Page 9 of Ordinary Girl

“Come with me, to the clubhouse. See what we do, who we are, then make your decision. How does that sound?”

But she really has no choice. She has to take this job, she’s crossed that line now. She knows too much, she can’t just walk away from this, I won’t let her. But I don’t think I’m going to have much of a fight on my hands. She’s going to take the job.

“You want to sleep with me.”

She isn’t asking a question, she’s stating a fact.

“Yes, I do. You want to let me know howyoufeel about that arrangement?”

Her eyes burn into mine, and it’s there, that spark, that glimmer, she wants me. She’s just too stubborn to let herself admit it. And then she drops her gaze, starts twisting her coffee mug round and around on the table. “Have you been a biker all your life?”

I wait until she looks back up before I answer. “For all of my adult life, yes. My father was a biker, for a while. Before he met my mother. He left it all behind for love.”

“Is that something you’d ever do?”

Her eyes lock on mine and I hold her gaze. “No.”

She smiles slightly, but gives nothing away. “What made you gravitate toward this world?”

“I was seventeen when my parents decided to move back to Sweden, but I was settled here, in Denmark. It was my home. So, I stayed. And I guess you could say I fell in with the wrong crowd, but the Vikings, they gave me something to focus on.”

“Your club, it’s been involved in murders–”

“Allegedly. Nobody was ever charged. Nobody ever did time, not for killing anyone.”

“And that makes it okay, does it? That, just because nothing could be proved–”

“You’ve been doing your homework.”

“I felt it necessary.”

“You shouldn’t believe everything you read.”

“It can’t all be lies.”

I laugh, briefly turning my head away, she’s a challenge. I like that. “We look after those we care about, Sofia, and we take care of those who threaten us, we don’t hurt anyone who doesn’t deserve it. And we never let innocent people get in the way.”

“And I should feel better for knowing that, right?”

“Yes. You should. Because the second you walk into my club you become one of us. You’re protected.”

“As long as I play by the rules.”

“That’s a given.”

She waits a beat or two before she speaks again, and the air, man, the intensity is fucking suffocating!

“Iwantto trust you, Skip.”

“I know.”

She’s torn, I can see it all over her face. Part of her wants to do this, while another part is screaming at her to run, which she can’t do, of course. It’s too late to run. But she isn’t going to. I know which part of her will win out. And I’m never wrong.

Six

Sofia

Ihate that I feel this way, because this man: who he is, what he does, it’s wrong, on so many levels. He’s the kind of man I avoid, he scares me, but he also fascinates me. I’m wildly attracted to him, but at the same time I know I can’t go there. What’s happening here, I’m doing this to save Ana’s future, that’s all. To keep a roof over our heads. I’m running out of options, so I’m doing this because I have to. Because Skip offered me this chance, he wants to help me. But I also know that isn’t all he wants. He wantsme. Am I part of the bargain? Is that really the kind of world I’ve suddenly become involved in?

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