The Runaway MC Princess

Chapter 02

ANDY

Traffic was brutal.

I held the steering wheel tightly as I drove to the station. The file rested on the passenger seat, the warm dinner carefully on the floor mat beneath it. It still felt strange to be carrying Gideon's confidential files, but he had given me permission.

It still felt wrong. Something about this situation didn’t sit well with me, but I kept pushing my doubts aside.

I kept reminding myself that I was just going to see my husband. It wasn’t because something felt off about this moment. I trusted Gideon and would keep trusting him unless he gave me a reason not to. Still, with every mile, old memories I’d tried to forget started coming back.

Four years ago, I was barely eighteen when I ran. I could still hear the roar of motorcycles behind me and the cold night air stinging my face.

I remember the weight of a small backpack on my shoulder as I hitchhiked my way across the country. I didn’t know where I was going, only that I had to disappear.

My entire life had revolved around Odin’s Wrath motorcycle club, my father’s club.

Rules, violence, and expectations of unquestioned loyalty.

But most of all, there was my father. People called him Red, but his real name was Robert Kane.

I spent months running, moving from one cheap motel to the next. I was exhausted and terrified. I had no plan, only the certainty that I couldn’t face the club anymore after what happened. They had all betrayed loyalty in their own ways.

Then came that night that changed it all for me.

It started with a text from my brother when I was at my lowest. Feeling overwhelmed, I went to a bar near the rundown motel where I was staying and ended up drinking too much.

At some point that night, someone put something in my drink, and suddenly everything around me felt slow and blurry at the edges.

And that was when I saw him.

Gideon.

He was already a police officer, celebrating his promotion to detective at a new precinct. His excitement and ambition drew me in. Having a dream was contagious. I never had one, since all I knew was the club life. People didn’t understand that if you were born into it, you couldn’t just leave. You accepted your place and stayed quiet.

Back then, he was just a stranger with tired eyes, an expensive watch, and big dreams of saving the world from the criminals that plagued it. I’d never talked to a police officer before, even though they watched my father’s club closely when I was growing up.

I remembered thinking this was a fresh start for me. And it was the last thing my family would expect.

The next morning, I woke up sore and stiff, my head pounding. I couldn’t remember the night before, just a few scattered flashes.

Somehow, even though I’d woken up next to a stranger, just a few months later I was standing next to him, signing a marriage certificate.

I was nearly nineteen then, and although Gideon wasn’t the one who drugged my drink, he was the one I woke up with.

He had been older, established, respected. He had offered me something I desperately wanted.

Safety.

He also gave me a place to stay and a life where no one knew about my past.

I told myself that marrying him meant I had finally escaped the criminal world and become someone better.

Now, years later, I wondered if I had just traded one prison for another. I gave up my princess kutte for a wedding ring, but neither seemed to care about me. After three years, Gideon couldn't even be bothered to celebrate our anniversaries. Was I missing the signs, or was I right when he said I was being too sensitive?

My phone buzzed.

I glanced at the screen at a red light. My eyes widened in disbelief at the timing.

Colt.

My elder brother, the only one who’d cared enough to reach out when I ran away. I changed my phone number, and I hadn’t heard from him in years.

Not since the night I met Gideon at that bar. How’d he find my new number?

I stared at his name until the car behind me honked. I moved forward and pulled into the next available parking spot.

The message was short.

[Andy, it’s time to come home. Your family misses you. Please.]

I read it again. My chest tightened.

He always seems to message me when I’m about to do something either really stupid or really brave. I wasn’t sure which, but deep down I knew I didn’t want to find out. It could destroy the life I’d built here. Sometimes, ignorance really is bliss.

I didn't reply.

I locked the phone and drove on.

When I finally reached the precinct, I almost laughed. Four uniformed police officers carried a large cake.

I parked my jeep further down the driveway and got out.

I tightened the belt on my long coat, making sure the lingerie underneath stayed hidden. The only jewelry I wore was my wedding ring. I picked up Gideon's lunch and the folder from the passenger seat.

The front doors opened before I could raise my hand to grab the handle, and a middle-aged woman with silver-blonde hair smiled warmly like she already knew me.

“Are you here for the birthday bash? Please come inside.” She smiled, linking her arms with mine.

I couldn’t help but wonder what the hell this was all about. Was this not a police station where people came in with real crimes?