CHAPTER FOUR #2
“I need to use the bathroom,” I blurt out, desperate to escape before Eddie approaches. I need a minute to think, to breathe, to figure out what the heck I’m going to do.
Rambler frowns. “We don’t know this area, butterfly.”
With shaking hands, I point to the painted finger on the building with the word Bathroom under it. “It’s around the side of the building.”
He studies my face for a long moment, then reluctantly nods. “Alright, baby. But be quick.”
I nod and slip out from under his arm, hurrying toward the bathroom. I can feel Eddie’s eyes burning into my back as I walk away, my heels clicking rapidly against the pavement. I’m trying not to run, trying not to draw attention, but my heart is racing a mile a minute.
The women’s bathroom is empty when I push through the door. I lock myself in a stall and press my back against the wall, trying to steady my breathing.
This isn’t happening. This can’t be happening.
After months of hiding, of being careful, of looking over my shoulder, what are the freaking odds I’d run into him here?
“Shit!”
I close my eyes. I need to think. I need a plan to get out of here.
Maybe I can convince Rambler and the others that I’m not feeling well and we should leave now, that we need to head back to Jacksonville. But that would only delay the inevitable. Eddie knows where I am now. It’ll only be a matter of time before he shows up in Jacksonville.
“God…” I groan, banging the back of my head on the graffitied blue wall. “What the hell am I going to do?”
My hands are shaking so badly I can barely get my phone out of my pocket. I don’t even know who I’d call. Memphis is my only real friend, and she’s in California with Killer.
Taking a deep breath, I unlock the stall and step out.
Get it together, Savannah.
Going to the sink, I splash some water on my face.
I need to pull myself together before I go back out there.
As I’m washing my hands the bathroom door open behind me.
I glance up in the mirror, half expecting to see Cleo or Demi coming to check on me.
But the man looming in the doorway is no friend of mine.
“Hello, Savannah,” Eddie says, his voice like acid.
I spin around, pressing my back against the sink. “What are you doing in the women’s bathroom?”
He smirks, moving closer. “Is that any way to greet the man you ran out on?”
“I have a restraining order,” I spit, surprising myself.
His face darkens. “You think a fucking piece of paper can keep me away, Savi?”
I swallow hard, fighting the urge to vomit. “What do you want, Eddie?”
“You know what I want.” He’s close enough now that I can smell the alcohol on his breath. “I want what’s mine.”
He reaches out, his fingers grazing my cheek. I flinch away.
“Don’t you fucking get it?” he snarls, getting right up in my face. “You’re my property, Savannah.”
“I’m—” The words die on my lips when the bathroom door bursts open and Rambler appears. His eyes lock on mine then slide over to Eddie before coming back to me. Hot fury etches across his face and like a man possessed, he grabs Eddie by the collar and yanks him away from me.
“Get your fucking hands off her,” Rambler growls, tossing Eddie like a ragdoll.
Eddie stumbles but quickly rights himself, his face twisted in rage. “Who the fuck are you?”
His eyes dart between Rambler and me, then narrow. “This who you’ve been fucking, Savannah?”
I find my voice, anger replacing fear as I step forward. “I don’t belong to anyone, Eddie! Especially not you!”
Rambler’s eyes narrow at the confirmation that I know Eddie.
Eddie lunges toward me again, but Rambler steps between us. His fist connects with Eddie’s jaw with a sickening crack, sending my ex stumbling backwards.
Eddie spits blood onto the floor, his eyes murderous. “You have no idea who you’re messing with, old man. I’m Dirty Devils. You touch me, it’s war.”
“I don’t give a fuck who you are,” Rambler snarls. “You touch her again, and I’ll kill you with my bare fuckin’ hands.”
The door bangs open again, and Klutch, Train, and Morpheus pour in, followed by Chief.
“What the fuck is going on?” Chief asks, his voice deceptively calm as his eyes assess the situation.
“This son of a bitch was fucking with my girl,” Rambler says, not taking his eyes off Eddie.
Eddie straightens his cut, eyes bouncing between the men in the room as he wipes the blood from his mouth. “This ain’t over. Not by a long shot.”
The bathroom door swings open again, and three men wearing Dirty Devils cuts step in. They flank Eddie, eyeing Rambler and the Saints warily.
“Problem, brother?” one of them asks Eddie.
Eddie jerks his chin toward me. “That’s my woman.”
“I’m not your woman,” I snap, my voice stronger than I feel. “I haven’t been for a long time.”
Eddie’s eyes flash dangerously. “You’re mine until I say you’re not.”
The door opens once again, and more men from both clubs squeeze inside the ladies room.
The tension in the air is thick enough to cut with a knife as the two clubs face off.
Chief steps forward, his calm authority diffusing some of the tension. “We don’t want trouble. We’re just here for the run.”
The Dirty Devils president, a massive man with a shaved head and a scar running from his temple to his chin, steps up. “Then keep your boys in check. Eddie says the bitch is his.”
Klutch steps forward, his eyes narrowed to slits. Shit.
Chief’s arm shoots out to stop him. “The girl says differently,” he counters. “And I’m inclined to believe her over the mother fucker who followed her into a women’s bathroom.”
The two presidents stare each other down for what feels like an eternity.
Finally, the Dirty Devils president nods slightly.
“What the fuck?” Eddie shouts, but baldy holds up his hand to silence him.
“We’ll let it go. For now.”
Eddie spits near my feet, his eyes burning with hatred. “You can run, Savannah, but you can’t hide forever.”
His words send ice through my veins.
Rambler’s arm comes around me protectively as Chief announces it’s time to go. “Let’s go, fellas. We’re getting back on the road. Now.”
I feel numb as Rambler guides me out of the bathroom and across the parking lot to his bike. My legs move on autopilot, but my mind is racing.
Eddie knows that I’m with the Saitnts now. It’s only a matter of time until he pops up. And when he does… I’m dead.
Without a word, Rambler puts my helmet on my head, fastens the chin strap. and puts me on the back of his bike. I watch in a daze as he climbs on in front of me. “Hold on tight, butterfly.”
I wrap my arms around his waist, pressing my cheek against his back. We pull out of the parking lot with the rest of the Saints following close behind. I don’t look back, but I know Eddie’s eyes are on us.
We ride for about an hour, my arms clutching Rambler’s waist so tightly my fingers ache. I don’t even know where we’re going, and I don’t care as long as it’s far away from my ex.
When we finally stop at a rest area, I’m still trembling. Rambler helps me off the bike with gentle hands, then leads me over to a picnic table away from the others, his hand steady at the small of my back.
“Want to tell me who that really was?” Rambler asks, his voice surprisingly gentle despite the hardness in his eyes.
I take a deep breath and look around to make sure no one else can hear us. “Eddie. My ex.”
“I gathered that much,” Rambler says, his jaw tightening. “Why are you running from him?”
“He... he hurt me. We met at a bar in Miami. He was nice at first, charming even. But then he changed. Started getting controlling, jealous. I broke up with him, and he showed up at my apartment drunk one night.” I’ve tried so hard to forget that night.
His eyes plead with me to tell him the rest. “Keep going, baby.”
“I told him to leave.” I shrug, like it’s nothing, like it didn’t happen to me. But it did happen to me. “And he hit me. Knocked me unconscious.”
Rambler’s face darkens, his hands curling into fists on the table.
“When I came to, he was... “ I look away, ashamed that I hadn’t seen the signs of who he really was sooner.
“He was on top of me.” Tears pool in my eyes, and my voice breaks.
“He raped me, Rambler. And then he had the balls to tell me it was my fault for upsetting him.” I laugh bitterly, tears streaming down my cheeks.
“Jesus Christ,” Rambler mutters, his knuckles white.
“I knew better than to report him,” I continue, the words spilling out now that I’ve opened the flood gates.
“He’s Dirty Devils. They’d kill me if I went to the cops.
I was going to move—get as far away from Miami as I could, but he came back the next night.
I didn’t open the door, and he threatened to kill me if I didn’t talk to him. ”
Rambler’s fists are balled, his face a mask of fury.
I swallow hard, the memories overwhelming me. “Someone must have called the cops because he took off. And then I ran. I was heading to New York, but my car broke down in Jacksonville.”
“That’s how you ended up at the clubhouse.” His voice is hard.
I shrug. “I didn’t have any money. Nobody to ask for help.”
I can feel the tension rolling off Rambler in waves. His body is shaking. “I’m going to kill that motherfucker!” he suddenly roars, climbing off the table, and moving like he’s ready to get back on his bike and track down my ex.
I grab his hand desperately. “No! You don’t understand. Eddie’s crazy. Like really freaking crazy. He’ll hurt you.”
Rambler cups my face in his large hands, his eyes intense and determined. “You’re coming with me to St. Louis.”
His offer catches me completely off guard. “What?”
“St. Louis,” he repeats. “With me. I can protect you there. He doesn’t know about St. Louis, and even if he finds out, the Bastard Saints will have your back.”
I blink at him, stunned. “You want me to come to St. Louis with you?”
“Yes.” There’s no hesitation in his voice. “I’m not leaving you here so that piece of shit can find you and hurt you again.”
I consider my options quickly. Staying in Jacksonville where Eddie now knows I am is out of the question. I could try to run on my own, but I have no money and nowhere to go.
Or I could go somewhere completely new with this man I barely know, but who makes me feel safer than I have in years.
“Okay,” I hear myself say, surprising us both. “I’ll go with you.”
A look of relief crosses Rambler’s face, and he pulls me against his chest. “Good. We’ll leave tomorrow.”
I close my eyes and breathe him in, wondering what the heck I just agreed to.