
“Wow, and no more running on that road. You smell like exhaust fumes.”
I chuckled, trying my hardest not to give my lies away. After an obligatory exchanged smile, I flipped around and ran
upstairs, slamming the bathroom door behind me. I turned on the water and allowed the steam to fill up the room. I could feel my muscles find life yet again. I stripped off my clothes, becoming too aware of the touch of my fingers on my skin. My life was falling apart around me, but my body was still begging to be touched. What had Ryan done to me?
I fantasized about Ryan sneaking into the bathroom window and warming me up, inside and out. His earnest fingers would melt my iced skin as he drew me into his naked body…
The fantasy doubled my shower time, and I was thrown from my daydream from a knock on the door.
“Gracie, you okay in there?”
“Umm, yeah, Dad. I’ll be out in a second.”
I was so embarrassed. I had never before been so enchanted by a fantasy. It was as if I truly needed an escape from my life. I couldn’t handle the pressure of what was about to come, and my little made-up make-out session with Ryan allowed me to find a few minutes of solace before it all started. Aunt Kathryn would be here shortly, and my new fate would be forced upon me. After her confession, my fantasies may be all that’s left.
I found some clothes in my old room and tossed them onto my dripping body. I wrapped my hair in my towel and made my way downstairs. As I rounded the corner of the staircase, I heard the stones of the driveway crunch under the weight of a car. I peeled back the curtain to see Aunt Kathryn slink out of her seat. She looked up and took a deep breath. It was obvious she had been crying during her four-hour journey, but she brushed the dried black mascara from her cheeks and took her determined steps toward the door. I would need to stop her on the porch.
I ran out, the screen door slamming behind me.
“Please stop.” My prayer brought her face to mine. I watched as her entire demeanor changed, and she charged in my direction.
“Gracie!” She screamed through her sobs. “You’re alive!”
She clung to my still soaked body. “What?”
Her hands moved to my face. She was grabbing at my cheeks, my chin, my hair. She pulled me close, squeezing the breath from my lungs.
Blood of Cupids Page 12
