CHAPTER 8 — YOU STAY WHERE I CAN SEE YOU
970 Words
(Reaper’s POV)
The second Chains told me about the black SUV, I knew exactly who it was.
Iron Jackals.
More specifically, Rex Nolan, their vice president.
Scar on the cheek. Dead eyes. A habit of staring too long before making his move.
The bastard didn’t do random.
If he let Gina see his face, it meant one thing.
He wanted the message delivered.
They knew about her.
My bike tore through Raven Hollow’s streets, engine growling beneath me as anger sharpened every thought.
I should’ve shut this down earlier.
The moment Havoc got too close. The moment whispers started after the Friday party. The moment I let myself bring her into any part of my world.
Instead, I had left the line blurry.
Now enemies were looking.
That made Gina a liability.
And liabilities either got controlled—
Or they got people killed.
By the time I pulled up outside Chains’ house, the porch light was already on.
Chains opened the door before I even knocked.
His cut was off, but the enforcer never really stopped being enforcer.
“She’s inside,” he said.
I stepped past him without another word.
Tessa and Gina were in the living room.
The moment Gina looked up and saw me, the air in the room changed.
She was curled into the far corner of the couch, boutique sketches spread around her, but I could still see the tension in the way her shoulders stiffened.
Fear.
Not of me.
Of what my arrival meant.
Good.
She should understand the weight of this.
I stopped in front of her.
“Describe him.”
No greeting. No softness.
Her eyes flashed with instant irritation.
“You could say hello.”
“No, I can’t.”
A beat of silence.
Then she lifted her chin.
Dark beard. Scarred cheek. Cold stare.
Everything Chains had already said.
By the time she finished, the rage in my chest had settled into something colder.
More dangerous.
Rex.
Exactly like I thought.
Gina searched my face.
“Who is he?”
“Someone who wants leverage.”
The room went silent.
Even Tessa didn’t interrupt.
Gina frowned.
“I’m not leverage.”
In any other life, maybe she’d be right.
In this one?
Everyone connected to a patched brother could be turned into pressure points.
And lately, too many people had seen me near her.
At Venom. At the clubhouse. At church night.
The whispers were enough.
Rex didn’t need facts.
He only needed a weakness.
My gaze locked on hers.
“Tonight, you’re coming with me.”
Her brows snapped together immediately.
“What?”
“To the clubhouse.”
The room went still.
Tessa’s eyes widened.
Chains stayed silent, but I could feel his approval.
Strategically, it made sense.
Safer on club grounds. Guarded by prospects. Watched by patched men.
No Jackal would be stupid enough to cross Black Vipers’ perimeter.
Gina stood so fast the sketches scattered to the floor.
“No.”
The refusal came sharp. Immediate.
Interesting.
Most women backed down when I used that tone.
She challenged it.
“I’m not staying in your clubhouse because some creepy guy looked at me.”
The words nearly made me lose patience.
I stepped closer.
The room seemed to tighten with the movement.
“This isn’t about your comfort.”
Her eyes widened slightly.
Anger replaced fear.
“Of course it isn’t.”
Chains muttered something under his breath that sounded like a prayer for patience.
I ignored him.
“Until I know what the Jackals are planning, you stay where I can see you.”
The words came out harder than I intended.
But the moment they left my mouth, I knew they were true.
I needed eyes on her.
Needed control over who got close. Who knew where she was. Who thought she was vulnerable.
Because vulnerability in MC territory got exploited fast.
She crossed her arms over her chest.
“You don’t get to decide where I stay.”
The defiance in her voice did something dangerous to my control.
Because part of me admired it.
The rest of me wanted to shut it down before it got her hurt.
I leaned closer until the scent of her shampoo cut through the whiskey and leather clinging to me.
My voice dropped.
“In this, I do.”
For one suspended second, the fire in her eyes flickered.
Not surrender.
Recognition.
She was starting to understand this wasn’t about ego.
This was club protection.
And if she had become a problem before—
Now she had become a target.
Tessa finally stepped in.
“Gina… maybe he’s right.”
Gina stared at her cousin in disbelief.
“You too?”
Chains crossed his arms.
“Clubhouse is the safest place in town.”
The words settled over the room.
Practical. Final.
I watched Gina process it.
The frustration. The anger. The reluctant understanding.
Finally, she exhaled sharply.
“Fine.”
One word.
Still laced with resistance.
But enough.
I nodded once.
“Pack a bag.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“How long?”
Until this threat is dead.
I didn’t say that out loud.
Instead, I gave her the only answer that mattered.
“Until I say it’s clear.”
The silence after that was heavy.
Because we all understood what it really meant.
Forced proximity. Shared territory. No easy distance anymore.
Exactly the kind of thing I had spent weeks avoiding.
And now I was the one dragging her closer.
As Gina disappeared upstairs to pack, Chains’ phone buzzed.
He looked at the screen.
Then his face went hard.
He turned it toward me.
A photo.
Grainy. Taken from across the street.
Gina outside the boutique space.
And a single text beneath it:
PRETTY THINGS BURN FAST.
The Jackals had made their first move.
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