Page 22 of Forbidden

CHAPTER 5

***Gage***

“What’s got you in such a pissy mood?”

I grab the swinging punching bag and glance up at E as he steps into my room. I’m not pissy; I’m livid. It’s taking every ounce of my self-control to not storm over to her house and demand to know what’s going on.She walked into a door. Yeah, right.I’m not only angry, I feel so fucking helpless. I can’t tell the last timeIfelt helpless. I’ve always had the answers. That’s why my club members respect me so much. I lay into the bag once more.

“Close the door.”

He does as I say and walks over, grabs the bag, and holds it steady. I wipe the sweat from my brow with my forearm and continue to work out my frustrations on the bag.

“Raven?”

I stop mid-punch and look at him. The fucker knows me too well. I sigh and drop my arms.

“You find out what’s going on?” he asks.

“Not really.”

“What does that mean?”

“After you guys left, I confronted her. She got upset and stormed out.”

I sit on the bed and start removing the tape from my hands. He grabs a chair, turns it backwards, and straddles it.

“I take it you followed her.”

“Yeah. Found her crying. Also found a fist-sized bruise on her arm.”

“What?”

“Gave me some bullshit about walking into a door,” I scoff.

“Any ideas on how she got it?”

“I confronted the boyfriend. He seemed as surprised as I was.”

“What do you meanconfronted? Chris isn’t lying in a ditch somewhere is he, Reaper?”

“Of course not. I roughed him up a bit, but she was right there.”

That’s when I realize he referred to the boyfriend by name. I narrow my eyes at him.

“You knew about the boyfriend?”

“I figured that wasn’t something you’d be interested in since you were staying away. I guess this changes everything.”

“I’m still staying away.”

Am I?Seeing her this morning brought back everything I’ve been trying to avoid these past weeks. But she’s still underage, and I’m still no good for her.

“I just can’t stand by knowing someone’s putting their hands on her.”

“Right. How are we going to do this?”

“We?”

“Of course. I’ve gotten to know her a bit, your connection notwithstanding. I want in.”