Page 27

CHAPTER 27

ROSALIE

I straightened myself in my seat as Kordell gunned it out of the warehouse. He skidded the car sideways, and the back bumper smacked into the wall in the alleyway, and I barely stopped my head from smacking against the window.

“Oh my god, Kordell! Please, stop!”

He didn’t pay a bit of attention to me, just slammed it into gear and took off again. People smoking in the alley jumped back out of his way, and I realized just how reckless he was going to keep driving, so I quickly buckled myself into the seat’s harness. If he wrecked my car, I didn’t need to be thrown out a window.

He weaved through as much traffic as he could as we made our way to the freeway. And I kept looking between him and the road in front of us. He was so jerky with the wheel it was making my nerves even worse.

“Kordell, look, let’s just pull over, and we can talk, okay?”

He still didn’t reply to me. I reached into my pocket for my phone, and he leaned over and grabbed it from my hands.

“Oh no, you fucking don’t. The last thing you want is for your little distraction to follow us tonight because you texted him our location. I promise you that.” His voice was strained, like he was in a state of panic and anger, all mixed together.

He tossed my phone into the back seat, and I swallowed as I looked over at him.

“Whatever the issue is, I’m sure we can figure it out, right? So, just slow down, please. This is scaring me!” I gripped the dash as he had to brake suddenly because an opening he had been aiming for closed before he could get through it.

“Oh, trust me, I’m fixing the issue tonight. Now, shut up until I get us to where we’re going.”

“But we could just?—”

My words were cut off when Kordell reached over and grabbed my throat. He squeezed so hard that he cut my airway off. I struggled with trying to breathe as he pulled me as close to him as the harness allowed.

“I said, shut the fuck up. I know you’re not a pendeja ! So, stop acting like it.”

I nodded and closed my eyes, trying to focus on keeping my head clear as my lungs started to fight because of the lack of oxygen.

Kordell held my throat for a moment longer before releasing it, and I gasped for air as he started to drive the car again.

I rubbed my throat and watched him closely. I just wished I could see his eyes and figure out what was the cause of him acting like this. I mean, I knew he was obviously upset that I’d dumped him, and AJ, beating him up and destroying his bike, couldn’t have helped. But he was acting manic, like he was backed into a corner and had to fight for his life.

“Kordell… can you take your helmet off? Please?”

I wasn’t sure if he would listen to me, but it was worth a shot.

But his response was silence. So, I leaned forward and touched his arm.

“Kordell? Did you hear me?” I asked again.

“Yeah, mama, I heard you. Undo the strap for me.”

I took a deep breath before doing just what he’d asked. Once the buckle was open, he reached up and pulled it off his head. Although it’d only been a short while since I’d last seen him, he was so different. Gone was the confident, cocky smile he always had. His lips were drawn tight in a frown, and a scowl seemed to cover his whole face. His eyes were darker, and I realized they were black eyes slowly clearing up, but it also seemed like he hadn’t slept for days. He had bags under his eyes, and they were a little bloodshot, and his hair was more than just messy from his helmet. It looked like he hadn’t fixed it up since he’d last showered.

“Kordell, I know breaking up really upset you. And I’m sorry it happened like it did, but you have to see that we’re just not right for each other.”

Kordell glared at me, and I sucked in my breath and froze in place.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about. Rosalie, you are perfect for me. I know you see it. You just got distracted by someone else. But you just need to remember how much we belong together, mama. Don’t worry. I’ll jog your memory. I just needed to get you away from everyone else. None of them would have let us talk there.”

His grip on the steering wheel never stopped, and he still kept driving at high speeds. That made me really nervous. But he was talking to me and not as aggressive-sounding. So, maybe all he needed was just to talk.

“Okay, I get that. Maybe I shouldn’t have blocked your number when you texted me. But it kinda freaked me out. Especially after you hit me, Kordell. That really broke my trust in you. So, being around you alone makes me nervous.”

I tried to keep my voice level, to not let my fear come through, but I knew when he glanced back over at me and then placed his hand on my thigh, gripping it, that he could tell I was more upset than I was letting on.

“I already said that the slap was because of the stunt you’d pulled, making out in the car with him . I won’t do it again, if you don’t make me. So, if you just behave like my good little mama, then you won’t get in trouble anymore.”

He slipped his fingers through the holes in my fishnets and tugged them before sliding his fingers closer to the top of my thigh. I swallowed hard.

Please stop touching me. Don’t go any higher, please!

I didn’t want Kordell’s hands on me. I didn’t want him to think there was hope we would get back together. But he was talking like we were still together, and that scared the crap out of me. How was I going to get out of this? And actually, where the heck was he taking me? I had been paying attention to where he was driving, and we had slowly made our way through the city and toward the edge, going north toward Morro Bay.

Is he going to take me up to the clubhouse? Maybe I should ask.

“So, where are we going?”

He rubbed my thigh, and my skin crawled again.

“We’re going to a little place where no one will bother us. You don’t need to know where specifically, mama. Just relax. I’ll make sure we get there in one piece.”

“All right, I trust you. Just, please, drive a little more carefully?”

He turned his attention back to the road, and I held on to the harness straps to stop myself from grabbing his hand and throwing it off my leg. Instead, I took the time to keep watching our area intently. And after a few more minutes, he broke the silence.

“I just need you to help me make everything right. God, I missed you. I need you around me, mama. We’re going to fix everything together. Then, she will see, once you set things right with that video, everything will go back to how it was.”

What is he talking about? What video?

I turned and looked at him, confused. “Who’s going to see what, Kordell? What video are you talking about?”

He laughed. It was cold and malicious. I shrank back in my seat.

“You know what fucking video,” he snapped.

“I-I really don’t,” I whispered.

He removed his hand from my thigh and shoved his hand into his jacket pocket, pulling out his phone, barely keeping one eye on the road as he sped down the street. A few taps later, and he tossed it on my lap.

I carefully picked it up as a video started playing, and my stomach dropped. I watched as AJ threw Kordell’s bike over the edge and then punched him down. People were laughing in the background of the video as AJ got in Kordell’s face.

They were the laughs of my best friends. Then, it hit me. It was Tyler who was recording. And then I saw the views and some of the comments, and I realized they hadn’t only posted a really bad video of Kordell online. It had blown up.

“Jog your memory? Your little piece-of-shit friends think they are so fucking funny. Well, don’t worry. After you and I smooth things over, we’re going to go have a talk with them. And they are going to learn what happens to those who try to FUCK with not just my reputation, but also my standing in my FUCKING CLUBHOUSE!”

My heart started to pound in my chest, and my breathing picked up. He didn’t mean that this video had gotten him kicked out, did he? I glanced over at his jacket, and that was when it hit me. There was no marking on it that said he was the vice president of the BLVD Riders anymore. Kordell never went anywhere without that jacket since the day he had gotten his rank up.

“What happened to your jacket, Kordell?” I whispered, bracing myself for the inevitable explosion I could see building in him.

“YOUR FUCKING FRIENDS GOT ME KICKED OUT OF MY HOME!” He tried to scream, but his voice cracked, and I swore I saw tears fall down his face.

My heart went out to him. He’d lost his home because of me?

Then, he repeatedly hit the steering wheel hard and screamed angrily.

I flinched and gripped the side of the car door as he slammed his foot on the accelerator. We flew down a darker road, where the streetlights were out, and I noticed we had all but left Los Angeles behind us. He hit some potholes in the road, and the bouncing made me almost sick at these speeds. I closed my eyes for a moment, trying to calm my nerves, but my car’s engine screaming as it redlined kept them at an all-time high.

“I-I’m sorry! I’ll ask them to take it down! I-I can talk to Damien. Please, slow down. We’re going too fast!”

But he wasn’t listening anymore. He was blind with rage and was white-knuckling the wheel, his foot all the way down on the gas as the speedometer pushed one hundred miles per hour. I saw a building in the distance fast approaching, and we were heading right for the side of the building.

So, this is how I’m going to die.

But as I thought that, AJ flashed in my mind. And I knew I couldn’t die here. I had to do everything I could. I reached over and grabbed the wheel over his hands and gripped it hard.

“Kordell!” I screamed his name as we approached the building at high speeds.

He came to a screeching stop right in front of a huge, old building. I sat in partial shock, trying to calm down and take some deep breaths. I didn’t even realize he had gotten out of the driver’s seat until my passenger door was wrenched open and his hands were grabbing at the harness release.

“W-wait, Kordell. I can get them!” I tried to regain my composure, but I was freaking the heck out.

He had driven me to the outskirts of the city, down a dark road, and was getting super aggressive and volatile in his actions and words.

He grabbed the back of my hair and yanked my head hard.

“Stop moving,” he rumbled close to my ear.

I stopped trying to grab the release, and he pulled it open. I bit back a cry when he pulled my hair to force me to get out of the car.

“Ouch! Kordell, let me go. I can walk!” I winced as he jerked me back into his chest and lowered his lips to the side of my face, kissing me.

“Fuck, mama, I missed you,” he murmured against my skin.

I felt his other hand wrap around the front of my waist and tug me back into his body, and I could feel he was turned on.

Maybe he really is just having a hard time accepting that we broke up. Maybe he does love me, and he’s hurt and confused. I should try to stay calm and talk to him.

“Kordell, can we go somewhere to sit and talk?” I whispered as I turned my face slightly toward his.

He kissed my neck, and I held my tongue. Then, he loosened his grip in my hair and moved his hand to my back.

“Walk, Rosalie. There are some chairs on the side of the building. We can talk there.”

“Wait, can I have my jacket first? It’s a little cold out here,” I asked as I pointed to the jacket Dad had given me earlier.

I could really use some luck right now.

He nodded and reached in and grabbed it, handing it to me. I slipped it on. I let him lead me around the back, but when I went to sit in one of the chairs, he yanked me backward, and I fell onto his lap. He wrapped his arms around me and clung to me. He was actually shaking a bit. I waited as he took deep breaths, like he had lost something that he loved deeply and was relieved to have it back.

“You can sit here. I don’t need you trying to run off before we talk.”

I thought this might be easy, but when I felt Kordell’s hand slide up under my shirt and grip my boob, I knew I was in way more danger than I’d thought.