SEDUCING MY BIKER PROFESSOR

CHAPTER 21: The Smoke

ADRIAN'S POV

The bright screen of Nirvana's phone glowed in the dim light of the garage. I looked down at what could have made her look so terrified. It was a text message. But not just that.

I looked down at the phone screen.

A photograph. The two of us, shot from above through the high window over the bay doors. Nirvana's shirt was open. My hands were on her. Every detail was sharp and deliberate.

Someone had been up there the whole time.

All the intense desire that had consumed my mind just a few seconds ago vanished instantly. My blood ran cold. The lethal survival instinct I relied on every single day took over my brain.

I grabbed Nirvana by the shoulders and shoved her behind me. I needed her out of the direct line of sight from the high window right now.

"Stay right behind me," I said, no room in my voice except for the order.

Nirvana pressed herself against the workbench. I heard her pulling her shirt together with shaking hands, visibly shaken with fear.

Seeing that terror on her face made a protective rage erupt deep inside my chest. I wanted to find the person who took that photograph and snap his neck with my bare hands.

I reached to the small of my back and drew my handgun from the waistband of my jeans.

I heard Nirvana gasp behind me.

I didn't look back at her. She had never seen me holding a firearm before. But I ignored her reaction at that moment. There was no time to explain my life to her right now. Survival came first. Explanations could wait.

I walked quickly to the side door, keeping my body positioned securely between her and the glass windows. I raised my weapon. I kicked the door open with my boot and stepped out into the narrow alleyway.

The cold hit my bare chest. I swept the outside environment with tactical precision. I kept my gun raised, checking the blind corners. I checked the dark spaces behind the trash dumpsters and the rooflines of the neighboring buildings.

My adrenaline pumped through my veins, making my senses sharp. I listened for the sound of gravel crunching or an engine starting.

But the alleyway was totally empty. The fucker was already gone. He had taken a picture and slipped away into the shadows.

I lowered my weapon slightly and scanned the ground directly below the garage window. A few feet away from the brick wall, I found the evidence.

A set of boot prints pressed into a patch of spilled grease on the floor.

Right next to the dark prints, a discarded cigarette butt still burned on the pavement. A thin trail of grey smoke drifted up into the night air. As if it was intentionally left there for me to find.

The intruder had been standing right there, watching us clearly while my hands were all over her body.

The stalker had the perfect vantage point. He could have taken a shot and killed both of us, but he chose to take a photograph instead to prove exactly how dangerously close he was to destroying everything. He was playing a sick game.

I turned around and walked back inside the garage. I closed the door and secured the deadbolt .

"Button your shirt," I told her.

I looked away. I could not allow myself to be distracted by her body again. I kept my eyes focused on the exit doors while I checked the loaded magazine of my weapon. "We are leaving right now."

I drove her back home in silence. Nirvana held on tightly to me on the back of the motorcycle, her arms around my stomach. I could feel her soft chest pressing against my back, trembling slightly.

But I did not try to comfort her. I kept my posture rigid, not trusting what I might do if I took as much as a glance at her.

I was too furious at myself. I had let my guard down because I was too focused on getting her in my arms. I had endangered her life by being so reckless. My lack of control almost got her killed.

I could not face Ronan yet. I dropped her off at the front gates and waiting until she was safely behind the walls. Then I rode my motorcycle straight to the Dwayne MC clubhouse. I needed my men.

I walked through the main bar area, ignoring the loud music and the members drinking at the tables. I went directly into my office and immediately summoned Wayne and Iris.

They walked into the room a minute later. But I did not offer them a seat or a drink. My mind was reeling.

"I need you both on the university campus starting tomorrow morning," I said, looking sternly between them. "You will wear plain clothes and blend in with the crowds. You will shadow Nirvana Hale everywhere she goes. You do not let her out of your sight for a single second."

Wayne and Iris exchanged looks.

I leaned forward and put both hands flat on the desk.

"If you lose her for even ten minutes," I said, keeping my voice even, "I will break your legs. Not as a warning. I mean I will actually break them."

I looked at each of them in turn. "And if either of you looks at her in a way I would find offensive, what comes after that will be something you won't recover from. She is not a job to you. She is the job. Do you understand the difference?"

Wayne nodded once and walked out. He was my cousin and he knew me better.

Iris did not follow. He stayed behind and crossed his arms over his chest. I knew he wouldn't take the order like that. He looked at me with clear defiance in his posture.

"We had a rival club member sitting right inside our restaurant tonight," Iris said, looking into my eyes. "They are actively testing our borders, Adrian. They are pushing into our territory. Why the hell are you wasting valuable club resources and our best manpower to babysit Ronan's sister?”

I came around the desk and stood in front of him. I didn't raise my voice. I didn't need to.

"You will not question my priorities," I said. "Nirvana Hale is under my protection. That makes her safety club business, which means it falls under your responsibilities the same as anything else I assign you. Do your job and do not bring this up again."

Iris held eye contact with me for a moment, then stepped back. He reached into his jacket, pulled out a thick folder and dropped it on my desk.

"I told our hackers to run deep background checks on every single new transfer student at Rodrigo University," Iris explained. "I figured you would want to know everyone who is breathing the same air as her.", he added and left the office.

Twenty minutes later, Ronan stepped inside my office. He looked tired and annoyed about the late interruption.

The tension from the restaurant fight still hung between us, but he walked over and stood next to my desk because business always came first.

"Iris ran a check on the new university students," I told him, grabbing the folder. I intentionally didn't disclose the spy that followed her to the garage. Ronan would go crazy if he knew I had met with his sister again tonight.

We stood together behind the desk. I opened the file, fully expecting to find a known criminal or a hired gun from the rival club.

I flipped past the business and engineering students and headed straight to the art department transfers.

I turned the page and stopped cold.

My breath hitched as I stared directly at an identification photo printed on the white paper.

It was a guy with deep green eyes and bright blonde hair. He had a warm smile on his face. It was the name printed below the picture that sent a shockwave through my system. I read the attached file.

Name: Jesse Carlisle.

Origin: Transferred from New Orleans.

I slid the open file across the desk so Ronan could see the picture clearly. Ronan looked down at the photograph, and I saw his facial expression harden immediately. He also knew exactly who this man was.

"Tell me I am wrong, Ronan," I said, tapping my index finger directly on the printed photograph. "Is this not Jesse Carlisle?”