Nate
“It’s a girl, right?” she asks with a cock of her head, eyes burning into me inquisitively.
I chuckle, holding my cigarette against my lip as I pause for a second.
“How…”
“Let’s call it women’s intuition, shall we?”
“I call it a good guess.” I take a drag of my cigarette, adjusting myself until I’m facing her on the bed. “Listen.” I look her dead in the eye. “I meant what I said earlier about you not telling anyone. What I’m about to tell you could cost me my life if they found out.”
Swiping her head from side to side, she looks around the room, her eyebrows drawn in confusion.
“Who?” she whispers, leaning toward me a little.
“The brothers. The whole crew of Savages.”
“No,” she replies, shaking her head. “You’re the son of the prez. They wouldn’t dare.”
“It’s the president that wants my head. Listen, there’s a whole lot more to this story. This girl, I mean, my girl, well he says she belongs to him. Only, Tara and I have been together for over a year.”
“Shit,” she gasps. “What you gonna do? Is there any way you can win him over?”
“Do you think he looks like the kind of guy that can be won over?”
She gives me a nervous smile. “And you’re willing to risk your life for this girl? She’s really the one?” Her smile changes. It no longer holds the sadness it had just a second ago. No, it’s much different. A genuine, heart-warming smile. “Listen, I don’t know much about the club rules or what happens around here. But one thing I do know is this. True love doesn’t exist for everyone. If you’ve found someone that makes you happy, that makes your heart pound like never before, then that’s something worth fighting for. Because without love, what’s the point in living?”
“Emily, I’m going to be honest here. I’ve slept with hundreds of women. Whores brought into this club purely for our enjoyment. And I won't lie, I enjoyed it. Every goddamn second of it. But it wasn’t until Tara that I actually understood the meaning of ‘making love’ because that kind of sex has never featured in my life. Until her. I just can’t explain it. Being with her, holding her in my arms caused something to happen to me that I can’t even understand myself. A range of emotions I had yet to experience.”
“So fight for her, Nate. Because living without her will be like not living at all.”
“That’s where I’m thinking we can help each other.”
She tilts her head. “Oh really, how?”
“You want my help. My protection. You know that whenever you’re with me, you’re off-limits for the other guys? That should give you a little time to figure out if you actually want to make it work here. Hell, you will realize who the good guys are. And believe me, there are some good guys here.”
“And you?”
“If my father thinks something is developing between us, then he’ll loosen the noose a little. Call off the guys.” I reach down, showing her the scars on my legs. “This is what happened to me the last time I saw Tara. She was at a bar, ridiculously drunk, on a rebound date and I found her outside. I couldn’t leave her. I had to help. Only I didn’t know he had the crew following me. When I returned home, Silver and some of the others were demanded to teach me a lesson. See, he warned me to stay away from Tara, and ignoring is a violation of his orders.”
Throwing herself against my chest, she wraps her arms around me tightly. “I’m so sorry that happened to you,” she whispers, her hands tight against my back.
“I’m okay, honestly.” I slowly release her hold, parting from her, but holding her face against my hand. “But I need you to be okay with this. You being a cover for me so that I can still see Tara.”
“Of course.” She smiles, resting her hand over mine. “I’ll do whatever I can to help you. We have to watch out for each other, right?”
I smile, nodding as I reach for the ashtray, extinguishing my cigarette. “If we are going to do this, it has to look real.”
Her eyes widen. “Just how real are we talkin’ here?” She purses her lips playfully. I hold up my hands in a mock surrender.
“The odd kiss in public. The sneaking off when the party starts. I mean, of course nothing will happen, but we have to make it look like it will.”
“Hmm, I’m not sure,” she replies, nervously swirling a few loose strands of hair around her finger. “I’m worried that you won’t be able to contain yourself around me. I mean, look at me.” She chuckles lightly, tapping my leg playfully.
Fuck.
This is awkward.
“Emily, you’re beautiful. But my heart belongs with Tara.”
“Chill, Nate. I’m just teasing.”
I shoot her a quick smile, the silence in the room almost uncomfortable. Being next to this beautiful chick should be making my dick hard, but all I can think of is how I’m going to be able to use her to get to Tara. And for that, I feel fucking awful. She’s just a pawn in my game. But one thing I will promise her.
“Hey, I’ll make sure I keep you safe, okay? In return for your help.”
“You’re a good guy, Nate. Sure looks like this MC could do with more Nates around here.”
“Good, nah. But I’m different from the rest.”
“Can’t argue with that,” she says swinging her legs over the side of the bed and jumping to her feet. “Wanna show me this tattoo studio of yours?”
“Lead the way,” I say, standing up and holding my arm out to her.