Page 8 of The Biker’s Savage Desire (Chaos Brothers MC #4)

Mae

“Yeah, so this Duke guy is hot. Like… red flag hot!” Maci paces the room back and forth, chewing on her fingernail. “I mean, he’s dangerous, but that just makes him hotter. He’s the kind of dude you mess around with a few times and call it an experience, ya know?”

“An experience?”

“Yeah, like… a little movie reel you’re making. Something I can flip back on when I’m old and boring. Something that’ll remind me about the life I actually lived. You get it. You and that Red guy are totally into each other. I’m sure you were having the time of your life before I showed up.”

“He’s a good guy.” I bite back a smile as I think about Red and those big, rough hands scratching against my skin.

“No, none of these guys are good. That’s the best part.

They’re all messed up and totally bad.” She takes a sip of water from the bottle she’s been carrying.

“Before I ran off to get this story, my life was so boring. I mean… I was doing stories about returns at the candle shop in town. Now, I’m chasing a giant bad boy covered in tattoos with dark brown eyes.

” She sighs. “Ugh… life is way more interesting this way.”

The bed creaks as she tosses herself onto the mattress, popping a few M&M’s into her mouth as she lands. The blue bedspread wrinkles and the pine side table wobbles out of place. “Wait, these are customized… with little wedding bands. Are you getting married?”

“Was,” I sigh, desperate to not have this conversation. “Now I own fifty bags of custom M&M’s and a wine-stained wedding dress.”

Her jaw drops. “Oh shit, that sucks. You want to talk about it?”

“Not really,” I say, opening my own bag of matrimony chocolate. “I was so depressed a few days ago, but I don’t know, I’m sort of happy things happened the way they did. If they hadn’t, I’d never have met Red, and he’s incredible.”

“Oh God.” She gasps and sits up from the bed, staring toward me like I have three heads. “You like him , like him. It’s not just a one-night thing. Girl…”

“What?”

“You can’t fall for the red flag guy. That’s when things go sideways.

They’re just for funzies. It’s an ‘in and out before the devil even knows you’re there’ kind of thing.

” She leans forward, her voice softer as she says, “Seriously, these guys are all trouble. Trust me. I’ve been following one for months now.

Fire’s fun to play with ‘til you get burned, ya know?”

I let her words ramble around in my head like a lost hitchhiker ready to cling to anything in motion, but the flags she waves stay stuck and resonate with a reality I didn’t have back at the cabin.

Red can be sweet, kind, thoughtful, fun, and exciting, but for how long? How long can he be that man? Can he be that man outside of the cabin doors? Can he be that man when he was raised to be violent and dangerous?

I drag in a deep breath and let it out slowly, just in time for a knock to hit heavy on the door. Maci jerks like she’s been shot, before jumping and flattening herself on the floor behind the bed. “I’m not here.”

I’m not sure hiding under the bed will save her from much, but I guess it’s better than nothing.

“It’s okay,” I sigh, pressing my eye to the peephole. “It’s my ex.”

“Shit. You want to hide, and I’ll answer?”

“Sort of,” I groan, rolling my shoulders forward, “but I have a feeling this conversation is coming to me no matter what I do to avoid it.”

“Fair enough,” she says, opening another bag of M&M’s. “I’m right here if you need someone to dramatically throw themselves in front of emotional bullets.”

I smile, drag in a deep breath, and slide into the hallway with the man I thought was my forever.

It’s funny how you can look at someone and think they’re everything, then completely lose every feeling you’ve ever had for them in less than twenty-four hours. Love is fragile like that, I guess.

“Mae.” Rick sighs and tries to lean into me for a hug, but I flinch away.

He smells like that sour cologne I hate.

I always begged him to try something else, but he likes the scent of whatever it is.

“Okay… I get it. You’re upset. You should be.

” He stares down at the ground and drags in a heavy breath.

“It’s over, ya know. I ended things with her. ”

“Oh, wow.” I fake an overly gregarious grin as a light flickers in the long hallway. “That’s so great of you. Too bad I don’t give a shit.”

“What?” He truly doesn’t seem to understand why I’m not happy he ended things with his mistress. “I thought this is what you wanted.”

“What I wanted?” I say under my breath. “You should’ve stayed with her. I don’t want anything to do with you ever again.”

“It’s been two years, Pook. I made one mistake.”

Pook. God, I hate when he calls me that.

Blood boiling, I drag my gaze up to his, studying the puny biceps, receding hairline, and weak chin that I once somehow found attractive.

“A mistake? Rick, if Netflix did a docuseries on cheaters, you’d take the cake.

I found pictures of your mistress on our wedding day.

There’s no coming back from that. You need to leave. ”

He steps toward me as though he’s somehow now going to assert his dominance. “This isn’t over, Pook. I still love you and I know you—”

The elevator door rings, and the doors slide open. A moment later a giant rounds the corner, fists balled as though he doesn’t need the context of the conversation to know he doesn’t like it.

Without question, thought, or pause of any sort, Red hammers his fist into Rick’s jaw, launching him into the back wall of another room.

Oh my God! My heart jackhammers against my chest.

Rick grabs his face, holding his jaw as though he’s hurt, as dark purple rings begin to form on his cheek. “Who the fuck are you?”

“I’m the guy that’s gonna fuckin’ murder you if you don’t leave right now,” Red growls low and steady, like a wild animal that’s out of control.

I gasp, my heart pounding and my mind racing like I’m sat somewhere between shocked and impressed.

“What are you doing outside of the room?” Red directs his frustration toward me. “I told you to stay inside.”

“I was handling it,” I say, crossing my arms in front of my chest. “I’m not helpless, Red.”

The statement softens him somehow, and he leans into my head with a soft kiss. “I know, princess. It’s been a rough afternoon. Get inside, please. I’ll finish this asshole off.”

Rick stumbles onto his feet and glares toward Red and I as though he’s face to face with a minotaur. “What the hell is this? Did that old man just kiss you?”

I laugh and turn back toward the hotel room door. “Yeah, he did, and you know what… I like it.”

Ricks face twists into something that looks like lemon dipped betrayal. “Jesus, Mae. What are you thinking? This dude is like twice your age and he’s… he looks like he’s spent twenty years in prison.”

“Keep going and I’ll publish your browser history.”

He rolls his eyes and limps back toward the elevators like a wounded animal who never had anything more than a snarl.

The air shifts in the hallway and I exhale before heading back toward the room, returning to Maci who’s sitting on the edge of the bed with wide eyes and a grin. “Did you really say you’d publish his browser history?”

I grin. “Yup. I think the eBook would do really well. I’ll name it Chronicles of a Cheating Douchebag .”

She wheezes as she laughs, but Red stops the fun.

“We’ve got a problem, Maci. You need to go.”

“Go?”

Red paces the room, his broad hand brushing over his face before he pauses. “Duke’s looking for you. He’s got some kind of,” he drags in a deep breath and lets it out slowly, “he’s got the whole MC out searching.”

“For me?” She grins as though it’s a game. “He said he would do this, but I didn’t believe him.”

“Why are you smiling?” Red groans. “This is bad. Duke is psychotic. You should run.”

“Or maybe,” she says, gathering her backpack up off the bed, “I’ll go wander down the center of Main Street and see what trouble finds me.”

“You think this is funny?” Red groans, standing firm in front of the door. “He’s a bad man.”

She meets his gaze. “Aren’t you a bad man?”

“Duke does this for sport. I can hide you somewhere, but you have to stay put.”

“I’ll take my chances.” She’s beaming as though this really is a game.

“That big ole boy ain’t gonna hurt me. I’ve dated plenty of guys with control issues.

This one just wears less hair gel and has more tattoos.

” She tosses her backpack in place and strides toward the door with fearless abandon.

“I appreciate your concern, but really… I’ll be fine. ”

Red stares down at her for a long moment as though he’s biting back a world of things he wants to say, but knows he can’t. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

“Noted,” she says, smiling as she pushes past Red and out the door. For a second, she glances back at me. “Hopefully I’ll run into you again, Mae. Good luck with all this.” And with that, she vanishes down the hallway, leaving Red and I to our own thoughts.

The air conditioning in the room hums behind me. “So, is she totally unhinged or is it just me?”

“Unhinged,” Red huffs, “but so is Duke. Maybe they’re a match made in heaven.”

“Will she be alright?”

“No idea.” His gaze drops to mine. “The dude is nuts, but if she doesn’t want our help, we can’t force it on her.”

The weight of that settles between us, and though the old version of me would keep throwing logic, I rest and lean into the chest of a man who feels like home. Except, how can he feel like home? I barely know him.

That thought clings to me with quiet panic. He’s a stranger in so many ways. A man with wounds carved deep, stories I’ve only seen the edges of, and yet, my body fits against his like it’s known him through lifetimes I can’t remember.

Maybe that’s what terrifies me the most. Not the danger in his past, but the comfort in his presence and how quickly I want to belong to it.

I breathe him in as silence wraps around us.

Will he stay?

Can a man like him ever settle?

Would he even want the kind of life I need?

I breathe him in and hold on to this moment, because maybe this was never meant for forever. Maybe everything ends right here.