Page 15 of Atlas (The Chaos Demons MC #6)

Atlas

I down my drink, throwing the empty bottle in the bin as I head inside the club. I take the stairs two at a time and I’m about to go into my room when I hear her call my name. I spin to see Anita rushing after me. “Just wait,” she cries. “Please.”

Seeing her upset still twists something in my heart so I wait for her to join me. “There’s nothing to say.”

“I want Leo back,” she says firmly. “I can’t do that without the help of my parents.”

“So?”

“For that, I need to be accepted back into the fold.”

“What does this have to do with me?” I snap, pushing my door open and going inside. She follows.

“They’ll approve of Anthony.”

Her words finally make sense and I scoff in disbelief. “So you don’t wanna be with me because they won’t approve.”

She nods. “But it’s not because I don’t love you, Atlas.”

I hold a hand up and she stops talking. “Don’t say another word.”

“But it‘s true.”

“If you loved me, none of that would matter.”

“I will never get him back if I stay with you,” she cries, tears suddenly slipping from the corners of her eyes.

“Don’t you think I’ve thought about it, how that would work?

Damien would lap it up and use it in court.

He’d tell the judge every piece of shit he could find on this club and ensure I never got to see my son again.

” Her words sink in as I take a seat on the bed.

“He will do anything to stop me having contact, Atlas, and I couldn’t stand to never see my boy again.

” I watch her, noting the seriousness in her expression.

“He’s my world, and as much as I love you, I can’t choose you. ”

My heart cracks a little, and I hold out my hand. She takes it, and I tug her closer. “Why didn’t you just tell me everything from the start?” I wrap my arms around her, resting my forehead against her stomach. “We could’ve worked something out together.”

She runs her fingers through my hair, gently grazing my scalp with her nails, and I close my eyes, enjoying the stillness of the moment. “Because you can’t kill him,” she whispers with a hint of humour in her tone.

I grin. “That was a last option.”

“He’s a judge,” she almost whispers. “Anthony. I arranged to bump into him on purpose because I’m hoping he’ll help me with Leo.”

“Does he know your plan?”

She shakes her head. “No, I’ll pretend it’s a coincidence.

” She cups my face in her hands and tilts my head back so we’re staring into one another’s eyes.

“I love you so much,” she whispers. “And I knew I could never keep you, so I tried to keep you at arms-length . . . and now, seeing the way you look at her,” she takes a shuddering breath, “I realise exactly what I’m giving up. ”

I allow myself to get caught up, the words soothing the ache I’ve felt for so long.

And when she lowers, bringing her lips closer, I don’t pull away like I should.

When she crawls onto my lap, placing her legs either side of mine and wrapping her arms around my neck, I kiss her.

It’s hungry and heated, like we’ve both been starved of the moment for too long.

Her fingers are in my hair, and my hands are around her waist. She’s rubbing against me, knowing exactly how to get me hard.

And then I think about Rue. Her innocent eyes, the way I just promised her I was done with this, with Anita. And here I am again, lost to her. Fuck.

I pull back, panting for breath, and I lift her from me. “No,” I say, shaking my head. “I can’t.”

She runs her fingers through her hair and wipes her mouth on the back of her hand. “Right,” she mutters, the pain etched on her face. “Of course.”

She pushes to her feet. “It’s not that I don’t want to,” I admit. “But if I keep doing this dance with you, I’ll be the one hurting. Your situation won’t change. I’m always gonna be the biker you can’t take home to meet the family.”

She heads for the door, looking defeated. “And Anita . . .” She looks back. “Can we keep this between us? If Rue was to find out—”

“You should be honest, Atlas. Nothing good ever came from lies.”

“So,” says Kasey, leaning against the bonnet I currently have my head under, “what happened with you and my sister last night?”

I give her a sideways glance. “Huh?”

“Well, one minute, she was happy, and the next, she was leaving.”

“I don’t know what you mean.” I go back to tightening the bolts and thinking about Rue.

She was fine when she left but refused to let me walk her home or even arrange a cab.

But she insisted she was okay, that she understood the Anita shit.

I groan, throwing my spanner back into the toolbox. “Has she said anything to you?”

Kasey gives a satisfied smile. “So, you did upset her?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“Your face did.” She crosses her arms over her chest. “It was the posh bird, right?”

“Her name is Anita,” I snap, wiping my hands on a rag. “And I didn’t know she’d be there yesterday.”

She shrugs. “It’s not like you and Rue are together. I don’t think she’ll be upset over it. She’s not the jealous type.”

“No?” I ask, unable to hide the hope in my tone.

“Go and see her. She’s not working today.” She snatches the rag from me and whips my leg with it. “I can’t stand to look at that miserable face any longer.”

“Actually,” I say, leaning against the car. “I wanted to talk to you.”

“Sounds serious.”

“About your dad and the shit he’s got you involved in.”

She groans and begins to walk away. I grab her wrist and pull her back. “Kasey, this ain’t going away. Your sister is talking about getting cash together and leaving the country with you. She can’t uproot her life like that. And if you tell me what’s going on, I might be able to help you.”

She eyes me for a second. “You’re panicking she might leave.”

I sigh. “No, Kasey. We’ve been on a couple dates. What she does is her business. I’m just saying it could be avoided.”

“You can’t help me.”

“Until you tell me, how will you know?”

“The men after me, or the man, is powerful.”

I frown. “What does he want with you?”

She stares at the ground. It’s the most unsure she’s looked since I found her. “He thinks I stole money from him.”

“Did you?”

Her head whips up. “No.”

“Tell me everything, from the start.”

“I was sleeping with him,” she announces, almost looking apologetic.

“How old is he?” I ask, my frown deepening.

She shrugs. “I didn’t ask. It was business . . . yah know, as in, he paid me for sex.”

I rub a hand over my brow. “Right.”

“And this one time, he called me over and after we did it, he accused me of taking some cash from his safe.”

“Why did he think it was you?”

“Cos he said he’d left it unlocked and I was the only one who could’ve taken it.” She takes a breath. “But that’s not true. His kid was in the house too.”

“Now you’re accusing his kid?”

“It wasn’t me, Atlas. I swear.”

“So just tell him. I don’t understand why he’s coming for you. Why didn’t he just call the police?”

She shrugs. “I don’t know where the cash came from. It was probably dodgy.”

“Who is this guy?”

“A lawyer by day, but who knows what he does in the evenings. He always had dodgy people coming and going.”

“And he didn’t think they would take his money?”

She shakes her head again. “I think they worked for him.”

“In law?”

“No,” she says with a laugh. “With whatever extracurricular activities he does.”

I sigh heavily. “Fine, give me his name and I’ll see if I can find out some more.”

“I don’t know it.”

“What do you mean you don’t know his name. You were sleeping with him.”

“He never gave a real name. Just Mr. D.”

I laugh. “Right. Well, give me his mobile number and I’ll get Axel to put a trace on it.” She pulls out her mobile and turns it to me so I can snap a picture of the number. “Until then, stay low.”

Rue

It was in his eyes. So blaringly obvious that I’d be an idiot to pretend Atlas wasn’t crazy in love with Anita.

I’m so lost in thought, I don’t see him until it’s too late, and I crash into Atlas’s hard chest. He steadies me with his hands on my shoulders, and I ignore the warm feeling his touch sends through me. I look up into his amused eyes. “Steady.”

His voice is deep, rumbling in a sexy sort of way and I shiver involuntary. “Sorry, I was . . .” I trail off because I can’t exactly tell him I was lost in thought to him . . . again. “What are you doing here?”

He looks past me to the coffee shop where we had our first ‘date’. “I could lie and say I was passing and fancied an over-priced shot of coffee, but we both know I’m here hoping to find you.”

My stomach does a somersault. “Oh?”

His grin reaches his eyes. “Are you busy?”

“Not really.”

“Good.” He turns me around and guides me back inside the coffee house.

Jen looks up from the counter and frowns when she sees me.

It soon fades when she realises I’m with ‘the biker’ again.

She’s spent the entire morning giving me shit about him and encouraging me to go for it, and forget about his ex.

“Ha, you’re back,” she says, eyeing me with a mischievous glint. “With company.”

Atlas reaches out a hand, and she takes it. “Atlas,” he introduces.

“Jen.”

“I’ll take a double espresso, Jen, and whatever Rue wants.”

“Just a water, please,” I mutter feebly.

I’m glad the place is empty as we take a seat. Things already feel awkward without a crowded, noisy café adding into the mix. I shift uncomfortably. He’s staring intently, like he’s searching my soul. “Is everything okay with Kasey?” I ask.

“You’re pissed at me,” he states.

I shake my head, my words failing me. I am pissed but I can’t admit that.

We’ve literally been on two dates—if they were even dates—but I’ve spent so much time avoiding men, especially ones like Atlas, that he caught me off guard, and for a second there, I thought he might be different . . . nicer. “I’m really not.”

“You’re looking at me differently.”

I shake my head a second time. “I’m not.”

“I spoke to Kasey. We’re gonna run a trace on the man looking for her.”

“Okay. Then what?”