Page 15 of Gio

“Is this amusing to you?”

“Buckle up, sweetheart.” I eased Sasha from the holster I had no choice but to wear under my suit jacket. And rested her on my right thigh. “They don’t realize you’re with me.” I stepped on the gas until we were off the strip and merging onto the highway.

“Is that a good thing?”

I tapped Sasha. “They don’t know the shit they just stepped in.” A gunshot sounded and Harper cried out, ducking low in her seat. I yanked the wheel hard to the left, sending one biker down in the middle of the highway. “Let down your window,” I ordered.

“What? Are you crazy, that guy has a gun!”

I flicked a glance at her. “Trust me. Open the window and lean back as far as you can.”

She hesitated for only a second and did as I commanded.

Biker number two leaned in with a smile that quickly faded when he came face to face with Sasha. “Oh shit,” he said as he realized his mistake.

It was too late though because I anticipated his move and tapped my brakes so we were dead even. I wrapped my forefinger around the trigger and squeezed. Twice.

“Shit!” Harper was freaked out, but I was sure that had more to do with the sound and the spray of blood than any real fear.

I slammed on the gas and put as much distance between us as I could until I was sure we weren’t being followed.

“Gio, what the hell was that?”

I smiled. “That’s what we call the element of surprise.”

“You’re not going to stop?”

“To give them a chance to shoot us? No thanks.”

Harper looked around after a few minutes before she finally asked what she wanted to know. “Where are we going?”

“I just wanted to make sure we weren’t being followed.”

She spun around again and squinted in the darkness. “Are we?”

“Don’t think so but we’re not going back to the clubhouse just to be sure. They don’t know who I am—yet—and I’d like to keep it that way a while longer.”

“So where are we going?”

A hotel was an option, and this town was littered with them, but there were too many fucking cameras everywhere. “My place.”

“What? Why?” Her tone was frantic, and I holstered my gun and laid a reassuring hand on her thigh.

“Because you’ll be safe there. I’ll keep you safe Harp, I promise.”

“I know.”

Her quick answer was exactly what I wanted to hear.

Chapter 9

Harper

Gio’s home was not at all what I expected when I stepped inside. It wasn’t your typical bachelor pad, decked out with high end electronics and no touches of personality. There was a big ass television and a couple of plush sofas but there were also photos of Gio with his nephew Nolan, his parents, and Rocky, and plenty with his biker brothers. “Nice place.”

He flashed a warm smile. “Thanks. Peyton, that’s Rocky’s woman, said my place needed a touch of home.”

“She was right.” I barely listened to the details of the tour Gio gave of his small two-bedroom home because the feel of his warm palm pressed against mine was exactly the soothing balm I needed. His hand was soft but slightly roughened, probably from working on his bike, and steadying. His constant touches helped relax me after the shooting, but they also had a different effect.

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