Total pages in book: 50
Estimated words: 47714 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 239(@200wpm)___ 191(@250wpm)___ 159(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 47714 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 239(@200wpm)___ 191(@250wpm)___ 159(@300wpm)
I didn’t recognize her at first, but then I remembered Jax telling me that she was the maid of honor. After double blinking to make sure I wasn’t imagining things, my eyes raked over her as she sashayed toward us. No longer was she that sweet kid I used to sneak suckers to, or the gangling tween who’d had a cute crush on her brother’s friend. She was a woman. Gorgeous, curvy, confident. And so fucking dangerous.
She’d smiled, eyes meeting mine for a second, and it was like a punch to the gut. My body didn’t give a shit that she was off-limits. Heat flooded my veins, and I desperately hoped that the growing bulge in my pants wasn’t visible to the guests. I hadn’t found a woman who’d stirred my interest since my early twenties. But truthfully, I couldn’t remember a time when I’d ever reacted like this. Nothing had ever hit me like that look.
I’d told myself it was because I hadn’t been with a woman in so long. And it was a shock to see how much she’d changed during the time gap, a surprise because Jax’s sister had grown into a beautiful woman. I’d tried to brush it off as nothing.
It didn’t help that I couldn’t take my eyes off her during the ceremony. Then when the reception rolled around, she’d come over to say hello, and the lies went up in flames.
Her laughter was lower now, richer. Her voice had that soft rasp that settled right in the base of my throat. She’d smelled like vanilla and clean, warm skin that no perfume could fake.
She’d teased me about being quiet—the same way she used to when she was a kid. But the smile behind it had been different. The kind that lit a match to things better left dark. That could burn loyalty and trust to ashes.
I’d said something back, something dry and harmless, but when she blushed, I’d felt the world tilt. One second, I was fine, and the next, I was fighting to keep my expression blank because my body had gone full mutiny again.
When she’d laughed another time, soft and breathless, I’d felt a craving to hear that sound every damn day, one that was even stronger than the pull of smoke. Cigarettes. Alanna. Same thing, different kind of poison.
That was the moment when everything changed, and she was suddenly mine. The shift was permanent.
And I was angry as fuck about it.
Because Alanna wasn’t mine and never would be. She was Jax’s blood. His baby sister. And betraying a brother would be like ripping off my patch and shredding it to pieces.
The Redline Kings weren’t just a group of guys who rode motorcycles and wore matching leather vests. We were a brotherhood built on loyalty, honor, and trust. We lived by a code and had our own brand of justice. We were chosen family. My only family.
I stared at the carpet, listening to the faint hum of the AC filling the silence. The metal lighter snapped shut in my hand.
Jax had once told me that he didn’t want Alanna to be touched by this life. She was family, and we would protect her, but he thought she was too soft and innocent to be a part of our world. He was afraid it would tarnish or break her.
But that wasn’t the real problem. He didn’t need to worry about the world; he needed to worry about me.
Feeling restless, I stood and crossed to the window. The parking lot below glowed under the floodlights. Several bikes gleamed beside mine. Beyond the fence, the road stretched dark toward the coast.
The need to ride tugged hard. The road always brought me peace. But it was temporary because eventually, I’d have to return. Sometimes it was more like the quiet before the next storm.
However, I hadn’t let it sweep me away since I’d freed myself from hell. I was always in control. You lose it once; it could cost you something permanent.
But here I was, right on the line now.
Every image of her—the way her hair had brushed her shoulders, how she’d looked at me when she thought I wasn’t watching, the warmth of her body against mine when she hugged me—was gasoline poured over the kindling I’d been sitting on since that wedding.
I wanted to believe it would fade. That the obsession would burn itself out.
Needed to believe that this was something else. That it wasn’t raw and wrong and…fucking inevitable.
I’d seen men lose everything because they couldn’t draw the line. I’d helped bury some of them.
But standing there in the dark, replaying the way her voice had wrapped around my name, I knew I’d already put a toe across it.
I wasn’t even sure there was a fucking line left to hold.
3
ALANNA
“We’re wasting time doing this online.” My research partner’s voice was tight with impatience. “If we met at the café, I could fix the formatting while you read citations out loud. Multitasking at its best.”