Chapter 4
Gemma
I held tightly onto Jace’s waist while we rode down the street. The wind was in my hair, and my body was careening down the street at seventy miles an hour. There was a sense of peace to it I couldn’t explain. A wanderlust for the open road that I knew had drawn Jace to The Road Rebels. I hated them back when I was a teenager, but I adored them all now. They had accepted Jace into a fold where he was accepted and loved and taken care of.
It was a very different dynamic from what we were used to growing up.
We listened to the sound of the wind whipping against our helmets while the dirt kicked up behind us. The stale Nevada air smelled of a dry heat and dead animals littering the sides of the road. It was a smell we’d come to call homely, like apple cinnamon desserts at Thanksgiving for candy canes at Christmas. Every time we stepped out of the house and took in the smell of rotting road kill and that dusty, dry heat, it meant we weren’t inside listening to our parent's fight.
The outdoors were comforting to both Jace and me, and I was ecstatic that he allowed me to ride with him.
We didn’t go straight to the clubhouse. For a while, we simply rode around. I clung tightly to his leather cut while the wheels roared underneath our bodies, and I took in how the nighttime sky lit up with the setting sun. We stopped at my favorite coffee shop in town, and he bought me coffee, complete with a cinnamon roll to celebrate my graduation.
His eyes were sparkling with pride while he talked.
“So, what you gonna do now?” he asked.
“About what?” I asked.
“Your career. You always talked about music and singing and shit, but you never really talked about what you wanted to do or where you wanted to go.”
“Well, to do most of what I wanna do, it requires a Master’s degree. But working on a Master’s degree and trying to get one is hard. I’m excited, but I’m also really tired.”
“I can only imagine. You’re welcome at that house so long as you wanna be there,” he said.
“Thanks. I got a music education degree so I could teach if I wanted to. Save the money until I had enough to get my Master’s. Is that piano still in the house?” I asked.
“It is. Hadn’t been tuned in fuck knows how long, but it’s there.”
“I could tune the piano and give private lessons for money on the side until I get my head on straight. But the general idea is to save up for half my Master’s degree, apply for scholarships for the other half, then get it done.”
“What you want your Master’s in? Education?” he asked.
“Fuck no,” I said, giggling.
“If you’re cussing’, you’re serious.”
“I want it in conducting. That’s what I really wanna do. Take over an opera house one day or conduct my own symphony. I want to rehearse and control the music with my fingertips.”
“Ah, still the control freak,” he said.
“Always,” I said, winking.
We split the cinnamon roll and finished our coffee before we got back onto the road. We stopped by the grocery store and stocked up on a few things, like coffee and filters for the clubhouse. I was wondering why in the world Jace had to do this kind of stuff, and that’s when he finally told me.
Jace had become Secretary of The Road Rebels.
“They’re trusting you with their money?” I asked.
“I can’t fuckin’ believe it either, but they voted on it, and they keep electing me back in. So, I’m in charge of planning the monetary end of things for trips before Talon plans ‘em, and I’m in charge of all the little monetary things that affect the group. Like keeping’ the damn clubhouse stocked with shit like coffee and beer.”
“Talon…” I said.
The look Jace shot me was stern, and I knew not to open my mouth about it again.
But oh, how my body tingled at the presence of his name.
I knew about the shootout between The Road Rebels and the Devil Saints. Jace was still a simple prospect when it happened, but I could still remember him being gone for days. It happened my senior year of high school, right in the middle of midterm exams. There was a thunderous sound of motorcycles passing our house, and it wasn’t anything I thought of. They came through here all the time, both sides looking for trouble. But when Jace came home with his clothes covered in blood and a far-off look in his eye, I knew something had gone desperately wrong.
I’d sat him down and tried to get him to talk, but it was to no avail. Mom was working a double-shift that day, and Dad was passed out upstairs, drunk and high off his ass. I wiped the blood and dirt that was caked onto his features, then I helped him out of his shirt and caught sight of the stitches he had at his side.
He had been grazed by a bullet just enough to open a wound that needed medical attention.
To this day, I still wasn’t quite sure what happened. All I knew was that the Devil Saints came around, fired off rounds that echoed for miles, then left. All I knew was Jace attended funeral after funeral while I was at school, then he would come home and want me to sit with him. It was the only time I saw my older brother as vulnerable as he was in those moments, and I’d never seen that vulnerability again.
Not once.
“Ready to get to the clubhouse?” he asked as he handed me my helmet.
His voice pulled me from my thoughts as I slid my helmet over my head.
“I’m ready to see everyone again, yeah,” I said.
We rode in silence towards the clubhouse, and I couldn’t help but get excited. I’d see Hawk and Mac. I’d see Fox and whatever woman he had on his arm lately. If I were lucky, I’d see Talon.
Hopefully not with a woman on his arm.
We pulled up, and Jace insisted he carried the groceries in. He grabbed all of them at once before we barged into the clubhouse, and the moment we walked in people descended onto me. There were hugs and kisses and shouts of joy. People I hardly recognized called for me and wrapped their arms snugly around my neck. Fox grasped me tightly and spun me around, laughing into my hair that was now well past my shoulders.
And from across the room, I saw him standing there. Hauling beer into various places while his eyes kept flickering up at me.
It was Talon, and he looked very different.
The last time I’d seen him was a few days before I left for college. He had been tall and gangly, with light brown hair that was always in his eyes. His blue eyes were icy, and he would never talk with me, but somehow I always felt he was listening. He was all arms and legs, with no muscle tone whatsoever on his body. I could tell by the way he fidgeted with his fingers all the time that he was a technological guy, and I could only imagine what use a boy with his mind would’ve been to a gang like this.
But now, his hair was buzzed. Now, his eyes were a deep sea blue. Now, his gangly arms and legs were filled out with muscles that pressed against his clothing. His chest was broad with strength, and his arms were chiseled underneath the cuffs of his black t-shirt, and I found it hard to take my eyes off him.
Which was fine, because apparently, he was having the same issue.
I saw Hawk approach him and I waved, trying to play it off to my brother while he eyed me out of the corner of his eye. There was a woman at Hawk’s side, with beautiful features and amazing curves. I saw an engagement ring on her finger while her hand rubbed up and down Hawk’s back, their conversation pulling Talon’s attention away from me.
“That’s Hawk’s fiancée, Sydney Marshall. She was raised in The Road Rebels and left for a spell. It’s why you don’t know her,” Jace said in my ear.
“When did she leave?” I asked.
“After the Devil Saints,” was all Jace said.
“When did she come back?”
“About three months ago. With Hawk’s daughter,” he said, grinning.
“Are you fucking serious? Hawk’s got a kid!?” I asked.
“And he’s a great dad. Emery looks just like him. I’ll introduce you to her one day,” he said.
“Hey, Snake! Who the fuck you got here!?”
I crinkled my nose up at the nickname as I eyed him curiously. After all, keeping my attention on my brother was the only way I could keep my attention off Talon.
Even if he was stealing glances in my direction.
“Snake?” I asked lowly.
“Nickname the club gave me,” he said.
“Do I wanna know why?” I asked.
But all he did was grin.
“Ew. Gross,” I said as I shoved him.
“I didn’t say a damn thing,” he said.
“That’s some nasty shit.”
“Wait, you know where he got his nickname from?” Fox asked.
“I can only imagine. If there’s one thing I know about my brother, it’s his particular taste in very… interesting women,” I said. “I take it the nickname is a reference to his debauched sexual appetite.”
“Yeah. You’re college educated,” Fox said.
“That’s gross, Snake,” I said.
I stuck by my brother for most of the night while all of us ate pizza and drank beer. All night I could feel Talon’s eyes on me, but never did he make a move to come talk to me. I figured it was because I was near Jace. Or Snake. Or whatever the hell his name was. My brother had been very protective of me as a teenager, especially when it came to guys.
It was the reason why I never dated much, honestly.
Though I did have my fair share of fun experiences.
I caught Talon’s eye for a split second while I passed by him to go to the bathroom. His deep sea eyes locked on mine and I could feel my legs growing weak. How a man who’d never said a word to me could’ve captivated me like he did for so many years was beyond me. I was kind of hoping he’d follow me into the hallway, but when he didn’t, I simply chalked it up to him being thick-headed.
But his eyes were on me the moment I emerged, making me wonder if he had actually been thinking about it.
“Gemma!” Jace called out. “A bunch of us are headed to the bar. Wanna come?”
“Sure! Let me grab one more slice of pizza.”
I walked over to one of the boxes and grabbed the largest piece of pepperoni I could find. I placed the slice between my lips and hummed, grateful for the grease after being on a college campus that put a great deal of stock in the health of their students. Sure, there was takeout and shit I could get around campus, but it was expensive as hell because they know they could gouge the college students. It was a bullshit practice, so if I wasn’t eating on campus, I was eating ramen noodles with warmed up frozen vegetables.
“You done making’ out with that pizza, sis!?” Jace called out.
“Suck a dick, Jace!”
The room roared while I downed the rest of the slice. My eyes had been closed while I had been savoring the taste and texture of the melted cheese, which meant I hadn’t been paying attention to much around me. I could hear Jace talking to some people while he was standing by the door, waiting for me to come on, so I shoved the pizza crust into my mouth and opened my eyes.
And I was staring right into the eyes of Talon.
He had the smallest of smirks on his faces, and I wondered how long he had been standing there. I chewed slowly, the shock rolling over my features while his eyes raked down my body. I could feel the sexual energy coursing between us as my tits rose to peaks behind my bra, and I swallowed the food down hard while my eyes held his.
“Don’t wanna keep your brother waiting,” he said, nodding.
My eyes widened at the sound of his voice. Had he just spoken to me? I whipped my head around and saw Snake glaring at us, but I didn’t give a shit at this point. Talon had said his first words to me ever since I’d met him when I was fifteen, and his voice felt like melted dark chocolate cascading over my skin. Like someone had lit a candle and dripped the wax onto the small of my back.
It was warm and welcoming, and I wanted to hear it again.
“Come on, Gemma!” Jace called out.
“Hold onto your cock, I’m comin’!” I called back.
I could’ve sworn Talon chuckled just the slightest bit at my comment before he turned his back.
He went back to rearranging the beers in the fridge, and I turned to head back to my brother. I could see his eyes volleying between us, and at that moment he left me and strode over to Talon. I tried to grab onto his arm, trying to get him to stop this whole protective sham he had over me. I was a grown woman with a well-earned degree and knew more about the shitty side of this world than I ever cared to admit.
The last thing I needed was my brother sticking up for me.