Hell's Outcasts MC: Bound to Glory

Chapter 7

Blaze

Delivering the news that Gina was in the wind was hard enough, but seeing the fear take over Jane's face made it worse.

"It looks like Gina left town, but I've learned not to make assumptions about her. I want you to come back to the clubhouse with me until we can find her. Please don't fight me on this, Jane. I'll sleep a lot better knowing you're where you will be safe. Besides, I need to figure out who leaked information about you to Gina."

Jane looked off into space. I braced myself for an argument, but then she surprised me by breaking down and crying. I immediately took her in my arms and held her tight as she fell apart.

"I can't take much more of this." She sobbed against my chest.

"I'm here baby, I'll help you carry it. Just let me in." I brushed back her dark hair, feeling a rare crack in my own armor. Jane was hiding a lot about her past. I could ask Venom to look into her past, but building her trust mattered more than invading her privacy. Whatever she went through was clearly painful enough.

"If I tell you about me, it's going to put you in danger and I don't want to do that to you. If you had any common sense, you would give me my backpack so I can keep running and not bring this s**t to your front door." Jane looked up at me, her sad face breaking me even more.

"I'm the President of one of the most powerful biker gangs on the East Coast. I'm in danger every day when I step out my front door. Whoever is after you, the Outcasts will deal with them. I told you when I claimed you I was claiming everything about you." I made a vow to slowly kill whoever had my girl so afraid. It's painfully obvious from the way she's falling apart right now that she has had to be strong for much longer than she should have had to be.

Jane needs me not only to claim her, but to hold her up. Even if she won't admit it to herself yet.

"No one can help me." She whispered against my chest.

"Did you see something you shouldn't have?" A thousand theories ran through my head.

Jane chuckled bitterly. "Believe me, I wish it was as simple as that." She took a deep breath and sat down on the couch, brushing her dark hair out of her beautiful face.

"I'm not going to give you names, because the less you know the better. If the men who are after me find out I'm here, and they find you involved with me, you can play dumb and there's a chance they will spare your life." Jane softly said.

"I think I get what you are saying. Like I just said: it doesn't matter to me who is after you. I'm still going to keep you safe with me where you belong." I sat down beside her, the weight of her admission hanging in the air. Finally, things were adding up.

Jane told me she ran to get out of an arranged marriage. That could only mean two things: she is from either a fanatically religious family, or she was/is part of an organized crime family.

I had dealings with both during my work in the military and knew the basic principles of how these kinds of families operated. Arranged marriages bought alliances and made the families much more powerful. It was all a numbers game, and the women married off were collateral damage, beaten into submission and silence.

I stared at the woman beside me, so many questions flooding through me. What all has she seen? How badly has she been hurt? Is her real name even Jane?

Those questions could wait. We’d made a breakthrough today, and my focus remained on earning her trust. Besides, my girl was playing it smart by keeping names out of it. She was right: if they caught up to her, and I was caught in the crossfire, fake ignorance would buy me the time I needed to save her.

The strategic way her mind worked intrigued me. I couldn't wait to see her by my side as my Ol' Lady.

I took Jane's face in both my hands and kissed her again. "I'm never going to get tired of doing this. You know that, right?"

"I wouldn't know. Seeing as you are the first man who has kissed me. I don't count the wannabe fiance." Jane told me. Given what she shared with me, I wasn't surprised at Jane's innocence. Secretly I fist-bumped myself with joy that I would be her first and only.

"Is there anything else here you want to take with you?"

"I haven't said I was going with you." Jane snapped, the defiance creeping back.

"You don't have a choice. I need you where I can control the environment and know you are safe. By yourself you are much more at risk. Inside the clubhouse, no one will dare make a move against you." I watched as the indecision to stay or go ran across Jane's face. Even if she tried to fight me further on it, I wasn't below dragging her out of the apartment kicking and screaming if need be.

Thankfully, she spared us both that. "All right. But I'm not sleeping with you." And there was that sassiness that made me want her even more. I was relieved to see Jane getting back to herself. She still had fight left in her, and she was going to need it.

"I have everything I need in my backpack. The rest of this can wait." We left the apartment as it was. I took her out to my truck, sending Chaos a text to let him know I was on the way.

We rode in silence back to the clubhouse. Jane sat upright beside me, tension radiating off her. "Don't worry about the other bikers. They are all bark and won't bite unless I tell them to."

"Ha ha." Jane rolled her eyes. "Are there any other crazy women you had s*x with I need to worry about?"

I couldn't help but chuckle. "Gina cured me when she started acting like she was my Ol' Lady. There are two other house mamas who the bikers share, but I haven't messed with them. I'm no saint, but you don't have to worry about running into anyone else, because they left years ago. Gina was the exception, though in my defense she played me by getting me to think she was agreeable to my terms."

"I never understood the appeal of one-night stands." Jane shook her head.

"The appeal wore off quickly for me after what happened with Gina. I haven't slept with a woman in months." I wasn't going to lie to Jane about my s*xual history. It was her right to know everything about me, even the stuff I'm not that proud of.

"And there is no ex-girlfriend or kids?" Jane asked me.

"No ma'am. I always double-wrapped it so no kids. I'm the ripe old age of 31 and you're my first real relationship." I grinned at her.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves." Jane retorted and stared back out the window.

"There's that sass again." I couldn't help but smile.

"Anything I need to know before you drag me into a club full of bikers?" She asked me as I pulled up into the parking lot.

"Just be yourself, Jane. Talk with my baby sister, Taryn. You'll find her behind the bar. She runs the operations within the clubhouse. If there is anything you need, go to her or me. Or Chaos or Venom. Oh, and one other thing. We have three other women bikers in the club besides Taryn. The two house mamas, Lisa and Selene, look rough. But they're pretty cool and have been around a while. They'll help you out too. And then there is Kylie." I heard the tone of my voice changing when I brought up Kylie.

"What about her?" Jane asked.

"Don't stare too long at her face. You'll see what I'm talking about when she introduces herself. Remember me telling you we offed a local dude because he was a r*pist?"

"She was the victim, wasn't she?" I nodded in confirmation. With what that son of a b***h did to Kylie's face when he assaulted her, I never understood why the police didn't lock him up. Then again I did. It was typical Southern good ol' boy politics. It was no matter in the end. I was still pissed we couldn't do full Outcast justice because of how close the police were to the guy, but he's dead and that's all that matters. Kylie never has to spend the rest of her life looking over her shoulder.

"Does she know that the club was behind it?"

"I think she suspects, but we've never actually discussed it with her." I took Jane's hand into mine, wanting a quiet moment with her before I dragged her into the club, and she would be bombarded with people and questions. Brandon and Grace were going to stop by to help her get adjusted later, so that would help.

Jane would find acceptance here. As long as she wasn't a criminal mastermind or a vindictive b***h like Gina, she'd be just fine. I have many club members running from bad decisions, messed-up family situations, or who just need a change in their boring lives. My brothers and I vet our prospects carefully before we let them join. Quiet observation is one of our trademarks and will tell you anything you need to know. If any of our members become a problem, we cut them loose. Admittedly, I should have done that with Gina as soon as I started getting complaints, but you live and learn.

"I can still run. I have a little money to get by until I get somewhere else. Don't make my problems your problems." Jane pleaded with me.

Sighing, I tilted her chin to look at me. "My mess ended up spilling on your road, Jane. But that’s just how it is with us now. My past is yours and your past is mine. You are my ol' lady, my future, and the only one who is ever going to ride behind me. I know this s**t doesn't make sense to you right now, and I don't expect it to. But down the road, you’re going to see that I burn for you and only you. When you finally trust me enough to tell me who is after you, you’re going to see exactly how far I’ll go to put them six feet under. I'll make damn sure you never have to look over your shoulder again."

Jane's lips quivered, a moment away from crying. Catching herself, she leaned over and kissed me softly. I froze, absorbing the quiet comfort of her touch.

"Thank you." She whispered against my lips.

"Welcome home, baby. Let's go inside and meet your new family."