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Nelle took a deep breath. She looked forward again. Across the dark bedroom. Tears kept coming to her eyes. She wasn’t fully crying. She wasn’t bawling. She wasn’t making noises or anything like that. But the tears were steady. They came. They ran down her cheeks. More followed.
Slade let out a groaning noise that worried Nelle. She looked over her shoulder and saw him thrash his head side toside. Grunting and making inaudible noises. Nelle touched his shoulder and his eyes popped open.
“Nelle,” he said as he quickly sat up. “What’s wrong, sweetheart?”
“I think you were having a bad dream.”
“Those are all I have. Part of the life.”
Nelle swallowed hard. “Who are you, Slade? Where did you come from?”
“What?”
“Tell me about your parents. Your life.”
“What the fuck, sweetheart? You want to know about my life?”
“I just need to know. Before we go on.”
“Go on… where?”
That’s when Nelle turned to face him. She was still naked. She cupped her hands to Slade’s strong, chiseled, outlaw face. She took a deep breath.
“Slade, I know what I have to do to end this mess.”
Maggie moved behind the bar, blinking fast, ready to make coffee.
“You didn’t have to wake her up,” Nelle said to Slade.
“I barely sleep,” Maggie said. “No worries. If this is what I can do to help the club, then so be it.”
“Thanks, Maggie,” Slade said with a grin.
Nelle saw the look on Maggie’s face. She was in love with Slade. Definitely. So…
“Why me?” Nelle whispered to Slade. “What the hell, Slade? That woman is in love with you. Put your ink on her.”
Slade grabbed Nelle’s mouth. “Never tell an outlaw where to put his ink. Ever. Now I’m going to tell you something about me and you’re going to tell me your plan. Cyrus will be here any minute to listen.”
Nelle swallowed hard. “Okay. Sorry.”
“You want to know about me? My old man was a mechanic who ran with bikers that had no vision. They were just looking for fights and things to steal. My mother couldn’t keep a needle out of her veins so she ended up in rehab a few times before just killing herself. Never knew if it was accidental or not. Never cared to ask. My old man hated that my mother died. He hated that he could never cut it as an outlaw either. So he took it out on me.”
“Are those your dreams? That’s why you were-”
“I taught myself how to manage life. That included money. Lenny owned the garage and he had a parts deal withJC. I remember the first time I met Johnny. Guy was larger than life. There was a problem with the local police tracking the guys down. I offered to do it. I offered to step in and help. My father hated that, butJCloved it. He took to me. I took to him. That’s how I got involved.”
“And your father?”
Slade gently touched Nelle’s face. “I get what it’s like to have a fucked up family dynamic, sweetheart. My father tried to be a tough guy outlaw with the wrong crew. Got popped and went to prison. Tried to make it with a crew on the inside and was killed.”
“Oh, Slade…”
“No, sweetheart. There’s no sympathy for that. You wanted to know. Now you do. Now it’s your turn to talk.”
No sooner did Cyrus appear from the depths of the clubhouse looking monstrous and annoyed. Maggie moved faster. She linedup three cups and hurried to pour coffee in each. Cyrus settled at the bar, nodding to both Slade and Nelle.
“Do I ask?” Cyrus said.
