Page 60 of One Night with the Biker

“Shut the fuck up,” he snarled before I spoke. “You have a head on your fucking shoulders. I admire you, but I can’t believe you’re so fucking naïve. Those motherfuckers, your brother’s club, killed Louisiana’s brother. A blood relation. Your brother killed one of my favorite club girls. Trinity. I was weeks away from putting her on the back of my bike.”

I snatched myself away from him. “Roman killed her because she led him to believe she wanted him and said she carried his baby, then he found out she was fucking you,” I snapped. “She was playing with fire and got burned.”

He blinked, then swept me with a cold glare. “Why doesn’t it fucking surprise me that you knew Roman killed her?”

“Because I was there,” I said tiredly. “I begged Trinity to leave before Roman got home. We almost got into a fight. She accused me of betraying her. I don’t know where Roman got the information, but it wasn’t me. He really cared about her. She refused to fucking leave and told me I was the reason Roman didn’t have a life.” I lifted my gaze and shook my head. “And basically reaffirmed what Nova told me yesterday. I was pathetically ordinary, which I’m not, and I hung around my brother because I couldn’t find a man of my own.”

Reese’s pulse thumped at the base of his neck and his shoulders heaved with each pant. My heart went out to him at the mix of anger and grief on his face.

“I begged her to go, Reese. Roman doesn’t take kindly to being played. He thought she set him up. It was more of her affiliation to the Royal Bastards that cost her her life rather than her being a two-timing cheat.” I drew in a deep breath and met his gaze. “Tell me you wouldn’t have killed her yourself if you’d known the truth.”

He glanced away.

“I think Louisiana saw her or her car when he picked up Nova. You’re both idiots in that regard. I don’t know why he’d tell Roman and not you, but that’s the only explanation I have.”

Jaw clenched, he stared at the wall. I don’t think he could bear to look at me. I’d already told myself we couldn’t be together, so I don’t know why his attitude hurt me.

“Her death has haunted me,” I said in a raw, wet voice. “I had to take a break from school. That was the one time Roman’s temper got the best of him and he didn’t shield me from the dark side.”

He refused to respond. I couldn’t force him to confess he would’ve handled the situation just as Roman had. Nor could I make his pain go away. In his mind, I’d betrayed him once again.Whether he admitted it, he punished my smallest infraction because Roman was my brother.

“When I saw your cut, I should’ve walked out.”

“You should have,” he spat. “Or you could’ve told me the fucking truth and let me make an informed decision.”

“Why? So you could’ve killed me? One-upped Roman in your stupid war?”

“Did I fucking kill you when I found out Roman was your brother? Did I kill that motherfucker when I had him in my clutches? I risked a lot to save him. Our hatred isn’t strictly a personal vendetta. It’s bigger than him or me. It goes way back and both clubs have brought a reign of death and terror to the other. Even if I could intervene, I wouldn’t. My allegiance is to my club. It isn’t to a motherfucker who couldn’t sit his ass down somewhere and enjoy his fucking second chance at life. Instead of patching out, what did Roman Mac do? Go on a fucking run the first motherfucking chance he got.”

From what I knew of Reese, he was laid-back and chill. I’d never seen him so red-faced, angry, and almost foaming at the mouth.

“Roman didn’t have a choice,” I said.

“We all have fucking choices, Ainsley. He made his. I’ve made mine.”

He was right. Not knowing what else to say, I went to the living area and curled up on the sofa, since I had nowhere else to go or no one who cared.

Motherfucking Louisiana. Trinity might’ve been a two-timing cunt like Ainsley said, but he saw her as collateral damage and signed her death warrant.

Would I have killed her if I discovered she was fucking Roman Mac? You bet your fucking ass. I too would’ve felt she was setting me up on behalf of the Bloody Scorpions.

It was just so fucking much to deal with, especially after I’d mourned her for months. I’d lived with grief and guilt. All for nothing.

Since the day I lost my family, I guarded my emotions and let only a select few in. Until Trinity, I hadn’t connected with any woman since Jinx. My instincts saved me from a monumental mistake.

As much as I still cared about Jinx, neither she nor that dead bitch compared to Ainsley. I needed a moment to process what she told me. One weight lifted off my shoulder and another descended.

Trinity got what she deserved. Roman Mac saved me the fucking trouble of having to explain why I’d killed one of our girls. I wouldn’t have faced censure. Just a lot of fucking humiliation that my favorite bitch was a traitor.

My issue now was Louisiana. He’d intervened on my behalf and set me up with Ainsley. I didn’t know how to help his unhinged need for revenge. He wanted to avenge Kenneth so badly, he was willing to fuck up his marriage to do so. I bet he saw Ainsley as a chess piece in his fucked-up game.

I’d see that motherfucker drawn and quartered first.

This was such a clusterfuck.

Remembering Ainsley’s desperation, I squeezed my temples. I thought she at least understood club dynamics. She was asking me for the moon, when I couldn’t even promise her the stars if it meant guaranteeing her brother survived.

Fuck,Imight not live before I straightened shit out at the club, so Ainsley would at least have their protection if I bit it. Razor would just as soon see her dead because of the Roman situation. I hoped her pregnancy would end his need for vengeance. I had to declare her mine to safeguard her. Suspicion would follow both of us, but I was innocent. Ainsley’s only crime was loving her brother.

---