15. Rory
RORY
Ihad a bad dream that had to be what my life was at the moment.
My body trembled as everything that had happened over the last twelve hours flooded my mind.
Guilt consumed me as I reflected on the havoc I caused Aasim.
A chance meeting at a bar turned into him saving my life more than once.
In the span of twelve hours, he killed three men to protect me.
Who knew how many more people he would have to kill?
Just the thought of him putting his life at risk made me sick to my stomach.
We both walked away alive tonight, but what if things didn’t turn out in our favor?
Just the thought of the what ifs sent chills down my spine.
While I hid inside the closet, I had to bury my face in my hands to keep quiet.
The longer I sat in the closet, the more afraid I became.
I listened to the gunshots ring out for what felt like forever.
My stomach knotted each time I no longer heard the gunfire.
My mind immediately thought the worst. When Aasim walked into the closet and wrapped his arm around me, relief came over me in a way I could never imagine.
I had never been so happy to see anyone before in my life.
I looked over at him while he drove us to the clubhouse.
While my eyes were damn near swollen shut from crying, he sat stone faced without any emotion.
I shook my head in disbelief at how everything played out.
When we met, I just knew Aasim was bad news.
Now here I am, bringing nothing but stress and turmoil into this man’s life.
I spent days talking myself into believing that my job was so important.
After all I’d been through over the last twelve hours it may be time for me to give up on practicing criminal law.
The sight of Danny’s dead body kept coming to mind.
There was no way I could ever go back to that job now.
As I sat in that closet, I thought about everything that led me to that place.
Every case I ever tried replayed in my mind.
I chose this career path to help people that would be wrongly convicted, but I found myself defending people on the wrong side of the law.
I had to do something to get me back to my why because this couldn’t be my life.
When all of this was over, I would do what I always wanted to do.
If I had never taken this job, I wouldn’t have met Devin. Then I wouldn’t be in this predicament.
As I continued to watch Aasim navigate the empty road, I held my breath.
Every few seconds, he checked the car mirrors for potential danger.
While he didn’t show it, I knew he blamed himself.
I caused all of this, but he would blame himself.
He was so concerned with making sure I didn’t fall apart after watching him kill Danny that I threw off his routine.
Since we met, he did the same thing, whether we drove the truck or were on the bike.
He always checked his surroundings. The ride to his home in Westchester was the only time he spent the drive staring at me.
When we got out of the car at the clubhouse, I hesitated. I worried about how his brothers felt about all of this. The moment I saw Gavin and Jaxx, my stomach dropped. I didn’t know what to expect.
When I got out of the car, Gavin spoke to me first. “Sis, you good? Y’all sound like it’s been a long night.”
“I’m good. Thanks for asking,” I replied. I was relieved when Gavin called me sis. Aasim never made me doubt his feelings for me. With Gavin and Jaxx embracing me, I knew none of them blamed me for this.
I followed the men into the meeting room. Aasim told them the details of everything that had happened. Inside, I cringed as I relived my night as if I didn’t experience it firsthand.
Jaxx spoke up. “I can’t believe Dez’s punk ass is behind all of this. Don’t worry, sis. We’re gonna handle that for you. You’re family, and we look out for our family. He extended his hand to me. The gesture made me smile.
I felt my eyes water as he called me sis. As I let go of Aasim’s hand, I noticed the softness in his eyes at that moment. I balled up my fist to meet Gavin’s awaiting fist and gave him a dap. Their acceptance of me was important. They were his people, so what they thought mattered to me.
“Yeah. Dez got the one up on us once. Once we get him, he’ll wish he stayed in prison,” Gavin said.
His reassurance was as comforting as Aasim’s.
They weren’t blood-related, but still brothers in every sense of the word.
These men took care of each other, and now, they pledged the same level of care to me.
They stood here, willing to risk their freedom to keep me safe because of their love for their brother. The sentiment warmed my heart.
This feeling of brotherhood and family was what my uncle always bragged about.
Now that I could see it firsthand, I completely understood why he wouldn’t tell on his brothers, even though keeping that secret meant he was taken from us prematurely.
The oath he took and the relationships he built outside of his blood family were just as important.
My eyes watered as I remembered Uncle Al.
He would have loved Aasim and the fellas.
“You good?” Aasim whispered in my ear.
“Yeah. I’m just tired. Can we go get some sleep?”
“Alright, y’all. Let me get my ol’ lady to bed. I’ll get up with y’all in the morning to finalize everything, ya dig?” Aasim said as he stood up and pulled up his jeans.
He grabbed my hand and led me to the back of the club, where he had a room.
It was nothing fancy, but the bed had a pillowtop mattress.
I didn’t think I would get to sleep. On a normal night sleep usually found me easily when I was wrapped in Aasim’s arm.
I needed that feeling of comfort more than ever tonight.
“Aasim, I’m scared. What if Dez comes at us when we aren’t expecting it? What if something happens to one of us or Gavin or Jaxx? I would never forgive myself,” I blurted out.
“Shhh. That’s enough. You leave all the worrying about what happens to Dez to me.
You heard Jaxx; he caught us slipping. It won’t happen again.
Now that I know he thinks he has the upper hand, I’ll come up with a plan.
Why don’t you tell me what you plan to do once we take care of him?
” Aasim asked as he wiped the tears that had fallen from my eyes.
I chuckled at his subtle approach at changing the subject. “I see what you did there. Let’s see, how about a vacation? You, me, and pure white sand under the hot sun sounds like the perfect way to forget about all of this.”
“Then that’s exactly what we’ll do, sweetheart. Right now, I want to hold you in my arms until I hear you snore.”
“You know damn well I don’t snore.”
“You do, but it’s a cute snore. It’s not like a bear snore, you know?” Aasim teased as he kissed my forehead and turned off the light.