Atonement (Angel's Halo MC 5)

In my rearview mirror, a single headlight appeared. My fingers tightened around the steering wheel. Raider.

I couldn’t help remembering the way his hands had felt on my ass. How his heart had beat so hard against my breasts as he had held me against his chest, hiding me from all the leering eyes of the crowd.

“For how long, though?”

That caught me off guard, and I pulled my mind away from the man on the bike behind me. “What do you mean?”

“Come on; you must know she doesn’t belong here. Fuck, I don’t know where she belongs, but it’s not in Creswell Springs.” His tone was almost defeated, and I realized that, while I had been dealing with my own crap, he had been worrying about his own.

“Kelli belongs where she wants to belong. She’s a strong, independent woman who knows what she wants and definitely

what she doesn’t,” I defended my roommate.

“Yeah, I guess …” He trailed off for a minute. I hoped he was going to drop the whole Paradise City thing.

Hope wasn’t a tangible entity, however, and mine was short-lived right then.

“There is no way in hell you will ever step foot back in that place, Quinn. None. Do you fucking hear me? I will blow it to hell and back if you even try.” His almost defeated tone was long gone, as if it had never been there. In its place was an anger just as explosive as he was promising to be should I dare to return to Paradise City.

By now, I was over halfway home. “You can’t stop me, Colt. I’m a grown woman. I can make up my own mind. And if I want to work at the club, I can and will.”

His laugh was cold and held zero amusement. “You wanna bet? Try me.”

“Why is it okay for your girlfriend to work there, but not me?” I demanded. I had tried to remain calm, to keep a level head, which was something anyone who had to deal with this man rationally needed. Rationality was quickly taking another road home apparently, leaving me all alone in my car.

“Because you are too good to be degrading your body like that. You’re sweet and precious, and just thinking of you working in that seedy joint is making me crazy.” I was sure he meant it to sound like a compliment, but really, it only sounded like I was a wimp. “Not to mention, innocent. Quinnie, those guys are only thinking about one thing, and you aren’t the kind of girl to give it to them. You—”

“I’m not a goddamn virgin, Colt!” I screamed.

The line went deceptively quiet for a long moment before it finally hit me what I had just admitted. Shit. This man knew everything about me, including the fact that I was a virgin.

Or, I had been.

Until I had fucked his brother.

“Fuck,” he groaned. I could picture him scrubbing his hands over his face. “We will talk about this when you get home.”

Before I could reply, he hung up on me.

“Shit,” I whispered to the empty car.

Leaving was looking better and better with each passing second.

It only took a few more minutes to get home. I debated driving past my house and taking off to parts unknown. Both Canada and Mexico sounded like good places to get lost in. Instead, I pulled into my driveway and killed the engine. With a groan, I pressed my forehead against my hands on the steering wheel.

Moments later, I heard Raider pull in behind me and turn off his bike.

I didn’t immediately raise my head. This night was the suckiest of all nights, and I just wanted to disappear. My energy level was draining by the nanosecond, and I just wanted to curl up into a ball and sleep for a month or two.

Someone tapped on my window, and I forced myself to lift my head. I had expected to see Colt, but it was Raider who opened the driver’s door.

“What do you want?” I demanded, taking a second to glance at my front door to make sure Colt wasn’t there.

Thankfully, he hadn’t come outside, but I saw his shadow in the living room window as he looked out at me.

Raider followed my gaze then crouched down, putting us on a more even eye level. He reached out with one of his huge hands and took one of mine, rubbing his thumb over my knuckles tenderly. For a moment, I couldn’t breathe due to the sudden lump that filled my throat.

“I told you we needed to talk.”