“Want me to head over to her place?” Big Mike asked.
“I’ll go. Be on call. If something comes up, I need you to be ready,” I told him.
“You know I will,” he told me as he followed me out to my bike. “You think Tony will turn up there?”
“No idea, but I’ll be there in case he does,” I told him as I started up the engine. He nodded and turned to leave as I pulled out of the lot. I needed to get to Allie. I had to find out if she was okay. The thought of something happening to her was killing me. Fuck. The woman had her hands wrapped around my heart. I was a goner, and there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it.
Usually riding calms me down, but there was an eerie stillness to the night that had me on edge. I knew in my gut that something wasn’t right. Just as I turned into Allie’s neighborhood, my three prospects whipped past me. They were chasing several of Tony’s crew, which meant they’d spotted them near her house. Fuck. I could feel my pulse racing through my veins as I imagined what could have happened if they hadn’t been there. In a matter of seconds, I was off my bike and pounding on her front door.
*
Chapter 7
Allie
?
“Kane?” I asked. He was the last person I expected to see, and I didn’t know what to make of the intense look he had on his face. “Uh, what… what are you doing here? And how do you know where I live? What’s going on?”
“Nothing. Nothing… I, uh, I just needed to see you,” he said in a rush, trying to sound nonchalant and failing miserably. He stood there staring at me, relief clearly flooding his face. I could tell he was holding something back, but I was in such shock, I didn’t even care. I had to will myself not to reach out and touch him and prove to myself that he was really there. As thrilled as I was, though, I was equally baffled by the expression on his face. I had no idea what to think, but I was glad that he was there… whatever his reasons were. I had been on edge since my conversation with Tony, and there was something about seeing Kane’s face that made me feel safe.
“You want to come in for a drink or something?” I offered.
“Sure. You got a beer?” he responded as he walked into the room and closed the door behind him.
“Yeah, let me go grab us one. Just make yourself comfortable,” I said before turning towards the kitchen.
When I returned, he was sitting on the sofa, his eyes glued to me as I walked over and handed him the cold beer.
“Is everything okay, Kane?” I asked again as I sat down beside him.
He looked over to me and said, “Yeah… everything’s fine now.”
“Well, good. I guess,” I replied with a confused nod. “So, do you want to watch a movie or something?” I asked.
“I could watch something,” he said with a slight smile. I was relieved to see him start to relax.
I picked up the remote and started flipping through the movie channels, trying to find something I thought he might like. I got flustered because I had no idea what to pick, so I finally gave up and handed it over to him. “Here, see if you can find something.”
He scrolled through several channels before stopping on some old thriller I’d seen several times before but couldn’t remember the name of. “Is this the one where the boyfriend goes nuts and tries to kill her family?” I asked.
“No idea, but it has Mark Wahlberg in it, so it can’t be all bad.”
As we watched the movie, I nervously fiddled with the label on my beer bottle. The butterflies in my stomach went wild every time I looked over in his direction. I still wasn’t sure what had brought him over, and I was feeling a little insecure.
“I’m glad you’re here. It’s a nice surprise. I’ve, umm… I’ve been thinking about you,” I confessed.
“Is that right? And what exactly have you been thinking about me?” he asked with his eyebrow cocked high.
Color rushed to my cheeks as his attention turned to me. “Just… you know, it was nice getting to meet you after all of our messages. I was relieved that you weren’t some psycho just trying to get into my pants.”
“No one said I wasn’t trying to get into your pants, All-Star.”
“Oh, really?” I asked playfully. I was teasing, but a part of me was curious to see what he would do.
“Yeah… really,” he whispered. A thrill shot through me, and I couldn’t stop the mischievous grin that spread across my face.