Nowhere but Here (Thunder Road 1)

My forehead furrows. He’s just trying to make me feel better. “None of this makes sense. Eli came to see me once a year. That sounds like a violation of the deal.”

Oz releases a ghost of that wicked smile I’ve come to love. “Eli’s never been much of a stickler for details. He knew he was taking a risk and felt selfish for doing it, but he was careful and made sure no one found out.”

“But he asked me to come and stay for two weeks this summer.”

“He loves Olivia almost as much as he loves you. He wanted her to have a chance to know you and he convinced himself that he could make it work so that the Riot stayed in the dark.”

My mind’s a mess. “It still doesn’t make sense. Normal people don’t act like this. Normal people don’t make deals to kill someone or not kill someone in exchange for staying away from their daughter. For real, who does that?”

“They’re a gang. Think about the evening news. An eighteen-year-old stabs a sixteen-year-old. Someone shot their friend, so they shoot one of theirs. The violence continues, it escalates. It’s not normal. It’s not right, but it doesn’t mean that it doesn’t exist. What you witnessed today, all that I’m talking about, that’s what Eli and your mom were trying to save you from—they weren’t keeping you away from a motorcycle club, they were keeping you away from a gang.”

“So if the Riot is a gang, then what is the Terror?”

Oz still wears his vest. The leather across the shoulder is also darkened with Eli’s blood.

“The same thing I’ve been trying to tell you since we met—we’re a brotherhood, a family. Our entire organization is built on respect and the only way you have respect is if it’s built on love. We’re not thugs jockeying for power. We’re a group that supports and doesn’t tear down.

“I won’t paint pretty pictures for you. You’ve seen how we live. It’s different, but different doesn’t mean wrong. Society has their view of normal and we have ours. Being a part of the club means freedom to us. Freedom from what others dictate for our lives.”

The muscles in my neck tighten. “If that’s true, then why were you always doing what they told you to do?”

He lowers his head and a part of me hurts that I pushed him so hard on a day when he saved not only me, but Eli. “Because I thought doing what I was told was what being a part of the club meant...until last night. I get it now in a way I never understood it before. It’s not about following, it’s about respect. Me giving respect, earning it and then getting it back in kind.”

I rake a hand through my hair. Life used to be easy. Life used to be simple. Now, it’s complicated. There’s a knock on the door and I turn. It’s Chevy and he’s carrying a flower. With a flick of his fingers, two more flowers appear.

Respect. Olivia had told me that if I allowed the club in, they would love me—that they would respect me—and Oz is saying that in order to gain the respect, I must give it.

I wave Chevy in and he edges the door open, leans in and offers the flowers to me. I accept them with a smile. He winks, and when he walks away, closing the door behind him, two Reign of Terror vests slide into view.

They’re protecting Eli. Standing by him. They’ll never leave his side. A little bit farther down at the nurses’ station, Olivia harasses a nurse with Cyrus by her side. Beyond them is the waiting room and a sea of black vests. “They’re watching over Eli, aren’t they?”

Oz nods. “And if you let them, they’ll watch over you, too.”

Yes, life used to be simple, but I never had a family like this. “You said that Eli wanted you to tell me something.”

Oz stands and extends his hand to me.

“I don’t want to leave him,” I say.

“You don’t have to, but today seriously fucked me up. If you don’t mind, I want to hold you and convince myself that this nightmare is over.”

I lay my hand in his, and he pulls me up and then settles me onto his lap. He wraps his arms around my waist and I place my head on his shoulder as I reclaim Eli’s hand.

Oz’s heat sinks past my clothes, my skin, even my bones, and it’s comforting my soul. I inhale his dark scent and it’s the first time in hours I feel completely safe.

“Is it a long story?” I ask.

“Epic,” he answers. “The craziest I’ve heard.”

“I thought your job was to prevent me from learning the truth.”

“No,” Oz’s lips whisper against my temple and there’s a flurry of rose petals in my stomach. “My job is to love you.”

Warmth floods my heart and I kiss his neck. I like how he presses me closer to him in response.

“After I tell you, though,” Oz hedges, “I want you to promise me something.”

“What?”