“It’s not complicated because we aren’t together,” I say.
“When I asked you before, you told me it was complicated,” Anna says accusingly.
I’d said that to stop conversations like this. I don’t want to go into details about why I keep Bonnie around. “I’m telling you we’re not together. End of.”
“What about Ziggy’s mom?” asks Eva, and Anna nudges her hard and scowls. “What?” laughs Eva.
“Stop being nosey,” says Anna.
“Now, that is complicated,” I say. “And you don’t like complicated, do you, Anna? So, there’s no point in me telling you.” I grab my kutte. “I have shit to do. Are you gonna be okay?” Anna nods. “I’ll send someone to get you tomorrow, around two p.m.” She stares at me blankly. “For the party. Bring Miss Nosey too,” I say, nodding at Eva.
Anna follows me to the door. “Thanks, and I’m sorry about Eva. She believes in love and romance and all that bollocks.”
I turn to face her. We’re inches apart and I watch the way her tongue runs across her lower lip. “Do you believe in it?” I whisper, but she shakes her head. “Pity,” I add, and then I kiss her lightly on the head. It feels like such a natural thing to do that it’s only when I step outside that I register the shock on her face.
When I get to The Windsor, Cree is in my pops’ corner, so I go to him. “You find anything out?” I ask. He nods and then offers me the bottle of bourbon. I drink straight from the bottle. “Okay, hit me with it.”
“It’s Reggie for sure. The dead kid, the break-in at Anna’s— he knew about that guy and Anna going out on a date, so he took the guy’s nephew out.”
I give a low whistle. “Fuck. Extreme.”
“For sure. He isn’t kidding. He wants us to send Anna back to his side of the tracks.”
I shake my head, because there’s no way that’s happening. “What is it with this woman, Riggs? You fucking her?”
“No. Honestly, brother, I don’t know what it is, but I’m not sending her back to him. Did you find out when the injunction runs out?”
Cree takes a drink from the bottle and hands it back to me. “Yep. You ain’t gonna like it. The judge granted it for three months. Long enough for Anna to find somewhere else to live. It runs out next month. After then, he can turn up at her house and she can’t stop him. It also means the visiting with his kid at the safe centre will come to an end. Do you think she knows all this?”
I rub my beard and sigh. “I don’t know, brother. The only thing saving her at the minute is the banning order and the fact she’s this side of the tracks.”
“The fact is he’s killing on our side without having to step a foot over the tracks. We can’t allow that shit to continue. How far is he gonna go to get her back?” Cree drinks from the bottle. “We gotta decide what to do, brother. If you aren’t willing to send her back, then we have to show him we’re not gonna take his shit.”
“I know. She’s coming to the party tomorrow. I’ll corner her to see how much she knows about the injunction order. She isn’t saying much when it comes to Reggie.”
Cree looks brighter. “Is she bringing her hot friend?” I nod and he grins. “My weekend suddenly got a lot better.”
It’s almost half past two by the time Chains sets off to collect Anna and Malia. Ziggy is pacing by the gate waiting. He was so excited when I told him about his friend coming to play.
Bonnie takes a seat on my lap, making sure to rub her ass against me. We’ve come to an understanding— she can fuck who she likes, but she spends the night in my bed. She rests back against me lazily.
Ziggy jumps up on the gate as it opens and then he runs after Chains’ truck. I smile at his excitement when he sets his eyes on Malia. The kid really loves her. I move Bonnie from my lap and make my way over to where Anna and Eva are. “Ladies,” I greet. I kiss Anna on the head and she smiles shyly. “Drinks are in the bathtub over there.” I point to the overflowing old tin bath which Lake is topping up with ice. “Food is cooking on the grill and Gears will give the shout when it’s ready. The kids can’t get out of here, the fence is all the way around, so we usually let them run wild.”
Anna smiles as Ziggy and Malia run past us towards the bouncy castle. Cree saunters over holding two bottles of beer. He hands the girls one each and winks at Eva. She blushes and I decide it’s the perfect time to whisk Anna off for a chat. “Follow me,” I say, gently taking her hand. I lead her to an empty picnic blanket, and she takes a seat.
“There’re so many people here,” she says, looking around.
“Yeah, these parties are popular and our other charters usually come up for the weekend.”
“Charters?” she repeats. I forget she doesn’t know this life.
“Our club is spread over different counties. All of us are the Kings Reapers, but I run the London Charter, Gunner over there runs the Nottingham charter, and so on. We’re a big club.”
“Wow, who knew there were so many people that loved bikes.”
I smile and lean back on my hands. “Visiting day for Malia tomorrow?”
Anna looks sad for a moment. “At the contact centre this time, though,” she clarifies. “He can’t do anything there.”
“Is that a permanent thing?” I ask. “Or will he eventually be able to see her outside of there?”
Anna drinks some of her beer. “Do you stay with Ziggy when he visits his mom?”
I scoff. “He doesn’t let me leave. The kid clings to my neck so
