Angel: Dark MC Romance: Iron Vikings MC 4

Chapter 3

“Are you okay?” Gwenn asked after plunking herself upon the countertop next to Nora.

Nora didn’t know if she was. Kissing Angel had been a dream come true, while his rejection afterwards embodied the harsh reality. They would never work, and she’d better forget all about his stupid handsome face and scorching kisses.

Gwenn’s gentle touch of her shoulder against hers brought Nora back to the present.

“Yeah. I’m okay. Angel took out a shard and stopped the bleed?—”

“I mean with whatever happened between you in this kitchen.”

Nora should have known that her half-sister would pick up the vibe like the P.I. she once was. It didn’t mean that Nora should tell Gwenn anything about the kiss. They didn’t even know the other existed a year ago. She owed her nothing.

“N-nothing happened. He just helped me with my foot.”

Gwenn smiled, obviously not believing a single word. “Sure.”

“How’s Cat?” Nora asked, hoping that changing the topic might redirect Gwenn off her case.

“She’s a fighter. I’ve seen my share of power houses during my tour in Afghanistan, but Cat is the fuckin’ strongest girl I’ve ever met.”

Nora liked how Gwenn’s eyes lit up while talking about their sister.

“When can I see her?”

Gwenn probably noticed the wobble in Nora’s voice, patting her knee as she said, “Shall I ask her tomorrow?”

“Don’t bother.”

Nora got down from the countertop, wobbling her way towards the kitchen door. She never needed anyone to mediate between Cat and her before. However, ever since their brother Devlin brought them over for a visit to IVMC eight years ago, Cat slowly drifted away from Nora and into the claws of this monstrous beast called Iron Vikings MC.

It shattered Nora’s soul that after being kidnapped, tortured and what not, the last person Cat wanted to see was her. It hadn’t happened overnight, but it was now very clear to Nora that she’d finally lost her sister to this gang.

“Wait one sec.”

Nora turned around, exhausted from being at war with herself as she tried to push down the raging emotions clawing at her throat.

“She loves you, Nora. She just wants to protect you.”

Nora opened her arms. “From what? What more horrors are there to come?”

Gwenn tilted her head, her sky-blue eyes narrowing.

“This reaction is exactly why she needed a night.”

It took Nora every bit of strength left in her not to cry. She’d never felt more misunderstood and the odd one out than tonight. She’d been surrounded by club whores and club brothers doing their thing like nothing had happened tonight. Like their club wasn’t at war with those Strong Riders who’d kidnapped Cat. As if Cat killing two of her four attackers was business as usual.

“I don’t know, Gwenn. Is there even a right reaction?”

Gwenn sighed before closing the distance between them. “I know this all has been a lot for you. And I’m sorry that Cat asked me to tell you to wait a night to see her. I’m the youngest of five sisters and always tried to stay as far away as possible from their issues with each other and their petty girl fights.”

“This is not a petty girl fight.”

“Yeah, I know. But you get my drift. If you give Cat a bit of space to clear her head, I’m sure everything will work out.”

“I hope so.”

Nora accepted Gwenn’s hug. She hadn’t seen this softer side of Gwenn before and she kind of liked it. It installed some hope in Nora that Cat at least always had Gwenn to turn to after this lockdown, besides their brother Devlin.

Nora’s eyes had finally opened to the truth this night. Not only was Cat moving on, but Nora also had to find her own way instead of always following her twin around. They clearly stood in front of a crossroad, each choosing a different path.

“Cat deserves to be happy,” Nora said, unintentionally speaking her mind out loud.

“And so do you.”

Nora gave her half-sister a weak smile. “Thanks.”

“Shall I walk you to your room?”

Nora shook her head. She needed to pull up her big girl panties and just deal with this club for as long as she needed to stay here.

“There”s nothing out there I haven”t seen before these past few years visiting Dev.”

Gwenn laughed. “Yeah, I guess not.”

“But thanks. And thank you for your advice about Cat.”

“No problem. If you ever need to talk, I’m here.”

Nora smiled. “Thanks.”

She opened the kitchen door, leaving Gwenn behind. The loud rock music in the bar still blared like they were having the party of the century, with only a few club whores and brothers sitting around the bar.

Nora quickly scanned the crowd, not finding Angel. He probably went up already with one or two of these girls living here. She held her head down as she wobbled through the bar, determined to get to her brother’s room as quickly as possible with her injured foot.

“Hey, Quiet One. Shall I help you up?”

Nora looked up into the friendly gray eyes of Buzz. Even as the epitome of a biker with his fully tattooed muscular arms peeping out of his black IVMC T-shirt over his leather pants, Nora never felt unsafe in Buzz’s presence. Not like some of the old crew did.

“Hi, Buzz. No, I’ll manage. Thanks.”

“You sure? What happened to your foot?”

She shrugged. “It’s nothing. Stepped into some glass earlier.”

“Did someone help you out with that?” Buzz nodded his head towards her bandage.

“A-angel.”

Nora felt a blush crawl up her cheeks like a rash. She hated how she couldn’t even speak his name without telling the world exactly how she thought about the guy.

Buzz’s upper lip pulled into a smug smile. “Ah, then I’m sure you’re well taken care of.”

If Nora even had an ounce of her sisters’ temperament, she would have come up with some sort of snappy or funny retort. Something in the likes of … ugh, she didn’t know what.

“See you later, Buzz.”

She limped around his six-foot three frame, ignoring his hearty laugh. “See you later, sweetheart.”

Nora stepped onto the floor landing, having taken her time on the stairs. She passed a few open doors until she found Angel’s room. It took her some determination to not stop and listen at his shut door to see if he was in there alone or not.

She rolled her eyes at herself, hating how she even cared.

What if he was fucking some club girl at this very moment? Good for him. She should know better than thinking things would ever change around here.

The only variable were the people living inside this clubhouse. And after this lockdown, she would be the first one to go and never look back.