Page 83 of Saving Blood

“I’m so sorry,” Maxine whispers.

“I’d beg my mother to leave him, but she’d claim she loved him.” I shake my head. “I never understood it, but I knew she’d never let him go.” I shift on the couch. “When I was sixteen, I came home and found my mother beaten worse than I’d ever seen her. She begged me to forget about it, but instead, I waited up for him and confronted him. He laughed at me then said my mother deserved what she got for annoying him. Annoying him!”

My gut churns, remembering that night. “We were on the second floor, and when he laughingly dismissed me, an insane rage coursed through my veins. When he turned from me—I pushed him. He yelled out as he tumbled down the stairs, his head hitting the marble repeatedly, then silence as he lay in the foyer with a trail of blood seeping from the back of his skull.”

“You were defending your mother.”

“It wasn’t an accident, and I never felt a minute of regret. I knew pushing him would probably be fatal, but I’d finally gotten revenge for my mother and me.”

“I know how it feels to want to right the wrongs.” Maxine holds my hands, giving me the strength to go on with my story.

“I’ve broken the law plenty as a Royal Bastard, but I’ve never hurt anyone weaker, or anyone who couldn’t fight back.”

“I believe you. It’s probably why you have such a soft spot for kids like Javi—and why I felt safe with you even from the beginning.”

“Even when you were spitting sass?”

“Even then.”

I draw in a deep breath, determined to continue. “As my mother and I stared at his limp body, she told me, for the first time, she felt relieved.

“My father had an office full of incriminating information on the police and city officials, which I mentioned when I called the chief of police. I agreed to keep it all to myself, and they agreed to report his death as an accident.”

“You told me you left home at sixteen, so why didn't you stay with your mother?”

“She said, even though she was glad my father was dead, she couldn’t forgive me. She still had some irrational loyalty to him. She sold the house and moved to Michigan, where she grew up, and I took off and headed to San Diego. I lived hand-to-mouth, shacking up in abandoned buildings and sleeping on the beach, but it was the freest I’d ever felt. I met Smoke in a biker bar by the beach, and the rest, as they say, is history.”

“Have you had any contact with your mother since then?”

“Nah, it was like we both wanted to wipe away that part of our lives.”

“In so many twisted ways, our stories have parallels.” Maxine shakes her head. “The striving to belong and the need to feel wanted. It’s like fate drew us to each other.”

The truth of Maxine’s words fill me up, and when I take her in my arms, I know we’re meant to be together.

EPILOGUE

MAXINE

“Don’t even think about leaving me alone here.” My head is on a swivel, taking it all in. “As crazy as it sounds after all we confessed to each other, I’ve never been to a party, and certainly not a biker party.”

“Just like any old party, nothing special.”

“You’re kidding, right?”

We’ve been here maybe fifteen minutes, and I’ve already seen two totally naked girls—one giving Diesel a blowjob against the back wall, and another on a tabletop dancing to Motley Crue’s “Live Wire.”

Smoke closed The Tropics for a private party to celebrate my win last week and the success of the cage fighting, so, as Blood said, “Everybody’s in a party mood.” To my eyes, this looks like way past party mood and on to crazy, out of control and wild, but I have to admit, there’s something completely freeing about everyone doing their thing without judgment or repercussion. A freedom I’d never known and hoped to acquire. I’m just not sure if I can acquire it all in one night.

I keep glued to Blood’s side as he introduces me around to club members from California and other neighboring states. Meeting Jameson, the Royal Bastards National President, terrified me. His bulk and overall scary persona sent a shiver up my spine, which seemed worse when he smiled. Blood told me how he and Smoke ended up in Tijuana, and just the thought of disobeying this man makes my heart race.

Blood angles me toward the bar, where Bolt and a few of the strippers are trying to keep up with the crazy demand of drink orders.

“Hey, brother, nice to see you brought your lady tonight.” Bolt beams at me, gold tooth and all. This solid brick of a man has a gentle, deep voice that always makes me forget he rides with outlaw bikers.

“What can I get you, darlin’?”

Blood looks at me, and I shrug. Again, not used to the party scene.

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