Chapter 9
Chapter Nine
Reina
“ R eina, come on. Wake up,” Ink crooned in my ear. His voice was low and gravelly, husky with sleep.
“What?” I mumbled, slowly ripping my eyes open to stare up at him. He knew how much I hated being woken up, and I was so comfortable . And he had been so warm .
“I need to get to the clubhouse, and I need to get you home. Come on, sweetheart,” he coaxed.
I groaned, not wanting to leave this sanctuary with him, but I was beginning to learn that when the club called, Ink went.
It was what you did for family, and for Ink, that club was family.
Ink stood and helped me up from the ground before snatching up the blanket. With his hand on my lower back, he led me over to his bike. I was still pretty tired, so he helped strap the helmet to my head before sitting down, straddling the machine so I could get on behind him.
When he got me home, he carried me inside up to my room and tucked me into bed. I swooned and smiled. Ink couldn’t be more incredible and sweeter, even if he tried. “Call me if you need me,” he said softly, pressing a kiss to my forehead.
I just sleepily smiled wider and nodded my head, mumbling something along the lines of “be careful,” before I fell asleep.
“Reina, get the door!” Dad shouted from his office, rousing me from my nap on the couch.
With a groan and a muttered curse, I slid off the couch and padded barefoot to the front door. I hadn’t seen Ink in a couple of days—not since my graduation. He said he was tied up with something with the club, so I knew it wasn’t him at the door. Besides, he would have just walked right in anyway.
I swung open the front door, not even bothering to look through the peephole.
And my face paled at the sight of the person standing on the porch.
“Jordan?” I whispered, completely shocked and blown away by his presence. He was just standing there like he hadn’t left without a word except for a fucking note, like he hadn’t just been gone for two fucking years.
“Reina, baby, let me explain,” Jordan pleaded.
Anger rolled through me. It happened so fast that it made me slightly dizzy. “Explain what ?” I seethed. “You got what you wanted from me, and you left . That’s all the fucking explanation I need from you, Jordan.”
“Ink set me up,” he blurted when I got ready to slam the door shut in his face. I stopped, looking up at him again. He was looking at me imploringly, like he was begging me to believe him—to trust him.
But Ink wouldn’t have set my boyfriend up, would he? He wasn’t that kind of guy. He wouldn’t hurt me just because of some brotherly feud.
Then again, both he and Johnny hated Jordan’s guts for reasons I never understood.
“I’m listening,” I gritted, crossing my arms over my chest like it would serve as a barrier between Jordan and my heart.
“I overheard Ink on the phone with one of the guys from the club. He found out I was going to a party—they set me up with drugs. There were underage girls there.” When I clenched my jaw in disgust, he quickly rushed out, “Reina, I never touched anyone there; I swear. I love you, baby. I didn’t know those girls were there until the cops showed up.”
Fuck, my heart . I was a sucker for his terms of endearment.
“I had known for a while that Ink was trying to do something to me; I just didn’t know what. But I wanted my brother back. We used to be so close, Reina.” He sighed, sadness clouding his eyes. My heart clenched for him. “But Ink was jealous because you fell for me instead of him. He turned everyone against you, sent me to prison, and I’m sure he’s been acting like your knight in shining armor while I’ve been gone.”
I wanted to cry. Everything Jordan said was on point.
“Then, why did you go?” I asked him. Why in the hell didn’t he call me? Why didn’t he explain what he was doing? Why did he just leave a note and then disappear?
“Because I wanted to show my brother that what you and I have together is real, baby.” Tears blurred my vision. “I wanted to prove to him that our love can withstand the test of time, and it can also make it through anything.”
I launched myself into his arms, crying against his chest. He held me close, gently rocking me side to side. “God, I missed you, babe.” I hiccupped, crying too hard to speak. “I want you to come with me. We’ll get the fuck out of this little hick town. You can live with me until you start college. You won’t have to deal with your mom anymore nor your asshole of a dad, and you won’t have your brother breathing down your neck. It can just be you and me, babe. You can be free .”
Oh, God , I wanted that so badly.
And I wanted to be with Jordan even more. I had missed him like crazy.
And Ink. God, I couldn’t believe him !
“I’ll come with you,” I told him. I didn’t even have to think about it. I had nothing here. My brother and Ink had done this fucked up shit behind my back, and they had both watched me suffer for it.
Jordan pressed a kiss to my lips. My soul melted. “Can you come back in a couple of hours and pick me up?”
Jordan smiled. “Of course, I can, babe.” He kissed me again, deeper this time, like he used to before he got locked up. “I love you.”
My heart warmed. “I love you, too.”
“What the fuck are you doing?” Johnny demanded when he stopped in my doorway.
“I’m leaving,” I told him, keeping my back to him, suddenly nervous to have this conversation. Johnny had a mean temper, and though he had never physically hurt me, that didn’t mean that he wouldn’t emotionally.
His words could leave scars.
“Leaving?” he quietly seethed. “With who? Because I know it’s not Ink. He just got back in town. Passed him on my way here.”
I swallowed thickly, finally turning to face him. “With Jordan.”
Johnny was silent. It was a deadly kind of silence that had fear slithering through my veins. My heart knocked around hard behind my breastbone, sucking the air from my lungs.
I was terrified of his reaction.
“Ink’s brother?” Johnny finally asked. I nodded. “He’s finally out?” I nodded again.
Johnny scoffed. He looked defeated, and it tore at my soul. “Johnny?—”
“Nah,” he cut me off, shaking his head. “You want to go with him? Fucking fine. Go. Ruin your goddamn life, Reina, because you ride off with him? That’s exactly what you’re doing.” I flinched and swallowed thickly. “I’m done trying to save you. I’m done taking care of you.” His words hurt . “You’re grown now. Figure this shit out yourself. But you leave here? I’ll make sure you’re never welcome back in Hope again.”
With that, he turned on his heel and jogged down the stairs. A few minutes later, I heard Dad yelling. I swallowed thickly when I heard his expensive shoes storming up the stairs.
“You’re leaving?” he demanded, his big frame taking up my doorway.
I tightened my grip on the shirt in my hand. “Yes,” I answered, my voice coming out much steadier than I felt.
Dad narrowed his eyes at me. There was no disappointment. No anger. Just cold indifference. And that cut more than anything else he could have done or said to me.
“If you leave with him, you are never welcome in this house again, you hear me? I’d rather you be with that biker boy than be with him,” Dad snarled.
With that, he stormed down the stairs.
Mom was the hardest to face.
She actually emerged from her room as Jordan came to pick me up the next morning. I hadn’t heard from Ink. So, either Johnny hadn’t informed him yet, or if he had, Ink was now ignoring me.
But I was still determined to go see him before I left town. I still needed him. He was my rock.
“Don’t go,” Mom pleaded, breaking my heart. “He’s bad for you, Reina. You’re my baby, and I can’t stand to see him hurt you.”
Tears welled in my eyes. For most of my life, Mom had never made an effort. It was rare that she did. She just couldn’t ever bring herself to. What about when I’d needed her? What about all those times she’d hurt me? But I didn’t voice any of that.
“I love him,” I told her. Her face fell. “I’m leaving with him, Mom. I need to get out of here, and he loves me, too.”
“Baby, please,” she pleaded.
I shook my head, looking over when Jordan cleared his throat, clearly ready to go. I stepped back, afraid if I hugged my mother goodbye, I would crumble.
Jordan pressed a kiss to my temple as he grabbed my bag from me. “Come on, babe. We’ve got a long drive ahead of us.”
I drew in a deep breath, and ignoring my mother’s pleading behind me, I left.