I punched my fist in front of me. “Like boxing?”
“Like staying alive.”
I tried to stay calm and keep my emotions out of the conversation. “Fighting the other kids? Or…”
I let my voice trail off, hoping he’d pick up the thread.
“I don’t want you to see me that way.” His white knuckles and quiet voice said so much more than his words.
“What way?”
“The way I had to be in that place.”
I reached over and set my hand on his leg. A light touch. Enough to say I was here and listening.
“Inside, a monster inside of me was set free.” His hands clutched the steering wheel even harder. “It’s back in its cage now but—”
“You’re not a monster. It sounds like you were fighting off the monsters.”
“Maybe.” The hollowness in his voice chilled me to the bone. “But even when you’re fighting monsters, you have to be careful you don’t turn into one.”
Chapter Fifty-Three
Juliet
The drive-in was now open a few nights a week in addition to the weekends. We weren’t busy yet, though. Some of the weeknights only one or two cars would show up for the movies.
The ice cream shop was a different story. Since it served the public and the drive-in customers, the second the weather warmed, we had a line of customers at our window.
During the first movie, I finally had a lull in customers and walked outside, hoping to catch Roman’s eye.
I found him talking to Ulfric and stopped. They were so deep in conversation, it didn’t seem like a good idea to intrude. Roman frowned, then finally nodded. A second later the two of them headed my way.
“How’s it going tonight, sweetheart?” Ulfric called out as they crossed the wide, gravel parking lot.
“Pretty good.” I gestured toward the building at my back. “Finally had a bit of a breather.” I didn’t want him to think I was goofing off so I could drool at my boyfriend, although that’s kind of what I was doing.
Roman met my eyes but I couldn’t decipher whatever he was trying to tell me. Ulfric clapped him on the back. “Spend a minute with your girl. I’ll meet you by my truck.”
“Okay,” Roman nodded.
We both waited until Ulfric entered his small office building next to the ice cream shack.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
Roman’s gaze skipped to the side. “Ulfric asked me to help him with something. If I’m not back by closing—”
“Wait a minute. Where are you going?”
He shrugged. “I didn’t get a lot of details.”
“Who’s going to watch the gate?” Not that many cars would come this late into the movie.
“His sister’s taking over my shift.”
“Why can’t she help him out?”
He cocked his head but didn’t answer.
“Is this a job for his club?” I asked in a low voice.
“Juliet…” he dragged my name out as if it pained him. “You know if it’s something for his club, I can’t tell you.”
I stepped closer. “Is Dex okay with this?”
He lifted an eyebrow. “Your uncle doesn’t own me.”
“I didn’t say he did. It’s just—”
“I think Dex is aware of everything that goes on, whether it’s in his territory or not.”
Somehow, that wasn’t reassuring. I’d never given Dex’s motorcycle club or their territory a lot of thought. He’d worn a Lost Kings MC cut and ridden a Harley for as long as I could remember.
But now, working for Ulfric, who was the head of a different motorcycle club, I had a lot more exposure to bikers. And it became clearer and clearer that they didn’t always operate on the right side of the law. After the way Roman was railroaded into juvie jail, the broken way he’d returned, and the awful things he’d finally confided in me, I viewed the clubs’ outlaw ways in a different light.
Roman sneaking off with Ulfric worried me. No one needed to tell me these “jobs” were risky.
I didn’t want to lose him again.
“Roman, we don’t need the money. I have enough from the trust Mrs. Shields—”
“I’m not gonna sponge off you. You know me better than that.” His gaze landed on something over my shoulder and he lifted his chin. “I gotta go.” He leaned in and kissed my cheek.
I watched him go and prayed he’d return in one piece.
Chapter Fifty-Four
Roman
“Remember, if the job goes sideways, you don’t know anything,” Ulfric reminded me for the thousandth time. “Above all else, keep my club’s name out of your mouth,” he said casually while he screwed a silencer onto the business end of his pistol.
I didn’t need the gun pointed at my head to understand the threat.
“Wolf Knights, who?” When he didn’t respond to the joke, I added, “I’m not a snitch.”
He grunted in acknowledgement.
His biker brothers, Merlin, Whisper, and Hudson, crowded around us and my nostrils filled with the scents of sweat and gasoline.
Why had I agreed to this again?
Money. Right. The job would put a lot of dollar bills in my pocket. More than I saw after a month of working at the drive-in.