Free Beneath the Fire (A Guardians Novella) by Victoria Paige Page B

how much you love each other. If you don’t love each other enough, this job will tear you apart. It takes a very strong person to be with someone like us. And it comes down to what one can live with and what one cannot live without.”
    “My relationship with Lucy was built on a lie,” Nathan said. “I’m afraid the reality of what I do for a living will catch up with her and drive her away.”
    “That’s not true, Nathan. You all may have started on a deception, but when the feelings came, they were real, weren’t they?”   Maia said  
    “Absolutely.”
    “Then don’t give up,” Maia said. “After seeing what Lucy was able to do tonight, do you still think she couldn’t hack this kind of life? That girl is hell on wheels.”
    “Don’t remind me,” Nathan muttered. “I clenched my jaw so hard when she did that 180, I thought it would break.”
    “See, that’s the problem with Jack too,” Maia said. “He knows what I’m capable of, but he treats me like I’m made of crystal. If you loved Lucy a little less, maybe you’d understand her a little more.”
    “How in the world can you tell yourself how much to love a person?” Nathan scoffed.
    “Hey! Don’t get all riled up, I was just saying,” Maia retorted. “Believe me if the situations were reversed between Jack and myself, I would be reacting exactly the same way he does.”
    Just then a group of bikers roared up on their Harleys. Nathan felt every muscle in his body turn rigid as Maia turned rock solid beside him too.  
    “I’ll go get the girls,” Maia murmured, making her way to the convenience store.
    “Hey cherry pie!” One of the bikers called after her. She ignored the man and pushed the door into the shop open.  
    Grinning like an ass, the biker turned his attention to Nathan. “Is she yours, boy?”
    The biker was a big guy. Fierce-looking face with a scar crossing one side of his cheek. He was wearing leather cuts dotted with the patches of his motorcycle club and his body was covered in tattoos.  
    Lucy came out with some of the girls.
    “They’re mine,” Nathan said, walking up to Lucy and grabbing her hand. She looked up at him questioningly before becoming aware of the group of bikers that had their malicious gazes fixed on the women leaving the convenience store. Maia brought up the rear. Leo and the other three men hurried alongside the women and formed a protective circle around them.
    There was a burst of laughter from the newcomers. “Looks like you crashed and burned again, Scar.”
    “Well, a man’s got to try with pussy that sweet looking.”
    Nathan felt his face heat up as he and Leo made a move to confront the men. Maia rushed in front to stop them.
    “Not worth it, Stark, Cortez,” she hissed.
    “Listen to Maia, boys,” Lucy whispered fearfully.
    “A real man ain’t letting bitches tell him what to do,” Scar continued taunting the group. “How about it cherry pie? Back of my bike, I’ll show you a good time, darlin’.”
    “I’ll pass,” Maia said dryly.
    There was another roar of laughter from the bikers. Nathan’s group successfully made their way back to their vehicles without further incident, but he noted that there were fourteen bikers and he had clocked a couple of them with firearms.
    He had a bad feeling about this.

    ***
    It was a few more hours before they made it into Monterrey. Lucy texted Eva that they were on their way to the motel where she had checked into. Lucy zipped the car into an empty parking space right in front of her friend’s room. The curtain in the room pulled back and the door burst open. Eva streaked through, her face looking pinched and pale, her eyes bloodshot like she had been crying.  
    Lucy got out of the car and the two girls ran into each other, hugging tightly.
    “I was so scared for all of you,” Eva sobbed into her hair. “Let’s not do this again, OK?”  
    Nathan exited the car and observed the girls across the roof. “Hi Eva.”
    Eva's