Riding the Line (Devil's Knights 2nd Generation 2)

“Damn, darlin’. Five years?” he asked, shocked.

I grimaced. “Not exactly something I’m proud to say out loud. I was young and dumb. Does anyone ever make the best decisions when they are in high school?” I laughed flatly. “Seventeen and naïve as fuck.”

“You know I gotta ask, darlin’.”

I held up my hand. “He was a dick and hit me a couple of times. It seems Grit had a bit of morals and never forced sex.”

Frost held up his hand, then inched it up a little. “Guy was at a negative one, now he’s at a zero.”

I laughed and flicked the ash off my cigarette. “Well, a zero is pretty much where he’ll stay. I know he says he flipped his life around after we broke up, but that shit is too little, too late for me. As long as he doesn’t treat his next chick like he did me, I’ll be fine.”

“I’m still gonna beat the shit out of him if I ever get the chance,” Frost grunted.

“Well, I think he may have changed, but he still seems to have a mouth on him. It’s likely you’ll get that chance.” I would pay to watch Frost level Grit even if he had turned over a new leaf.

“How did you and Royal stay friends?”

I smiled sadly. “Because Royal knew how much of an asshole her brother was. She was the one who told me to get the hell out.”

Frost sat back, shocked. “That seems pretty surprising coming from his sister.”

It was for a normal person. Royal wasn’t normal, though. While she did try to see the good in everyone and help bring that to the forefront, Grit had shown her time and time again that he wasn’t going to change when it came to me. I had to assume Rider Meeks hadn’t fucked up enough times for Royal to realize he wasn’t going to change. “Royal will tell you ‘til she is blue in the face that Grit was her brother, and I was her sister. She saw what was happening to me being with him. She knew Grit was not my end-all, be-all.”

“Well, thankfully, you seem to have come out okay.”

But was I okay? Hardly. I was trying to act like I was fine, and nothing was bothering me, but that was a damn lie. “Once Royal is safe, and the guy who killed Tanya and Bunny is caught, I’ll be back to being okay.”

“I’m sure both things will clear up soon.”

I pulled the cigarette out from behind my back and inhaled. “You sound pretty sure about that.” I blew out the cloud of smoke and looked up at the sky. “Both things feel pretty impossible right now.”

“Hardly,” Frost replied softly. “Marco is in contact with the Meeks, and the police have made Tanya and Bunny’s murders their number one priority.”

“Only because there hasn’t been a murder around here for a hot minute,” I chuckled. The fact Rockton was a small and quiet town that didn’t have much action was the reason I had decided to move here.

Frost nodded. “You might be right about that, but I got a feeling Detective Ransom is more than capable of solving the murders.”

“A biker with faith in the law?” I laughed. “That seems farfetched.”

He shrugged.

“Luna was ranting about Ransom earlier.” I took another drag from the cigarette. “Still bitching about how he detained her before.”

“You mean arrested?” Frost laughed. “This probably isn’t surprising, but that wasn’t the first time Luna has had a run-in with the law. First time with Ransom, though.”

“She said he stopped by the club to talk to her again.”

Frost sighed. “Well, the fact that she’s here and not locked up again is a pretty good sign. Maybe she learned to play nice with Ransom.”

I had known Luna for two years. “Luna play nice?” I laughed. “Even I know that’s rare.”

The first day I had walked into Sultry Knights, Luna had been in the back, taking inventory and was pissed as hell I had interrupted her. She raged at me for a full five minutes before actually taking a breath. Then, she said I was hired. Things around Luna were a damn whirlwind.

“She say what he wanted?”

I shook my head and took the last drag. “Nope,” I breathed out. “You think he’s got a new lead or something?”

Frost shrugged. “Could be, or he’s just going over everything again to see if he can pick up on something.”