Chapter 1 #2
Her back hits the mattress seconds later when I press her down and follow her onto the bed. The room fills with the sound of her laughter turning breathless as my hands slide beneath the thin cotton of my shirt hanging off her body.
“You’re supposed to be the scary biker president now,” she murmurs against my mouth. “Not a maniac.”
“I’m not president yet.”
“You will be.”
Her fingers tangle in my hair as she tugs me back down to her, her voice dropping lower.
“Then you definitely need this.”
The heat between us ignites instantly as she undoes my jeans. Her breath breaks against my neck when I drag my mouth down the curve of her breast.
“Diablo…”
The way she says my name is half warning, half surrender.
My hand slides along her thigh, pushing her panties aside. With no warmup, I shove my cock inside her until she inhales sharply.
“Careful,” she whispers.
“Why?”
“You know why.”
I laugh against her skin.
“Too late.”
She arches beneath my hands, tugging me closer, her voice dropping into a soft breathless murmur.
“Then stop talking.”
I do.
The room fills with the familiar sounds of us in tangled sheets while Miami hums outside the window like the city itself is holding its breath.
She laughs softly against my mouth.
“You’re going to break the bed.”
“Worth it.”
“Idiot.”
She jerks me down into another kiss and murmurs something filthy in Spanish that makes me grin against her lips.
The night blurs into sex, the way our bodies fit together like we’ve been learning each other for years.
Because we have.
Eventually the storm settles.
Spreading dark curls across my chest afterward, her head rests just beneath my collarbone while her fingers trace slow lazy circles against my ribs.
“You’re going to be okay,” she murmurs sleepily.
The quiet faith in her voice twists something sharp inside me.
She still believes in me.
Always has.
I stare at the ceiling for a long moment while the weight of what I have to do presses heavier against my chest.
Finally I sit up and go to the door.
The movement wakes her.
She frowns immediately.
“Diablo?”
Her voice is soft with sleep and trust.
God help me.
The moment stretches between us before I finally speak.
“They’re patching me in,” I breathe.
Pride flickers across her face first. She always believed in me even when I didn’t. Then worry settles deeper.
“That’s dangerous.”
“Yes.”
Her feet hit the floor.
“Then we leave,” she says quickly. “Just for a while. Orlando. Tampa. We can go to my sister’s. Anywhere.”
I shake my head.
Her smile fades as she slowly sits back.
“Diablo?”
“This club comes first.”
She goes still.
“I know that.”
“No,” I hiss. “You don’t.”
I turn away before I say the words that will destroy us.
“I made a deal.”
Silence fills the room.
“With Carmen Solano,” I finish, facing her. “Her father’s bloodline secures the club. I take the seat. I take her hand.”
Darling stares at me like I struck her.
Her voice barely comes out.
“You’re engaged?”
“Yes.”
The silence that follows feels heavier than the entire city.
Then she laughs once.
A sharp broken sound.
“What about us?”
The question lands exactly where I knew it would.
Right in the center of my chest.
I force the lie out anyway.
“There is no us.”
“You don’t mean that.”
I hold her gaze.
“You were just pussy. Something to keep my bed warm while the club figured out its future. Carmen’s my future.”
My words land like a blow.
Her face goes white.
“You’re lying.”
I step forward.
“If that helps you leave faster, believe whatever you want.”
Tears fill her eyes, but she refuses to let them fall.
“Get your things,” I say. “You leave Miami tomorrow.”
She rises slowly from the bed.
“You said you loved me.”
“I say a lot of things when my cock is buried raw.”
The look on her face almost destroys me.
But the club comes first.
It always has.
My throat tightens.
She laughs once, sharp and broken.
I stay where I am. If I move closer, everything inside me will break.
You don’t belong in this world, carino, I say in my head. And I won’t bury you because of it.
Tears flood her eyes.
“You promised.”
“That was before.”
“So that’s it?” she demands. “You just decided I don’t matter anymore?”
I let the lie settle in my chest.
“Yes.”
The pain in her face almost breaks me.
“Get your things,” I repeat. “You leave Miami tomorrow.”
She doesn’t move at first.
I pull cash from my pocket and drop it at her feet.
“For your time. Use it to disappear.”
The sound she makes cuts deep. But she nods once and begins packing silently.
When she reaches the door she pauses.
“If you do this,” she says quietly, “never come looking for me.”
I open the door.
“I won’t.”
My Darling.
Mi carino.
Still she won’t go. I almost break.
“Good riddance to bad rubbish,” I say, instead, twisting the knife.
She walks past me without another word.
Down the stairs.
Out of my life.
An hour later Carmen slips her arm through mine in the clubhouse.
The Saints Outlaws cheer.
Miami crowns its new king.
And the only woman I ever loved disappears into the city.