“I get the bedroom,” I said as we climbed on and he handed me the helmet.
“I was thinking we both get the bedroom.”
“Not a chance. You can have the couch.”
He laughed as he started the engine, the roar drowning out any other noise.
I pushed on my helmet as he slid out into traffic. I held onto his body, my own mind at war with itself, torn between wanting to share the bed and wanting to get far, far away from him.
Although we weren’t even married yet, I was already looking forward to my divorce.
Chapter Fourteen: Ford
As we tore down the highway, wind whipping through my hair, I felt her suddenly start tapping against my back, signaling for me to pull over.
What the hell could she possibly need? I pulled off at the first rest stop I saw, figuring she needed to piss or something.
“What’s up, princess?” I asked her.
She gave me a dirty look. “We need to go back to my apartment.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Why would we do that?”
“I forgot my laptop.”
“You can live without it.”
“No, I can’t.” She crossed her arms, and I recognized the look on her face. It was pure, stubborn anger, and it meant that no matter what I said, she was going to do whatever she wanted.
I could fight it all I wanted, but what did it matter? We were going to her apartment one way or the other.
I decided to just make it easy on myself.
“Fine,” I said, “but we have to make it a fast trip.”
“I just need to grab it.”
“Let’s go.” I kicked the engine to life as she got back on.
The meeting with Jetter kept playing in my mind. On the surface, things were civil between our two groups, but everyone knew better than that. Jetter and the Rebels had been itching to get a piece of our action for years, ever since Jetter had taken over and become their president. He was an opportunist, and he would turn his back on us the second it benefitted him.
More than that, it seemed like he knew something we didn’t. He seemed almost confident in our meeting, which was probably not surprising, but he had just lost a man. He was almost cavalier about it, almost like it didn’t matter so much.
The only person in the world who knew what had happened was sitting on my bike with me, probably mentally preparing herself to marry me. Worst of all, she couldn’t even begin to understand what was happening around her.
Maybe she hated me, although I wasn’t sure why. If anything, I had every right to despise her. Because of what had happened between us, her father had thrown me in prison and she hadn’t so much as written me a letter. And here I was willing to sacrifice my damn freedom for her just to keep her protected from the bad motherfuckers who wanted to do her harm, and she was acting like I was some asshole.
Damn girl thought the world revolved around her pretty little head. Truth was, I wanted to fuck her cunt so bad, I was beginning to think that was true. The way my dick strained toward her every time she was around meant maybe she actually was the center of the damn universe.
We tore back into town, heading toward her apartment building. Finally, I parked out front and she climbed off the bike.
“Hold it,” I said to her. “Stay with me.”
She frowned. “It’s safe. This is my place.”
“It’s not safe. This is your place.” I grabbed her arm. “Stay with me.”
She went to protest, but I wasn’t playing games. I pulled her along behind me, ignoring her angry complaining.
We pushed through the front door and headed up the stairs. As soon as we turned onto her landing, something felt off to me. I wasn’t sure what.
“Hold,” I said to her, stopping.
“What?”
“Something’s weird.”
“Looks fine to me.”
We walked slowly down her hall. As soon as we got close to her door, I spotted it.
The thing was standing slightly open, as if someone had broken it in and then just propped it shut.
Instantly I pushed Caralee back and pulled the gun from my jeans.
“What?” she hissed, shocked.
“Someone was here,” I said. “Stay.”
I crept forward and pushed the door open. It swung in easily. Caralee gasped, stepping back against the wall.
Inside, her apartment was a damn mess. Whoever had been in there had torn the place to shreds looking for something. I couldn’t be sure if they were still there or not, so I crept quietly inside, keeping my gun ready.
I checked the main room, the bathroom, and the bedroom, but it was all clear. Whoever had been there had obviously left a while ago.
“Caralee, come on in,” I said.
She stepped through the door, staring around wide-eyed.
“Oh my god,” she said.
“Looks like they got here earlier,” I said.