“You have me, too.” Not in the way Levi had me. We were each other’s lifelines, at least I was hers. She liked to believe she was mine. I didn’t want saving. The darker the waters, the more I wanted to drown.
“See you tomorrow.”
With the door open, I listened to the voices coming from the chapel. It had been a long time since laughter filled the MC. Heroin had poisoned our club for the last three years. Some of the old timers, and Razor’s supporters still had a love for H.
When Vance had left, we stopped dealing in illegal firearms. The guy with the golden arm had gone legit. Rogue and Blade were working to change the club. I wasn’t sure.
My dad had gone to the country club, otherwise known as county lockup, for the MC. In a battle with the cartel and our rival MC, the Crawlers, Texas had lost his life. With Blade as president and Rogue as his VP, I couldn’t imagine us getting mixed up with the cartel again.
Hellers were getting out of the heroin business.
That should keep peace with the Night Crawlers.
I must have drifted off to sleep. When I opened my eyes, the clubhouse had grown quiet. Levi slept burrowed against me. I slipped out of bed and covered her with the blanket.
I lit a cigarette and made my way into the chapel.
What the fuck? Inauguration day hell. Prospects were going to be busy tomorrow on clean up. Trash and beer bottles littered tables. Passed-outdrunks slept on empty, pizza boxes. A cloud of smoke hung in the air.
Pippa came into the room carrying her shoes. With a tug, she adjusted her rumpled skirt and top. Her wild curls tumbled over her shoulder.
“Hey,” I said. Smoke streamed from my nostrils on an exhale.
She ignored me and crossed to the front door of the club.
“Where are you going?” I jogged to catch her before she slipped out the door. With my arm braced above her head, I held the door closed. Not that she wasn’t safe behind the fences of the MC, but it was two o’clock in the morning.
Her gaze narrowed on me. “Home. Move.”
“Bad night?”
“Getting worse if you don’t move your arm. I’m calling a ride share to take me home.”
“I’ll see you home.”
She snorted. “I think you’ve seen enough of me.”
“Ah. You’re pissed.” I lowered my voice and leaned into her. “When you fuck in public, people watch.”
She sucked in a little breath. Her pulse fluttered in the column of her neck. I wanted my tongue there, to taste her warm flesh, to feel her tremble against me.
Her wild eyes searched my face. My gut tightened as her pink tongue slicked across her bottom lip. “We didn’t know you were there.”
“You still would’ve fucked him in front of me.”
She shoved me hard, pushing me out of the way.
I followed her outside.
“Pip, wait.”
She stilled, but her shoulders stiffened.
“Can we talk?”
“We are talking. This is the most you’ve ever spoken to me in a single conversation.”
“Somewhere more private?” Bullet, Elvis, and Flea gathered around the fire in the oil drum. I nodded to them with my chin.