Page 10 of Marked by the Protective Biker (Heat & Ink)

EMILY

The prison is abuzz when I walk in the next morning. Normally, I’d stop and chat with a few people, but today I’m not in the mood. I walk past everyone, and once I get through security, I set my purse and tote bag down in my office and fall back into my chair.

I try to shake off my mood, but I can’t stop thinking about last night with Jack.

I haven’t seen him since he left. When I walked out of my house this morning, his two friends were sitting on the corner, and they followed me to work. I guess they’ve given up on trying to hide in plain sight.

I’m disappointed. Jack said he had to go last night, but I had hoped to see him again. Now I’m left wondering if he got what he wanted and he’s done with me.

Knock. Knock.

The sound on the open door has me sitting up, and I’m embarrassed that the warden has caught me daydreaming.

I stand up. “Sir. Good morning.”

He comes to stand fully in my office. “Hey, Emily. I just wanted to pop in and let you know that the group sessions and individual sessions are on hold today. I know you have some paperwork you could probably catch up on, but if you want to take that home with you, you can.”

My mouth falls open. I’m not sure what’s going on. “Uh, what happened? I don’t understand.”

The warden crosses his arms over his chest. “You should have come to me yesterday about the incident.”

My mouth drops. “The incident?”

He nods. “Yeah, safety is my number one priority here, and I’m sorry that you were not protected yesterday. I know Bradley does everything he can, but I’m getting more help.”

I open my mouth. “It wasn’t Bradley’s fault, he…”

The warden nods his head and interrupts me. “Yeah, I know. But after everything, we’re pausing therapy until we have more security in place.”

I can’t believe he’s making such a big deal out of this. Yesterday was not that serious. I hold my hands up. “Warden, seriously, yesterday was not a big deal.”

His eyes widen, and he clasps his hands together in front of him. “Richard Biggs is in the infirmary.”

“What?”

He nods. “Yeah, I thought you heard. Last night he was beaten so badly he’ll be in the infirmary for a few weeks.”

He’s about to walk out of my office. “Who… who did it?”

He gives me a knowing look, letting me know that he’s probably heard about Jack’s announcement and knows about his devotion toward me. “James Kelly. He has some kind of affiliation with the Exiled Guardians.”

I suck in a gasp. No. “Uhhhh—” I stutter.

The warden nods, “Yeah, but all the witnesses say it was self-defense.”

My hands fist at my sides. What was Jack thinking? If he had something to do with this, he’s going to get himself right back in here. I grab my tote bag. “Yeah, uh, if you don’t care, I think I would like to work from home.”

He nods his head, and I swear he looks worried. “Of course, of course, take as much time as you need. If you need a few days off, just let me know.”

He has definitely heard about Jack’s declaration of protection. For the most part the Exiled Guardians do good things, but they’re not somebody you want to mess with.

To my surprise, the warden walks me to my car and waves as I drive away.

The Exiled Guardians prospects are nowhere to be seen, so they must have figured I was going to be here for the day.

I drive straight home. I spend the morning and most of the afternoon staring at my computer screen, and it’s midday when I hear the motorcycle outside.

I run out barefoot, excited to see Jack, but I’m surprised when it’s not him but someone from his club. I stop next to the bike. “Where’s Jack?”

He grips the handlebars. “Sorry. We just heard you got off work early. He sent me right over.”

I grumble, “Where is he?”

He strokes his beard. “At Heat now he’s over me.

He told me what I wanted to hear to get into my pants.

He didn’t come see me because he regrets what happened between us.

I groan and smack the steering wheel as I try to push out all these ideas stirring in my head.

When I see the sign for Heat & Ink, I tense up.

As soon as I pull into the gravel parking lot, I force myself to get out and put one foot in front of the other.

When the bell rings as I enter, I hold in a breath and look around.

The place is filled with drawings and colors.

The woman at the front says hello. She looks me up and down but not in a judgmental way.

More curious. “Hey. What can I do for you?”

I peek down the hallway, but I don’t see anyone. “I’m here to see Jack.”

Her eyes widen. “Felon?”

I gulp and nod. “Yes.”

She crosses her arms over her chest. “So you’re the one that’s got his panties in a bunch.”

I blurt out, “What?”

She laughs and nods. “Yeah, I’ve never seen a big burly biker get all twisted like he is. You must be Emily.”

I’m shocked that she knows my name. Has Jack been talking about me? I move closer to her desk. “Yeah, I’m Emily.” I squint at her. “Who are you?”

I notice the cut she’s wearing and that it has the Exiled Guardians logo on it.

“I’m Alice.”

I blurt out the first thing that pops in my head. “Are you a cherry?”

Alice busts out laughing. “Oh my God, I can see why he likes you. No, I’m not a cherry, and just so you know, don’t go calling people out like that. Some might be okay with it, but you call an ol’ lady or someone like me a cherry and you’re going to be in a fight.”

I know my eyebrows raise to my hairline. “What do you mean, someone like you?”

She tilts her head as if she’s thinking about it. “I’m family.”

When I just look at her, she continues. “My dad was president of the Texas chapter. When he passed, I came here.”

“Oh,” I say, still not understanding but deciding not to push it. “So is Jack here?”

I know he is, because I saw his bike out front.

She nods. “Yeah, but he’s in the middle of a piece.”

“A piece,” I repeat.

She smirks, but I don’t feel like she’s making fun of me. “Yeah, a tattoo.”

I nod. I knew what she was talking about, but I’m trying to hide my disappointment.

“He’ll probably be another hour or two.”

“Oh,” I say, not wanting to leave until I talk to him but also feeling weird about sitting here.

She leans across her desk. “I was about to head out and go to the clubhouse. You wanna come? Felon will be along after he’s done.”

I scrunch my nose up. “The clubhouse?”

She nods. “Yeah.”

This is not like me at all. I’m not the type to just do things on the fly. I need to think about things and examine every side of it before I do anything. I’m about to tell her no when she comes around the desk and stands next to me. “Look, I know Felon. And he wants to be with you, but…”

Her voice trails off, and I pull my shoulders back. “But what?”

She crosses her arms over her chest. “Let me guess. He thinks you won’t fit into his world. He’s literally a felon and he says you deserve better.”

My mouth drops open. “How… how do you know that?”

She rolls her eyes. “It’s not hard to figure out.

He’s constantly worried about you, wanting to protect you.

Hell, he has half the club on high alert looking out for your ass.

He’s told everyone that you’re off limits, but when I asked when he was going to bring you around, he said he wasn’t. He said you’re too good for his world.”

A hurt like I’ve never felt before comes over me. Is that what he thinks about me? He thinks I’m too good for him? He’s crazy if so, because he’s one of the best men I’ve ever met. My silence has Alice leaning toward me. “So… are you too good for us?”

I jut my chin at her. “No, of course not. And yes, let’s go to your clubhouse and wait on Jack.”

I’m not sure which of us is more surprised, but Alice doesn’t hesitate. She grabs her purse and gently pushes me toward the door. We’re almost out when I hear a man call Alice’s name.

“Where you going?”

She rolls her eyes and looks at the tattoo-covered, bearded man. “Out.”

He growls, and I swear it vibrates the walls. “Alice.”

She stops with one hand on the door. I look between the two of them, and I can feel the air thicken. Alice shakes her head. “What do you care, Gunner?”

His jaw tightens, and I freeze. Gunner is not someone that I would want to mess with, but Alice doesn’t seem scared at all. He stalks toward us, and while I tense up, second guessing my life right now, Alice just laughs. “Stop before you scare Emily.”

That seems to draw Gunner’s attention because he looks at me for the first time. “You Felon’s?”

I scrunch my nose up because I don’t understand. It’s like he’s talking a foreign language or something. “Huh?”

He gestures down the hall. “You Felon’s ol’ lady?”

My eyes about pop out of my head. “Uh, no, uh, we’re uh, friends,” I stutter.

His face is grim. “Friends.”

Alice laughs, and it almost sounds maniacal. “Yeah, friends. You know the concept. It’s like you and me, pal. We’re friends.”

She pushes the door open, and Gunner says her name again. “Alice.”

She stomps her foot and glares at him. “The clubhouse, Gunner. We’re going to the clubhouse.”

She walks out then, and I follow behind her. She gets into her car, and I don’t even think about it. I get in next to her. “Uh, what was that?”

“Nothing,” Alice says, her voice laced with frustration.

I softly whistle into the car. “If you say so, but that guy is… wow. How long have you two been?—”

She cuts me off with a glare. “We’re not together.”

I look out the window, and Gunner is standing outside of Heat & Ink with his hands on his hips, glaring in our direction. “Uh, does he know you’re not together?”

She grunts. “Let’s forget about him. Tell me about you and Felon.”

I huff out a breath. “There’s nothing to tell.”

Alice laughs as she drives down the road. “Right. I don’t believe you.”

I look out the window and think about everything.

I’m not sure what I’m thinking. I’m on my way to a motorcycle club with a woman I just met, all to chase down a man that says we can’t be together.

I’m either making the biggest mistake of my life or I’m about to get what I want. Hopefully, it’s the latter.