Page 31 of In Another Lifetime

His eyes narrowed. “You don’t look fucking okay. What just happened? Did that guy say something to you? I didn’t get a good look at him but… His aura was fucked up.”

“Just…forget about him.”

“If he messed with you—”

“Drop it, Brennan. Please.” The last thing I wanted was for him to get hurt.

His jaw worked, his stare burning into me and looking so much like his older brother’s it shook me. Even more than I already was. “Are you at least going to tell Day?”

I shook my head. “He’s worried about too much else right now.”

“Vale—”

I held up my hand. “I’ll talk to my brother. He and his friends deal with things like this.”

At least, I thought they did.

“Good. Let’s go inside and call him now.”

“Brennan—”

“Now, Vale. Because if you won’t tell Dayton, I sure as hell will. We lost you once. We’re not losing you again.”

Eighteen

Dayton

The side of my fist smacked into my steering wheel while I impatiently navigated traffic to the quiet old subdivision where I lived. Today had turned out to be a whole lot of nothing, and Anderson and I were both pissed over the wasted hours.

Now, I just wanted to kick back with my girl for a bit and let her make me forget this fucking day for a bit. I wouldn’t disappoint her by suggesting we stay home, though. We’d had a late night after Brennan’s game and subsequent celebration over the team’s win. Today, I was supposed to be having a family day with them before taking Vale to an exhibition at the botanical garden she’d mentioned wanting to see.

Not my thing, but if it made her happy, it made me happy. And I’d get even happier later when she thanked me. Yeah, it was selfish, but what could I say? There was nothing quite like making love with Vale while she writhed so nicely beneath me. Or over me. Or against the wall. I hadn’t taken her on her back patio yet. Doing that while she tried to stay quiet could be fun.

For the first time in hours, a smile was curling my lips when I turned onto my street. It fell like a rock at the sight of what had to be a dozen motorcycles in Vale’s driveway.

What…the…?

I practically launched from my truck as soon as I turned it off. If something was going on over there, if someone hurt her, I was going to prison or I’d be dead.

“Hey, Day.” My brother calling my name was the only thing that stopped me from charging over to Vale’s place. He stood on our porch, drinking a Coke and staring at all the bikes, and I hadn’t even seen him since I’d been so focused.

“What’s going on? You should have called me—”

“Oh that? It’s just Vale’s brother. You should have seen it! She made a call, and less than twenty minutes later, they all came roaring down the street. You should see their leather vests and patches—”

“Their cuts,” I said in a flat voice, shock deflating me.

Holy fuck. The woman I was falling for was involved with an MC? More than involved, she was related. How deep in was she? How fucking screwed was I? Being associated with them could completely tank my career.

“Whatever they’re called. They’re kick ass.”

“Forget about them,” I ordered. “Forget about all of it.”

I doubted I could. A million scenarios and consequences rolled through my head. The worst being what I’d have to do, because I might have been falling for Vale, loved when we came together, but I had a greater responsibility to Brennan. And that meant keeping my job.

“What’s wrong with you?” he asked.

“You can’t get mixed up with a motorcycle club who are some…wannabe Hell’s Angels.”

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