36. Alex
Chapter 36
Alex
“You ready to be released later this morning?” Ronda, my nurse, asked me, flicking through my chart and adding her initials to a page.
“Definitely ready,” I replied, smoothing the blankets down across my chest. I’d been kept in a little longer on account of my shortness of breath, but now I was ready to go home. My thoughts stuttered to a stop at that word.
Home .
I didn’t have one anymore.
My garage had been burned down by a psychotic ex’s bodyguard.
My apartment was gone.
My business was gone.
Sucking in a deep breath, I willed away the tears threatening to fall.
“You all right?”
I looked up at Ronda. “Fine. Just thinking about the fire. It was scary.”
Resting her warm hand on mine, she gave it a squeeze. “It was a traumatic event, honey. If you need to speak to someone, I can recommend some people.”
“I’m fine.” My reply was automatic—the same one I used after I was raped. I had eventually sought out help for that, and I was sure I would again for this… when I was ready. “I’ll be fine.”
She patted my hand again and replaced my chart into the slot at the end of the bed.
“You got someone to get you later?”
“My best friend is coming.”
“Good,” Ronda replied. “Well, my shift is done so good luck, Alex. Remember what I said about talking to someone.”
“I will,” I replied solemnly. “Thank you, Ronda.”
With a nod, she left me with my thoughts, which quickly drifted to Nick and his revelation. He had known who I was. This whole time, he had known that I was my father’s daughter.
He had had every opportunity to get his revenge. We were alone together countless times. I was vulnerable with him. I told him things about my life, about my past. He could’ve easily hurt me. He could’ve killed me quickly. He could’ve given me up to my father’s enemies and hurt him that way.
He was going to.
But he hadn’t.
He had chosen me.
Every time.
At the party, he saved me from two patched members without knowing who I was.
He arranged to have my broken door fixed because he wanted to keep me safe—yep, it didn’t take me long to work that one out.
In the cemetery, he stayed with me when he should’ve been protecting his president.
And in the garage…
In the garage, despite the fire, the smoke, the danger to himself, he saved me.
I couldn’t deny my feelings for him. I always said actions spoke louder than words, and Nick’s actions had proven his intentions.
There was a knock on the door.
“Come in,” I called out, settling the blankets back into place. It was probably the doctor coming in to see me one last time. As soon as I saw the dark hair and piercing green eyes, the air in my lungs shuddered out of them. “Nick.”
He stood in the doorway, indecision clearly written all over his face. He wasn’t sure I wanted him here. I couldn’t blame him. “Hey, baby,” he said, shoving one hand into his pocket. He was dressed in dark jeans and a t-shirt, but not his cut. The absence was slightly jarring. My gaze traveled down his arm to find a rucksack dangling from his fingers.
“What happened?” I asked.
“Rixon wanted to exile me to save my life. The president of our mother chapter persuaded him to let me be a nomad instead. I’ll base myself out of Columbus.”
I looked down at my blanket. “So you’re leaving?”
“Yes.”
My breathing stuttered at the thought of losing him on top of everything else. “When?”
“Now. I should’ve left last night but…”
“But what?”
Dropping his bag, he reached into his pocket as he approached the bed. “But I had to see you and give you this.” He handed me my phone.
Tears crowded against my lashes, trembling there. “That’s it?”
Hooking his thumb under my chin, he tipped my face up to his. His green eyes were luminous, intent, and hauntingly sad. “I have no right to ask.”
My throat stung with the pressure of held back tears. “Ask what?” I whispered.
“Ask you to come with me. I have no right, but I’m asking anyway.”
I blinked, my tears fusing my lashes together for a moment. “You want me to go with you to Columbus.” I didn’t pose it as a question because I knew what it really was. It was a statement of fact.
“I want you with me always, Alex.” He stroked his thumb over my cheek. My jaw. I leaned into the touch. Even before my brain caught up, my heart had already decided. I couldn’t be away from him. I couldn’t be away from this man who had taught me to trust again. Who had taught me that I was strong. Brave. Beautiful. Smart. Independent. That I had a backbone. That I had a voice. He taught me that despite my shitty childhood, and my even shittier biological family, that I could choose to be something different. He never wanted to cage me. Despite the need to keep me safe, he still wanted me to have my freedom. To choose. Just like he chose not to use me for his own gain.
He chose me.
“I want to be with you, Nick.” My whispered words were loud in the otherwise quiet room. For a long moment, all he could do was stare at me; then he swooped forward and pressed his mouth to mine. The kiss was demanding yet gentle at the same time. His tongue stroked the seam of my lips, sweeping inside and tasting me when he gained access. I moaned, locking my arms behind his neck, and pulling him closer. He smelled of leather and gun polish and him .
When he pulled back, he rested his forehead against mine and we breathed each other in for a moment. “When are you being discharged?”
“Couple of hours? The doctor wants to see me one last time.”
He nodded, straightening. “I’ll be back to pick you up.”
With one final, lingering kiss, he picked up his rucksack and left.
As I stepped outside the hospital doors, I breathed in the midmorning air. It was nice to be out of the hospital. The orderly beside me scanned the cars coming and going.
“Who did you say was picking you up?”
“My partner,” I replied, liking the way that it sounded. A truck pulled up to the curb then, something big and covered in a tarp in the back. My eyes shot to the driver’s seat where Nick was shutting off the engine.
“This is him,” I told the orderly, relieving him of his duty.
I watched Nick exit the cab. “Ready, baby?” he asked, pressing a kiss to the side of my head as he wrapped a hand around my waist. He opened the door for me, and I climbed inside. A loud whine made me look into the back seat to find a huge wire crate and Lucifer inside it, a plastic collar around his head to stop him from licking his stitches. Despite recovering from a gunshot wound, he wagged his tail at me.
“Buckle up, baby,” Nick said, slamming his door and starting the engine.
“Where’s your bike?” I asked. “And whose truck is this?”
“Bike’s in the back, and Vox lent me his truck. He’ll come and get it in a couple of weeks.”
We were really doing this. We were leaving Detroit. For good.
“Can we make one more stop before we go?”
Nick’s eyes darted to the rearview mirror before coming to rest on my face. “You want to say goodbye to Bliss?”
I nodded.
“We can spare a few minutes.”
Twenty minutes later, we pulled up to Bliss’s apartment building. I sent her a text asking her to come downstairs.
“Oh my God, Alex, are you okay?” she asked, wrapping me in her arms and squeezing.
“I’m okay,” I assured. “I’m okay.” Holding her at arm’s length, I looked at the woman who had broken past my barriers and inserted herself into my life without shame. “I’m leaving with Nick,” I told her. “I’m sorry Maddox brought you into this shit. I don’t regret trading my life for yours for one second. You’re too precious to me, Bliss.”
Her blue eyes flickered to Nick, then back to me. “Make sure he treats you right,” she said.
“He will.”
She let out a sigh, shoving her hands into her pockets. “So, you really do know a thing or two about motorcycle clubs. Why didn’t you tell me who you were?”
I shook my head. “It wasn’t important. I was trying to escape that life, but I should’ve known better. I should’ve known it would catch up with me.”
“Where will you go?”
“Nick’s going to be a nomad so wherever we want, really.”
“Will I get to see you again?”
With a sad shake of my head, I told her, “Not in Detroit. Not in Michigan. If Nick comes back…” I couldn’t even finish the thought.
“I get it,” Bliss replied, tears starting to form. “I’ll keep in touch.”
“You better.”
“Alex,” Nick said gently from the driver’s side, wanting to give me my space to say my goodbyes, but knowing time wasn’t on our side. “We gotta go, baby.”
I nodded, then turned back to Bliss. “I’ll miss you.”
Bliss pulled me in for a hug. “I’ll miss you too.” Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out a piece of paper and tucked it into my palm, before quickly turning and running back inside her building.
Once I was back in the cab, I smoothed out the crumpled yellow Post-it note and smiled at the dick she’d drawn in black Sharpie. Written in slanted writing above it, it said Something to remember me by . XO .
We drove out of Detroit, then the state of Michigan, and I left all my bad memories along the side of the road as we went. I didn’t need them anymore. Nick was my future, and I was his. And together, we would make new memories that didn’t involve pain and unnecessary loss.
We would build our new life together.
Our own home together.
Our own empire.
Together.