Chapter 15

15

GENESIS

" Y es, you fucking are," I agree, ignoring the Sleeping Beauty comment because what I want to do to her involves zero fucking sleeping. I don't care what I said before. I'm going to spend every moment we have together showing her all the reasons she should stay.

I'm not hiding the fact that I want her, but I know if I push for more than that right now, she'll run. And that's the last thing I want. No, I need her to catch feelings, then I'm going to fuck away her worries and convince her to stay. It shouldn't be too hard. I already know how much she loves my dick.

We head outside to my bike, and I hand her a helmet before I get on and start it. She climbs on behind me, wrapping her arms around me tightly. I must be turning into a pussy because all I can think about is how right it feels having her on the back of my bike.

I don't let women on my bike. Ever. I don't want to give them the wrong idea. But with Amity, I didn't think twice about it.

I rev the engine and take off, smiling when I hear her laugh. I drive out to a place I know that's about an hour away, not wanting to burst the bubble we've created just yet.

We pull into the parking lot of the diner the club frequents when we're down this way visiting Carnage. It's not too busy yet, but it'll be packed by lunchtime. I spot a familiar bike and frown.

Parking beside it, I climb off and hold out my hand to Amity. She grabs it and climbs off before tugging her helmet off and grinning at me.

"You like riding, huh?"

"I love it. I've done a lot of bike stunts for work, but I never get to ride just for fun. And I travel too much to have a bike of my own."

"I've got an old one you can borrow if you want. I'll get one of the guys at the garage to check it over first to make sure it's running smoothly."

"Are you serious?"

"Yeah. Saves you from having to borrow Tinkerbell's car."

"Are you sure you don't mind? Isn't there some macho biker code about letting women ride?"

"Do I look like I give a shit about that?"

She grabs my T-shirt and pulls me close and kisses me. "Best date ever."

"It hasn't even started yet."

"And it's still the best one I've been on."

I grin as I wrap my arm around her and lead her toward the diner. Oh yeah, getting her to fall for me will be a piece of cake.

As we step inside, the bell above the door jingles, announcing our arrival.

The biker and his very pregnant old lady at the counter turn our way. She grins and waves when she sees me. "Hey, G. Long time no see."

"Mercy," I greet her before nodding to her man. "Scope. What brings you guys this way?"

"Came to visit Inigo and the gang while they're at Carnage. Two birds, one stone, and all that."

I forgot that Mercy is Inigo's niece. But I didn't forget she's the first lady of the new Chaos Demons chapter. She's here with her man, Scope, the president. But her other two men, Kaz and Wizz, don't appear to be with them.

She smiles as she looks at Amity.

"Shit, sorry. This is Amity. Amity, this is Mercy and Scope. They're with another club—the Chaos Demons."

"Hi." She waves, totally unfazed.

"You want to join us?" Mercy asks, and Scope grunts, making me smirk.

"We're actually on a date," I tell her.

"Wait, bikers date?"

"Isn't that how smiley here landed you?" Amity chuckles.

"Uh, no. It was through kidnapping and coercion," Mercy tells her matter-of-factly.

"Of course it was, my bad."

"Meh, easy mistake to make. Bikers are… a different breed. So, how'd you two meet?"

"Mercy, they're on a date," Scope growls at her.

"Hush, I'm still mad at you."

"Do I even want to know what you did this time?" I ask him.

Mercy's the one that answers. "He knocked me up."

"I noticed. Congrats, man." I offer him my hand, and he smiles. It looks a little savage, but that's Scope for you.

"No, don't congratulate him. He's in the shithouse."

Amity looks between us, trying to figure out why, when her eyes land on the weird necklace around Scope's neck.

She freezes and slowly turns her head to look at Mercy. "Is that?—"

"My IUD? Yep."

"He didn't."

"Oh, he did."

"And he's still alive?"

"I'm playing the long game," Mercy says.

Scope sighs. "You're not going to kill me. You love my dick too much."

"Please, I have two other dicks at home, plus I'm just as happy with the silicone kind. They come with multiple speed settings and don't withhold orgasms from me when I piss them off," she snaps at him, making Amity snort before she jumps in to ease the tension.

"So, I met G at a bar when he was hammered. He spent the evening making friends with my boobs before I took his drunk ass back to the clubhouse, pulled a gun on a prospect twice, and flipped a patched brother over my shoulder for pissing me off."

"Okay, you can join us," Scope says.

I shake my head. "I'm not spending my date with you," I tell him. The fucking ass.

"The cavalry's here anyway," Scope says, nodding toward the window.

I turn and see a car pull up, and Jinx, the Chaos Demons' only female member, steps out.

"Crap. I've gotta go," Mercy says to Amity. "But we should get together, compare notes on overbearing bikers."

"Um, sure. I'll be around for a little while. It all depends on how long the movie takes to shoot."

"Movie?" She looks between us before her mouth drops open. "You're in the movie being filmed near the Ravens' clubhouse?"

Amity laughs. "Don't get too excited. I'm not an actress. I'm her stunt double."

A hint of panic crosses Scope's face when he sees the look on Mercy's face. "Fuck no. You've got enough crazy-ass women in your life. Case in point," he says as Jinx walks through the door. Today, Jinx is wearing her prosthetics instead of her blades that make her look like a badass from a sci-fi flick.

"See, I told you I wouldn't be gone long. Are you guys ready?"

"Yeah, let's go." Scope nudges Mercy forward, but Mercy signals for Jinx to come over.

"Jinx, this is Amity. She's a stuntwoman in the movie being filmed near Ravens' Nest."

Jinx takes off her shades and grins down at Amity. "That sounds like fun."

"It is. I get to do shit that would give most people a heart attack. I can say, as an adrenaline junkie, I love it. You guys should come by and check it out. If you're interested, I can get you a couple of guest passes."

"Hell, yes! I'm game."

"Me too. I need a break from all the big dick energy going on at the clubhouse."

I look at Scope and chuckle at the scowl on his face.

"You're pregnant, Mercy," Scope reminds her.

She rubs her swollen belly. "Oh, so that's what that is? And here I thought I'd just had too many cookies." She rolls her eyes and pulls out her phone. "What's your number?"

Amity reels off her number as Mercy enters it into her phone. Seconds later, a ping sounds. "There, now we have each other's numbers. We'll give you a call and set something up."

"Sounds good. It was nice to meet you all."

"You too," Mercy says with a smile, while Jinx gives Amity a wave goodbye.

Scope hangs back as Mercy and Jinx leave and head to the car. "I love her being pregnant but hate not being able to put her on the back of my bike," he admits, then turns to Amity. "Do not let her talk you into shit." He stares at her with his cold eyes, which have most people backing down.

Not Amity, though. "And here I was thinking she might want to stand in for me," she replies, glaring back.

"If she gets hurt—" He steps closer, but I pull her back and step between them.

"Don't," I warn him. I don't care how crazy he is; I'll put him on his ass if he tries anything.

"I don't hurt people. Something tells me you can't say the same," Amity snaps back.

Scope snarls at her but storms out before his temper gets the better of him.

I turn to check on Amity and find her staring out the window.

"I really do bring out the best in bikers, don't I?"

I grab a fistful of her hair and kiss her. "You bring out the best in me. And that's all that matters, right?"

"Be still my beating heart." She flutters her lashes, a cheeky grin on her face.

I nip her lip before leading her over to one of the empty booths. I wait for her to slide in before sliding in across from her.

"So your club is allied with theirs?"

"Loosely, yeah. They're allied with the Kings of Carnage, who we're also allied with. So there's a truce between us, but I wouldn't say we're buddies."

"Is that normal? For different clubs to be friendly like that? Sorry if I'm not supposed to ask that. All I know about MCs is what I've seen on TV or read about."

"It depends on the club. I can't speak for the others, but the truce with Chaos Demons and Kings of Carnage didn't come easy. We were enemies for years. We spent so long fighting we forgot why we even started. Then, a few years back, Blade negotiated a truce between the Ravens and Carnage, and so far, it seems to be holding. It helps that we've got dual members like Conan, Inigo, and even Sunshine."

She grabs a menu and looks it over quietly as the waitress comes over to take the order.

"I'll have the mushroom and spinach omelet with a fruit salad and a coffee, please," Amity says.

"And I'll take the works with a coffee."

The waitress nods as she writes it all down. "Won't be long. Holler if you need anything else."

When she walks away, I turn my attention back to Amity. "So tell me, how'd you get into stunts? Is that something you've always wanted to do?"

She shakes her head. "No, it wasn't even on my radar. I was a gymnast, and that's where all my focus went. I trained every hour that I wasn't sleeping, and I was good—really good."

"What happened?" I ask, even though I know the answer. But it's important that I hear it from her.

"Car accident. We were in a multi-car pile-up on the freeway. I'd just returned from the Olympics in Rio and was upset with myself for only getting a silver medal. I thought I should've won gold, and that's what I was arguing with my mom about in the car. She was telling me not to be so hard on myself. That she was proud of me, but I'd spent all my childhood training. She didn't want me to miss out on things like spending time with my friends and prom. She said that there was more to life than gymnastics, but I didn't want to hear it. She wanted me to live a little. I was just angry because she just didn't understand that Gymnastics was my life. And then she was gone, and I would've given anything for her to wake up and nag me some more."

"She died in the crash?" I ask softly.

"She died on impact. I didn't realize it, though, because her airbag went off and blocked my view." She stops talking when the waitress comes back with our coffees.

"Breakfast won't be much longer."

"Thanks," I say, not taking my eyes off Amity.

The waitress leaves, and for a moment, there's silence between us as Amity takes a sip of her coffee.

"We hit a truck, and then another one rear-ended us. Our little Chevrolet folded like an accordion. The front of the car was pushed into the back where I was sitting. Mom was almost completely decapitated," she whispers.

I reach across the table and take her hand. "You don't have to say anymore."

"No, it's okay. I mean, it's not, but I can talk about it without falling apart."

"I'm so sorry that happened."

"Yeah, me too."

As blunt as I usually am, I find myself thinking carefully about what I say next.

"This is why you can't have children?" I ask softly.

She nods. "Honestly, everyone was shocked that I even survived. I was trapped in the back seat for hours and had to be cut out with the jaws of life."

She was trapped for hours with her dead mother. Jesus fuck. How does someone ever recover from that?

"I broke both my legs, my pelvis, four ribs, and my left wrist. I dislocated my right shoulder and fractured my skull. The worst part was that I was pinned in place by a piece of metal. I lost a lot of blood and suffered several internal injuries, including a ruptured ovary and lacerations to my liver and one of my kidneys. They did what they could, but there were too many complications, and I ended up having to have a hysterectomy."

I swallow hard, realizing just how close she came to dying. "I can't even imagine…" My voice trails off because what the fuck can I say to that?

She gives me a sad smile and continues, "The first month, I spent mainly in a medically induced coma and then drugged up on morphine. It wasn't until later that I realized everything I'd lost—my mom, my ability to have children, my career. Even if I healed, my body would never be the same, and gymnastics isn't the kind of sport you can just take a break from. I would've had to start all over. And… I don't know. I guess the fight I had with my mom before the crash kept replaying in my head. It killed my passion for the sport and left me with nothing but guilt and shame."

"I get it. Sometimes, what you feel doesn't fit with what's logical."

"I know, especially after all the therapy I've had. But at the time, there was no room in my head for logic."

"Who did you live with when you got out of the hospital? Your dad?"

"No dad. Mom was a little wild and wasn't sure who he was. It was always just the two of us, but I never felt like I was missing out. In a way, I think that made it harder. She was everything to me, and then she was gone." She takes another sip of her coffee. "But to answer your question, I turned eighteen while I was in the hospital. So when I was discharged, I went home."

She pauses, and I let go of her hand as our food is placed in front of us.

"There ya go. Now, can I get you anything else?"

"No, we're good," I say, and we thank the waitress before she leaves.

"I was lucky Nevaeh lived next door. She was my rock, and honestly, I don't know what I would have done without her. Still, it was hard living alone with just my memories, so I started working out. And it helped. When I was working out, I wasn't thinking about anything else. So I signed up for anything and everything I could think of—martial arts, boxing, Krav Maga, running—before I fell into parkour."

She takes a piece of melon from her fruit salad and pops it in her mouth as I pick up my fork and knife.

"It was purely by chance that I ended up doing what I do now," she says, popping another piece of fruit into her mouth. "I saw an ad for a movie extra and thought it sounded like fun. When I was on set, I watched the stunt team work their magic and knew that's what I wanted to do. They got hurt a lot but always got back up, dusted themselves off, and did it again. Something about their resilience resonated with me. And the rest is history." She smiles and picks up her fork.

I take a bite of my sausage as I try to find the right words to say to her. I want to tell her how proud of her I am, because I am, but would it come off as genuine? I don't know what it is about this woman that makes me question everything I say and think, but the thought of hurting her feelings makes me feel sick. If that makes me pussy whipped then so be it.

I don't know anyone who could have done what she's done. She could have easily let what happened to her destroy her. Instead she took that pain and let it fuel her, finding strength when she was at her weakest and look at her now? She built new dreams for herself and she's thriving.

If I were a weaker man, I'd be intimidated by her strength. But I'm not. Only strong women survive in the MC world, and Amity Hollis might be stronger than most.

"You're pretty fucking amazing. You know that, right?"

She shrugs, taking a bite of her omelet and looking a bit embarrassed, which seems unusual for her. "And I'd bet my bike your mom's up there, feeling pretty fucking proud of the amazing woman she gave birth to."

She points her fork at me. "If you make me cry, I will stab you."

My lips twitch as I stab a home fry with my fork. "Noted."