Royal sighed. “Where are we going?”
I gestured for her to follow, and then straddled my bike.
“I’ve never ridden on a bike before,” she said as she stared at it with confusion.
I held out a helmet to her and she took it. When she put it on, it shifted slightly on her head.
“It’s too big,” she stated the obvious.
I reached up and tightened the helmet as tight as it would go.
“It’ll work for now,” I said.
She smiled then, and my heart lurched slightly at seeing her eyes light up like they had.
“Come on, get on,” I said, straddling the bike and taking a seat.
She eyed the spot behind me and bit her lip.
I held out my hand, which she took.
“Come on,” I urged again. “There’s enough room. I promise.”
Sighing long and loud, she clearly shared her displeasure.
I turned my face away to hide my grin and tried not to groan when she mounted the bike behind me. She felt good pressed up against my back.
So good, in fact, that I inhaled deeply.
Which only started a coughing fit on my end.
“I better not get the plague from being this close to you,” she muttered.
I wasn’t sure if she’d intended to say it loud enough for me to hear her, but the grin was back the moment my coughing fit ended.
“Wrap your hands around me,” I ordered.
She didn’t hesitate to do as I told her, though much more loosely than I wanted.
I started the bike up, knowing the moment we got started that grip would turn lethal.
And she didn’t disappoint. Once I had the bike moving, her arms tightened with enough force to start another coughing fit on my end.
I could practically hear her sigh as we made our way down Eleventh Street.
And when I passed where I knew Marcus lived, I wasn’t surprised to see that he was standing out on his front porch, arms crossed over his chest, watching us drive by.
I didn’t nod at him, and I sure the fuck didn’t miss the grin that was on his fuckin’ face as we passed by.
And neither did Royal if the shudder that went through her was anything to go by.
When we finally made it off of Eleventh Street, turning onto Twelfth, followed by Main, it was like we were transformed into a different world. A pall of black gloom always felt like it was lifted off of my shoulders, and I couldn’t help but wonder if the same thing happened to Royal every time she left the street, too.
The yards went from unmanaged and in sore neglect to nice and pretty. Mailboxes went from hanging all the way open—because the mailman didn’t waste time delivering mail by closing the lids when he didn’t have to—to closed nice and neat. Hell, even the trees looked better.
I wasn’t really the kind of person to wish a place gone, but I knew that if Eleventh Street was hit by a storm or something and the houses went missing, nobody but those on Eleventh Street would care.
“Where are you taking me?” she yelled at my back.
I didn’t answer her.
If I did, there was no doubt in my mind that she’d have something to say about it.
Instead, I just drove.
I knew the moment she realized where we were going.
She stiffened imperceptibly at my back, and I had a feeling that she was seriously considering jumping right off the bike and running the moment that we were stopped.
I caught her hand before she could get much further than a few feet the moment the bike rolled to a stop right outside the front doors.
She hissed at me and tried to yank her hand away, but I caught her again anyway. “No, Royal. Listen to me.”
“No, you listen to me.” She shook her head. “I know how shit works. I know that if I go to the cops, I’m as good as dead. I’m not going in there and reporting shit.”
I caught her up in my arms and pulled her until she was on the bike in front of me, sitting crossways on my lap.
“Royal, stop,” I hissed.
She froze when the authority entered my voice, and her eyes met mine with a look of fear and guilt.
“He already ordered me to kill you,” I said softly. “You’re already dead, as far as he’s concerned. What’s it matter now?”
She swallowed hard.
“My brother is still on that street,” she said.
“Your brother’s shift ended an hour ago. I got a buddy. He made sure that your brother got home safe and sound.” He paused. “Though, tomorrow, I think he should definitely look into quitting.”
She seemed to deflate in my arms, finally realizing just how futile her situation was.
“Come on,” I urged. “Let’s go inside and get this over with.”
I could practically feel the reluctance rolling off of her as I helped her get to her feet.