Page 9 of Traitor

And then I waited.

For the right night.

The clubhouse was quiet, the brothers still out at a deal. Jinx had gone upstairs an hour before, drunk, mean, already asleep.

My hands shook as I grabbed my bag, slipping through the back door as silently as I could.

Every step felt like a death sentence.

I crept across the lot, past the rows of bikes, past the garage, until I hit the woods.

And then I ran.

I ran until my lungs burned, until my legs threatened to give out, until the clubhouse was nothing but a nightmare in the distance.

I didn't stop.

I didn't look back.

Because if I did, they'd catch me.

And if they caught me, I'd never leave again. Not alive, at least.

Present

A shudder rips through me. I press my forehead harder against my knees, gripping my arms, my pulse pounding in my ears.

I never told Bones about Jinx.

Never told him how I ran. Never told him what the Crimson Riders did to me.

And now I never will.

Because he wouldn't hear me out and he wouldn't believe me anyway. Why wouldn't he at least hear me out? The woman he claims to love?

I force my breathing to slow, but my body is spiraling, my mind racing through every memory I've fought so hard to bury.

I would never have chosen the Iron Vultures if I could. If I had anywhere else to go.

When I first showed up on their doorstep, I was just looking for somewhere to hide.

I'd overheard the Crimson Riders talking about them once. ‘Our rivals, dangerous motherfuckers, don't fuck with them unless you're ready to die.’ And I knew, deep down, that Jinx would never look for me here.

He couldn't.

He was too scared. He shook every time he heard their name.

So I took my chances with the Iron Vultures. To survive.

And then Bones happened.

He was nothing like Jinx. Where Jinx was cruel, suffocating, Bones was intoxicating, loving.

I never meant to fall for him.

But it was easy. He made it easy.

He kissed me like I was air and he was a man drowning. He held me close at night, his arms wrapped tight around me, like he was terrified I'd disappear. He pulled me into his world, made me his Ol' Lady, made me believe in something again.

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