Page 23 of Ravaged and Ruined
I keep walking with Lacey held tight against me, and push through the stunned crowd on the casino floor like Moses parting the fucking sea. No one stops me. No one dares.
The doors burst open with the shove of my shoulder, and the night air hits us hard, I head straight for the bike, already running hot from when I left it.
I set her down only long enough to swing a leg over and pull her with me, straddling the seat. Her arms wrap around me without a word.
“You okay?” I ask, barely more than a growl.
She nods against my back, her breath warm through my cut.
Good. Because I’m not.
I hit the throttle, peel out hard enough my tires scream against the pavement, and we disappear into the dark with her pressed to my spine like she belongs there.
Because she does. And no one is gonna take her from me.
Chapter Ten
Aero
“Thank god.” Emery bolts towards us as I slam through the clubhouse door only to stop short when she notices the grimace on my face and hears Lacey’s protest.
“Let me down you big oaf.” Lacey claws at my back, her nails probably shredding the leather of my cut.
Somewhere between the Il Ritorno and here the shock must have worn off because she hasn’t stopped bitching since. Like I didn’t just save her from being eaten alive by the big bad wolf. Although I have to admit I love the fight in her.
“She’s fine, Em. Thanks for filling us in.” Lacey shoots her friend a deadly sideways glare that could slice through flesh and bone.
“Traitor.” Lacey snaps and Emery throws her hands up in the air.
“Don’t start that shit with me. It was your stubbornness that got you into-” Emery pauses and really looks Lacey over as I continue through the clubhouse. “Whatever the hell that dress was intended for.”
“Dancing. I was just dancing.” Lacey protests again but I don’t stop moving.
“You might have been dancing but Ricci had other plans for you.” I growl remembering how he said it like she was nothing more than an investment.
“I swear to God, Aero, if you don’t put me down I’m going to?—”
“You’re gonna what?” I cut her off, stomping through the main room without slowing. “Throw a hissy fit? Scratch up my back like a damn alley cat?”
“I hate you.” Her fists pound against me, but they’re more for show. I can feel her body softening, like she knows exactly where this is heading. Like part of her is begging for it. It’s like that between us. Push and pull. Hot and cold and I fucking love it.
I ignore the stares from the brothers. No one says shit watching me hauling Lacey over my shoulder like a caveman. They’ve seen me rage. They’ve seen what I’ll do for mine. And Lacey is mine.
“You should be more worried about your punishment than mine.” I take the stairs two at a time, striking her ass with the palm of my hand as Lacey continues squirming against my shoulder.
Emery’s voice fades into the background, her declaration of love and concern for Lacey trailing off as I put distance between us. Everyone in this clubhouse knows those two are more like sisters than friends, and whatever rift just cracked between them, it’s nothing. They’ll patch it up in the morning. Right now, Lacey and I have our own storm to settle. One that won’t wait.
Her sudden silence is telling. She knows I’m wound tight, and that if she keeps pushing me, we won’t settle this with words. It’ll be something else entirely.
“You’re not even going to ask why I did it?” she hisses, breaking the quiet.
“Nope,” I growl, gripping her thigh tighter as she bucks in my hold. “We’ll get to your version of things real soon, Bambola.”
I throw open my bedroom door and kick it shut behind us with a slam that rattles the hinges. The sound cracking like a gunshot. I step forward past the gear stacked in the corner and a duffel half-zipped in the middle of the floor where I left it. The chaos of life never pauses long enough for neatness but this room is my sanctuary, our battlefield, the only place we can’t hide from the truth.
I grab her by the waist and toss her onto my unmade bed like she weighs nothing, her body landing with a heavy thud against the mattress. She scrambles up fast, all fire and fury, her hair wild and eyes burning.
“You can’t tell me what to do,” she snaps, chin lifted in defiance. “You don’t own me.”
