Free Beneath His Ink (Highway Reapers Motorcycle Club Book 3) by Sophia Hampton

his face almost broke her heart but she’d been told things that he couldn’t know until later. She sucked at keeping secrets, so the best way for her to keep them would be to be quiet or at least not talk about what was going on in her head, but she couldn’t let him think she somehow doubted him or regretted anything they’d done.
     
    He pulled up at Haymaker’s, and she knew this place from her previous days trying to score drugs before her incarceration. She didn’t know if they were supposed to be going inside or if they were going to duke this out in the parking lot. Tyson picked a parking spot furthest away from the door, and then they waited. It didn’t take long before they heard what sounded like bees swarming closer and closer. There had to be over twenty motorcycles that parked in a row close to the car.
     
    “Stand as close to the door as you get and jump in and go if things get crazy. I’m leaving the keys in the ignition and the car on.” Tyson looked tense, and she was starting to feel how serious this was. It didn’t feel like a drop and go, but what else could they have wanted.
     
    They both got out of the car at the same time, but she tried to stay close to the door like Tyson told her to.
     
    “Here you go,” Tyson was trying to get this over with, she knew he was, but there was no way it was going to work.
     
    Stephen watched her like he knew her personally, and she didn’t think she’d seen him before. “Why so shy, Ella? Come on over here.” The man crooned like they were on a first date not like they were practically being held hostage.
     
    “She’s fine where she is,” Tyson said in the calm voice she loved so much. He seemed jittery in the house and during the car ride, but he sounded like there was no problem now. She knew him well enough she could tell there was a lot going on under the surface.
     
    “You think this all was about the money, Tyson? I’ve been into our Ella here for a long time.” The man walked closer to her, and she began to feel a bit of fear. What the hell was this guy talking about?
     
    “I don’t think we’ve met,” she said trying to give the police a few more minutes to get here because Tyson was right; something was going down.
     
    “You may not remember me, but I was at your trial and I saw the way you got railroaded for something you didn’t do. I apologize for that. On that day I decided I was going to take over this club and make some changes. The guys who let you fall for that are no longer with us. I took care of them for you.”
     
    This man had more than a few screws loose, and it looked like he wanted her to thank him for killing the people who set her up. There wasn’t a hallmark card for that she was sure, and she didn’t know what to say. “Ummmm, thanks?”
     
    “Everyone wanted to know why Bruce had to be taken care of, and that was because he gave you a job and then lost you. He was supposed to tell you that you could have a job at the club, but instead he told you to find a guy he couldn’t find.” Stephen was close enough to grab her if he wanted, and she took her eyes off him to see that Tyson had been grabbed and was struggling with about 5 men.
     
    “Look, I don’t know what this is about, but Tyson and I just wanted to drop off the money and be done with this. We don’t want any trouble.” She thought that was going to make the situation better, but the look in his eyes got more deranged if that was possible.
     
    “So you’re with him, now?” Stephen took turns looking between the two of them.
     
    It was like the whole world stopped. She looked over at the love of her life and knew that if she gave the answer her heart wanted, that might be the end of him. The word “no” was coming from her mouth, but she could feel her head nodding yes. Fuck. She was not good at telling lies, but now it was life or death.
     
    Stephen picked her up and carried her to his bike, and she couldn’t fight hard