Page 10 of The Paths We Cross
I grind my teeth as I drive down the highway, looking in my side mirror as Axel pulls up behind me. He had to have been hauling ass to have caught up to me. We slow down as we enter town, and it just makes me more antsy. I’ve never been moreeager to get to Walmart, and of course, it’s on the other side of town.
Traffic is clear until we reach the middle of town, where we come up behind an old Cadillac with a woman in the driver’s seat who can barely see over the steering wheel. Every time I move to pass her, a vehicle is in oncoming traffic. We’re going so slow that Axel and I are having a hard time keeping our bikes up without walking with them. I get fed up and blare on my horn.
“Fucking move!” I yell.
The old lady jumps in her seat and flicks on her blinker. “Fuck, man,” Axel chuckles. “It’s an old lady. Chill out. Levi is with Everly.” The lady turns down a side street and I rev my engine, taking off.
I know I’m acting like a maniac, but I can’t help it. I knew that something bad was going to happen, and I still let the prospects watch her. I don’t even know what happened because I didn’t actually listen to what Grayson said, but it can’t be good if we’re getting called in.
I finally see Walmart up ahead, so I put on a burst of speed to get there faster. We pull into the lot and weave through the parked vehicles until I spot Everly’s Telluride. We pull up behind it, slide off our bikes, and pull our helmets off. My eyes immediately search for her and what I see makes my blood boil.
Levi has his fucking arm around her. He’s probably just consoling her, but something about it sets me off. He must feel my ire, because he looks up at our approach. His eyes widen when he sees me prowling toward them and he rips his arm away from her. He’s scared of me.Good.He may be taller than me, but I’m desperate to get to her, and he sees it.
She looks petrified. My eyes soften as I take her in, and I don’t even think twice about opening my arms for her. Shesurprises me by throwing herself into my embrace. I release a “oomph” sound before wrapping my arms around her. I pull her as close as I can with her belly between us. Her light floral scent surrounds me and instantly calms my nerves.
“Are you okay?” I mumble into her dark hair.
“I don’t know,” she admits in a whisper. “What the hell is happening?”
“We’ll find out,” I promise her.
I look up and see Levi handing something over to Axel. It looks like a teddy bear wearing a shirt. For a moment, I wonder why the hell we’re here about a teddy bear, but then Axel looks at me, and I know it’s more than that. He walks over and offers it to me. I leave one arm wrapped around Everly and take the bear in my free hand, turning it around to see what Axel is concerned about.
The shirt says, “daddy’s little thief” and I immediately understand. This was from the Devil’s Knights. They must have slipped it onto her vehicle while Levi was tailing her inside the store. We should have had two prospects on her.
“Did you see them leave it?” I ask Levi.
“No,” he says with a shake of his head. “I was in the store. I saw her grab the bear and heard her scream.”
“It wasn’t a scream,” she mutters into my chest before lifting her head to face him. “I squealed.”
I bite back my smile.
“Okay, I heard her squeal,” Levi amends as his lips tip up. “When I saw what the bear’s shirt said I called Grayson right away.”
“You did good, kid,” Axel says as he slaps him on the back. “You’re going to stay here with Ro’s bike while we take her to the clubhouse.”
Levi nods his head. “Okay.”
“Wait,” Everly says as she pushes back from me. I immediately miss her closeness. “Why would I be going to the clubhouse?” She asks with her hands on her hips.
She looks fucking adorable with her banging curves and her belly protruding. She’s a little spitfire and I dig it.
“Because we can keep you safe there,” I tell her, crossing my arms over my chest and raising my eyebrows, daring her to argue. Which of course, she does.
“Protect me from what? And why would I trust you guys to protect me? I don’t even know you.”
“You don’t know us yet,” I amend. “We’ll tell you everything you need to know when we get to the clubhouse, but right now, I don’t feel like this is the safest place for you. Not to mention, it’s fucking hot as hell out here right now, and we need to get you in some air before you pass out.”
She purses her lips. “Fine. But only because I’m hot and I don’t feel like arguing right now.”
“Good girl,” I murmur and I swear I see her eyes dilate. “Hop in the passenger seat and hand me your keys.”
She visibly shakes the thoughts from her head. “Why do you need my keys? I’m perfectly capable of driving myself to your clubhouse.”
“I know you are, but I’m trying to make sure that you make it there safely and I can’t guarantee that with the assholes out here fucking with you,” I tell her pointedly. “Now, give me your keys.”
She scowls at me before reaching into her purse and pulling her keys out. She hands them over to me and slowly walks around the other side of the vehicle. She’s surprised when my arm reaches out to open the door for her. I guess she didn’t sense that I followed her around. We’re going to have to work on her sense of awareness.
