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“You want to leave Hallow and leave this club, that’s your choice. You’ll pay the cost. Remember, I made a deal with Leviathan for you. You’re safe here.”
“You’re still saying a biker in this club would actually kill me because of my dad if I hadn’t been with Hallow?” The suggestion still seemed absurd.
“Yes, you’d be an easy mark for Levi. Connected but not cared about enough to cause us any real trouble. But you’re one of us now. You belong not just to Hallow, but to the Royal Bastards MC here in Nashville if he decides he’s done with you. You want to leave. You have to go through me. You go off and do something crazy, defect to their club, I won’t be able to protect you.”
I followed Kingpin out to his motorcycle. The biker sat down on his Harley, and the engine roared. I stared at his back, at the logo on his cut that was much more worn than Hallow’s. I had reservations about riding with him, but what choice did I have? Climbing on the back, I gently placed my hands on his sides.
“You’re going to fall off if you don’t hold on,” he bellowed over the rumble. Then he took off like a rocket.
Quickly, I had to catch myself by wrapping my arms tightly around him. His long hair got in my face, and I spit it out. I hid behind him as the wind beat me from all sides. I’d been on too many motorcycles today that weren’t Hallow’s, first Hob’s and now Kingpin’s. The biker ignored the gate we all checked in at and took an alternate route through the property to pull up to the clubhouse.
A biker called, the guard, Gunn approached him complaining.
Kingpin cut his engine and barked back, “I just figure if the Gods can roll in here and kidnap someone, it’s my goddamn club.”
Gunn backed off, and Kingpin told me to go inside, that he’d find Hallow.
Going inside, I sat at the bar and poured my heart out to Paisley. After all she helped get Kingpin to me. She agreed I could stay in her room above the clubhouse. There I waited for Kingpin to tell Hallow the news. I cleaned up as best I could since my hair was windblown, and my running wedding makeup made me look like a scary clown. When I didn’t hear back from Kingpin or hear from Hallow, I went to find Prez to see how things went. Down in the clubhouse I spotted Hallow right away.
My heart stopped at the sight of him. My biker spotted me across the room, too. Our eyes made contact before he tore his gaze from me. Fuck. I guess Kingpin hadn’t told him.
I’d have to do it myself. I ran over to him. “Hallow, I can explain,” I tried. I took his arm. Snarling, he wrenched it from me. His attention was on the women in front of him. Pretending I didn’t exist, Hallow continued his conversation with the scantily clad women. I’d not seen them before, nothing unusual around here. In club gear, the two brunettes could be twins.
My hands on my hips, I listened to him charm them.
“I used to be a detective, so I think I can handle finding two holes in the dark,” he said.
I wheezed.
The women giggled on cue, but both shot glances to me.
Hallow disregarded me completely.
I attempted to explain again. “Hallow, it’s all a mistake. I didn’t mean for any of this to happen. I love you. I had every intention of saying I do this morning.”
“Prez told me.” Like I didn’t exist, my biker stepped away from me. Putting his arms around the twins’ shoulders, he took both women with him as he walked away.
Heat rose under my collar, but my shock and anger turned to sorrow, regret. My worst fears confirmed, I went to the Big House in tears.
Luckily, I caught Kingpin at the top of the stairs. I tried to compose myself but braced myself for the news. I needed to hear what Hallow said.
“You’re back. How’d it go?”
Kingpin’s hand landed on my shoulder. Pity written all over his face, he said, “Hallow needs time to cool off, love.”
“That’s funny. He’s here acting like I’m chopped liver. Flirting with any hussy who will give him the time of day. It’s downright embarrassing. What did you say to him?”
“Only what you asked me to. The truth. I warned you.” Taking my elbow, he suddenly led me down the hall to his music room.
Feeling at home, I practically collapsed on the piano.
Kingpin started pacing as usual. “What’s going on? Hallow said, you’ve been acting funny. What’s this secret of yours?” He stroked his beard, studying me, as if he could figure it out if he looked hard enough.
“Lordalmighty. You told him I was keeping a secret? No wonder he won’t speak to me.” I blamed Kingpin. It was much easier to be mad at him than Hallow who was acting like a fool.
“Hold it down. Sky’s sleeping,” his hushed voice became frantic. “You never said I should leave anything out. You wanted to tell him the truth. Remember?”
“Not about that. Not yet.” I tried to hold my voice down to not wake his ol’ lady. Kingpin’s wife was sleeping. The idea of what I’d lost, being Hallow’s ol’ lady, threw me into a tizzy. Distraught, I tried to hold it in. I wanted to throw something. Instead, I lifted my knees and hugged myself into a ball. “We were supposed to get married, Hallow and I, promising each other forever. Yeah, I have a secret, okay. Something I can’t bring myself to tell him,” I admitted.
