Chapter 23
Fox
Harlow was furious, and she had every right to be. She didn’t believe me, even with all the doubts I knew were swirling around in her head about her father. She was frustrated. Mistrusting. She was throwing up walls even as I looked down at her angry form. She was pacing up and down the hallway of her parent’s home, red in the face and ready to throw punches with those delicate hands of hers.
But I had to get her out of here.
She had to be safe.
“I know you have no reason to believe me-”
“I sure as hell don’t,” Harlow said. “I thought you liked me, Fox. Really, actually liked me.”
“I do,” I said.
“No, you fucking don’t! You just stood right there and said you were trying to get to me because of my father! What the hell am I supposed to do with that!?”
“Things changed, Harlow. They morphed. Things never morph with me, but this did. And I don’t know why, but I care about you. And I’m not leaving here until you’re on the back of that bike with me.”
“I’m not in danger. If anything, I’m in danger because you keep associating with me. Leave me the hell alone, and all of this will go away.”
“Harlow, look at me.”
She shook her head, turning her back towards me as her long, flowing hair ruffled around her shoulders.
“Harlow, please.”
I’d never begged in my life. It was not in my nature. If people didn’t wanna listen, that was their shit to contend with. It wasn’t my responsibility to make them see my worth in something, it was simply their responsibility to trust me.
But I would’ve done anything at that moment to get Harlow’s eyes locked with mine.
She slowly turned around, taking in the way I was pleading with her. I saw her beautiful eyes come into view, their shining light locking with my darkness. I watched her stiffen, drawn to me in the mysterious way I was drawn to her. Harlow fully turned her body towards me, even though I could still see that fight raging on behind her gorgeous eyes.
“I know you don’t have a reason to believe me on my feelings, and even though I know you doubt your father right now, you still don’t have a reason to trust me on that. But I know you trust me on this. Your life is in danger. Real, present danger. And I can protect you from that. But you have to come with me. You cannot stay here a minute longer.”
I watched her falter as her shoulders relaxed. I knew if she looked at me, she would cave. She was that kind of woman. She could stand her ground until she was open with someone. Vulnerable. And I had to capitalize on that.
If that were the only way to save her life, then I would take advantage of that weakness in her.
“Can I take my car?” I asked.
“No, you have to ride with me.”
“Why? So, I don’t escape?”
“No, so if the people tracking you see your car here, they’ll assume you’re here,” he said. “They won’t come looking for you that way. It’ll throw them off for a few days.”
“What about my parents?”
“Your father and your mother will be fine. These people aren’t after them. They are after you. Because you mean something to me.”
“I don’t have any clothes,” she said.
“We’ll get you some. You can wear mine. I’m sure I’ve got boxer shorts and t-shirts that’ll fit you just fine.”
“You’re massive. They’ll swallow me whole.”
“But you won’t be naked.”
“I thought you enjoyed me that way.”
I saw the brief presence of a glimmer of playfulness in her eye. I felt my back tense as my cock began to pulse to life. I drew in a few deep breaths through my nose as we stared at one another, fighting between slapping the other and kissing the other. Harlow backtracked into the kitchen and grabbed her purse, then jogged to the stairs before she started up them.
“Harlow?” I asked.
“I think I’ve still got a few things here. Let me grab a bigger purse so I can take some things with me, then we’ll go,” she said.
Ten minutes later, she emerged at the top of the stairs. I could see a few articles of clothing sticking out of a purse that was big enough to be a carry-on bag for a fucking airplane. She left a note for her mother saying she had a work emergency she needed to tend to. That one of her co-workers picked her up and that she would be back in a few days to get her car, then we headed towards my bike. I drove off as fast as I could, my eyes keeping watch for anyone that might be following us.
And I reveled in how tightly Harlow’s arms wrapped around my waist.
I knew the guys at the lodge would be pissed. My phone was still off, and they had probably sent out a fucking search party for me. The closer we got to the lodge the more my heart hammered against my chest. This was it. This was the moment I would have to come clean on everything. On Harlow. On the information on her father.
On my dealings with the KG9’s.
I had no idea what Mac was gonna do. I didn’t know if he would beat my ass, strip me of my membership, or toss me to the dogs. At the very least, I would lose my status within the club. I’d no longer be part of a core group I’d been elected to over the past two years. I gripped the handlebars of my bike as hard as I could as we rode up to the parking lot of the lodge.
And before the two of us could dismount my bike, they were all slamming out of the lodge.
“Where the fuck have you been?” Mac asked.
“Your fucking phone’s off,” Snake said.
“What the hell is all this bullshit?” Hawk asked.
“Holy fuck, is that Harlow?” Talon asked.
I felt her clinging to my leather jacket. I moved her behind me, trying to shield her from the barrage of anger and questions. Their faces were red, and their eyes were demanding answers as they tried to look around my body. I could feel Harlow trembling, her grasp getting tighter and tighter as my hands wrapped back around her.
Making me vulnerable to whatever punches the guys decided to throw.
“Let’s get inside and let me get Harlow set up, then I’ll explain everything,” I said.
“I want some fucking answers now,” Mac said.
“Then let’s start with this. Harlow’s life has been threatened. You want information about her dad, we keep her safe,” I said.
I felt her body trembling as the guys looked around at one another. Their postures softened, even though their fists were still balled up. I ushered a shaking Harlow into the lodge, maneuvering her to my room. Sydney was there to take her things and help her get settled while Laiken kept giving me these knowing glances.
The girls knew why she was here.
Now I had to update the guys.
“What the fuck is going on?” Snake asked. “Why the hell did you storm out of here so quickly? And why the fuck’s your phone off?”
“Can we tone down the language with Emery around?” Hawk asked.
“Emery’s asleep,” Sydney said. “I’m gonna get Harlow something to drink. She’s still pretty scared.”
“You said Harlow’s life had been threatened. By who?” Talon asked.
“The fucking Saints?” Mac asked.
“No,” I said. “The KG9’s.”
“Her father defending those assholes, too?” Hawk asked.
“No, but I’ve been dealing drugs with them,” I said.
The entire room stopped. I watched their faces morph from anger into confusion into a blank sort of austerity. I knew I’d done it. I’d stepped in shit I’d no longer be able to wipe off myself, so I drew in a deep breath and started in on the story before they could interrupt.
“That was how I pedaled all those drugs when we were still dealing them. I made some temporary deals with the KG9’s to help me sell the drugs we were bringing in, and in exchange for using them, they got to take a small cut of the profits. Not much, anywhere between ten and twenty-five percent, depending on what they wanted at the time. The extra money not only allowed me to keep up my life but my father’s as well. It’s how I’ve been paying his medical bills and his nursing home expenses.”
I looked around the room and saw Harlow standing in the doorway of my bedroom. She was cupping a mug of something as the steam rose to her face. She was eyeing me carefully, listening with her ears wide open as her eyes studied me closely. I wanted to wrap my arms around her. To draw from whatever strength she had that was keeping her legs from caving underneath her.
Because underneath Mac’s stare, I felt like Jell-O.
“When Snake announced the plan to clean us up a bit, I had no idea how the hell I was gonna keep affording my father’s bills and shit. Yeah, I distanced myself from him, but you guys know why. I’m all he’s got, and taking away the drugs left me with no way to upkeep my own bills, much less his,” I said.
“We told you what we were gonna do,” Talon said. “Opening up a new bar and shit.”
“And new bars take how long to be profitable? Six months… sometimes their first fucking year? With the money, we’d get from… the other things… I’d have no way of keeping my father in the facility he’s in. They’d throw him out onto the fucking street before I could find him another place I could afford. Then he’d just… die of abuse. You know how those damn places are. Especially you, Mac.”
I turned my eyes toward our stern leader, but he didn’t budge. He didn’t nod or acknowledge anything akin to sympathy for me.
I was fucked.
“That why you asked to unload my share?” Talon asked. “And Mac’s?”
“Yeah. I told the KG9’s this would be our last hoorah, but they weren’t ready to end our little arrangement. Expected me to just start getting the shit from another source. That was why I was at Chester’s that night. The night I met Harlow. I was scouting for another supplier,” I said.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Snake asked.
“My dad is what’s wrong! You assholes left me no fucking choice. Didn’t give me any fucking explanation for why we were dropping the drugs. I mean, you did. But… fuck. I’m not walking around here with some brand new shining bike or rolling in the fucking dough. Where the hell did you think the money I earned was going!?”
“What happened next?” Mac asked.
I sighed and closed my eyes, not able to look Harlow in the face.
“My go-to with the KG9’s told me to call him immediately. Asked me if I had made arrangements yet. We got into an argument about timeframes and shit, and he threatened Harlow. Said he’d enjoy paying her a little visit if I didn’t hold up my end of the bargain.”
“So that’s why you peeled off so fucking quick,” Hawk said.
“Didn’t think that rust bucket of yours could go that fast,” Talon said.
“I’m sorry, guys. It was a shitty side situation that was driven by the need to care for my dad. And now, Harlow’s in trouble. And I’m in trouble. And I’ve got no fucking idea where to go from here.”
The room fell silent and my eyes connected with Harlow again. Tears were rising to her eyes as they grew wider and wider. My heart sank to my toes. I’d brought this innocent little creature into this world of pain and hurt. This was why I kept women at arm’s length. This was why I didn’t open myself up to these types of connections.
This was why I fucked women that didn’t intrigue me.
“You’re a fucking idiot!” Mac fumed.
“You mean to tell me that now we gotta bail your sorry ass out of some street gang as well as deal with the DEA breathing down our fucking necks?!” Snake asked.
“And I thought I was the stupid one,” Hawk said.
“I don’t know how the fuck we’re gonna get you out of this, Fox. What the fuck is wrong with that blank head of yours?” Talon asked.
“That’s enough!”
Everyone whipped their heads around as Harlow pushed off the doorframe.
“That’s enough,” she said.
I watched as Harlow walked over to all of us and stood in front of me, putting herself in the line of fire amongst proud, hard men that towered over her small form.
“I have no clue who any of you are. You’re not important, and you’re not special, and you’re not influential in the community. But Fox cares about each and every one of you. He’s been balancing whatever charade he has been for this long because he’s been trying to take care of people he cares about. His father, for fuck’s sake.”
The guys had their eyes trained hard on her as I pressed my chest against her back. I felt her lean into me, drawing from my strength as she drew in a deep breath. I didn’t know where this was going and I didn’t know what she was gonna say, but she had their attention.
And that was all that mattered.
“He came to you after not knowing what else to do, and you guys berate him? What kind of fucking family is that? Now, Fox has accused my father of some things I still can’t wrap my head around, but even my own fucking father held his arms out for me when I screwed up. So that makes all of you worse than him, saying the things you just said to Fox. You wanna be worse than the way you perceive my father?”
None of the men moved, and Harlow took a step forward.
“I asked you guys a question,” she said.
“No, we don’t,” Hawk said with a grin.
“Not particularly,” Talon said as he crossed his arms over his chest.
“Good. So why don’t we start with acknowledging the fact that Fox just came to you with a shitty situation he just admitted to not being able to get out of. Instead of continuing to dig himself this shithole, he came to you guys. While trying to protect me. If I can come to care about Fox in the span of a few days, then I know you guys care for him. So stop being assholes and start being family,” Harlow said.
“Care for him?” Mac asked.
“You got a problem with that?” she asked.
The guys were stunned with the way she was talking to them as she held her ground. She stood tall and proud, controlling the situation with a side of her I hadn’t been privy to yet. Her innocence was melting away, and in its place was a strong, capable woman that made my heart hammer in my ears.
I was impressed, to say the least.
“I can’t fucking believe it,” Snake said.
“Can’t believe what?” I asked.
“That you… that you fucking went off and fell in love with the daughter of the asshole we’re trying to get rid of,” Snake said.
Harlow turned around and looked up at me, her big doe eyes shining brightly. I threaded my arms around her and pulled her close, her hands sliding up my broad chest. The room faded into the background as a smile crept across her face, lighting up her features as I drank in her beauty.
“That’s a pretty strong word you just used,” she said.
“It’s appropriate,” I said.
“What?”
I leaned my forehead against Harlow’s, our breaths intermingling as my hands splayed across her back.
“I love you, Harlow.”
And even though she didn’t say it back, I could feel it surging throughout her body. She nodded her head against mine, our lips ghosting one another’s as we stood in the middle of the lodge. How this woman had entranced me and pulled me in within a few days was beyond me, but I was tired of fighting it. I was tired of trying to be reasonable, and I was tired of trying to manipulate the loose ends in my life into the pattern it was supposed to reflect.
I allowed myself to let go and swim around in the warmth of the woman in my arms. I allowed myself to drink in her strength and her perseverance. I allowed myself just a second of vulnerability. A fleeting moment of weakness where she was holding me instead of the other way around.
Then, she turned in my arms and faced the group again.