Page 58 of June 7

Bane would never forgive her.

The phone rang. She jumped in fright. Pressing her hand to her chest, she picked up the receiver.

"Hello, you've reached Havlin Motorcycle Parts Shop. How can I help you?" Her voice sounded foreign to her.

"That was a warning."

It took her a moment to understand the male voice over the phone. It came across as muffled and quiet.

She covered her other ear to hear better. "Excuse me?"

"Get rid of the bikers." The call disconnected.

She looked at the receiver, confused over the call. Get rid of the bikers? Warning?

The back door banged shut. She hung up the phone and swiveled on the stool, anxious to hear how Dio was doing.

Bane strode toward her. She slid to her feet and reached for him.

"Is Dio okay?" She grabbed his vest.

"He will be. Cord's stitching him up."

"There was so much blood." She stepped into his arms. "How did he get hurt?"

"We need to talk about that." He picked her up as if she weighed nothing and set her back on the stool. "Dio was at the duplex—"

"Oh, my God." She covered her mouth.

"Hey, now." He took both her hands and held them to his chest. "None of this is your fault."

"He wouldn't have been there if not for me being with you." Her throat closed. "All of this has to stop. I'll sell the duplex."

That's how she outran her troubles. When her dad decided to take everything away from her without any thought of what he'd left her with, she'd bided her time until she was eighteen years old, and then she sold the house. She tried to run away from the memories the best she could. Except, in her lack of experience and dealing with something no one could help her with, she'd discovered that moving eight miles away from the crime scene wasn't enough to leave it all behind.

She had the same view of the ocean. The same community that never forgot what happened to her. And now someone else who'd gotten close to her was hurt. What was wrong with her? Why was this happening?

"Dio's going to be okay. He's got a few stitches." Bane lifted her face. "He rode over here after he was attacked."

"Attacked?" she mumbled to herself.

"Listen. We run security for a lot of people. Shit happens. It's not the first time one of us got hurt in our line of work." Bane's lips tightened. "I need you to understand that the man who went after Dio could've gone after you. That's my main priority right now is to keep you safe."

She stared at him, hearing what he was saying but knowing deep down, she'd prefer to be the one hurt, not Dio. Shaking her head, she hated to think about what could happen. This needed to stop before someone else got hurt. Before Bane got hurt.

"Stop overthinking. We'll keep you safe." He pulled her forward and held her. "The guy got away this time, but we'll get him. It's only a matter of time."

She wasn't so sure he could promise that. Lifting her head, she looked him in the eyes. The phone call at the shop now made sense.

"It's a good thing he attacked Dio. It shows that we've got him upset. He's going to make a mistake. It's only a matter of time. When he fucks up, we'll get him," said Bane.

That's the worst thing Bane could do. The man responsible for hurting Dio and vandalizing the duplex and car made it clear over the phone. The Havlin members needed to back off.

Dio getting hurt was only a warning that something worse could happen.

She needed to get rid of the bikers before anyone else got hurt.

"Bane, you need to stop having people watch over the duplex and me." She stood and pulled her hands away from his clutch. "The man responsible called the shop right after Dio showed up bleeding. He said he'll keep hurting the Havlin members if they hang around the duplex." She lifted her chin. "You and the others need to stay away from me."

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