My Dark Knight (Kings of Hell MC 2)

Despite his best intentions, Elliot did step back, intimidated by the biker’s steady, unforgiving approach. Elliot wasn’t short, but next to the tall stranger built like a professional athlete, he was a reed that could be snapped in two within seconds. The padding in the shoulders of his costume wouldn’t help in a fight and neither would the low heels of his shoes. He could already envision the heavy black boots cracking his ribs, and the fact that the guy had a ridiculously handsome face that did not belong on a gang member would surely not make the blows hurt any less.

Just to be on the safe side, Elliot kept the live video on. “The public has the right to understand what happened here.”

The biker’s mouth twitched, and he stood all-too-close to Elliot, straightening his broad, powerful shoulders. His long dark hair caught on the scruff dusting his cheeks, and the gray eyes burned with the desire to close his thick hands around Elliot’s throat. “You’re not allowed to be here. This is trespassing. And get that camera out of my face,” he said, unexpectedly grabbing the extended selfie stick and tossing it away along with the phone.

Elliot yelped in surprise and briefly glanced at his empty hands, which he’d had so tightly squeezed around the handle. He pounced toward his precious device, afraid the biker’s next move could be to step on it and crush the most valuable item in Elliot’s possession. His face burned with heat under the thick white makeup, but he would not back down just because some savage wanted to thwart his efforts.

His feet slid through the mud, but he managed to keep himself from falling and grabbed the cell from the damp grass, pointing the camera at himself. “If I disappear, you will know who murdered me,” he said grimly before ending the recording and glaring at the biker. “You don’t have any manners, do you? Maybe to you, this building is your club or whatever, but inside all that dirt, grime, and motor oil-stained walls is a place of a significance you would never understand! A place where a great man once lived, a place that still hides secrets, and you are obstructing the-”

“You’re as fucking delusional as you are online!” hissed the biker, snapping his mouth, as if he wished to rip Elliot’s throat out. “Your beloved William Fane is a serial killer. Would you have traded places with his victims? I don’t think so!”

Elliot’s mind went blank. This guy… watched his videos? If so, then his fame as an internet personality was indeed growing!

He swallowed. “You know who I am?”

The biker’s entire face scrunched, as if he’d just bitten into a lemon. “Yeah. You’re that nutjob who thinks Fane was some kind of romantic character. You’re a fucking danger to society!”

Elliot’s nostrils flared, and with the man’s fists not flying at him yet, he was gaining confidence by the second. “Me? A danger? Is it not you who hides a gun on their person? I am merely trying to understand William Fane as a human being. Do you know his father was a miserable, money-grabbing old geezer? He wanted to marry William off to the daughter of a business partner when all William was looking for at that age was someone to be his out of true passion!”

The biker showed both his hands, as if indicating that he was unarmed, and laughed into Elliot’s face as he stepped even closer, overpowering the smell of rotting leaves and dirt with the rich scent of his body. “Oh, no. So he had a difficult childhood? Damn, Laurent Mercier should have patted him on the head and given him a cookie instead of fighting for his life.”

Elliot stood his ground even though his veins flooded with adrenaline. There was an intensity in the biker’s eyes that Elliot couldn’t look away from. The man actually knew about Laurent Mercier, William’s killer. Maybe Elliot had underestimated him after all?

Elliot pouted and crossed his arms on his chest. “Laurent Mercier was a deceitful little slut who wanted to steal William’s money and got caught red-handed. But I do believe they had a connection. One that was sadly the blind spot that ended in William’s death. There must have been some kind of tenderness between them, because William had never made a mistake before that. Or maybe Fane even found true love in Mercier but it was one-sided and Laurent decided to get rid of William to not risk anyone knowing of his homosexuality. Imagine the cruelty of such an act. The one time William Fane opened his heart to someone, and that bastard stabbed him in the back.”

The biker’s eyes, which glared at him so sharply throughout the tirade now twinkled with humor, and he gave a deep laugh. “You’re shitting me. Where’s your proof for any of those claims? I’ve looked through all the records, and there’s no mention of them ever being close in any way. Are you sick, or something?” he asked and reached out to brush his huge paw against Elliot’s forehead, as if trying to check his temperature. He let out a theatrical hiss and shook his hand as if he’d been burnt. There were smears of white makeup on his fingertips.