Page 34 of Absolution

The feeling of Ricca shifting in her sleep against me wakes me up far earlier than I had planned, but it is not an unwelcome intrusion. She’s still here with me, and that’s all that matters. With giving me her body, she sealed the bond between us. Even if she ordered me to leave, I couldn’t. As soon as her lips declared she was mine again, she made a pact with the devil that never expires. She is mine, and will always be mine. As the sun’s rays shine into the room, I am taken back to the last time she was in my bed.

That day I made the hardest decision of my life. I left her to secure the safety of my club, and in a sense, her safety as well. She took down her walls, and gave me a piece of her that so few had likely ever seen, her soul. Ricca may not have had a perfect life, but that night, just like last night, she bared it all for me. I watched her for hours that night, battling with myself how to say goodbye. The chance of not coming back after that trip was the highest it had ever been. I was forced to go all in with no guarantee that the outcome would be in our favor. It was an impossible situation, but for my club, it was what had to be done. Ricca was a different story completely. How do you tell someone that you love that this may have been the one and only time that you had together?

My answer was that I couldn’t.

Instead, I left her without ever telling her how I felt. It was the thought of her waiting for me that kept me going throughout that entire trip, but the faith I had in her wasn’t reciprocated. At least until now it wasn’t. I let my pride and sense of responsibility get in the way, and this is where it landed me months later, trying to pick up the pieces. Would things have been different if I had said goodbye that morning? No one will ever know.

She shifts again and my attention turns back to her sleeping form. Ricca’s beautiful curves fit perfectly against the hardness of my body. My finger traces down her back and she wiggles closer to me. I smile knowing that even in her sleep, she still seeks me out. It’s a beautiful sight to behold, and I am one fucking lucky man to get to experience this a second time. Will she have the same feelings that I have the morning after? Maybe not, but last night was only a taste of what I am going to give her.

Ricca tosses around, before turning to face me. Her long lashes flutter when I sweep a piece of hair off of her face. Her hand reaches out towards me, but instead of touching me, she grabs the pillow from under my head, and tucks it against her body.

I stare in disbelief at her. How in the hell did she do that while still asleep? A chuckle leaves my lips, and I reach over to steal the pillow back. Her lips purse as she mutters angrily. My fingers wrap around the edge of the pillow, but as I start to pull, she swings wildly and clocks me in the face.

“What the fuck,” I yell, releasing the pillow and moving my hand to cover my eye.

Ricca doesn’t move an inch and a smile forms on her face, still completely passed out.

“I see how this is going to go,” I whisper. “You get all the pillows, or I get a punch in the face.”

She smiles, before wrapping a leg around my stolen pillow and snuggles back into it. All I can do in this situation is just laugh. How is it even possible that I could love her more, even after she’s decked me for trying to steal my own pillow back?

Seeing that she’s not ready to wake up just yet, I try to fall back asleep myself, but just as my eyes close, I hear my phone vibrating in my jeans pocket. How that damn thing isn’t dead already is a mystery, but Voodoo knows how to pick them I guess.

Slowly shifting out the bed, I pad over to my jeans and retrieve the phone. It’s Raze. Shit. I grab my jeans and head for the hallway to avoid waking her up. I make it to the front room, before taking the call.

“Prez,” I answer. Putting the phone between my ear and my shoulder, I slip on my jeans with a hop to get them over my hips. I leave them unbuttoned and flop onto the couch. A thick plume of dust flies up around me.

“Hey, brother,” he responds with exhaustion evident in his voice.

“Things go, okay?”

“Yeah, it’s done. Rex is officially no longer our problem.”

Rex had always been a thorn in the club’s side, since the time I was a prospect. He trafficked women like Audi sold high-end cars. If the money was right, he did the job, and for a time, our club helped him transport them. Not my proudest moments of Heaven’s Rejects membership, but I didn’t have a choice back then as a prospect. I needed the club to survive, and I didn’t have the ability to say no. The guy was scum, but because of him, our club still existed. Raze’s dad had put us in a shitty position with a drug runner, that much like our own deal with last cartel, had put our heads on the chopping block. Rex and Raze made a deal to no longer be involved in the business sense, for the exchange of his help. A part of that deal was not trafficking local girls and apparently, Rex decided that it wasn’t a good enough business deal for himself anymore. Decisions like that are what get people killed. Just like Rex.

Our club has dealt with a lot of shit, but when we make a promise, we keep it. Leniency isn’t in our nature, and once you break that trust, it is definitely no longer on the menu. Dealing death may not be the easiest to handle, but it is the far easier solution, than to live your life looking over your shoulder every single fucking day.

“That’s one funeral that I won’t be attending. Casualties?” I quickly ask.

Raze goes silent on the other end of the line, and my heart nearly freezes mid-beat.

“The other club lost one,” Raze admits. “Sad ass shit. He was the brother to the girl we went after. She made it out okay, but her rescue ended up costing him his life in return. The new guy, Thor, got beat up pretty bad in the aftermath, but Doc says he should recover.”

I sigh in relief that it wasn’t one of my brothers with a toe tag, but I feel for the other club. Jagger’s death hit me hard, so I can sympathize with them. Collateral damage is never an easy pill to swallow when you are trying to right a wrong.

“Give their club my condolences,” I offer.

Raze clears his throat, and I know this call wasn’t just about the club business. Something is on his mind. While Jagger used to be his sounding board when shit hit the fan, I think I have filled that role for him. Unlike the others, I listen more than I talk. Sometimes you need someone you can unload on to make sense of a bad situation. Just the amount of times I’ve played therapist for Hero, would have made me a millionaire if I had charged him. You need someone like that in your life, and it’s a role I don’t mind filling for my brothers.

“You sound like you have something on your mind, Prez. Care to explain?” I question, hoping that I haven’t overstepped my bounds.

“Yeah, you’re right. There is something else I need to talk to you about,” he starts, but then pauses. An awkward silence builds up between us, before he finally breaks it. “I know this is probably shit timing on my part, but I need to know if this trip might be a one-way ticket.”

Raze damn near stuns me with that question. Logically speaking, I would have probably asked the same question in his place. One of the most loyal members of his club takes off after a woman with no reassurances of coming back. It’s unusual even for me, and he knows that the possibility could be real.

“You trying to get rid of me, Prez?” I tease back, trying to break the tension.

“I would never do that brother, but man to man, I have to ask. I’ve never seen you go after a girl this hard, and coming from someone who’s been there, I get the draw to be on the outside of what happens when you’re a part of an MC.”

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