Chapter 35
Gabriella
I was still chuckling over the text messages an hour or so later.
I’d jumped in a bath, heard Dante and Rachel yelling at each other from the hallway—which had ended with Axel throwing something at his dad and calling him a “prick”. Which was the clearest I had ever heard that boy speak, and judging by Dante’s reaction, he couldn’t have been more proud.
They were weird parents.
I’d also taken the time to not only brush my hair, but also straighten it and apply a bit of the makeup that was on the desk—after texting Rachel for permission.
I loved that I could text now! It was such a simple thing, but it brought so much normality to my life, especially knowing these were not going to be monitored and dissected.
You have been added to the group chat The Core Four.
I looked down at my phone and burst out laughing again.
Vienna: I’m bored. What are we doing today?
Rachel: There is no ‘we’. There is a you, and then there is an us.
Vienna: I have no plans. So what are WE doing?
Rachel: Why are you asking us? Entertain yourself.
Vienna: Don’t be silly, Rachel. We’re the Core Four. Of course we’re going to spend the day together.
Dante: The hell we are.
Vienna: What do you mean?
Rachel: You never want to see us during the day.
Vienna: Now you’re just straight up lying.
Rachel: Am I, Vienna? Am I?
Vienna: Yes, Rachel. Yes.
Rachel: Funny that, because you’re usually nursing a hangover. Don’t make us suffer just because your routine is broken and you don’t know what to do with your life. Welcome to daytime—the rest of us have been experiencing this for years.
Vienna: But I’m booooooored.
Dante has left the group chat.
Rachel has left the group chat.
Vienna: You can’t see me, but I’m pouting right now.
I burst into laughter again, easily able to picture him sulking to himself.
Gabriella: Aw, cheer up, pal!
Vienna: Don’t call me fucking pal.
Gabriella: What would you prefer I call you?
Vienna: Well… I can think of a few options.
You and me both, buddy.
Flashbacks of yesterday came to mind, and my thighs immediately clenched.
Change the subject, Gabby, change the fucking subject!
Gabriella: Anyway, since we’re no longer the Core Four, we need a new name.
Vienna: Nice save.
Gabriella: Thanks, buddy!
Vienna: That’s not any better.
Gabriella: Meh. So what do you think of the Dynamic Duo?
Vienna: It’s acceptable.
Gabriella: Stop pouting and tell me what the Dynamic Duo have planned for the day?
Vienna: I’m itching.
I did a double take at the phone. What an odd thing to reveal.
Gabriella: Do… do we need to take a trip to the clinic? Is it catching? Should I be concerned?
My door burst open, and Vienna looked at me with a frown, waving his phone at me.
“You’re a strange person, princess.”
My mouth fell open, and a disbelieving laugh left my lips.
“Well, if that’s not the pot calling the other pot a black kettle.”
“The pot calling the kettle black,” he corrected.
“That’s what I said.”
“Of course it is,” he replied, shaking his head. “Get your gear on. I’m itching for a ride. I’ve been cooped up in here far too long.”
“Do you have Doc’s approval?”
“I’m going to pretend you didn’t say that,” he scoffed, looking unbelievably offended. “I don’t need his permission to ride my girl. And she has missed me.”
Holy cow, if that wasn’t a loaded comment.
“Be ready in five,” he said with a smirk.
So he had meant it as a double entendre then!
He closed my door gently, and the countdown to our ride began.
“My God, I forgot what a fucking beast she is,” I breathed a little while later.
He hadn’t needed to tell me twice.
There was a lot I was reluctant to do here, not wanting to overstep my place. But give me the offer of an afternoon on the back of a bike and I was sold.
I’d raced to tie my hair up and throw on one of Vienna’s leather jackets—because I would not be caught dead riding without proper gear—and as I’d gone outside, Vienna had already been waiting for me, propped up on his bike, looking like sin personified.
Vienna was hot. There was no doubt about it. He was over six and a half feet of solid muscle, covered in tattoos, and, despite his beard being that little bit too long—though I’d never admit it to him, and it had made a very nice saddle last night—he looked like a blonde god come to life.
And then my eyes had fallen to his bike, and God help me, I forgot the man and all I could focus on was the beast.
“She’s a beauty, isn’t she?” Vienna grinned with pride.
“I can’t believe the condition of her! She’s still the same…?”
“As if I would ever give her up,” he scoffed back.
He’d had this bike since he had been patched into the club. Upon graduating from Descendent status, Crash had taken all the youths to pick out their own bike.
A few years earlier, Macbeth had already picked something flashy and modern, bragging to anyone who would listen about his being the future.
But Dante and Vienna had taken their time.
They didn’t want something straight out of the showroom.
They wanted something timeless. Something elegant.
Even when every other member of the Descendents had their bikes, these two were still researching and sourcing their dream bikes.
Until, eventually, they both rocked up with Harley-Davidson Softail Heritage Classics.
Vienna had picked me up later that night and we’d ridden up and down the city, laughing until our stomachs hurt. And then we’d christened the bike at the back of the Devil’s clubhouse.
“I can’t believe she still looks like this,” I breathed, running my hand over the frame, lost in a million memories of her. “She looks brand new!”
“Same frame,” he boasted proudly. “Though she’s on her second engine and third exhaust. Also needed new forks after Chicken once tried to kill me over an innocent joke.”
“I’m sure it was very innocent,” I laughed back.
He wiggled his eyebrows at me and then continued showing off his pride and joy.
“Different bars. But same seat. And the same girl.”
I looked at him then, my head snapping back in shock.
I wasn’t stupid. I knew Vienna hadn’t lived the life of a monk since we’d been apart. I didn’t want to know, and I wasn’t going to ask. What happened wasn’t any of my business.
Apart from that one kiss with Rachel that I was absolutely not focusing on, was no longer jealous of and had, in fact, completely forgotten.
Almost.
“I mean it, Gabriella,” he said, stepping closer to me and gently pulling on the strands of my hair.
“I’ve had women on my bikes—but not this one.
This is ours—as much yours as it is mine.
We christened it together, named her together, and I would never insult the memory of that by allowing a fling to climb on the back of her. ”
And I didn’t doubt him. Not for a single second.
Because Vienna was a lot of things, and I’m sure every member of this club could find a colourful insult for him. But one thing he was not was a liar.
“I don’t know what to say,” I breathed, feeling ridiculous tears pool in my eyes.
As one slipped down my cheek, Vienna gently grabbed my chin, licked it away, and then kissed me deeply.
“How about ‘take me for a ride, master’?” he murmured against my lips.
I laughed, pulling back and reaching around to slap his ass.
“Let’s ride… buddy.”
The second I climbed onto the back of the Harley, it was almost as if my body forgot the last ten years had ever happened.
Before I’d even had the chance to think about it, my hands were settled around Vienna’s waist, my cheeks pressed against his back, as though it were as natural to me as breathing.
My fingers hooked loosely through the belt loops of his jeans, exactly where they had always been, and my cheek found that familiar place between his shoulder blades that had always been so comforting to me.
This felt like home.
I could inhale deeply, and smell his leather, masculine scent. I could feel the heat of him through his cut, the slight pressure to my cheek as he breathed.
Everything slipped away. The pain, the aches, the bruises. None of it mattered. Not whilst I was on the back of Vienna’s bike and holding him tight.
It was strange, really.
I’d forgotten so much over the years. But I’d never forgotten this. I’d never forgotten the feeling of being so close to him, the weightlessness of racing through the city, the sound of him laughing like he couldn’t stop.
These were memories I’d always treasured. Memories that had kept me going in the darkest of times.
Just me, Vienna, a bike, and miles of road ahead of us.
His hand reached back and squeezed my knee. “You ready, princess?”
“I was born ready.”
He laughed, the sound vibrating through his back and into my chest.
The engine roared to life beneath us, vibrating through every bone in my body, and I couldn’t stop the smile that spread across my face as Vienna rolled us gently through the compound.
We went through the streets we’d walked through yesterday, only this time it felt so much more familiar.
Sunshine was working on a car, his feet sticking out from underneath it as Tools passed him whatever he needed. Monster was washing his bike outside his house, barely looking up at us, simply lifting two fingers from the cloth in greeting before carrying on.
Steph was sitting outside the pet shop with what appeared to be three dogs, a cat and, for reasons I wasn’t entirely sure I wanted explained, a plushie goat wearing a pink collar.
“Do I even want to know?” I shouted to Vienna.
He barked out a laugh and twisted the throttle. “I’m sure it has something to do with Dante. We’ll find out. Hold on tight, princess.”
The compound disappeared behind us, blurring into a kaleidoscope of faces and colours until eventually it made way for the open green of fields and the greys of the concrete streets.
God, I’d missed this.
I’d forgotten how different the world looked from the back of a motorbike. It had been years since I’d felt this free, this… there was no way to explain it. I was just free.
I hadn’t ridden a bike since my dad died, and this was igniting a familiar feeling in my bones, one I’d tried to smother and bury, but one that lived within me and wouldn’t be denied.
Without even realising I was doing it, I tightened my arms around Vienna, sighing deeply in contentment.
His hand immediately left the handlebars for a second to pat mine where they rested across his stomach.
He didn’t say anything. He didn’t need to. His gesture was enough to let me know he understood—just like he always did.
The roads became quieter the further we travelled, Vienna deliberately avoiding the main routes in favour of winding country lanes I’d forgotten even existed.
Until eventually I recognised a few of the twists and realised where he was taking us.
“No,” I breathed, my voice almost stolen by the wind.
The old reservoir.
All those years ago, this had been our place. Not in Rider territory or Devil’s territory. This was a hidden nirvana, nestled away where club rules and regulations didn’t matter.
And whenever life had got too much, too rough, or we needed a break, we ended up here.
Sometimes we’d talk for hours, sometimes we’d say absolutely nothing.
There had been entire evenings where we’d watched the water until the sun had long since disappeared.
Where cloud gazing had turned into star counting, gasping at the shooting stars and marvelling at a universe that made all our problems seem so insignificant.
Vienna slowed the Harley as we approached the familiar lay-by before pulling in, cutting the engine and allowing the sounds of nature to settle around us.
I closed my eyes and listened to it all—the water gently trickling, the wind rustling through the trees, the birds singing, and the crickets chirping.
This was a slice of heaven, a moment frozen in time, as though the last decade had never happened.
I tightened my arms around him even more and kissed between his shoulder blades.
“I can’t believe you brought me here,” I whispered, feeling ridiculously close to tears.
“I can’t believe you’re back,” he said, equally as quiet, sounding equally as close to tears.
And after that, we remained in a comforting silence, letting the years wash away and the dawn of a new beginning settle between us.