Page 5 of Just Heartbeats (Royalla Motorcycle Club #1)

Shifting the two bags of groceries to her left arm, Roma opened the door to the clubhouse. The quietness surprised her. Usually, the only time it got that quiet was when the parties ended, the music stopped, and the bikers crashed somewhere inside the clubhouse or went home.

Catching movement out of the corner of her eye, she saw Baker walking from the kitchen toward the bar. She approached him.

Baker lifted his chin at the sight of her and proceeded to wipe down the surface with a wet rag. "What's up?"

"That's what I was wondering. Where is everyone?" she asked.

When she left the clubhouse to go shopping earlier, Kodiak was nowhere to be found. She caught a ride with Nina, Ring's old lady, and when she was finished, she got an Uber to drop her off outside the gate.

"Meeting." Baker whipped the dishtowel over his shoulder.

She lifted the bags to put on the counter, and Baker snapped her arm with the towel, stopping her.

"It's clean. I'll take them." Baker walked around the fixture and took the bags from her hands. "Where are you going?"

"My room." She walked beside him. "But, I can carry—"

"No trouble." He waited until she opened the door and handed her the bags.

Men weren't permitted in her room, even if she invited them. It was Kodiak's rule. Of course, when it involved him, he ignored the rule and barged in whenever he wanted.

"Thanks, Baker." She held up the bags. "Do you know when the meeting will be over?"

"Nope."

She frowned. "If they're having a meeting, why aren't you in there?"

Ignoring the question, he backed away from her door. "See you later."

She sighed, knowing he wouldn't discuss club matters in front of her or anyone else. But it didn't make sense that Kodiak wouldn't have Royalla's secretary attend.

Taking the groceries to the mini kitchen, she put away the items that needed refrigeration. At the store, she'd bought a bag of frozen stir-fry for dinner, but now that she was home, she no longer felt like cooking.

Instead, she took out a bowl, opened a pouch of instant oatmeal, and thought an easy dinner suited her mood better. She had no plans for tonight and had hoped Kodiak would let her come to his room and watch a movie if he wasn't busy.

Sitting on the couch, she turned on the TV and watched the last episode of Survivor. Usually, she fast-forwarded to the challenge, but today, she let her mind wander as she blew on her bowl of oatmeal to cool it before taking a bite.

Having grown up in Royalla, she knew church was held each Sunday afternoon, allowing those working outside jobs to attend. For Kodiak to call a meeting mid-week, there must be an emergency.

No matter how curious she was about what happened behind the door, she knew no one would tell her what they discussed. She respected Kodiak enough not to ask. But part of her wondered if the emergency had anything to do with their safety on the compound.

Normally, the mere size of Royalla kept others away. But there had been trouble in the past. Her dad was murdered. Before that, someone tried to kidnap her when she was on the sidewalk, coming home from school.

Unless Kodiak talked to her, she would never know what was going on with the club. It wasn't as if she could Google and find the answers she needed online. The actions they took weren't entirely legal.

All she knew was that Kodiak was always warning her to pay attention to her surroundings.

After the kidnapping, she wasn't allowed to go anywhere outside the five-mile radius around the clubhouse.

Kodiak had drilled safety precautions into her head.

If she noticed anything suspicious, she was to call him.

She set the dish on the end table and rested her head on the arm of the couch, closing her eyes. If only Kodiak would tell her who was responsible for killing her dad and why.

Sometimes it felt like life was at a standstill.

Without answers, how was she supposed to move forward?

She wasn't even sure she wanted to get over losing her dad.

Sometimes, she would forget that he had been killed, and when she snapped back to reality, it was a horrible feeling to relive the pain all over again.

She wondered what it would be like in two or ten years. Would she think about him less and less until days went by without a memory of her dad at all?

Her stomach clenched at the thought. That's the last thing she wanted to happen. She couldn't afford to lose her memories.

Exhaustion hit her. She yawned. To keep her dad's memory alive, she needed to find out who killed him. She needed answers. She refused to forget him.

The next thing Roma remembered was waking up with a stiff neck. She blinked at the television, not recognizing the show. Groaning, she sat up and tilted her head to try to relieve the kink. She had fallen asleep on the couch again, thinking about Kodiak, her dad, and everything she had lost.

She checked her phone. It was four o'clock in the morning. She hadn't meant to fall asleep, let alone sleep through most of the night.

Muffled voices and the thud of boots against the concrete floor outside her door seeped through. She rubbed her eyes, forcing herself to move even though all she wanted was to disappear back into sleep. But sleep hadn't brought peace in a long time.

Slipping her feet into her sneakers, Roma went to the bathroom and washed her face with a warm, wet washcloth, trying to wake up.

She left the room and walked down the hallway, following the buzz of energy.

Several of the men were strapping on their shoulder holsters and then putting on their leather vests.

No jokes, no music. Just sharp glances and murmurs passing through the group of men.

"We ride out in five." Kodiak's steady voice commanded the attention of the Royalla members.

When she came into view, Kodiak's face changed. He moved quickly, closing the distance between them in a few long strides. His hand wrapped around her arm, neither rough nor gentle.

"Stay here," he said gruffly. "I need to talk to you."

Roma yawned. "What's going on??

His eyes, the color of steel, grew colder. "Deception Motorcycle Club's been spotted outside the fence."

Her stomach turned cold. She straightened instinctively, her thoughts already jumping ahead to possible outcomes. Someone could get hurt. Someone could die.

"How close?" she asked.

Kodiak's jaw tightened underneath his beard. "Too close."

She hated the way her adrenaline spiked. Hated the familiarity of fear dressed up as anger. What if another person she cared about was taken from her?

"You're not leaving the compound," he said firmly. "Not for anything. Not alone."

Her instinct was to push back, but one look at his face told her there was no room for negotiation. His eyes were more complicated than usual, but beneath the authority, there was something else. Worry.

She swallowed everything—her panic, the argument—and nodded once. The rules were clear. He would put her on lockdown until the danger passed, like her dad had done in the past.

Satisfied, he let go of her arm. In return, she stepped closer, leaning against his side.

"Will you be safe?" she whispered.

His hand came up and cupped the back of her neck. "We might've found him."

"Who?"

"The one who killed your dad."

Roma's breath stung in her chest. "For real?"

For two years, she hoped for nothing else. If she could, she'd personally shoot the man responsible for taking her dad away.

"Could be bait. Could be a ghost chase. But if it's him..." His face hardened. "He dies."

His announcement wasn't a surprise. Kodiak had dedicated so much time to trying to find her dad's killer. He'd vowed to seek revenge for her father's death.

"Good." She wanted that more than anything. Justice. Punishment. Closure. She wanted the man to hurt worse than she had in the last two years.

The reasons why her father was killed no longer mattered. She only wanted the killer to pay.

"I need you to stay put until I'm sure there's no danger." Kodiak's thumb caressed the side of her neck. "Let me do my job."

She stayed silent, jaw clenched, eyes fixed on his. The internal struggle between wanting him to stay at the clubhouse with her so he wouldn't get hurt and hoping her nightmare would end made her obedient. She'd remain in the clubhouse and wait, as long as she knew he was coming back to her.

"I'll get him." Kodiak cupped her cheek. "And when I do, no more hiding. I want you to be free. Find your happiness. Make a life for yourself."

She feared being alone. Kodiak knew she only had the club. She could argue all day that Royalla was enough for her, and he'd tell her she could do better. In that way, he was very much like her dad. He always wanted her to have the best in life.

His hand gently squeezed her arm before he turned away. The touch was almost tender. She rubbed her arm, swallowing hard.

"Stay calm. Stay inside," he said over his shoulder.

Then he was gone, swallowed up by the others as they headed out the door. All she could hear was his deep voice shouting orders.

Roma stood there for a long moment, her heart racing. This was what she wanted—she wanted the man responsible for killing her dad to pay for what he'd done.