Chapter 19
Chapter Nineteen
Lacey
I don’t move right away. Not even after the door slams behind him like a gunshot, rattling the walls and what’s left of my damn composure. The warmth of his body is still on my skin, but he’s gone, and the shift is immediate. Cold. Crushing.
My heart is beating too fast in my chest like it’s trying to outrun the storm that just blew through the room. When I do move, it’s to drag on the nearest clothes I can find, yesterday’s jeans, and the black tee he flung at me. His tee.
I want to chase after him. To make him hear me out. There’s so much I need to tell him but he wouldn’t hear me anyways. Not with the rage burning in his veins right now.
I sit on the edge of the bed, my heart may be hammering, but my body is still humming from his touch and now it all feels like I imagined the tenderness in his touch, the way his voice went quiet when he admitted he was scared too.
I stare at the door like he might come back through it and say he overreacted. But deep down, I know better.
There’s a soft knock, then the door creaks open and Emery slips inside before I have the chance to gather myself completely. She doesn’t ask permission. She doesn’t have to. One look at me and she knows I’m holding it together by the thinnest thread.
Zoey follows, with Marianna behind her, both of them wide-eyed and tight-lipped. We don’t need to speak right away. The tension in the air is still lingering heavy and electric.
“What happened?” Emery finally asks, crouching in front of me.
I give her the short version. The bullet. The threat. That she didn’t even know about. The way Aero looked at me like I’d just confirmed every worst-case scenario in his head.
Zoey curses under her breath. Marianna sits on the edge of the bed and grabs my hand.
“Are you okay?” she asks.
“I’m scared of what he’s going to do about it, but mostly I’m scared that I fucked it all up.” I say quietly. “I’ve never seen that look in his eyes before.”
They nod like they understand. Emery squeezes my knee.
“He’s not the type to leave things half done.”
“No,” I say. “He’s not.”
“He’s not mad at you,” Marianna says after a beat. “You know that, right?”
“I know,” I whisper. “He’s mad because he cares. And that scares the hell out of him.”
“He loves you,” Zoey adds, even though I didn’t ask.
“I don’t know about that.” I admit, “He won’t let himself, not fully anyways.”
We sit in silence after that. Waiting. Listening for the sound of boots on the stairs.
Mostly I’m wondering if Aero is ever coming back.
My stomach knots tighter with every passing minute that feels like an eternity.
My thoughts wander around my tired brain.
Should I have told him sooner? Does he believe I didn’t intend to keep it from him?
Did I fuck this up before it even had a chance?
Suddenly the door flies open, jerking me from my thoughts and making Zoey jump back, startled. Aero storms in like a hurricane of fury. His eyes lock onto me. His jaw is tight, and his eyes are darker than I’ve ever seen.
He heads straight for my closet without a word, grabbing my duffel from the top shelf and yanking it open. The girls scramble to their feet as my clothes hit the bed in handfuls.
“What the hell are you doing?”
He doesn’t answer, he just keeps shoving T-shirts, jeans, bras, whatever he gets his hands on into the bag.
“What the hell are you doing?” I demand, pushing off the bed and blocking his path.
“Packing your stuff.” he snaps. “You’re leaving.”
“Like hell I am.” I cross my arms over my chest.
He stops, looks at me without even a flicker of emotion cracking the surface. “You think I’m giving you a choice right now?”
“You think I’m gonna just leave?” My voice shakes, but I don’t care.
“No. I think you’re gonna leave because I’m telling you to.” His voice is cold as ice and the rage in his eyes earlier has turned to steel.
“Where the hell am I going?”
“Lacey, don’t fight me on this.” Lacey. Not Bambola. I swallow hard as the realization that he means it hits me in the chest. “Cobra is expecting you at the KDMC clubhouse this evening.
“You called my brother?”
“I did. And when I told him what happened he put a damn clock on your ass. So get your shit together. You don’t have a lot of time.”
“I can’t believe you.”
“Believe it. Clocks ticking. You’ve got three hours.”
“Why are you doing this?” His jaw ticks, but still he shows no real emotion. Just that blank, hard stare.
“Because it’s not safe for you here.” He states like it’s an undeniable truth.
“Are you sending them away too? Emery, Zoey?” I turn to look in their direction and find them gone. Maybe that’s for the best. This is between Aero and I. “Or is it just me?”
His silence is answer enough. I open my mouth to fire back, to claw at the control he’s trying to yank from me.
I want to scream. I want to throw shit. Most of all I want to cry but I refuse to act like a spoiled child when I need him to see me as a woman strong enough to handle what comes with being his.
Instead I snap my mouth shut. What more can I really say. He’s the President of the club and if he wants me gone, I’m as good as gone already.
I don’t say anything to Aero, I don’t even look at him again. I zip the bag myself and walk out of the room like my chest isn’t splitting open with every step.
When I reach the bottom of the stairs, I find the rest of the club members lurking around like they aren’t sure what they should be doing right now.
Emery’s eyes go wide when she spots the bag slung over my shoulder.
She approaches me fast, drawing me into a tight hug that wretches my heart even more.
Not only am I being sent away from Aero, I’m being sent away from my best friend and our plans.
“We’ll talk every day.” Emery whispers like she’s also holding back tears. “Be careful.”
Marianna hugs me next, “Keep in touch.”
Zoey squeezes my hand and says, “You’ll be back in no time.”
I smile through the ache. “I’ll call you when I get there.”
I hug the girls one last time, their arms all wrapping around me at once like anchors.
The moment splinters as Aero steps up beside me, his jaw clenched, his shoulders tight, and ice rolling off him in waves.
His hand finds my lower back. His touch isn’t gentle, but it’s not cruel either, just firm. A silent command to move.
Aero leads me out of the clubhouse in silence, although it’s the last thing I want to do. The duffel bag’s digging into my shoulder, packed by hands that once held me like I was something worth losing. Now it feels like I’m being tossed aside.
A prospect leans against the old club van idling at the curb, glancing nervously toward Aero. The ugly, gray one with the dented bumper and rust down the side.
“Don’t stop for anything. Not snacks, not a fucking pee break. If you lose a tire, you push the damn thing. You don’t let her out of your sight until Cobra’s got her.”
The kid nods like his life depends on it. “Yes, sir.”
“You coward.” I stop in my tracks “You're not even taking me yourself?”
The prospect's eyes flicker toward me like he’s not sure whether to feel sorry for me or terrified.
“Get in the van, Lacey.”
“I’m not getting in the van.” I feel sorry for the kid. I don’t even remember his name. Not that it matters anyways. I know Aero picked someone who wouldn’t hesitate to take a bullet before letting me out of his sight.
“The longer you're seen with me the more danger you’re in.” Aero doesn’t look at me. Not even a glance. He’s standing stiff as stone, his arms crossed over his chest. “Now get in the van.”
I shift the bag higher on my shoulder, my feet crunching over gravel as I start to move again.
Before I climb into the passenger seat, I risk a glance back. Aero’s face is a fortress. Cold. Shut down. Like last night never happened. Like I didn’t fall asleep against his chest and wake up to find everything ripped out from under me.
“Tell me something, Aero. Do you love me?” I ask, heart punching against my ribs.
His jaw ticks. His fingers curl into fists at his sides. “Dammit Lacey, clocks ticking.”
“Then answer me.”
“You know I want you but it’s not safe for you to be with me.” His eyes meet mine for a brief second.
“Yeah I’ve heard that before every time you get me in bed. You want me, you need me, but do you love me.” His jaw flexes, and for a heartbeat, I think he might give me something, anything. Instead he draws his hand down his reddened face and shakes his head.
“No.”
One word. Cold. Brutal. And it carves a hole through my chest like a blade.
I nod, because what else can I do? Tears burn hot at the back of my eyes, but I won’t let them fall. Not in front of him.
“Fucking liar.” I whisper loud enough for only him to hear and I climb into the van. The door slams shut behind me, and I don’t say a damn word as the engine kicks to life beneath us. But as we drive away, I let one single tear slip free. just one. The only one he gets.
The road hums beneath the tires, a low, steady vibration that does nothing to drown out the chaos in my chest. I sit with my hands fisted in my lap, staring out the grimy window as the clubhouse fades from view.
My throat burns with the scream I won’t let out. My heart is breaking in slow, vicious increments, and still, I don’t make a sound. Because if I do, I’ll unravel.
Everything has changed in the last seventy-two hours and he doesn’t even know. Hell I haven’t even come to terms with it but it’s the reason I fought so damn hard to stay.
I should have told him. Maybe then he wouldn’t be shoving me out of his world like a fucking castoff. Maybe he wouldn’t be standing in the rearview mirror acting like I meant nothing.
I curl tighter around myself, my fingers clenched so hard my nails bite into my skin.
What the hell do I do now?
I rest my forehead against the window, the cool glass shocking against my overheated skin. Another tear slips loose before I can stop it, carving a line through the salt already drying on my cheek.
It’s not for him. It’s not for me. It’s for the piece of him growing inside me that didn’t ask for any of this.