Page 99 of Shifting Gears

I had half a mind to call her fucking dad and give him a piece of my mind. How could he have paid me off to get the hell away from Rosalie, but then let her be with someone in a worse situation? She would have been better off with me! At least I’d made an effort to keep her safe.

The Wayward Suns—the biker gang that had abducted her—were known for their brutality. If Rosalie was acting like nothing had happened, if they had really taken her, then she was playing it down. They weren’t known for being gentle with women that they actually got with, let alone a rival biker’s girl.

Even worse, she was still with the bastard who had gotten her mixed up in all that bullshit.

I pulled up her profile again, staring at that smug bastard’s arm around her shoulders in one of the last photos she’d posted, her smile forced and small. My grip tightened. He was still on her social, and his initial was in her bio.

Next time something happened, she might not walk away from it.

I can’t let that happen. I have to get home. Need to make sure she’s safe.

I don’t know what my plan really was, but I’d figure that out when I was on my way back to LA.

All I needed to know right now was that I was going home.

I slammed the truck door harder than I’d meant to and walked back into the shop, pounding up the stairs to my room. I grabbed my duffel bag out of the closet and stuffed everything I wanted to bring inside. Clothes, some food for the road. I openedmy hidden stash, grabbed my brass knuckles, and slipped them inside on the top as well.

I reached back in for my remaining cash and felt my hands brush a few small bills.

Shit, I didn’t realize I’d gotten so low. This isn’t enough for a fucking plane ticket. Maybe I could sell my car? Fuck, as soon as they saw it, they would figure it was stolen.

I walked down to the shop. Maybe Takumi could advance me some cash. He was over in a corner of the shop, going through some documents next to his old-ass computer.

He glanced up at me as I approached.

“No,” he said before looking back down.

“Damn, you don’t even know what I was coming over here for,” I said, annoyed that he hadn’t even given me a chance to speak.

“You want money,” he said.

“How the fuck did you know that?” I said, surprised he’d actually nailed it.

“You have a gambling problem. No money from me early to go gambling,” he said, waving me away.

“I wasn’t gonna blow it at pachinko,” I said, my jaw clenched as my frustration built.

“Why do you need money then?” he asked, still going through the papers in front of him.

Shit, I can’t tell him it’s for a flight. Fuck, I’ll ask someone else. Maybe Syd can help.

I also couldn’t leave without saying goodbye to Sydney. She deserved that at the very least.

“Forget it,” I snapped, turning.

I shoved the door open and stalked across the parking lot to my car.

It was slow-going. Traffic was at its peak in the city during the afternoon. Of course, it would be the day I just needed to get somewhere fast that I’d be stuck in fucking gridlock.

But it gave me one thing. Time to think. I knew Sydney and her family were hard-pressed on money too. I couldn’t ask her to lend me some money for flights either.

My chest ached as I thought about Rosalie. I pictured her being roughly handled and thrown in a room in a strange place, men crowding around her, threatening her to get to the guy she was dating. It was like all my past nightmares were flooding back, but I wasn’t near her to make sure they couldn’t get to her too.

How the hell am I gonna get home to you, baby girl?

I didn’t want to have to rob anyone and didn’t have time to set up a fight for cash. Maybe I could just show up at the airport and ask for a free ride.

Then it hit me. The cargo plane.

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