Biker's Sin: Stole His Best Friend's EX!

Paloma Perez. He is my ex-husband’s best friend. But before that, he is the leader of the Skull Riders—a notorious, ferocious, undisputed force of bike gangsters that shapes Rossetti Falls. I was tired of men like him. The Son of a Don. Men who hold too much power and use it to toy with people's lives. At least, that’s what Caden, my ex-husband, did to me. But Elijah Vega is different. When I breathe his name, it feels like I’m floating. When he enters the same space as me, I have to hold my breath because the patterns in his eyes tell me he sees it. Sees me. His body is a cancer of tattoos, he is my greatest fear yet the bane of my deepest desires. “What was it you said? Even if I were the last man in the world, you wouldn’t spare me a glance? Huh?” Elijah backs me against the table with all the vowels in his voice. I’ve been testing his patience for days and now, by all means, he has lost the discipline of a control he once swore he had. Elijah’s fingers work at the hook of my gown and my breasts spring free to him, still tender from his last visit, still bruised from the heat of his mouth. As his lips closes over one, my n*****s stiffen under his tongue and I writhe— “We cannot—” “We cannot what?” Elijah looks at me yet he is undoing the buckle of his belt like the rebel he is. “You are Caden’s—” “He is your ex-husband.” He hooks my leg around his waist as I try to remind him whom I once belonged to. His best friend. “Your chapter with him is over. Paloma, Look at me. Am I not the one you are warm for right now?” I gasp. We gasp together, not just because of his words but because he hooks my second leg on his waist and like pure butter, no finesse…just hunger. Elijah hips slots between my legs and he sinks in my thighs to find me where it aches. In his room, while everyone else who must never know about us sleeps. There’s a strict rule in the house: no one who works for the Vegas is allowed to get involved with the sons. No flirting. No distractions. No exceptions. It’s a rule every staff member respects. I intended to do the same but the son in question makes it nearly impossible. Elijah. And when he grinds down, slow and filthy, I bite his lip to keep from screaming his name. I came without underwear and I knew better. Not only is he Caden’s best friend—he is also bound by a gangster's oath to marry Pasiphae, my own best friend, as a commitment of some loyalty that I will never understand. But I love him. I love him. He is my siege. He is my storm. He is the passion and the poison in my veins. If I let go of him now, I will never know a love like this again. ༺☆༻ Pasiphae was the one who introduced me to my ex-husband, Caden. We signed the divorce papers last month, but I had fallen out of love with Caden long before that—within the first year of our marriage. I was eighteen when we married. He said he loved me and I believed him. I thought that fluttery feeling in my stomach was love too. I hated living with my family. We weren’t rich and the house always felt too small, too crowded. There was never any space—just constant bickering with my brothers and sisters, endless arguments with my mom and dad. I wanted to escape, therefore, saying yes to Caden was easy. Our marriage didn’t last. I got tired of the strippers hanging off him, the scent of perfume that wasn’t mine, the smudges of lipstick on his shirts. Foolish me, what was I expecting from a gangster? I cried for months before I finally asked for a divorce. When I was ready, I moved out and scraped together every penny to hire a lawyer that took take care of the rest. Now, I’m back to where I started but worse. The only reason I met with him was because of Pasiphae, my best friend. She comes from a family of affluent bikers, and naturally, bikers know other bikers. Where her life has always been easy, mine has been built on a bed of thorns. Water splashes onto my apron as someone roughly dumps plates into the sink. “Timothy.” I glare at my co-worker. I’ve told him a hundred times to be careful when tossing dishes into the sink but he doesn’t listen. The person in charge of taking care of the dishes didn’t show up today so I gave myself as tribute to take care of it…which means I’m stuck running back and forth between scrubbing dishes and taking orders. Timothy chuckles like a loser. “Man, everyone in Rossetti Falls is talking about you. Did you really leave Caden, a bloody gangbanger just to end up back here, making ten bucks an hour?” I keep scrubbing. “Can you stop talking to me?” It’s almost the end of my shift, and in an hour, I have to be at some rich woman’s house to clean. All thanks to Pasiphae, who is again, helping me get jobs to secure my feet. “I heard he took back everything he ever bought you—the jewellery, the cars—” I grab the spray hose and douse him. But again, I pretend like I didn’t mean to. He sputters. “Are you kidding me—” “Paloma, we need you at the front!” Curtis calls from the counter. I dry my hands as best as I can and rush out of the kitchen. Only three of us are working up front and on top of washing dishes, I promised the manager I’d help out with drinks for the extra cash. I’m starting to regret it. “A mocktail with lemonade.” Curtis says and I start passing him the ingredients. I’m not a mixer yet—I’m still training. “Hey.” a soft voice murmurs and I turn to see my second-best friend, Eva, pouting. She, Pasiphae and I, come as a trio. “You didn’t tell me your co-workers were evil spirits.” I whisper back. “That Timothy one talks about Caden like he lived in the same house with us.” When I had nowhere to go after leaving Caden’s mansion, Eva took me in. She’s the reason I got the job here too. “Oh my God!” she suddenly gasps. “What?” I ask, instantly on edge. “Don’t look immediately, but someone just walked in.” “Who?” I fight the urge to turn, but the way her face pales makes me uneasy. “Um… E—Elijah.” I spin my head around the second I hear that name. Elijah Vega is Caden’s best friend. Birds of a feather. But where Caden is the bird, everyone in Rosetti Falls knows Elijah to be the son of a Don, the leader of the Skull-riders--a bike gang that rules the city’s underbelly. I met him around the same time I met Caden and from the start, I knew he was trouble. A bad example of everything a man should be. His body is a canvas of ink—Chinese characters, Arabic-looking lyrics, violent diagrams—like he doesn’t care about his own skin. No one in Rosetti Falls is unfamiliar with his gang, the chaos they cause, or the way they take what they want, whether it’s power, money, or revenge. They all carry the same skull insignia on their bikes—a mark of some default loyalty to Elijah that I’ll never understand. Elijah controls so much of this city that it makes me sick to my stomach. It took me a long time to even be able to look at him. And even when I finally found the courage, I couldn’t hold his gaze for more than two seconds—it’s just that intense. Since Caden and I got married, I don’t think Elijah and I have exchanged more than a single sentence. The only words he ever spoke to me were, “Congratulations,” on my wedding day. He takes his seat. Even with his low-cut fade, there’s a tattoo behind his ear. One of his eyebrows is slashed into two, an intentional mark that only adds to his lethal look. He’s got the kind of height that makes women crane their necks and men feel like lesser creations. He’s always in black. I’ve never seen him in any other color. But somehow, it fits the warm bronze of his skin color. “Hey, Paloma!” Curtis hisses. “Go get his order.” “What?” I hope it’s not who I’m thinking. “Yes, I’m talking about the f*****g gang master.” Curtis reads my mind. I grab a notepad from the counter and pass Eva, who looks like she wants to help but has customers to attend to in front of her. He is just a man. He is just a bloody gangster. As I get to his table, the door opens and Caden steps inside. I freeze. Not only does Caden see me, but now Elijah has his eyes on me too. My palms begin to go clammy. Caden and I were bound to run into each other—we live in the same neighbourhood, the same city. Everyone knows it. What they also know is that he is still a successful businessman and powerful gangster. Whereas, I am broken and divorced from him. At this point, it’s easier to look at Elijah than Caden, who is no doubt here to revel in the fact that I am back where he left me. No money. No support. So, instead of looking at Caden...for the first time ever, I decide to hold Elijah’ gaze. I look at him so long that the intensity in his eyes makes me forget Caden is even there. For someone with such a stern face, his lips are full. Sand—the color of his skin. Light pink—the color of his lips. Slightly crooked—his nose. Abated are his eyes in rustic silver. "Altogether, he is something beautiful, something so reverent, luminous, sovereign, yet fey—" “I would like two shots of whiskey.” Rustic are the strokes in his voice, like italic script, like a man whose voice is an authority that will change the world and by all means, he does not break eye contact. I nod and start to walk away. “Can I get a bottle of bourbon, Paloma?” That voice belongs to Caden. I don’t turn back. I just walk to the counter and let Curtis know. In five minutes, Curtis hands me a tray and I spot the manager loitering around—he’s seen that Elijah is here. I start walking back, balancing the tray and setting down the two glasses of whiskey in front of Elijah. Then, I place the opened bottle of bourbon before Caden. I hold the tray to my chest. “Will that be all?” I don’t look at either of them. “Um, what else is on the menu?” Caden chuckles. He enjoys this. He enjoys seeing me in an apron, with my hair slightly detangled, with my grace and all honor stripped away. “The menu is in front of you, sir.” I say evenly. “Can you read it?” Caden presses again. “I’ll tip you a hundred bucks if you do so—” “What do you get from disrespecting me?” I fight the urge to cry. My lips are pressed together so hard, I’m sure I’ll bruise myself just to keep the tears from spilling. “I put a roof over your head. I put clothes on your body. I treated you like a queen… even now, I’m being kind to you, but you take it as f*****g disrespect. What would it take for you to read a damn menu…” “You are—” “Excuse me?” Caden raises his hand to flag the manager’s attention. “Your worker here is refusing to read a menu, even after I said I’d tip her a hundred.” I glance back and the manager starts storming toward me. “This stupid new girl, I should’ve never hired you!” He adjusts his glasses, then shoves me in the chest. I stumble but catch myself. Instantly, I feel the sting of both the shove and the humiliation as I see Caden smirk. “Did you just touch the young woman in front of me?” A seething voice forces the manager’s pointed finger down from my face. It's the last person I expect to defend me—Elijah. He lifts the shot to his lips and when he swallows, his Adam’s apple bobs like a man in hard labor. If I didn’t notice it before, I do now—his arms are the size of tree trunks, his legs carry the same size. He is a man five times my size and perhaps, six years older than I am. Caden looks at Elijah now and I can see the same disbelief in his eyes that I feel. Why is his best friend defending me? “Why the hell are you still here, i***t?” Elijah voice is the lowest, referring to the manager as he rises on his feet. Regardless of how low his voice is, every customer who is not a part of this is looking in our direction. “I was just doing—” The manager stutters. “Are you not even shameless, Caden?” Elijah turns to look behind him. “I don’t care to know what is between you and your ex but don’t ever speak to her like that in front of me again.” Elijah leaves, exactly past me, so close that I can tell his perfume. “Elijah!” Caden jumps to his feet. Instead of walking away, he grabs me roughly and forces me to face him. “Fire her from this job. I’ll give you five grand if you do.” “Of course, sir.” The manager responds but I start pulling the apron off first. “I quit—” “Too late. I got you fired, and I’ll keep doing it until you come to your senses and realize the mistake you’ve made. Then you’ll come back to me.” He releases me and walks away.