Page 51 of Ryder

“Oh?” I push off the doorframe. “That all you gotta say? Oh?”

“I can explain.”

“Great.” I fold my arms over my chest as I walk toward her. “I’m all ears.”

“In brief? I met him a year ago, just after… well…us.”

Okay, that sharp pain in my chest, like being daggered, hurt more than I thought it would. “You just happen to run into another biker in another city? You sure you didn’t seek him out as retribution?”

She frowns, hugging herself as she takes a step back. Her voice falters and it cuts me. “Retribution? I was heartbroken, Ryd. I couldn’t tell you how I really felt because I had no idea if you felt the same way. I’d already been rejected by you once in my lifetime, I didn’t want a repeat of that. When I got back to Phoenix, I went to a bar, and he was there. It wasn’t a loud thunderclap or anything, but… he was there for me.”

There for me?As in:You weren’t.

Guilt wraps around my heart with incredible force at her admission.I hurt her. I never want to hurt her…

“Wait, he was in an MC in Phoenix?”

“Yeah, the Phoenix Ghost Hunters or something. I never went to their clubhouse or anything. I just knew he ran with them, or whatever it is you guys call it.”

Cute. Pity I’m mad at her.

“But now you’re a regular hang-out at the Devils’ clubhouse?”

“A regular hang-out?”

“Funny, never took you for a sweetbutt?—”

The slap hits right across my cheek. The sound rings through the room as Crystal stands her ground. That didn’t fucking tickle.

“I may be many things,Ryder Cane,but I’m no fucking sweetbutt, so you take that back!” She pounds on my chest and I catch her wrists, guilt hitting me from all angles.

“I di— I didn't mean it.” The words are stuck in my throat. “I’m so fuckin’ mad right now I can’t see straight. What the fuck are you doin’ with Rifle? He’s bad news, Crys. You know they’re a one percent club? They have no morals, no values, they disrespect women. He’s been arrested for assault. Assault on a woman, I might add.” I stop, unable to ask the question, because I know I will commit blue murder if she admits he’s hit her. I will go fucking ape shit.

“I didn’t know that then,” she whispers. “I didn't know they were a one percent club, Ryd, I swear. I didn’t even know what that was, and when I asked Jimmy about it, he said they didn’t do anything illegal. It was all legit.”

“And you believed him?” I snort. “For fuck’s sake. You’re in way over your head, and I’m not gonna stand by and watch this piece of shit ruin your life!”

“Firstly, I did believe him, yes, because I was brought up to take people at face value,” she spits, trying to struggle out of my grasp. “IthoughtI was in love with him. He gave me all the things IthoughtI wanted. The security, a shoulder to cry on, and yes, a little danger thrown in. But I never thought he was into?—”

“Into what? Runnin’ drugs? Guns? Prostitutes? Oh, they love their underage women over there at the Devils’ lair. The club already had a shootout last summer with the cartel, Crys. I’ll be fucked if that’s gonna be you caught in the crossfire.”

Her mouth drops slightly at my admission. I know she’s not stupid, but did she just turn a blind eye? Love? What the fuck would she know about it? That isn’t what love is.

I don’t know much, but I know right from wrong.

“He doesn’t do that! He never did anything with underage girls?—”

“Really? That’s what the Devils are. They’re scum. Wake up, Crystal. For fuck’s sake, you’re a smart girl, but you’re acting fuckin’ clueless. Businessman? He has a warehouse downtown with his fellow cronies where they store all the illegal guns and ammunition they plan on selling. Hell, they probably hoard the girls there they traffic. Does that sound like an upstanding citizen to you?” I snarl.

“Trafficking?” She pales. “No. He… he wouldn’t do that!”

“No? What about the drugs they run in and out of the state, it spreads all the way down to Mexico. I’m surprised he hasn’t asked you to be his mule. That club will stoop to any level for money, they don’t care,” I say. “They don’t give two shits about you, and neither does he.”

“You don’t know him!” Is she actually trying to defend him? This is worse than I thought. “His club may be bad news, but he wasn’t always like this. He… it’s only just lately that things have been… I don’t know… strained between us. I started to ask questions, and that’s when…” She’s babbling, and that’s never a good thing.

I stare at her, my anger bubbling. I let go of one of her wrists and push her chin up so she meets my gaze. “That’s when what?”

She shakes her head. “Nothing.”

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