Page 40 of Breaking the Rules (Roaming Devils MC 1)

“No.” She shook her head. “You couldn’t even protect yourself from them. They helped you. They saved you. Why would you do this? Why would you put me in the middle?”

He ran a hand through his hair. “I wasn’t thinking. I thought you’d leave that fucker alone but you clearly have no self-control.”

“No self-control?” Ella’s voice rose. “So you think what I have with him is all about sex? That I clearly don’t go for a decent man, but a guy with a hard dick. You are no different than Razor.”

“He’s a master manipulator, Ella. It’s part of their psychotic gang. They fuck with your mind to get you to do whatever the hell they want and then they blackmail you if you ever try to get out.” He stared at her. “You need to stay away from him.”

“Get out.” Ella shook with anger.

“Ella, you’ll see it one day. You’ll see that I’m right. I know more about this than you.”

She shook her head. “You don’t know shit.” She walked over to the door and opened it. “Get out.”

Ryker stood on the other side of the door. Ella didn’t want to deal with it anymore. She felt better, but not one hundred percent. Her head hurt and her throat still ached. She damn near lost it when she saw that Ryker held a grocery bag with a box of ice pops in it.

“Ella, please listen to me,” her father pleaded.

The tears spilled onto her cheeks. She grabbed the bag and held it up for her father. “He brought me Popsicles. He’s such a fucking bastard.”

She opened the box and grabbed one, biting into it to soothe her aching throat. She couldn’t face them.

“Ella, I love you.” Her father paused. “You’re my little girl.”

She shook her head, eating her Popsicle as tears streamed down her face. A hand finally touched her shoulder and she jerked away from it. Ryker stood there with concern filling his face. Her father was gone and Ryker had closed and locked the door.

“Do I want to know what that was about?”

She tossed the Popsicle in the sink and turned to him. “I shouldn’t have come back to this town. I should have stayed in Cambridge where I belonged.”

He shrugged out of his cut and sat on the edge of the table, watching her. “What happened?”

“He told me about the raid.” She shook her head as tears fell down her cheeks. “That night Razor sent me that video, I was hurt and I was mad. I was in my dad’s room at the hospital and he asked me what was wrong. I showed it to him.”

Ryker reached for her. “Take a deep breath and calm down. Your throat will thank you for it.”

“He sent it to his phone.” Ryker smoothed his hands along her arms, not saying anything. “My dad gave it to his department and that’s how they got the warrant to search the clubhouse. If Razor finds out, he’s going to think I did it.”

“Take a deep breath.” Ryker cupped her cheeks.

“I didn’t do it.” She pulled away from him. “I mean, I didn’t do it on purpose. I-I…”

Ryker stood and pulled her into his arms. He held her tight and kissed the top of her head. “Nobody is blaming you, least of all me. Please calm down.”

“But Razor…”

“Razor would only have a problem if someone got caught, mainly him. Nobody went to jail today. It’s okay.” Ryker kissed both of her cheeks. “Baby, it’s okay. I’ve got you. Nobody is going to hurt you.”

She wound her arms around his neck. “Why does he do this when I’m sick? I felt better before he came over and now I feel worse.”

“Go lie down.” Ryker kissed her. “I’m going to work on dinner for us.”

“What?”

“I’m ordering us Chinese and we can lie in bed feeding each other.” He rubbed her arms. “I swear, everything is okay.”

“Please, just hold me.” She laid her head against his chest.

“Can I tell you something?” He brushed her hair from her wet cheeks.

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