Giving Alec a kiss, I head out. My phone rings again, this time I don’t even look at it as I pull out my keys and move for my car.
I also don’t look at the rings hanging between my breast on the necklace that I never leave without. It’s stupid I know. I should have left them along with my phone I had at the time on the bed, but I didn’t. I couldn’t bring myself to remove them from my finger. I left everything in that house, from my clothes to my makeup. I grabbed a change of clothes, Alex and my wedding photo, and the one I had of him sitting on his bike grinning at me, leaving everything else for him to throw away the way he did me.
Even four years later, him breaking his promise to me and not wanting what we had anymore sends a sharp throbbing pain throughout my chest.
Don’t go there.
Keep him in the past where he belongs.
Climbing in behind the wheel, I start my car and put it in gear.
Time to get to work.
Pulling out of the driveway, I do just that turning my focus back to the now.
“Give it up for Glacier,” Donna calls out through the mic as my last song for the night came to an end.
Throwing a grin over my shoulder I look back to the crowd and give them a little wave before leaving the stage to find Lawson standing there, arms crossed over his broad chest, waiting. Okay, so if I were looking to finally move on, I might go for him but he’s more like a brother to me.
“Gotta say, babe, that was fuckin’ brilliant, then again, every night is, but you gotta man wanting a lap dance. Told him you were unavailable. He’s offering to pay a grand for a lap dance from you and though I didn’t say yes, I figured I’d ask you. I don’t like it but it’s your choice,” Lawson states, handing me my robe.
A grand?
Oh shit.
That would be a good chunk to put in the bank account. I’m in the process of saving for a new car since mine keeps breaking down and every little bit counts.
As much as I hate lap dances, I nod my head. “I’ll do it,” I grumble.
Lawson furrows his brow. “You sure?”
“Yeah, I haven’t done any lap dances tonight so this will count as my one,” I state, squaring my shoulders back.
“Alright, but I’m going to stand in the watch room and make sure everything goes without a hitch,” Lawson declares.
“Okay,” I say and make my way toward the dressing room to freshen up as Lawson goes to inform the man asking for the lap dance, that I would be right there.
As the girls talk about the men sitting out in the crowd, I ignore them not wanting to hear them talk about bikers. It only makes me think of Alex and I’m not trying to go there.
Freshened up, I leave the room and make my way toward the hall that leads to the rooms we give lap dances in.
Tank, one of the bouncers, nods at me as he informs me which room to go to. “Room 3.”
“Thanks, Tank,” I mutter as I take a deep breath and step into the room.
I don’t look up until the music starts playing for one of the two songs that he’ll get me for. I lift my head as “Diamonds” by Rihanna begins to play and my heart nearly comes out of my chest.
Oh God.
Please no.
He can’t be here.
Not Alex.
Chapter Two
Axel
Why did I allow my brother, Pitch Black, to talk me into a road trip up to the Devil’s Riot MC clubhouse to see his sister and Harlow?
Probably because it was the time of year I don’t like to be around anyone. The day my life changed, and I broke the one promise I swore I’d never break. Unfortunately, my head at the time wasn’t in the right headspace. Not after getting shot and nearly dying. I figured I would have lost her regardless if I’d died, so I made Faith leave me.
When I got home from the hospital and saw her phone sitting on the bed, I lost it. Told myself it was for the best but I knew it wasn’t. Faith was my fuckin’ life and I’d destroyed it by telling her we were done and that she needed to get the fuck away from me.
With the shit we’d been handed at the time I thought it was for the best. Shouldn’t have done it and every time I thought about finding Faith I chickened out. I know I’m not good enough for her and she’s probably got a fuckin’ great life now.
Though I figured by now she would have served me with divorce papers in order for her to be with another man. The thought of her with someone else sickens me.
Since it wasn’t just Pitch Black and I on this trip we decided to stop for the night once we hit North Carolina. With all the bullshit Tyres and Brake dealt with recently they decided to come along with us as well as Fuse.
After dinner we checked into some motel and decided to go to the strip club we’d seen coming into town.
We’d been in the crowd watching the girls on stage when one of them caught my eye. I noticed she didn’t mingle in the crowd trying to get men to buy lap dances off of them. No, she stayed in the back. I don’t know what it was that caused me to do it but during her last set, I spoke with Lawson, the owner of the joint, who came over to introduce himself when he heard we were here. I asked him if I could get a lap dance from the woman. He’d immediately informed me she was unavailable, but as everyone knows money talks. I offered a grand for her
