Ariel was good at pretending. She gave me a bright smile and sank into me as I held her in my arms. But she was scared. Watching me get hauled off in cuffs had freaked her out.

“You gotta be kidding me.” Rick Wallace and Matt Calhoun from the Marshal Service stood on the sidewalk. They’d been local boys for years. Matt was a northie, who’d grown up two streets over. But the way he looked at me as I held Ariel in my arms made me want to smash some shit.

Matt spit tobacco on the ground and stepped around us. He tipped his hat to Ariel. She looked him up and down but kept her arms wrapped around me. I let my baser instincts take over and slid my hand down her ass, pulling her even closer to me.

“Come on,” I said, kissing the top of her head. “Let’s get the fuck out of here.”

Ariel was quiet as she slid into the driver’s seat of her truck. Leaning over, she unlocked the door for me.

“Where are we going?” she asked. Her eyes glistened with tears she refused to cry. I knew the answer she wanted. It made sense for her to want to just go back to Mulberry Street and her house. I wished I could give her that.

“I gotta get back to the club,” I said. Might as well rip the Band-Aid off quick. “Bear’s called Church.”

Ariel nodded as she put the truck in gear and backed out. She had a ticket on her windshield. It blew off but she kept on going.

“You’re turning into a regular bad girl, baby,” I teased. The minute I said it, I instantly regretted it. Shit. It was going to be that kind of drive home.

“Look,” I started over. “This was nothing. Saber-rattling. Nothing’s going to come of it. I promise.”

We came to a stop light and Ariel slammed the brakes so hard my neck snapped. She turned sideways, glaring at me.

“Chase, don’t. Less than twenty-four hours ago you made me another promise. You told me you wouldn’t lie to me.”

“And I’m not now.”

“Right. But don’t say that was nothing. Your club got raided. I watched ten men get hauled off in chains. I’m not asking for the gory details. But if this is going to work ... if we’re really going to do this ... I need you to be straight with me. I need you to tell me what I’m supposed to do here.”

I gripped the dashboard as the light changed again. Ariel didn’t move. The cars behind her started to honk and I raised a brow. Finally, she let out a hard sigh and slammed the stick back into first. The truck lurched as she popped the clutch, but she laid rubber and kept on going.

“I don’t know,” I said. “That’s the God’s honest truth, baby. This is new to me too.”

“I thought you said it was business as usual.”

I laughed. “Yeah, the fed bullshit is business as usual. But you ... this ... it ain’t anything I’ve ever dealt with before.”

Ariel clammed up after that. It wasn’t until she turned down the long gravel driveway back to the club that she finally loosened up. She parked the truck but kept it running.

“I feel like if I make you promise me you’ll be careful, it’ll be a lie,” she said, her voice straining. “Chase ... I just need to know. Dammit. I need to know if we’re together ... if I let myself love you ... should I expect that someday, I’m going to wake up and you’ll be gone for good? No word. No goodbye. You’ll just be gone?”

She gutted me. In just that simple question, she’d squeezed my heart until it broke. I couldn’t look at her for a second. She was right. A day ago I’d promised her honesty and here I was about to lie the first chance I got. So I didn’t. I took a deep, hard breath then finally leveled my gaze at her.

“Ariel,” I said quietly. She put up a hand to silence me. I reached for her.

“Don’t,” she said. “I think you just told me everything.”

I dropped my hand. “What do you want me to do here?”

She shook her head. “Nothing. I just ... I need some time. I need to think. I’ll call you in a day or two. It looks like you’re going to be busy for a while anyway.”

Ariel wasn’t wrong. As we sat there, the rest of the membership started to arrive. I’d told her most of the truth, but today’s raid meant trouble of a different kind. It would have to be dealt with. I might be gone for days depending on what Bear dictated.

“You’ll call me,” I said. “Or you won’t.”

I didn’t give her a chance to answer. I slid out of the car and slammed the door. I wasn’t angry. I didn’t have that right. But Ariel had a choice to make. As much as it made my heart ache, I had to give her the space to make it.

I didn’t look back as she put the car in reverse and pulled out.