Chapter 22 （Sage） #2
By the time I woke up, Glock was already awake. He was beside me on the bed with my head on his arm and my hands on his chest. He was looking out of the window and turned when he sensed me moving.
“Good morning, sleepyhead,” he said in a low, hoarse voice, and I smiled at him. Despite everything I had been through the previous day, it still felt like I had the best night’s sleep. I had fallen asleep feeling safe and content, and I had never felt like that before.
Glock looked handsome in the morning light. There was light stubble on his chin, and I couldn’t resist grazing my fingers against its roughness. Glock smiled, caught my fingers and lightly kissed my fingertips.
“What time is it?” I asked him, and we both looked at the clock together. It was eight. I could hear the sound of the kettle going off in the kitchen, which meant that Mom was already awake.
“I hope I don’t alarm Tracy when I go down,” he said with a grin, and I bit down on my lip.
“Stay for breakfast,” I told him, and Glock gulped then started moving his arm away from my head.
“I don’t think I should. I don’t want your mom to get her hopes up,” he said and swung his legs off the bed.
I could feel my heart sinking. I had gotten my hopes up, too.
When I woke up, I couldn’t help but hope that maybe this could mean something, that perhaps we could have a conversation about working our relationship out.
But evidently not. Glock had already made the decision for us.
I fluffed up my pillows and leaned against them while I watched Glock start collecting his discarded clothes off the floor.
“When are you leaving for San Francisco?” he asked, breaking the awkward silence that had descended between us. Suddenly, I felt my mouth grow dry. I had been so happy the previous night, and when I woke up, and now he was making me feel like he couldn’t wait to get out of the door.
“I’m not sure yet. I want to speak to Axel first and ask for his permission to help the girls, at least provide them with some kind of legal assistance,” I said, and I watched as Glock visibly stiffened up.
“I don’t think that would be necessary, Sage. I know what Axel is going to say. He doesn’t want the MC to get involved with anything to do with the law,” he said and slipped his T-shirt back on.
“There’s no harm in speaking to him, is there?” I asked, and Glock averted his eyes from me while he belted his jeans.
“Yes, Sage, there is. The longer you stay here, the more you associate yourself with the Bad Disciples and the more you expose yourself to the wrath of the Dragon Knights,” he said in a firm voice.
He was looking at me with a dark warning in his eyes, too.
For the first time since I had known Glock, it felt like I wouldn’t be able to have my way with him.
I crossed my arms over my chest and stared at him. I still wasn’t wearing any clothes, and I noticed the way Glock’s eyes drifted to my breasts; he gulped then quickly looked away.
“If there is one thing that I know now, after what happened yesterday…it’s that I don’t want another woman to go through what Casey and I went through, and I want those bastards to pay for everything they have done to all those women!
” I barked at him, and Glock took in a deep breath, which made his shoulders square.
He was putting on his leather jacket now, and he nodded his head.
“That is exactly what I want and what my brothers want, too. We don’t need a lawyer for that; we can take care of business ourselves,” Glock stated. He looked angry, his face was darkened, and his eyes were narrowed.
He was ready to leave now, and that sinking feeling in my heart had returned. I didn’t want him to leave; I wasn’t sure when I would see him again.
“Look, Sage. You’re not meant to be here. You’re meant to be back in San Francisco, leading the life you’ve built for yourself. I know you want to do the right thing for your hometown, but trust me, you can’t help,” Glock said, and he was walking around to my side of the bed.
I could feel the hot tears pricking the backs of my eyelids again.
“I should go now, and you should finalize your plans of going back to San Francisco. I’ll try and convince Tracy to join you soon.
Sell the house, do whatever it takes, just remember that this place is not meant for you,” he said, and then he lightly stroked the top of my head, like he was petting a dog.
“What about you?” I asked him with a trembling lip.
“This is where I’m supposed to be, where I was always supposed to be. I’m happy here,” he said, and then stuffing his hands into the pockets of his jacket, Glock walked to the door of my bedroom and opened it. He turned to look at me again, and this time it seemed like he was really drinking me in.
“Text me when you know when you’re leaving. I’ll come over, and we can say our goodbyes,” he said, and before I even had a chance to respond, Glock had walked out of my room and shut the door behind him.
I sank back into bed, covering my face with my hands as the tears started flowing again. Just like that, Glock had made the decision that we couldn’t have a relationship. He had decided it for me, and I couldn’t blame him. Ten years ago, I had done the same thing to him.
It wasn’t until two hours later that I was ready to leave my bedroom. I didn’t want Mom to see me in my sorry state, and most of all, I wanted to avoid the volley of questions that I was sure she had for me. She had no doubt met Glock when he was leaving the house that morning.
I showered, changed, made myself presentable and hoped that Mom would just give me space. I had just slipped on my plaid shirt when there was a knock on my door.
“Sage, honey, are you up?” it was Mom’s voice, and I rolled my eyes. I had spent the past ten years living by myself, and I was yet to adjust to living with my mother again, no matter how short my stay here was.
“Yes, Mom. I’ll be down in a couple of minutes,” I called out to her as I strapped my wristwatch on.
“Okay, there are some people here to see you,” she said.
“People? What people?” I asked, but I could already hear the sound of Mom’s descending footsteps on the stairs. Who could possibly be here to see me? I didn’t know anybody in Long Beach anymore.
Suddenly, I was gripped with panic. Was it the Dragon Knights? Had they come to threaten me? Kidnap me? Hurt my mom? I grabbed my cellphone in my hand, ready to call Glock, and I left the room.
As I descended the stairs, I could hear the chuckle and the high-pitched voices of women. My brows were still crossed; I was confused.
The voices were coming from the kitchen, and when I walked in, I found seven women in my mom’s tiny kitchen.
Mom was happily in the process of supplying each of them with mugs of coffee.
A plate of cookies was already plonked down on the kitchen table, and they had made themselves comfortable around it.
The women comprised Brooklyn, Kylie, Noelle, Casey and a few others from the Bad Disciples’ warehouse. I was as shocked to see them there in our kitchen as they were happy to see me.
“Sage!” Casey squealed with joy and rushed over to give me a tight hug.
She looked much healthier this morning just after one night’s sleep.
She had a fresh set of clothes on, none of that garish makeup and looked suddenly well fed.
It was amazing what one night in a safe, happy place could do to a tortured soul.
“Hi, guys,” I said, gushing. I could feel my cheeks burning up in confusion and joy.
“We were just telling your mom what an inspiration you are to us,” Brooklyn said and smiled at my mother, who set the last of the coffee mugs on the kitchen table and dusted her hands.
“I know she is. She is an amazing daughter,” Mom said, beaming at me. “I’m going to leave you girls to it. Call me if you need more coffee or anything,” she said in a happy cheery voice then left the room.
The women were all waiting for my mom to leave the kitchen before they pounced on me.
They were hugging me, shaking my hand and eventually, made me sit at the table.
“We just wanted to stop by and personally thank you for what you did last night for Casey,” one of the girls, named Martha, said.
“Oh, you didn’t have to. I did what anyone of you would have done,” I replied, still feeling overwhelmed by this shower of attention and praises.
“No, Sage, you went out there by yourself and put your life at risk for one of us,” Noelle said and rubbed my back affectionately. Casey was gazing starry-eyed at me, like I was her savior.
“If anyone needs to be thanked, it is Glock and the others. They are the ones who rescued both of us and killed the Dragon Knights’ leader,” I said, and the women looked at each other and smiled.
“Oh, they’ve been thanked enough, but you, Sage, are an outsider. You didn’t think twice before going out there. Anything could have happened, and it was a huge risk,” Kylie said, beaming at me, and I could feel myself blushing.
“Well, you’re very welcome, and I would do it again if it has to be done,” I said, and Casey crouched down in front of me, placing her hands on my knees.
“I know you will, Sage, which is why I trust you to handle my case. The girls have been saying that you’re a lawyer, and you want to help us build a case against the Dragon Knights,” Casey said, and I could feel my heart beating fast. This was the last thing I expected - for the women to come to my house to thank me then ask me to take them on as clients!
“I don’t know if I can do that without permission from Axel and the others,” I said and looked up at the faces of Brooklyn, Kylie and Noelle, who were all smiling.
“We’ve spoken to Axel already; he wants to speak with you personally, but we’ve convinced him that this is the right thing to do,” Noelle told me, and I was shocked again. It was just one surprise after another!
“You’ve spoken to Axel already?” I asked, and Brooklyn crinkled her brows.
“Yeah, didn’t Glock tell you? He wants to see you to discuss it,” she said, and I licked my lips.
Glock had told me the exact opposite, and I knew exactly why he had done that.
He was desperate to keep me safe, even if it meant losing me.
How did he not know that I wasn’t safe anywhere else other than with him?
“Sage, please say that you’ll help us?” Casey urged me, and I looked at her with a smile on my face.
“Well, I guess I should go and talk to Axel then,” I said, and she jumped up to hug me, along with the others. I had never felt needed like this before, and I was happy.