Page 6 of Satisfied
She laughs. “It’s just…I thought all outlaws travel on motorcycles.”
“Outlaws?”
She flushes prettily. “I mean, bikers or…I don’t know.” She shrugs, running her fingers through her hair before shifting her eyes back to mine. “I figure you have to own a motorcycle if you belong to a motorcycle club, right?”
“I’m not a member, not completely anyway,” I tell her, opening the door for her.
“You’re not a Rebel?”
“No.”
Once she climbs in, I shut the door before rounding to the driver’s side. She waits until I’m strapped in before turning to me. “I don’t understand. You’re always hanging out with the Steel Rebels, and everyone at the shelter thinks you’re a member of the motorcycle club. Saint called you the night I arrived to bring supplies to the shelter for Doc. But you’re not in the club?”
“Not entirely wrong, but not right either,” I say with a sigh, pulling out of the parking lot. “It’s a long story.”
“We have time.”
“Let’s just say that I…work for the club.”
“What’s the full story?”
I glance briefly at her, and those eyes nearly undo me before I quickly remind myself to keep my eyes on the road. “Look, it’s not a story I’m particularly proud of.” My history with the Steel Rebels paints me in a negative light and might change the way she sees me. The way she feels about me.
“You’ve seen me at my worst,” she says after a moment. “You witnessed the most embarrassing moments of my life. Do you believe that I would judge you for your past?”
“It’s not the same thing.”
“No, you’re right,” she says quietly. “I’m sorry for asking.”
Fuck.
I can feel her shutting down, closing me out, and I resist the urge to growl in frustration. I have no fucking idea how we even got here when everything between us was moving so smoothly. My fingers clench the steering wheel as I watch the passing scenery, debating the pros and cons of sharing my past with the woman I’m trying to make a good impression on. Christ, what if she thinks I’m anything like the man she’s running from?
The silence in the car is tense, and I wait until we pull into traffic before turning to her. She’s going to find out about it soonenough. I figure it’s best if she hears it from me first. I force in a deep breath and release it through clenched teeth.
“I’ll give you the short version of the story,” I finally say. “A few months ago, I stole a lot of money from the Steel Rebels MC.”
Abby’s head whips around, her eyes wide, and her jaw drops when she realizes I’m not joking. “W-what?”
“I hacked into an account and stole half a million dollars. They caught me, and now I work for them.”
Chapter Three
Abby
It’s me. I’m the problem.
That’s what keeps running through my head as I stand in Ransom’s shower, hot water falling over my shoulders.
It has to be me. I mean, how else does one explain the fact that I keep attracting the craziest men in the world? First, it was a boy who lived a double life, and now…this?
With Jack, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I thought he was a simple guy who owned an investment firm, loved to listen to classical music, and went to church every Sunday. Sometimes he golfed, but that was the extent of his life as presented to me by my parents. In all honesty, I found him a little boring at first.
Boy, was I wrong.
The man lived a double life. He pretended to be kind and chaste, the perfect boyfriend, but a few months before I finally ran, I found videos and photos on his phone. He apparently loved to go to parties with tons of alcohol and scantily dressed women all over him.
When I confronted him, he told me that the photos showed who he was in the past, but he was “better” now. He told me he was sober and completely faithful to me. I tried to believe him.Wantedto believe him. But I was starting to see the angerbehind his eyes whenever I did something he didn’t like. I was starting to see through his lies.
