Page 152 of Ruthless Legacy

“I got that based on it only having three buttons. Why didn’t you guys tell me before?”

“I’m not telling younow.You didn’t see it, and you don’t know it exists. Only The Trium know it’s there.”

I give her a pointed look. “Do not reveal its existence, or these tunnels, toanyone, under any circumstances.”

“I won’t. Geez.”

I lead her through the tunnels, to the garage, exiting the stairwell on the floor where my bike is parked. We stop in front of it, and I do a cursory walk around, checking the security feed on my camera, before swinging my legs over the bike and handing her a spare helmet.

“We’re taking this?”

“Yes, now hurry up and put your helmet on before the camera swings back this way.” She does and stares at me. “Get on.”

“You said I could drive.”

“I said you could ride it, and if Finn is to be believed, you’ve already driven one of my bikes. Now, are you coming or not?”

She climbs on, wrapping her arms around me. I kick the engine into gear and zoom up the ramp. The parking arm is slow to register me coming. It’s barely up when we reach it. I duck down, clearing it, and speed towards the main gate.

I chuckle when Thea tightens her hold on me. If she thought this was gonna be a leisurely drive, she’s wrong. I ride this bike the way I drive my Venom. It was made for speed.

We ride up around Canyon Falls Annex for a while. I wait until she settles in to the movement, leaning her body with mine in perfect synchronicity, before heading to the highway. Her grip on me remains firm, but her body relaxes as she grows to trust me and my handling of this powerful machine.

“You ready?”

It feels weird talking to someone. I don’t give rides on my bike. The spare helmet is a precaution for if I had to, and I only imagined it would be Finn or Holden.

The microphone in her helmet projects her voice into the receiver in mine. “For what?”

“For this.” I open the throttle, smiling at her tiny shriek, followed by her laughter in my ear.

We ride up the coast for an hour before turning off onto a secluded beach just as the sun begins to set. Thea slides off the bike, and removes her helmet, shaking her hair out, as I power it off. I unhook my helmet, resting it on my knee.

I’m confident we weren’t followed. No one will suspect she’s left the building, and even though they’ll have seen my bike leaving the garage, there’s nothing to identify Thea as the passenger.

No one will look too closely or question me. It could be anyone on the back of my bike. Being my companion comes with my promise of protection, not monogamy. Although, there’s no question, the daughters would be much happier if it did.

I let Thea wander the beach, and watch as she slips her shoes off, walking right up to the edge of the sand, and dips her toes into the water. Her head’s thrown back as if she’s bathing in the waning light of the sun and the first flickers of the stars.

She sits, dragging her fingers through the sand, while the waves crest over her feet.

This is the most still I’ve seen her. The most quiet. The most peaceful. My plan was to stay out here for half an hour, but I sit with my back propped against my bike, letting her soak in all the freedom she needs.

Chapter61

Thea

It’s mid-terms,yay.I’ve been living in the library and in my bedroom studying. Barely lifting my head up long enough to eat. The guys have been really sweet about feeding me. Tonight, Pax is hosting. I’ve got my special brew coffee that Holden has been plying me with because I need the caffeine for tonight’s marathon study session.

I take a sip as I walk through the door, swallowing and breathing at the same time, forcing my drink down the wrong pipe. Finn pats my back, trying to help. “You okay, Pet?”

Okay? Fuck no, I’m not okay. Somebody should’ve warned me that the first thing I’d see walking into Pax’s room, was him kicked back in a chair wearing ripped jeans, white sneakers and a silver chain with a raven dangling between his inked up pecs which are on full display.

I’ve never given much thought to how much ink he has, but now I’m being smacked in the face with it. Even the knee cap peeking through the frayed edges of his jeans is inked. And when the hell did he get his nose pierced?

I’m still coughing when Finn’s messy ass asks, “Liking the view, Pet?”

I could be imagining things. I probably am imagining things, but out the corner of my eyes, I think I see Pax shift even lower in his chair and spread his legs. There’s no way he’s doing that. No way it’s a subtle invitation for me to crawl into his lap and get an up close look at those tattoos.

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