I was taken back a little bit. “Of all things I never thought I’d hear…”
“What?” she asked. “You come after me and then hesitate. Why? Is it because of Allie?”
“Trust me, darling, don’t say that name,” I warned. “Before we get into anything, tell me how you ended up in this life.”
“What does it matter?” she asked. “I skated around through life trying to find a purpose. Before all that? I went to high school. I hated it. My boyfriend cheated on me. I had nobody to turn to because I had no real parents. My father left when I was a kid and my mother worked herself to death. The second I turned eighteen she took off to do her own thing. I tried to stay with a friend but she got a job offer after college and left. So I just started to survive.”
“You like writing in that notebook?”
“Yeah.”
“So why not write something and sell it?” I asked.
“I’m not a writer, Trent.”
“You put words down. That’s a writer.”
She smiled. “Thanks. But I’m far from it. Plus, when I become your old lady, what happens then? I can’t write about anything. I wouldn’t do that to you and the club.”
“I’m sorry about what happened with Duke. He and I always had tension. He’s unpredictable.”
“Just like you,” Harlee said. “He was there to work things out. I’m kind of glad because I don’t feel so guilty now. We have an understanding.”
“Good,” I said. “Listen, I didn’t force your hand into anything, Harlee. I expected you stay put and think about it. You took the ring and you said what you said to Trev. There’s no turning back. I could help you escape but then you’d have the MC on your ass, too.”
“I know. I freaked out when I saw the ring, Trent. I wanted an answer. I wanted a sense of truth from you.” She held out her hand and stood up from the bed. “Tell me this ring was meant for someone else.”
I felt the anger rolling in my stomach. But there was something about Harlee’s eyes that just threatened to tear me up. Goddammit, that was my fatal flaw. I rarely fell for a woman but when I did I fell hard.
“Yeah,” I said. “That’s right. That ring was meant for someone else.”
Harlee grabbed the ring and slid it off her hand. She put it on the nightstand. Next thing I knew she grabbed her notebook and her bag and started to walk toward the door.
“Where do you think you’re going?” I asked.
“I’m leaving,” she said. “I have no reason to be here. I’m not going to be some whore to you, Trent. If your club wants to chase me down and kill me, fine. Let them do it. I don’t care. I’m not going to rat on anyone else. Bad enough I did to Daxton and his club. I’m done with this life.”
Harlee walked by me, putting her hand to my chest, pushing at me. I moved out of the way and watched as she walked down the hallway. The scene was all too familiar for me. The last time I saw it happen, I did nothing. I did nothing for the safety of the woman I loved and maybe even for the safety for myself.
This time?
Fuck that.
“That’s what she did,” I called out. “Right what you’re doing.”
Harlee stopped walking. She turned and looked at me. “What?”
“Right there. Just like that. She grabbed her bag and walked out. Didn’t want to deal with the life anymore. And you know what I did?”
“What did you do?”
“I let her go,” I said. “I figured it was for the better. She couldn’t survive in this world. It would be a constant fight and struggle. I’d live with my eyes on the road and my eyes on her.”
Harlee dropped her bag to the floor. She took a few steps toward me and crossed her arms. “Keep going.”
“There’s nothing to tell, darling. It’s my life. I grew up with my old man running his life into the grave. He loved to gamble, drink, snort shit, and more than that, he loved pussy. All of it he paid for with a debt he could never satisfy. I got into the life to escape another. When I met Allie, it was instant sparks. She was a pretty little woman working at a restaurant to pay off student loan debt waiting to become a lawyer. We hit it off and it was just… damn. I got deeper into the MC and she got a job offer. Now it was an outlaw with a lawyer. That didn’t mix so well with what I did for a living. In the beginning it was wild. You know, the bad guy and the good girl. Probably like those dumb chick flicks you were watching, right?”
Harlee smirked. “I don’t think many of those have a murderer as the love interest.”
“Too bad. Guys like me, darling, understand life. When you take life, you understand life. Am I a bad guy? Fuck yeah, I am. But there’s plenty of bad guys standing on the other side of the law. Trust me. I’ve seen it.”