Aggie

A ggie watched Vindicator go back to Savage’s office and wondered what that was all about. She was sure that it was a serious matter, judging by the look on Vin’s face. Of course, his bruises and black eyes weren’t helping Vin. Everyone in the bar turned to watch him walk back to Savage’s office, but neither of them seemed to care.

She thought about trying to listen into their conversation, but she wasn’t as stealthy as she once was, and she knew that her spying days were over. Not that she was ever any good at it. One thing she was sure of—Vin was in some kind of trouble and there might be nothing that she could do to help him. Patching him up last night might have helped him fix that problem, but she was sure that there would be more.

Lying to Vin nearly broke her. She was usually pretty good at denying her feelings, but telling him that they were just friends made her feel like a fraud. And seeing the sadness in his eyes when she lied to him, well, that nearly broke her heart.

But telling him the truth wasn’t something that she could do. She had followed Vin around for years now, and she was pretty sure that he didn’t want her. Hearing him say that he wished her answer would have been different got her thinking. Why would he want that unless he liked her too? But that couldn’t be true since she had watched him walk out of Savage Hell with every young chick who was at least twenty years younger, and sometimes more. Would a man do that if he wanted her? No, he wouldn’t, and that’s why she lied to him and told him that they were just friends. couldn’t let Vin break her heart—she was too old for silly games like that.

Vin walked back into the barroom after about thirty minutes, and he looked around. She was sure that he was looking for the next hot chick to take home and he’d have no problem finding one tonight because Savage Hell was full of them. A lot of women had shown up trying to become a Harlot, but little did they know it wasn’t a club you could just show up and join. Most of them just wanted to hook up with a biker, and that plain pissed off. She missed the old days when biker clubs were picky about who they let in. It was more discrete, and everyone seemed to know everyone else. She hated the influx of women wanting to become a Royal Harlot, but she didn’t have much of a say in the matter. That was usually left up to Banshee, Dallas, and Danger.

Vin made a beeline across the room, and she thought for sure he was heading to a group of young women who were eyeing him from the corner of the bar. Instead, he stopped dead right in front of her. looked Vin over and frowned, “You should have had a few stitches in the cut on your cheek. I think it will leave a scar now, Vin,” she said. She wanted to reach up to gently stroke his cheek but thought better of it. The man looked pissed off still and she was sure that had everything to do with their conversation last night.

“We need to talk,” he growled. Vin grabbed her hand and before she could protest, he pulled her along with him out of the bar. Honestly, she was in shock from the scene he had just caused in front of both clubs. was sure that she’d never hear the end of it from the Harlots. They all liked to razz her a bit since she was older than most of them—but not by much. She liked to remind the girls of that.

“Where are you taking me?” she asked as he dragged her out the back door with him.

“Someplace safe,” he grumbled.

“You’re not making any sense, Vin,” she insisted, trying to pull her hand free from his. He just tightened his hold, not allowing her to escape. “I was perfectly safe in the bar,” she shouted at him, giving up on trying to free herself.

“No, you weren’t and if you give me a minute, I’ll explain everything to you, ,” he promised. “At least hear me out.” She could do that; give him a minute of her time to hear him out. Then, she planned on walking right back into the bar and grabbing another beer. She wanted to forget everything that had happened with Vin over the past 48 hours.

He walked to the back parking lot, where she had parked her car, and held out his hands. “Keys,” he demanded. She wanted to give him a hard time and tell him that she wasn’t going to give him her keys, or that she had left them inside, but thought better of it. He looked like a man on a mission and nothing and no one was going to stop him.

“I can see your wheels turning, . If you don’t give me your fucking keys, I’ll dig them out of your pocket myself,” he spat. Her gasp filled the night air between them as she quickly found her keys and handed them to him.

“Are we going somewhere?” she asked.

“After we talk,” he said. “Savage is getting us the place now.”

“The place?” she asked. “What the hell is going on here, Vin?” she almost shouted.

“Lower your voice,” he whispered. “They could be watching us, and we can’t give anything away.” He looked around the parking lot and she couldn’t help but do the same. Was he joking about someone watching them? Who would be interested in what two older bikers were doing together?

“Vin, are you okay?” she asked. “You’re scaring me.”

“Good, because you should be scared, , and it’s all my fault.” He unlocked the passenger side of her car and ordered her to get in. did as he asked, not wanting to agitate him further. He shut her door and rounded the front of the car to get to the driver’s side. As soon as he slid into the seat, he locked the doors and looked around the parking lot again.

“Okay, no one can hear us,” insisted. “How about you tell me what’s going on, Vin?” she asked.

“I fucked up, , and I’m so sorry,” he breathed. He turned to her and grabbed her hand into his own. “You have to believe me that I never wanted to put you in danger,” he insisted. She still wasn’t sure what he was talking about, but one thing she was certain of—he was telling the truth. Whatever danger he had gotten her into wasn’t something that he had planned.

“Why don’t you start from the beginning, Vin, so this all makes sense? Then, we can figure out how to fix everything—together.”

He nodded and took a deep breath, quickly letting it back out again. “Last night, when I came to your house to have you patch me up, I might have led the Ghosts right to your doorstep.” She knew who the Ghosts were—everyone in town did. They were not only the rival club of The Royal Bastards in Huntsville, but they were also drug runners. They were the worst of the worst, and if the Ghosts knew where she lived, she was fucked.

“I should call Riggs and Phoenix,” she insisted, pulling her cell phone from her pocket. She needed to make sure that her granddaughter and her family were safe.

“No, I’ve already filled Riggs in on everything. He is taking Phoenix and Lydia to a safe house.” Her granddaughter was five months pregnant with her second baby and she didn’t want to upset her.

“Is Phoenix all right?” she asked.

“Yes,” he said. “Riggs didn’t tell her anything. She thinks that they are taking a little family vacation, and he plans on keeping it that way. He doesn’t want her to worry with the pregnancy and all.” nodded. She knew that Riggs was a good man and would take care of Phoenix and Lydia, but she still worried about them all.

“I’m assuming that the Ghosts did that to your face,” she said, nodding at him.

“Yeah,” he breathed. “A few of their guys jumped me, but I think that they were after information rather than just beating the shit out of me,” he admitted.

“Well, they did a damn good job of beating the shit out of you, even if that wasn’t their focus,” said. “What information did they want from you?” she asked.

“I’m not sure,” he admitted, “Savage seems to think that I might know something from my days on the force, and I just don’t know it.”

“You were a homicide detective?” she asked.

“Yes, and I really didn’t handle drug running cases,” he said.

“Sure, but could any of your victims have been working for the Ghosts or connected to them in any way?” she asked.

“Of course. Hell, I’ve even had to take down a few of the Ghosts in my time. You know, while we were working on a homicide case, they were involved. It wasn’t easy to avoid them back then.” had heard that the Ghosts practically disappeared after a few of the CIA and FBI agents in the Royal Bastards had gone undercover to break up their drug ring.

“I had heard that the Ghosts were gone,” she breathed.

“Me too, but they are back, and from the beating I took last night, they are stronger than ever. I just need to figure out what information I have that they want. Plus, I need to keep you safe,” he said, squeezing her hand into his own. She had forgotten that he was even holding her hand during their conversation. Being with Vin felt as natural as breathing.

“I can take care of myself, Vin,” she insisted. “I haven’t needed to lean on a man for quite a while now, and I don’t plan on having to lean on you to keep me safe,” she lied. wanted to lean on Vin for everything. She had fallen in love with him over the years of their friendship but never worked up the nerve to tell him. Even when he asked her point blank if they were just friends, she lied and told him that they were, even though she wanted to be so much more with him.

“I don’t give a fuck if you need me or not, ,” he growled. “Hell, you made it quite clear last night that you don’t, but I put you in this mess, and I plan on getting both of us out of it, too. You can’t go up against the Ghosts by yourself. Do you trust me?” he asked. She looked into his eyes, searching for the truth that was always there, and found it. Vin never lied to her, and she could tell just by looking at him. He was right—she couldn’t go up against the Ghosts by herself. The question was, why was she fighting him so much if she knew that he had a valid point? was sure that it had everything to do with the fact that whenever she looked at him, she wanted to kiss him, just like now.

took a chance, not realizing what she was doing. It was as though she was floating on a cloud in a dream as she leaned forward to brush her lips over his. By the time she came to her senses, Vin had taken over the kiss and had practically pulled her onto his lap.

“Oh my God,” she breathed when he broke their kiss. “I’m so sorry, Vin. I didn’t mean to do that.” He sat there, looking at her, smiling like a loon and she worried that she had taken things too far this time. “Say something,” she begged.

“It’s about damn time,” he whispered, pulling her in for another kiss.