Chapter 34 Evie
The next day came with a thousand questions from the pack.
Only half of which I felt like I could answer.
“I don’t know what to tell you,” I said, repeating myself again as we huddled around the couch in the back of Maverick Moto.
“Anderson seems like a bit of a rat, but I don’t think he’s the one sending us these threats.
If anything, it could be his boss, but I can’t picture him being the one doing it. ”
“And what if he is? We could kill him now and not have to worry about it,” Kane said, his towering frame making me stare up at him. I really don’t know how my life turned out to be standing in the room surrounded by big, tattooed killers, but here we were.
Aiden was already shaking his head. “No, from what Evie said, Anderson is hinting that there’s a more dangerous figure coming after us. Anderson might be a messenger, but it seems like killing him won’t stop the threats.”
“Then we grab him and encourage him to tell us who his boss is. Done, simple.” Hero wiped his hands as if he could clean up this problem in seconds.
“Not simple.” Rook crossed his arms. “If he doesn’t tell us, then we are back to no leads and a bunch of threats.”
“And if he does, we can go right to the source.”
Everyone fell into an uneasy silence, eyes darting around the room to glare at one another.
I had thought over my time in the bathroom again and again to come up with anything else that could help us, but there was nothing.
“We wait to grab him,” Rook said. “Evie, you can try to dig around for more information on who Anderson could be tied to and in the meantime we need to get our shit in order. Work has been stacking up and we need to get on top of it.”
“Order,” I whispered, the reminder hitting me so hard I leaned back against a motorcycle. “The Order!” I practically yelled this time.
“What?” Aiden asked.
“Right before you burst into the bathroom, Anderson said something about a group called the Order. He said they are watching me.”
All eyes swung to me, wide with the weight of the revelation. Rook’s jaw tightened. “The Order? That sounds like something we can’t ignore.”
Hero leaned back, rubbing his temples. “Watching you? I think a stalker changes everything.”
I swallowed hard, my mind racing. “We need to know who’s behind this before they make the next move. I’ll dig wherever I can.”
“Then we start today. No more delays.” Rook nodded, waiting for everyone to agree.
Everyone looked grim, but I was resisting rolling my eyes.
Because this was a perfect addition to my life right now.
A mysterious shadow organization was now stalking me and might want me dead—as if my life weren’t complicated enough already.
The rest of the day was filled with work and endless digging into who could be threatening us. I slipped off the bike behind Aiden when we reached the next business. We were there to drop off a file folder—evidence for one pissed-off, corrupt businessman who’d lost his shipment of stolen diamonds.
The road behind us was empty, but I knew Mason and Hero wouldn’t be far behind—we rarely went to these places alone.
Aiden pushed up his visor, the heat in his blue eyes locking me in place.
“I don’t know what’s more torturous—knowing you’re behind me and I can’t touch you or knowing that I can now.”
I only grinned as his hands slid around my waist, tugging me closer while he straddled the bike. He leaned in, pressing a kiss to my helmet with a crooked smile.
“Hey, isn’t it your sappy movie night tonight?”
My eyes narrowed, not moving as he pulled me in more. “Maybe. Why?”
“I want to join. I want to see which movies my little psycho girl secretly loves.”
“Is it even a secret or have you told the entire pack by now?”
“I’ve already said I wouldn’t tell. We’re keeping our own secrets now and that’s one of them. I want sweet, crying, mushy Evie all to myself.”
I smacked his arm, but he only squeezed my hips.
“You know this looks awfully damning if one of the guys pulls up,” I whispered.
He shrugged. “Damning would be you sitting on my bike with your legs wrapped around me. This is—at most—something to raise an eyebrow over.”
“Wow, Ace, you’re really starting to get wild. Next you’re going to say you want to tell people what’s happening between us.”
He went to say something, but the sound of two approaching motorcycles cut him off. I only smiled before slamming his visor back down as Hero and Mason parked next to us.
It took twenty minutes for them to run inside, deliver the envelope, and get us back home.
Aiden grabbed my arm, pulling me back as the others shut off their bikes and pulled off their helmets.
“Don’t forget, movie night. Don’t lock your door,” he whispered.
“And if I do?”
He grinned. “I won’t get the hint and come in anyway.”
I smacked his arm, pushing back and heading inside, not stopping until I was tucked away in my room.
My pillows swallowed me whole as I lay back in them. The doorknob rattled quietly and I grinned when it didn’t turn effortlessly.
Mumbling came from the other side, followed by the faint scrape of metal in the lock.
Another minute ticked by before the door creaked open.
Aiden’s eyes found mine immediately, making my breath hitch.
He wore his black hoodie, the hood pulled up with dirty blond hair peeking out.
The harsh black of the fabric sharpened the electric blue of his eyes.
His scowl and the bobbing lip ring pulled it all together—a dangerous, lethal man who looked like he belonged in a fight, yet was walking straight toward my bed like it was the only place for him.
“Really?” he asked, suppressing a grin. “You locked the door.”
“I mean, I had to be a little bit of a problem.”
He shook his head, setting down two cans of soda before flopping down next to me and gathering me up in his arms.
“Here I am trying to give you all your little romance movie moments and you’re locking the door and making me pick it like a criminal.”
“You are a criminal,” I said, muffling my laugh in the sleeve of my hoodie.
“Fair point.”
I hit play on the movie, snuggling back against him without another word. For some reason, I had nothing to say. I wanted this moment to be burned into my mind.
Apparently, Aiden felt the same because he pulled me back onto his chest, holding me tight as his head rested on mine.
It made me think of one of my first memories of Aiden, burned into my mind. One night years ago that I thought of too many times to count.
The warm breeze washed over me as I walked home—my so-called friend ditching me at Hellfire and leaving me to fend for myself. Anger burned hot in my chest. We didn’t live in the safest part of town, and she knew it.
I turned the corner into our cracked little driveway—the anger evaporating into something molten.
Aiden stood in front of the half-open garage door, leaning over his motorcycle. Sweat traced the muscles in his back, catching on the curve of his spine. Grease streaked his arm, his stomach. The low light hit the sharp angle of his jaw as he worked, making him look carved for trouble.
He hadn’t heard me come up at first, his head snapping in my direction as my boots finally hit the cement pad.
“Evie? What the hell? Where did you come from?” He looked past me, but I knew all he would find was darkness.
“Hellfire,” I said, my face falling.
“Yeah, I knew that. I meant how did you get here? I didn’t see a car roll up.”
“That’s because I walked.”
His eyebrows furrowed, the grease smeared across his arm and stomach making me lose focus as he stood straight.
I already knew Aiden was handsome—it’s not like you could forget it when he was in front of you every day and night.
And it was a rough type of handsome—dirty, dangerous, and somehow perfect at the same time.
His hair was a little longer now—both him and Rook were too busy lately to worry about cutting it.
“Why in the fuck would you walk from there, Evie? You know how dangerous it is this time of night?”
“Well, I was ditched, so it’s not like I had a lot of options.”
“How about calling me? I’ve been here all night. I could have picked you up.”
“Forgot to charge it.” I waved my dead phone in front of him. “And it doesn’t look like your bike is in running condition anyway.”
He pointed over to the old truck parked in the corner.
“I also know how to drive that.”
I stepped around his bike, closing the space between us until my knees almost brushed his. “I made it alive, didn’t I?”
His gaze dipped to my lips for a second—long enough for my pulse to trip over itself. “That’s lucky.”
We stood there, the air between us charged and thick. His rag hung loosely from his fingers now, his shoulders still tense but leaning toward me like he couldn’t help himself.
I felt the heat radiating off him. I could pick out the faint trace of his cologne under the grease and sweat. He was looking at me like he wanted to say something else but thought better of it.
“You really should’ve called me,” he murmured, his voice rougher now, softer in a way that made my stomach twist.
“And miss this lecture?” My words were playful—a harsh contrast to my thundering heart.
His lips twitched—not quite a smile—before his gaze returned to my mouth.
One step closer and his hand brushed mine—it wasn’t an accident. His thumb grazed my knuckles once, slow, before he let it fall back to his side. He leaned in, just enough for my breath to hitch—enough I thought he might kiss me.
My fingers dug into my sides, the space between us shrinking to nothing.
And then—
A low rumble rolled up the street.
Headlights swept across the driveway, breaking the spell.
Aiden’s jaw clenched. His head turned toward the street as Rook’s bike crunched over the gravel, the moment we’d been teetering on slipping away like it had never been there.
But I knew it had been.