by Sophia Gray
“You’ve reached places in me I thought didn’t exist and have made me realize so much in these few weeks. And if marrying me is the only way you’ll be free from your father, I’d love to spend the rest of my life getting to know you… If you agree to be my wife,” he finished.
Teresa looked at him, evaluating his proposal, eyes wide. He couldn’t read what was on her mind and he had never felt so scared in his life, as if he was on the edge of a cliff, about to fall.
After seconds that felt like hours, she opened her mouth. “Yes,” she answered. “Yes, I will. I’ll marry you, Vance!” she exclaimed, and suddenly threw herself into his arms. He fell backward on the kitchen floor, and they both laid there, laughing and kissing.
“I was actually thinking, you know, I wasn’t just going to say yes,” Teresa said as they still lay on the kitchen floor. “It’s really not like me to do this. I normally wouldn’t. I don’t need a man to save me from my father. But maybe being how I normally am just got me into all of these situations and it’s time I changed the way I was a little. I think… I think I just want this, you know? I want you.” She smiled at him, eyes twinkling.
He felt a warmth spread throughout his body, but also realized that by promising Teresa that he would free her from her father, he was only bringing her closer to him. That made him feel sick with guilt. But when Teresa kissed him again, he forgot about everything else but her lips.
She sat astride him, and suddenly the thought of the night – and the morning – they had, came back to him, making him feel aroused again. Sitting on top of him, Teresa noticed the sudden hardness of his manhood and laughed slightly against his lips.
“You don’t get tired easily, do you?” she asked against his ear. Vance shook his head, hiding the shiver that her words had triggered.
“Not at all,” he conceded. Grinning, he flipped her over, so he was on top of her and kissed her. They made love in the kitchen, careful not to make too much noise and bother her neighbors.
Once they had finished, she giggled. “Your face was so red from trying not to cry out,” she teased.
Vance loved it when she laughed. He looked at her, brushing strands of hair away from her eyes. “You’re wonderful, Tess. I can’t believe this is happening.”
Never in his life had he met a woman like Teresa. He had been with many, had touched the bodies of many, and many had pleased him, but none of them had touched his heart or his soul, as Teresa had done in the few weeks he had known her.
And now, he mused, while he watched her get ready for work. Now I have to drag the only woman that’s ever made me feel alive into the place she hates the most. He had to fool her, deceive her, and marry her only to take her to the darkest abyss on Earth: her father’s side.
Would Vance be able to do it? Or should he confess before it was too late… even if that meant losing her forever?
Chapter Eleven
Teresa
Teresa watched Vance leave her place. She knew she would see him again in a few hours at the charity, and their next encounter made her nervous. What had happened with Vance since last night had occurred in such haste that she could not wrap her head around it yet.
First, there was the date, which had been amazing. Vance had been caring, attentive, and fun to hang out with. The place he had taken her to was definitely going on her list of places she had to frequent more often. Then they had gone dancing, something she had not done since she left the club.
Teresa remembered the last time she was back in her town, still with the Grim Rebels, when a boy took her to a club. She wasn’t very used to that kind of place; she would rather hang out at rock pubs than clubs with loud pop music and millions of teens. But her date had insisted, and in spite of the kind of music that they played (definitely not her taste), she’d had quite a good time. That was the last time she had danced with a guy and dated at all because it had been that night when her life changed.
The guy she was dating was not from her motorcycle club: he was from another gang, one less underground than her father’s. It was the first time she’d dated outside the club, and it was new to her. This boy, Max, reminded her of the other guys she usually dated but was a lot more caring and different enough to be a novelty.
They had gone out for dinner, and afterward, Max had taken her to his sister’s club: she ran the place, and the gorillas in the entrance let them in with no problem. Both had danced the night away, and she had ended up spending the night with him.
But when she went back home the next morning, her father was waiting for her.
That was their worst fight ever. She threw things at him, and he ended up breaking her arm and beating her up, just because he wanted her to marry someone from his club. No outsiders allowed – he didn’t trust them or like them.
“Yer old enough to know yer place, and yer place is in this club!” he had shouted at her. “Ye can’t do what ye please. Ye shall be the woman of the man I choose for ye, so enough of that already! Don’t even think about going off on your own!”
His voice still echoed in her head when she thought about it. That day she realized that her father did not care about her, never had, and never would. She was just a pawn; a woman to marry to the best biker to make sure that his club, the only thing he really cared about in his life, remained within the family. She was just a breeding tool to perpetuate the Grim Rebels… and she would not have it.
She had run away the moment her arm had completely healed. She took all her belongings in a duffel bag, threw her phone away, and grabbed her motorcycle. She drove all night long until she arrived at the next city, where she sold the motorcycle for a good amount of money. Her bike was the only thing she would really miss from her past: the freedom that she felt when driving it was long gone, but it was a price she was willing to pay to obtain real freedom.
With the money from the motorbike she bought a bus ticket to the furthest town she could manage and booked a hotel for a couple weeks under a false name. As paranoid as that may have been, she couldn’t take any risks in case her father tracked her down. She knew that if he did, there was no way she could run away again.
She got a waitressing job at a restaurant and spent the next three months saving money to move again to the city where she was now. She wanted to make sure that her father would not be able to track her down… Although she now realized it had been a futile attempt, in the long run. She bought a new phone, which he somehow traced, and it was obvious that she would never get rid of him.
Except if she married Vance.
Vance Tate.
What an unexpected turn of events. He was her first date since she left home. She danced with him and spent the night with him.
The events of that night made her shiver: she had never been with a man like Vance. Somehow, he knew exactly what to do to entice her, arouse her, and make her feel as if she could be loved. Not just fool around in bed, but actually, be loved. She had longed for love her whole life and was starting to think that it was not for her when Vance appeared. It had been too soon to tell if she really loved him, but she really thought it would work out eventually.
And now, because of her damn father, they had to get married! What Vance had done to help her meant the world to her, but she was also really afraid of the consequences. Her whole life she had been fighting the dominance of men and had run away from home precisely because she did not want to get married – at least not to please her father.
Getting married to keep her father away was not what she had in mind when she thought about marriage, but at least that would make her free from his grip once and for all. If she married, he could not force her to marry anyone else.
But what if Vance turned out to be just like her father? Teresa trembled just by thinking about it. Well, I can divorce him if I’m not happy with him, she thought, trying to find comfort in that.
Teresa took her phone and looked at the time: she still had an hour before her shift at the charity. I might as well tell
her now, she mused with a sigh and dialed Anna’s number.
Fifteen minutes later, they were both sipping their coffees at their usual café.
“Oh, my God, tell me everything!” Anna exclaimed, squealing. She wanted to know all the juicy details, but she definitely wouldn’t be expecting the juiciest detail of all.
“First, he took me to a café for dinner, and it was really nice – the food was better than I expected. Then we went to a bar to have some drinks and dance for a bit,” Teresa told Anna.
“Dancing? You?” Anna laughed. She had insisted many times that her friend come dancing with her and the other girls, but Teresa had always refused.
“Yeah, I know, but I also didn’t date, and look at me now,” Teresa joked, and Anna laughed.
“That’s so true. And? What else? Did he kiss you?” she asked excitedly. Teresa looked away, embarrassed. “No way! Did you spend the night together?”
“Would you lower your voice, please?” Teresa begged when the customers at the café looked at them.
“Sorry.” Anna did not look sorry at all, and Teresa smiled a bit.
“Yes, we did. He came to my place and left this morning.”
“Oh, my God, Teresa!” Anna squealed. “The whole night! He must have been really good!”
“You have no idea,” Teresa replied. Both laughed again before Teresa looked at the door, avoiding her friend’s eyes. “But there is more.”
“What is it?” Anna asked curiously.
“We… I mean, Vance and I…” Teresa stammered. Anna looked at her with raised eyebrows., Teresa did not look at her friend. “We are going to get married.”
“WHAT! ARE YOU SERIOUS?” Anna screamed so loud that the manager had to call their attention. Completely embarrassed, both girls abandoned the café, and once they were outside Anna yelled at her again. “Girl, are you out of your damn mind?”
“I know, I know, it’s so unexpected, but I’m not crazy!” Teresa tried to defend herself, although her excuses sounded weak even to her. She didn’t want to tell her friend about her father, so it was hard to make it sound sane.
“How did this happen? You didn’t even want to date the guy, and now you’re marrying him!” Anna looked both outraged and worried for her, and Teresa felt guilty for not telling her the whole truth.
“I know!” Teresa exclaimed. “But after spending the night with him, he asked me to marry him, and I said yes. Last night meant a lot to me, Anna. And don’t tell me that it’s because I’ve been out of the game for too long – it’s not that. There are things about me that you don’t know, and that I want to tell you in time… and Vance gets them,” she confessed.
Anna looked at her with such sadness in her eyes that Teresa bit her lip in regret.
“Teresa, you know you can tell me anything,” she said. She sounded worried and disappointed.
“I know. And I will, I promise. Just not today.” She took a step forward and hugged her friend. Anne jumped in surprise; Teresa was not very fond of hugs and other touchy, affectionate things. She hugged her friend back, enjoying the moment.
“But marrying him…” Anna said when they parted. Teresa smiled, and Anna dropped the sentence.
“Just be happy for me, will you?” Teresa asked.
“Of course I’m happy for you!” Anna cried. “But will you be happy with him? I’m just worried, you know that.”
“If I’m not, I can divorce him right away,” Teresa promised. Both laughed and started walking in the direction of their work buildings.
“Now I’ll have to tell the others! We have to throw you a bachelorette party! And plan the whole thing!” Anna exclaimed, excited.
“I’m going to need your help doing all of that, I’m afraid,” Teresa acknowledged.
“It will be a day to remember, I promise!” Anna winked. Soon they parted ways to their respective jobs.
Teresa walked slowly down the streets, heading to the charity. Was she really crazy for marrying Vance? What would happen to her? She was feeling anxious about everything that happened when she got to the charity.
Through the glass doors, she saw Vance already working inside. He was cleaning and arranging the tables for lunch, and her heart skipped a beat when she saw him there, smiling and chatting with her co-workers.
Maybe it was already too late for her. Maybe she had already fallen for Vance, and her heart was in his hands. It was up to him now to decide what to do with it, and Teresa hoped he would not crush it.
Chapter Twelve
Jimmy Love
Jimmy Love had gone back to his town after his encounter with Teresa… and Vance. He had been really surprised to find him there, in his daughter’s house, half-naked. It was obvious that the man had made more advances that he had told him about, and although Jimmy had hidden his anger and surprise pretty well, he was boiling on the inside. He hoped Vance would not dare to betray him.
No, the lad ain’t that stupid, Jimmy thought, parking his bike in front of his club after spending the last few hours driving at top speed. He entered the club and headed directly to his office. At that time of day, it was completely empty. “But he owes me a very good explanation, or I will skin his damn perfect skin off his damn body,” he muttered, kicking the chair before collapsing on it.
He drew his flask out of the desk drawer and drank from it. The heat from the alcohol calmed his spirit. No, it was not the time to succumb to rage. He had to think carefully about his next move. He coughed a bit and took out some paper and a pen, starting to write something down.
After he was finished, he grabbed his phone and called Vance’s lieutenant, David Bailey.
“Come ‘ere immediately, Bailey,” he ordered. The lad did not take long to get to his office.
“What do you need of me, boss?” Bailey asked respectfully. The boys at the club respected and obeyed him, maybe Teresa would too?
She takes after her damn mother, he thought before addressing Bailey.
“I want you to go here and tail Vance Tate. The lad was one of yer people, right?” Jimmy said, handing him the piece of paper with an address written on it.
Bailey took it and nodded. “Yes, sir. Has he given you any trouble?” he asked cautiously.
“Not yet. And I want to make sure that it stays that way. Ye do not need to know the details, just go there and make sure he sees ye several times. He will know better than to piss me off,” he muttered.
Bailey agreed. He did not like the idea of going on a blind mission, but he would never refuse it for two good reasons: first, you never refused a direct order from the boss, and second, he was actually very interested in knowing what Vance Tate was up to. He had not bought his cover for one second, and he had been away for a couple of months already. Maybe if he went there, he could guess for himself what Vance Tate’s mission was.
“Is there anything else you want me to do, boss?” Bailey asked.
“Yes. Call me every day with updates on his activities. All of ‘em,” he insisted. Bailey nodded again, then left the office.
Jimmy Love watched Bailey go. He had not told him about Tate’s mission, but he knew that the moment Bailey saw Teresa he would know. After all, Bailey had been the one he had hoped to marry Teresa to, and they had even dated at one point. And he knew that Jimmy wanted her home no matter the cost and that Teresa would have never agreed to marry him once she left town.
He was counting on Bailey’s surprise and his pride to teach Vance a lesson. David Bailey was loyal enough not to do nothing lethal to Vance if he did not have the orders, but also aggressive enough to scare the shit out of the kid.
Also, thanks to Bailey, Jimmy would be informed about every step Vance Tate took towards marrying Teresa, and when the moment came, he could make them both go back home if Vance decided to betray him. Jimmy felt better knowing that he had sent one of his best men to take care of everything and he could concentrate on other affairs, such as what he would do when Teresa returned home.
The da
mn cough got to him again, and he looked in the drawer until he found his coughing pills. He swallowed two with the help of his flask and soon stopped coughing.
He looked at the time on his watch: it was almost twelve o’clock, and he had an appointment he could not miss in half an hour. He got up and went to the bar outside his office, where he prepared a mug of coffee to gulp before heading to his new destination.
While he drove there, he wondered how it would be to have Teresa home again and finally be able to leave the Grim Rebels to her. The Grim Rebels. He had sacrificed everything for the gang that his father had founded and he had inherited, making them greater than they ever were.
