BREAKING THE RULES: Forsaken 99 MC

by Evelyn Glass

  I trusted Saul to deliver Selena safely home. He was the one man I trusted with everything I had and I knew he would never in his life let something happen to her. I felt calm about her safety, but I was glad she'd been able to get some time off.

  Getting away with her wouldn't only help me relax with May around, but I couldn't wait to have her all to myself without any interference. I knew exactly where I was going to take her, too.

  I drove on the bike Saul had brought me. I was headed to the clubhouse. The bike felt foreign underneath my seat. A bike was so much more personal to me than a car; it was the difference between a hooker and a girlfriend, almost. I didn't feel comfortable riding another bike, but it was the quickest way to get to the boys and I needed to make sure they were safe.

  Before I'd left Selena with Saul I'd sent out a group broadcast that the guys all needed to head to the clubhouse. It was dangerous having them all together like that, I knew, but I mentioned it and I needed to speak to them. They would watch their backs and look out for each other until I arrived. They were good men, noble men, and the one thing we'd all retained from our criminal days was the habit of sticking together.

  When I pulled into the club parking lot it looked like they were all present. The lot was full of bikes but it was quiet inside where usually there was music and laughter and conversation. My stomach turned and I took a deep breath to try to calm myself. The biggest thing I had to show now was courage and calm. In times of hardship the leader couldn't panic in front of his men. I would do that behind closed doors if it came down to it.

  When I walked into the club everyone looked at me. They were all there, from what I could see. They looked grim, unsure, just as nervous as I felt. I put my hands on my hips and looked at the floor for a moment, not sure what to say.

  "May slashed my tires tonight," I said, staring with facts. There was no point messing around before getting down to businesses. A murmur rippled through the group. They understood just as I did what it meant. The door opened and everyone froze, but it was Saul. We made eye contact and he nodded. Selena was home safe.

  "I have news," one of the boys said. "She was seen meeting with Tank."

  I raised my eyebrows. Tank was the head of a club we used to be rivals with and sine we'd turned a new page they'd seen us as pussies.

  "She also met with Don," someone else said.

  "And I heard she set up a meeting with the Greek." The last was from Saul.

  I frowned. They were all heads of very big gangs, rival gangs. This was not good.

  "They sound like they're planning on making a move."

  They all nodded in agreement. This really wasn't good. I thought for a moment. First priority was to get my family safe. Now that included Selena.

  "I want you guys to start meeting at the Restaurant from now on," I said. "I got that one after May so she won't have tabs on it the way she has on this one and the other clubs might not either. Still, watch your backs."

  I turned to Saul. "I'm putting you in charge of everything until I'm back."

  He nodded and pounded his chest twice with his fist. It made a deep sound. I turned back to my men. "I'm leaving for a couple of days. May has taken it a step too far and I'm going to lay low, take care of someone, but I will be in touch and the moment something happens, I'm here."

  They muttered amongst themselves but I didn't care what they thought. I knew I was a good leader and I knew I would never let anything happen to them. And while I was gone I knew Saul wouldn't let anything happen either. That was all that mattered.

  I clapped Saul on the shoulder and walked out of the club. I took out my phone before I got on my bike and dialed Selena's number.

  I made sure she was okay and that she knew I was coming and drove to her apartment. This was where I was supposed to pick her up the first time. I parked my bike close to the building and climbed the stairs up to the third floor. There were only two doors and hers opened just as I lifted my fist to knock.

  "I heard your bike," she said. She was out of breath like she'd been packing in hurry.

  "Are you ready to go?"

  She nodded and stepped aside so I could walk into the apartment. It was neat and tidy and so much like her, I would have known it was her place even if she wasn't in it. It suited her perfectly. It was so different from my place, which was stark and lifeless with dark colors and clothes on the floor. Mine was a real bachelor pad. Hers was homey.

  She disappeared into the bedroom and brought out a bag. I took it from her.

  "I'm nervous," she said.

  "Don't be. I'll make sure nothing happens to you. She's just a bitch from my past. Every break up has a psycho ex."

  "I've never had one slash my tires."

  That was true. I shrugged. "Worse things have happened."

  Selena pulled a face. "That wasn't exactly what I needed to hear right now."

  I shook my head, feeling silly. "Come on, let's get out of here."

  I managed to get her bag onto my bike before I drove to the rental company where I was picking up a car. I wasn't going to drive a hundred miles out of town on a bike that wasn't my own in the middle of the night. When I got there the car was ready for me. I knew enough people that could make something like this happen.

  "We just need to stop at my place so I can grab some things and then we'll hit the road."

  I left the bike with the guy who promised to return it to the club where it belonged. We drove the short distance to my apartment and Selena waited in the lounge for me while I went into the bedroom and threw clothes into a bag. Jeans, muscle shirts, T-shirts, a jacket. Shoes. I wasn't sure what else. Whatever I forgot I could buy in the nearest town. When I came out of the bedroom Selena was looking at the only photo I had of Elijah. It was against the wall with a black frame, the color of mourning.

  She looked at me and in her eyes I could see the condolences even though she didn't say anything. I was glad she didn't. I walked to her and without a word I kissed her. I pulled her in for a hug and locked up. When we had everything packed in the car and drove out of town it was well past midnight.

  "You should get some sleep," I said. "There's a long drive ahead of us."

  Selena protested, telling me she wanted to stay awake with me, but her routine was a day one. I was up most nights and I was used to a lack of sleep. By the time the sky colored with the promise of dawn she was asleep next to me. There was something peaceful about her sleeping. She looked younger and even more innocent than when she was awake. It was magical that she was here with me, and as the sun rose, casting it orange rays on her face, I wished we could run away and never come back.

  The cabin was in the middle of nowhere, in wild country with rolling hills and trees everywhere. A big lake lay in the middle of the basin like the water just never drained there. A cabin was built in the edge of the lake that I used for a safe house now and then. It was private, this part of the forest belonging to the land on which the cabin was built, which meant it belonged to me. It was peaceful. It was quiet. It was exactly what we needed.

  Selena woke up when we parked and looked around. God, she was adorable when she just woke up, half asleep still. "Are we there?" she asked in a husky voice.

  "We are."

  I smiled at her before getting out. She got out too, and walked toward the water. I unlocked the cabin door and put our bags in the bedroom. The place was a bit dusty but that was something we could sort out. We just needed groceries and I needed to get the park inspector to connect the electricity.

  When I walked outside Selena was on the edge of the water, looking around. She had her arms wrapped around herself. When she heard my approach her she turned around.

  "This place is beautiful."

  I nodded. "It's my getaway."

  "And you brought me here? It seems so personal. So special."

  I shrugged. "You're so special."

  She smiled and leaned into me. I kissed her and wrapped my arms around her, drinking in her body
heat. The heat and the closeness quickly turned from something comfortable to something spicy again and I looked into her eyes. Here we were alone. We could do whatever we liked for as long as we liked. And when we were done, we could do it all again.

  Chapter 19

  Selena

  It was only after Logan had broken in the cabin, as he called it, that I had a chance to really pay attention to it. We were sweating and naked on the bed when I finally looked around the room. We'd stumbled into the room together, stripping clothes off like it burned us, and we were only focused on each other until now.

  The whole cabin was made of logs on the outside and on the inside it was all wood. The walls, the floor. The ceiling was normal and there were tiles outside.

  Two bedrooms, one of which was an office, an open plan kitchen complete with a breakfast nook and a lounge that had a spectacular view over the lake. It was quaint and magical and almost fictional. I didn't think I would have been able to write something this spectacular even if I tried.

  The furniture looked like it had been passed down from one generation to the next with a floral pattern that dated back to the fifties and a box television that didn't even have cable. That was okay, though, because who wanted to watch television when you were in a place like this. There were hills all around us, rising up a little and trees everywhere so we were secluded without it being stuffy and closed off. The air was crisp and I was sure air pollution was a million miles away. Just like everything else, which included my work at the library, the book club ad everything else.

  The book club.

  I hadn't thought about that when I'd left. I was sure I'd missed a meeting. No one had called me, but maybe Joanne had assumed.

  I ran inside and fetched my phone. Logan was on the couch typing something on his, looking nervous again. I hoped he wouldn't be tense the whole time we were here, but I had to remind myself we weren't here on vacation. We were here hiding out. Still, it seemed like a great way just to escape.

  I dialed Joanne's number and after a while she answered.

  "Where have you been? I tried phoning this morning and it went straight to voicemail. When I stopped at your place to drop you off at work you weren't in."

  "I'm sorry," I said, walking out onto the deck that jutted into the lake, slicing into the natural round shape of the water. "I'm out of town for a while."

  She was quiet for a beat. "And this was something you just decided on last minute?"

  I sighed and sat down. The water lapped almost onto the deck the lake was that full, and the sound was calming in the same way the ocean was. I liked it here. "I'm with Logan. He took me to a cabin in the woods."

  "What? When did this happen?"

  I smiled. "We just arrived."

  Joanne made all sorts of sounds that ranged from surprise to horror and back to surprise. "That escalated quickly. The last time we spoke you were telling me how he was a two-faced asshole and now you're on holiday with him?"

  I stretched out my legs and closed my eyes, feeling the sun on my skin. "You were right about him. It was his crazy ex that messaged him. She's been causing a lot of trouble, being a threat, so we're away for a while."

  Joanne snorted. "So let me get this straight. You weren't fine with the message that came through and you were ready to write him off, but now your lives are in danger and you think that's fine? You went with him?"

  Putting it like that it really didn't make sense. "I don't know what to say...I trust him. He's different than the rest of them."

  I told her about the Girls and Boys Club and how it happened that we ended up on the beach with his tires slashed. I told her about May and the library, and I told her about his club and his past that was so bad and he turned out so great despite it. Joanne listened to everything quietly, gasping and commenting in the right places, and when I was done she cleared her throat.

  "Do you know what I'm getting out of all of this?"

  I shook my head. "What?"

  "That you're falling for this guy."

  I laughed. "Really? You didn't get that maybe he's honorable and maybe I'm living the adventure I usually read about? Or write about?"

  "Well, that too." She laughed. "But even though it all sounds very romantic and life threatening and all that, you have to be careful. Are you sure you're safe? The last thing I want if for something to happen to you during this real life fantasy."

  I looked toward the cabin where Logan was standing just outside the front door, looking in my direction. I waved and he lifted a hand in a half wave.

  "He'll look after me. You should see how he is about his men. He's so different than the standard badass biker."

  "Well, maybe when you get back you'll introduce him to me."

  I wasn't sure if she was sarcastic or not, but I said I would. I hung up.

  When I walked to the cabin Logan looked at my phone. "Who did you call?"

  "My friend, Joanne. I needed to let her know I wasn't going to our writing meetings for a while so she didn't panic when I didn't rock up."

  He nodded. I couldn't help but laugh. "You don't have to look so suspicious. She's on our side. Besides, if she alerts the police that I'm missing and the last person I saw was you that might be a problem."

  Logan shrugged. "I have something for you."

  He produced my manuscript. Finally. I shook my head and took it from him. There were pages with notes attached. He'd made an effort to go through it all and comment. It moved me.

  "This is a good place to write a bit. It's quite and clear and away from the mess of the city. I thought it would inspire you a little."

  I turned and looked to the trees and the hills and the water and nodded. "You know what? It does."

  Of course, I didn't get much writing done at all. It was a novel idea, but I didn't get around to it. It was just Logan and I in each other's company all the time, and that meant we had a lot of sex. What else were we going to do? It was the first time since we started seeing each other - which, I'll admit, wasn't very long ago - that we had time all to ourselves and we didn't have to worry about being dressed afterward. We could laze around naked in bed all day and then do it again when we felt like it.

  We slept naked. We swam naked. And we spent a lot of time with each other, on each other, in each other.

  The bathroom was primitive with just a shower, a toilet and a basin. It didn't matter. We made do. We had sex in every room, multiple times. It sounded obscene. A lot of it wasn't sex, though; it was making love. Somewhere it had gone over from fucking to something more sensual. The first time it happened I was taking a shower.

  I woke up earlier than usual from a nightmare that Logan was shot. The sun wasn't in the sky yet, but the black of night had started fading away to give space to the dawn. I stood outside for a while, trying to get the fresh air to snap me out of it, but it was chilly and it was uncomfortable to stay outside. I locked myself back in the house again and decided instead to take shower.

  The whole bathroom was simple but the showerhead was something Logan had replaced with one of those water saving massage heads. The shower was luxurious even though the bathroom wasn't. I stepped underneath the hot spray and let the water run down my body. I wanted it to wash away everything I'd dreamed and all the horrid feelings that had come with it.

  "Are you okay?" Logan asked a moment later, popping his head into the door. The bathroom was steamed up, as was the glass wall that made up the shower cubicle, and the view of him was blurry.

  "I didn't mean to wake you."

  "It's okay. I just wanted to make sure there wasn't something wrong."

  I tipped my head back and closed my eyes, speaking through the water. "Just a nightmare."

  Logan came into the bathroom and closed the door, keeping all the warmth and steam inside.

  "Do you want to talk about it?"

  I shook my head. "Not really. It was about losing you."

  He was silent for a moment. He pushed open the glass door and stepped i
nto the shower with me. We'd showered before and I liked how he filled up the space so our two bodies were crammed together in the tiny cubicle. He cupped my face in his hands and looked me in the eye. His eyes were dark and serious. The hair around his face started sticking to his skin from the water splashing onto him off me. "I can't tell what the future is going to hold for us, but there's something you need to know. I will make sure that nothing happens to either of us or my men to the best of my ability, and you will never lose me as long as it's in my control."

  There were so many loopholes I could think of to that statement but I wasn't going to go there. It had just been a nightmare, induced by why we were here, the last couple of days and the thriller I was writing that I'd been thinking about. I'd just scared myself, that was all. I nodded. "I know."